Latest news with #InspiringVacations
News.com.au
6 days ago
- News.com.au
Travel Tuesday: Qatar Airways, Inspiring Vacations, Luxury Escapes, Myer
Prime Day might be done and dusted, but there's plenty of other fabulous travel deals running about this week. Those seeking cheap Euro and UK flights can cash in on low season seats with Qatar Airways. You'll have to fly between November 5 and December 2, 2025 but when you do you stand to pay as little as $1469 to get to London. Those fares depart from Perth though from Sydney and Melbourne it's still a bargain at under $1700 return. Flights into Europe are also available, starting at $1820 return for similar dates. For all of us procrastinators out there, Inspiring Vacations have done us a favour and extended its up to 20 per cent off all tour styles until July 24. From classic and small group tours to private tours and luxurious Platinum marked tours, wherever you've got your eye on you'll be saving a bundle. Love the idea of luxury for less? That's where Luxury Escapes comes in. They've brought back some bestsellers to get you to paradise for less, including 51 per cent off the all-inclusive Ayodya Resort Bali where $1719 will score you a room for two for five nights, as well as all-day dining, unlimited free-flow drinks, yoga classes and daily cultural activities. Locally, if you've been eyeing a Tassie getaway, stays at Freycinet Lodge have been slashed by 78 per cent, down to $599 for two nights and includes daily breakfast, midday checkout and $100 in dining credit. On the hunt for cheap flights? is giving lucky Aussies a chance to score seats between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane from $29 a pop. It starts at 2pm AEST on July 22 (mark your calendars!). Mix & Match is also running a short deal on flights to Asia taking $75 off all return trips between now and November 30 when you use the code FLYASIA75. If you're feeling the chill now's the ideal time to update your winter wardrobe with Myer taking up to 50 per cent off winter essentials. Already in our carts is this gorgeous Basque Longline Double Breasted Coat which is half price at $114.98 (was $229.95), these cute UGG Candice Cow Suede Boots, $128 (was $160) and this sleek Reserve Jayden Micromoss Jacket, $49.98 (down from $99.95). Families taking the kids along for the ride can cash in on Babybee's stellar sale which gets you up to $200 off prams, baby essentials and car seats. As part of this, the new Joey baby carrier is $50 less and my favourite Miles travel pram is $100 off. Finally, for your beauty bag Smilie is slinging up to 50 per cent off its best-selling teeth whitening products, Bescher Beauty is running up to $88 in savings with bundles and Lotte Duty Free has up to 30 per cent off beauty multi-buys. We'll be updating this article as new travel deals drop. In the meantime, scroll down for all the best that you can book right now. Jump to: Please note: Prices are correct and products in stock at time of publishing. We'll do our best to keep this story updated, but be aware products move fast during sales events. EDITOR'S PICKS Inspiring Vacations Luxury Escapes Myer Qatar Airways London flights from $1469 return. Travel from November 11 to December 2, 2025 Europe flights from $1820 return. Travel from November 11 to December 2, 2025 The Iconic 25 per cent off when you spend $80 20 per cent off when you spend $60 Further 30 per cent off selected items Samsonite Upscape 75cm in Stone Grey, $262.50 (down from $525) Samsonite City Rhythm Spinner 78cm Expandable, $249.50 (down from $499) Celebrity Cruises Up to $500 off per room, plus up to 75 per cent off for second guests in the same stateroom. Sale ends July 21. $29 flights between Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Starts 2pm AEST July 22. Limited seats only. Up to 20 per cent off hotels for first-time customers Escape Deals 5 per cent off sitewide. Use code ILOVEESCAPE. First time customers only. ArtVo Immersive Gallery Experience, from $35.10 (down from $43.17) Drift Thelu Veliga Retreat Maldives stay, four nights form $3848 for two adults. Includes daily breakfast and dinner, speedboat transfer and wifi. Babybee Smilie Up to 50 per cent off Mid-Year sale Smilie On-the-go Whitening Pen, $24 (down from $29) Smilie Boost Teeth Whitening Kit, $119 (down from $219) Indie Boho $10 off dog booster seats with code BOOSTER10 Lotte Duty Free Earn 2 Qantas Frequent