After a few days enjoying the Montreux area it was time to move on to our next destination, the little town of Spiez on Lake Thun. Being Switzerland, the journey is often as enjoyable as the destination. The Golden Pass line connects Montreux with Lucerne in the heartland of Switzerland. It’s actually a 3 stage rail journey via Zweisimmen and Interlaken but the connections are, as you would expect, seamless.
Platform Montreux Station
It’s a little difficult to take photos from a moving train and the sun glare was quite strong too, but here is a pictorial account of our trip (we went as far as Spiez about 20 minutes west of Interlaken). The railway line rises steeply up from Montreux, skirting round the other side of the mountain that leads over to Rochers de Naye (see here and here). We came to the pretty little station of Les Avants.
Leaving Les Avants, the rolling meadows of the pre-alps led up towards the mountains and valleys of the Bernese Oberland. The scenery was quintessentially Swiss – pretty wooden chalets, spring flowers and dairy cows happily grazing in the lush pastures.
The train began to climb again up to the higher pastures and the famous Swiss skiing town of Gstaad. It was out of season for the jet set skiers and a little early for the summer hiking season, so the town appeared very quiet, but basking in the glorious spring sunshine. By now, we’d crossed the Roestigraben (Roesti Ditch), the colloquial term for the division between the French and German speaking parts of Switzerland. Gstaad is part of the Canton of Bern – we had said goodbye to the French speaking Vaud.
A quick and efficient change onto our new train at Zweisimmen took us the last 40 minutes or so to the pretty lakeside town of Spiez – our home from home for the next few days.
If you are very lucky, you can ride on one of the Belle Epoque Pullman coaches that run on the Montreux / Zweisimmen leg (check the Golden Pass timetable for running times here). With their beautiful plush seats and polished wood ceilings, they transport you back to a bygone era. Unfortunately we didn’t get to ride on them on our recent trip, but by complete chance managed to do so on a previous trip back in 2011. Photos from the vaults here!
We have done the Golden Pass journey all the way once before, as well as several rides on part of the line and it’s probably one of our favourite Swiss train rides – all scheduled services, no need to book in advance!
We arrived early afternoon in Spiez. The station is at the top of the hill and our apartment was down by the lake. Not wanting to incur the expense of a taxi, we hauled our luggage partly by bus and partly by foot down the hill – suffice to say, the slight inconvenience was well worth it when we arrived at our little apartment. Our view for the next few days was priceless to say the least!
View of the little harbour at Spiez
Copyright © 2017 Rosemary Thomas Le Chic En Rose. All rights reserved
Le Chic En Rose 
What a wonderful destination! 🙂 🙂 You’ve done pretty with your views from the train, Rosemay. I’m impressed!
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Thanks Jo! Yes it’s a certainly a beautiful part of the world – Spiez is a gem of a place 🙂 I was really determined to get some photos of the Swiss cows – it took me ages as the train kept whizzing past them but I got some in the end. A bit of sun glare but it’s so hard to avoid the reflection in the window – gives you an impression of the journey though 🙂
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That’s some view! Beautiful. Lovely journey too – I’m not a big fan of train travel, but that’s based on the British experience…..
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The scenery was magnificent and it’s very relaxing just riding along watching it all from the train. Swiss rail travel is a very different experience – it’s all so well organised and comfortable. Of course there are far fewer people as well, which helps 🙂
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It is no surprise why Switzerland has some of the most beautiful train rides in the world. A small country but packed full of stunning scenery. Thanks for another beautiful train ride😄
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Glad you enjoyed the journey Gilda! Yes the scenery is wonderful – the Swiss certainly have constructed some amazing railway lines through the mountains and valleys 🙂
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What a delightful train and journey 🙂
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Thanks Ruth – it certainly is a lovely train ride through stunning scenery 🙂
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Just wow. This is something I would love to experience. Maybe when the kids get a bit older so they will appreciate it!
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It’s a fabulous journey Ting – can highly recommend! As you say something maybe to do when the kids are a bit older. Of course you can plan your own route and stop off wherever you like along the way. It’s not like the Glacier Express, for example, where you have to pre book and go all the way along the route (though sometimes you can get on the train on the day along the route if there are seats available). The Golden Pass, on the other hand, runs several times a day in both directions and is used by locals too as it is their local train not solely a tourist route! 🙂
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We spent a week in Interlaken when our son was two and spent a day in Thun and Spiez, cruising between the two – I loved it Rosemary and so nice to revisit in your post. We travelled everywhere by train in Switzerland and never failed to be impressed. Didn’t know about those posh coaches though – that would be quite something!
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The posh coaches didn’t cost any extra either Joy – we were just lucky to turn up at the time they were running! Glad to bring back happy memories – the Thun/Spiez area is a particular favourite of ours with the stunning lake and
alpine scenery and old world charm of the buildings. We love the Swiss trains – the transport system is amazing, so punctual, clean and efficient and you get transported to all these amazing places! 🙂
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