The Grand Train Tour of Switzerland, Explained
What the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland is: SBB's eight-day Original and seven-day Classic on the panoramic trains, what a Swiss Travel Pass covers on it, and how it differs from a day trip.
The Grand Train Tour of Switzerland is a holiday on the country’s panoramic trains, not a single train and not a day trip. SBB, the Swiss Federal Railways, sells it in two versions: The Original, an eight-day journey, and The Classic, a seven-day journey “on Switzerland’s most spectacular panoramic trains” (sbb.ch, checked November 2026).
What it is
Switzerland has several panoramic trains, each a line of its own: the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz, the Bernina Express from Chur and St. Moritz to Tirano, the Gotthard Panorama Express, which combines boat and train, and the GoldenPass Express between Montreux and Lucerne. The Grand Train Tour strings several of them into one journey of a week or so.
SBB describes its multi-day trips as travel “along the most beautiful rail routes in Switzerland” on the Glacier Express, the Bernina Express or the Gotthard Panorama Express. SBB’s page does not list the stops or the distance of either version.
The two panoramic lines in the south
The two lines that meet at St. Moritz are the ones most people mean by a Swiss Alps train.
- The Glacier Express takes about 8 hours from Zermatt to St. Moritz, over 291 bridges and through 91 tunnels, and its highest point is the Oberalp Pass at 2,033 m (glacierexpress.ch). It does not run between 11 October and 4 December 2026.
- The Bernina Express takes about 4 hours from Chur to Tirano and about 2 hours 15 minutes from St. Moritz to Tirano. Its panoramic cars need a valid ticket and a mandatory seat reservation (rhb.ch). Regional red trains run the same line more often, with regular coaches and windows that open, on a ticket alone.
The Rhaetian Railway’s Albula and Bernina lines have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since July 2008.
Tickets and the Swiss Travel Pass
A train holiday like this can be travelled on a pass. SBB’s Swiss Travel Pass gives unlimited travel by train, bus and boat, “and on panoramic trains (excluding seat reservation and/or surcharge)”, for 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 consecutive days, from CHF 254 in 2nd class and CHF 405 in 1st. The Flex version lets you choose the travel days within one month, from CHF 289 in 2nd class and CHF 461 in 1st (sbb.ch, checked November 2026).
So a Pass pays for the travel and not the panoramic seats: each panoramic train’s reservation is a separate purchase.
How a day trip differs
A day trip gives you one line, not a tour of the country. From Milan, that line is the Bernina: a coach to Tirano, two and a half hours on the regional red train to St. Moritz, and the coach back, 11 hours in all on Milano Art Discovery’s day. You see the Bernina Pass, Alp Grüm and the Palü Glacier and an hour and a half of St. Moritz; you do not see Zermatt, the Oberalp Pass or the lakes of central Switzerland.
If one day is what you have, the Milan day gives you the Bernina line, from US$166 a person (checked November 2026).
See dates for the one-day tour
If you have a week, the Grand Train Tour or a Pass of your own will show you far more, and one day or a week by rail sets the two side by side.
Book Your Experience
Check Availability & Prices
Pick a date on the calendar. Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.
Only Have One Day?
The Bernina red train day from Milan: coach to Tirano, the train to St. Moritz and back the same evening, with a guide. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Check dates