Flyer Points for every $1 spent 30 per cent off selected beauty multibuys BEST HOTEL DEALS Save up to 20 per cent on stays worldwide. Book by September 30, 2025. Up to 15 per cent off car rentals for Genius members W Melbourne Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay Oaks Westin Melbourne From Stage Lights to City Lights Package, from $580 per room. Includes upgrade to a Deluxe Room, two A Reserve tickets to 'Beetlejuice The Musical', show program, welcome drinks and 2pm late check-out. Wotif At least 25 per cent off selected winter stays with Mates Rates Up to 35 per cent off daily deals Traveloka Up to $80 off hotels. Use code HELLOTRAVELOKA Expedia At least 20 per cent off last-minute weekend stays Hamilton Island Up to 10 per cent off when you book with a non-refundable deposit Heart Island Adventure Package, three nights from $4024 for two adults. Includes accommodation in a Garden View Room, daily breakfast, Journey to the Heart tour for two and airport/marina transfers. Best of the Whitsundays package, three nights from $2338 for two adults. Includes accommodation in a Garden View Room, daily breakfast, day trip to the Great Barrier Reef, half-day trip to Whitehaven Beach, weekly pass to Hamilton Island Wildlife and airport/marina transfers. Romantic Escape package, three nights from $1882 for two adults. Includes accommodation in a Garden View Room, daily breakfast, bottle of sparkling on arrival, one three-course set dinner, twilight sailing of the Whitsundays and airport/marina transfers. qualia Couple's Indulgence package, three nights from $5880 for two adults. Includes accommodation in a Leeward Pavilion, one sunset cruise, gourmet picnic, daily breakfast, non-alcoholic beverages, one gourmet dinner, VIP marine or airport transfers and buggy hire for your stay. Family Whitsundays Adventure, three nights from $2338 for two adults. Kids stay and eat free. Also includes accommodation in a Garden View Room, daily breakfast, day trip to the Great Barrier Reef, half-day trip to Whitehaven Beach, weekly pass to Hamilton Island Wildlife and return airport or marina transfers. Marriott Bonvoy BEST FLIGHT DEALS Mix & Match Etihad Airways Malaysia Airlines Virgin Australia Flight Centre Bali flights from $293 return on Jetstar Paris flights from $1484 return on Vietnam Airlines Hawaiian Airlines Hawaii flights from $998 return Los Angeles flights from $1710 return Skyscanner Last-minute flights from $75 Emirates Christchurch flights from $729 return London flights from $2019 return BEST LUGGAGE DEALS Samsonite 40 per cent off when you spend $299 30 per cent off when you spend $149 Antler 30 per cent off when you spend $199 Up to 50 per cent off sale luggage American Tourister 40 per cent off when you spend $250 30 per cent off when you spend $100 Strandbags Monos 10 per cent off bestsellers Up to $150 off luggage sets July Free shipping on orders $100 or more Save up to $125 on luggage sets Bellroy Shop The Outlet: Up to 30 per cent off Zoomlite 15 per cent off when you buy two or more Glide Cases BEST EXPERIENCE DEALS SEA LIFE Sydney, WILD LIFE Sydney and Madame Tussauds Sydney 2 for 1 attractions, from $55. Available between July 5 and July 21, 2025. Must book online with at least one day in advance. Klook At least 10 per cent off Australia and NZ experiences Up to 20 per cent off selected Thailand experiences. Use code ECO20THAILAND Up to 15 per cent off sitewide. Valid for Mastercard World and World Elite Consume Cards Experience Oz RedBalloon 15 per cent off gift vouchers. Use code WINTER15 Discounted experiences $50 off when you subscribe for emails Adrenaline Traveloka 10 per cent off activities with code WINTERSALE50. Maximum savings of $100. BEST DEALS ON TRAVEL ACCESSORIES AND GADGETS Amazon Australia Mon Purse Personalised Leather Passport Holder, $64 (down from $80) Trtl Zoomlite BEST TRAVEL FASHION AND BEAUTY DEALS Boody Up to 25 per cent off bundles Up to 70 per cent off sale Bescher Beauty Lululemon Amazon Australia Lovehoney Up to 70 per cent off sale stock Lorna Jane BEST TOUR, CAR HIRE AND CRUISE DEALS AAT Kings Last-minute deals Up to $2200 air credit per couple on selected tours Europcar Escape Deals Luxury Escapes Wendy Wu Up to $2000 off per person on 2026 and 2027 tours Trafalgar Tours Up to 20 per cent off last minute deals 10 per cent off selected early bird 2026 tours Contiki Last-minute deals Up to $1275 off Ultimate trips $250 off Australia tours with the code GOAUS25 Insight Vacations Up to 20 per cent off last minute deals 10 per cent off early bird 2026 tours See also: -
Sydney Morning Herald
05-07-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Twelve days on trains in one of the world's most spectacular destinations
This article is part of Traveller's Holiday Guide to train journeys. See all stories. My Grand Train Tour of Switzerland effectively begins in earnest, not as you might expect on a stretch of silvery, standard-gauge track tracing a precipitous route along the edge of some stunning mountainside, but instead atop the turquoise waters of a mighty lake. No, there hasn't been any unfortunate rail mishap. I'm safely aboard not a train but a magnificently preserved vintage steamship, its gigantic splish-splashing red paddle wheels spinning across this enchanting expanse of water even more wildly than an Oval Office mouthpiece. The steamer, and the lake itself, is dwarfed by soaring peaks, their summits still dreamily spattered by the remnants of winter snow, converging from the cloudless heavens on this late spring day to the glimmering surface of the water. In a few hours or so of churning across Lake Lucerne (Switzerland's fourth largest), those aboard the venerable vessel, the Stadt Luzern, will rendezvous with the Gotthard Panorama Express, one of the iconic tourist trains which form this tour. It will be awaiting us, we're assured, at the lakeside village of Fluelen. Despite the fact an actual train is conspicuous by its absence on this dazzling, waterborne beginning of my 12-day Inspiring Vacations independent train odyssey, this truly is a grand start to a near fortnight-long journey around this fabled central European nation of spectacular mountains, lakes and, yes, railways. All the main railways featured – mostly red-painted tourist trains designed purely for pleasure – on the itinerary form not only the 1280 kilometres of the tour's official route but what may represent the world's biggest toy train set. Each of the principal trains, the Gotthard Panorama Express, the Bernina Express, the Glacier Express and the GoldenPass Express – none of which are 'express' in the truest sense, but, hey, what's the hurry? – feature glass-domed carriages that afford maximum viewing of guaranteed unsurpassed scenery. Add to that, meals, snacks and drinks on request, all served directly to your plush first- or second-class seat by cheery attendants. Frankly, the only item missing onboard these transports of scenic delights is a thesaurus to assist in searching for fresh superlatives as each passenger struggles to describe the next all-enveloping breathtaking sight from their slow-moving glass and steel capsule. While the trains remain the drawcard of any grand train tour, the overnight or longer stops offer time to explore several of Switzerland's most charming cities, towns and villages. Every journey has a beginning and, the real and only slightly less romantic start to this rail tour is in the north, in Zurich, Switzerland's largest city which is also surprisingly easygoing, having shed its stiff banker image. I depart from Zurich Hauptbahnhof, its grand central station which is also one of Europe's oldest railway terminals, dating to 1847. Zurich Hauptbahnhof is also one of the continent's busiest. To meet the Gotthard Panorama Express, the first of the class trains on the itinerary, we must take a scheduled service to the city of Lucerne, 52 minutes south, via a rather prosaic double-decker train that departs every half hour or so, a fine frequency for a country of only 9 million people. There are even faster services, but I elect for the longer one, so I can savour my first encounter with the Swiss landscape along the way. I've made time, too, before my departure from Zurich Hauptbahnhof for a traditional hearty Germanic-like lunch at the cavernous Brasserie Federal, inside the station and across from its famed Swiss railway clock meeting point. In my carriage are a young Canadian couple trying not to sound or look American. Neophyte Switzerland visitors like me, the couple are struggling to find a spot to store their luggage (a common problem on Swiss trains). The wife ends up having to awkwardly squeeze her suitcase in the seat space between herself and a giant of a man barking loudly in Russian on his mobile. After a day in Lucerne, where a pair of covered medieval bridges cross the river that runs through it, I'm on Lake Lucerne aboard the Stadt Luzern. From the steamship's stern, a colossal red and white Swiss ensign furls and unfurls in the breeze under brilliantly blue skies as we approach the transfer point for the Gotthard Panorama Express. For almost the whole 30-kilometre passage across the lake from Lucerne, luxuriantly vegetated mountains form a backdrop for its crystalline waters; chief among them is the almost perfectly triangular Mount Pilatus at 2128 metres (only a smidgen lower than Australia's highest mountain), which seems to follow the steamer for much of our voyage. After a few hours on the lake, it's time to transfer to the waiting Gotthard Panorama Express for the 2½-hour journey to Lugano. Except for the day-long Glacier Express ahead of me, all the journeys on the prestige tourist trains are relatively brief by world standards, but the terrain encountered en route makes each one genuinely unforgettable. Yet, curiously enough, the Gotthard Panorama Express is almost as much about its no-view tunnels as it is about the sort of views you come to expect from a visit to Switzerland. Indeed, in a country famous for its tunnel vision, the sober Swiss are justifiably renowned for their boring skills, and it's not too long before the Gotthard Panorama Express is plunged into darkness (or, at least, the outside is), as we enter the tunnel from which it partly borrows its name. We're passing through one of three of the Gotthard complex of tunnels, namely the historic, 15-kilometre Gotthard Railway Tunnel, a marvel of engineering which opened in 1882 after a decade of construction. A century later, the Gotthard Road Tunnel, 17 kilometres in length, followed, with the final member of this subterranean trio, the 57-kilometre Gotthard Base Tunnel opened in 2016, allowing virtually seamless travel through, rather than across, Europe's tallest peaks, from one end of the continent to another. During the Gotthard Panorama Express' passage through the original tunnel the train intentionally slows to a crawl as the story of how it was built is related over the PA, complete with the sound effects of a tool, wielded by the mostly imported Italian labour of the day, chipping away at a rock. While passengers are purposefully kept in the dark for periods of the journey, there's no shortage of scenery beyond the myriad tunnels, with some of the most spectacular views emerging when the Gotthard Panorama Express nears the village of Wassen, distinguished by its centrepiece Baroque church. It's here the train descends from the direction of Lucerne in a tight double-loop, allowing passengers to view the aforementioned village and its church three times and to gaze down on it from about 1000 metres, only 100 metres or so shy of the highest point of the journey at Airolo. It pays to prepare yourself, cameras poised, around these parts for the quirkiest moment of the trip. Furthermore, it's around here that a Swiss couple, twice daily and apparently without fail, emerge from their alpine château waving two giant Swiss flags as a form of greeting and goodwill to the train and its manifest of passengers from around the globe. At Lugano, in Switzerland's south, where the Gotthard Panorama Express has almost magically transported us in the late afternoon, it's time to swap the guten tags of German-speaking Switzerland to b uon pomeriggio, in the Italian-language part of the country. Early the next morning there's time, but not all that much of it, to explore a little of Lugano before we need to board the Bernina Express. Lugano has a gorgeous lakeside promenade leading to an equally appealing old town with Bolognese-style porticoes. We have breakfast at Grand Cafe Al Porto, renowned for its chocolates and pastries, which opened its doors in 1803. But there's no time for a second cappuccino because to reach a waiting Bernina Express in the town of Tirano, we need to take the train fancier's worst fear – a positively unromantic connecting coach. Yet, as it eventuates, the three-hour route is spectacular (there goes that word again) since it traverses the glorious shores of Lake Como, aka George Clooney country; a cameo into Italian territory before re-entering Switzerland proper. Almost immediately after it departs Tirano on its 122-kilometre, four-hour journey, the Bernina Express begins its climb to its highest point of 2253 metres at Ospizio Bernina, from where it descends, affording breathtaking valley and village vistas, for the remainder of the trip to St Moritz. Before that, the train must negotiate a network of elaborate bridges and viaducts including the Brusio spiral, a single-track stone railway viaduct on the World Heritage-listed Bernina Railway. It's all part of an early 20th-century engineering feat that's one of the most photographed sections of the whole Swiss railway network. Climbing ever higher, the train pauses at the station at the 2091-metre Alp Grum, allowing passengers to momentarily de-train, as they say, to savour views of the Val Poschiavo, the Swiss valley famed for organic farming, and of the 3.5-kilometre Palu Glacier. Before we know it, the conductor sounds an all-aboard bell on the platform, and we're off again. While there's not much snow left here at in this latter end of spring, a bit higher up, at Ospizio Bernina, it's a post-winter wonderland, with lakes still frozen and the summits of peaks blanketed in snow, offering an exciting sense of what it must be like to ride these frosty rails in the winter months. ST MORITZ TO ZERMATT – The Glacier Express Even the Swiss make light of the slow pace of its most fabled tourist train, leading one to wonder why it wasn't dubbed the Glacial Express rather than the Glacier Express. No matter. The only haste here is to the expansive windows of one's train carriage to secure a snap, or these days an Instagram video, of the latest natural wonder on the opposite side of the regrettably glary glass. The Glacier Express consumes a whole day to traverse 291 bridges and pass through 91 tunnels on its tantalising trundle between St Moritz and Zermatt, Switzerland's two most glamorous winter and summer alpine retreats. Along its way and with summer approaching, the Glacier Express passes meadows filled with bell-wearing bovines. A veritable Swiss shag pile of yellow and purple wildflowers spreads out below the impossibly perfect white and grey, ever-pervasive snowcapped peaks. The extended duration of the Glacier Express allows time for a hot al carte meal, even in second class, served at your seat as some of the world's most appetising panoramas are revealed. With the menu declaring 'the 'world's slowest express train' does not serve fast food', I order the yellow pea soup, a main of Swiss macaroni with beef accompanied by a side of apple sauce (well, this is Switzerland), and a traditional local nut cake for dessert, all accompanied by a glass of excellent Swiss pinot noir. If I'd had a second, or even third, glass of that drop I may have even been tempted to scrawl on the menu, ' das Leben ist schön im Glacier Express' (or 'Life is good on the Glacier Express'). As my airline-style foldaway table is cleared, the Glacier Express pushes onwards and for that matter, upwards, to this leg's highest point, Oberalp Pass, at an elevation of 2033 metres. But that's positively puny, at least by Swiss standards, compared to the Gornergrat Heritage Railway, the rack railway you can take – when too many trains are never enough – from a station in the middle of the train's final destination, Zermatt. Dating to the late 19th century, it climbs to an altitude of 3098 metres above sea level. On clear days there are views of more than two dozen peaks rising above 4000 metres, including the mighty Matterhorn at 4478 metres. After an overnight stay in Zermatt, where, from the balcony of my hotel room, I can just make out the tell-tale form of the Matterhorn, wrapped, like a veiled dancer, in wispy cumulous, I take a regular passenger service from an altitude of 1620 metres all the way down to the Lake Geneva-side city of Montreux, at 375 metres. Famed for its annual jazz festival and palm trees that line the lakefront, it's from Montreux that the grand tour connects to the GoldenPass Express. But not all the grandest sights on this tour can be viewed from a slow-moving train while in Montreux, so I take a short bus ride from the city centre to Chillon Castle. Built on a rocky island a backdrop of mountains, this so-called water castle is the most visited historic building in Switzerland. Chillon was the residence and toll station of the Counts of Savoy between the 12th and 16th centuries. At the less lovely Montreux railway station, a gleaming French navy rather Swiss regulation red, GoldenPass Express awaits its passengers. This is the train, which when launched in 2022, allowed for the creation of the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland and the cannily conceived continuous journey from Zurich and return. The GoldenPass Express delivers passengers to Interlaken through the Bernese Alps and via Gstaad, an exclusive resort town beloved of the too rich and too famous (from the train, look out for the Louis Vuitton outlet in the traditional burnished timber Swiss chalet-like building by the track). If the Swiss scenery gods are co-operating, there are mountain vistas to be enjoyed all the way on this journey of three hours, 15 minutes over 115 kilometres, with the loftiest point on the route being Saanenmoser, a high mountain pass at 1274 metres. Alas, on this day those peaks and their summits are concealed behind low-hanging cloud, leaving a still captivating view the entire way of pea-green (as opposed to yellow pea) Swiss farmlands full of indigenous simmentals, each sporting 'treicheln' and 'glocken' (cow-bells), that tinkling symbol of bucolic Switzerland. After descending the alps, the final stretch of the GoldenPass Express journey, the line traces the southern edge of Lake Thun with our final destination, the touristic Interlaken, announced by a cute, preemptive strike of a cowbell over the train's PA. INTERLAKEN-JUNGFRAUJOCH-ZURICH – The Top of Europe cog railway By the penultimate day of the tour, I'm running out of both railway lines and lines in this account of the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland. Nonetheless, it remains necessary to take three more trains to reach what is by far the highest point of the trip in every sense. I'm en route to Jungfraujoch, which at 3454 metres is billed as the 'top of Europe'. This mountain pass is home to the highest railway, and for that matter, train station on the continent, with its peak, Jungrau, rising another 704 metres. To reach Jungfraujoch, I train it by the regular service to the alpine village of Lauterbrunnen and change, due to the abrupt rise in altitude from here, to a rack railway, at Klein Scheideggg, at 2061 metres. From there a final change of trains is required when I connect to the 40-minute ride aboard the rather miraculous cogwheel railway. Almost all of this section of the journey is in a tunnel carved deep inside the mountain. By the time you reach what is today one of Switzerland's premier tourists attractions and where, even in summer, outside temperatures can be well below freezing, you'll encounter a kind of Swiss-style Disney on Ice. It's a lot of fun. Loading Here at Jungraujoch is where that 'international Australian' George Lazenby shot scenes from the James Bond instalment, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The main structure on the summit features in the movie, along with restaurants and cafés, both the planet's highest Lindt chocolate outlet and watch shop. Well, this is Switzerland. As I venture outside onto the icy so-called Sphinx observation deck, excited, puffer-jacketed tourists are in a selfie-frenzy, even though, with late spring snow falling and the temperature reading minus 10, there is not a single mountain visible. Yet on this highest point of a grand train tour of Switzerland brimful of scenic highlights, it's still sufficiently impressive to leave me again wishing I'd popped a copy of a superlative-inducing Roget's in my frozen day pack. Five tips for an even smoother ride Adopt a pack mentality Swiss trains, a little like their Japanese counterparts, don't have abundant space for luggage. Be one of the first to board to secure luggage rack space. Remember to pack warm items of clothing, even in summer. Food, ingloriously expensive food Even their fellow Europeans consider Switzerland expensive to visit with the Swiss franc valued even higher than the euro. Food is one of the biggest expenses of any visit, so if you want to save pennies, tuck into those inclusive pre-train journey hotel breakfast buffets and look out for fixed-price lunches. No drama panoramas If you don't find yourself on the right side of the train carriage for views don't obsess about it. Switzerland's scenic tourist trains are glass-domed to maximise viewing, with the Gotthard Panorama Express even boasting its own dedicated 'fotowagen' carriage where windows can be opened for photography. Be sure to clock on You'll never be lost for time in Switzerland as every single railway station features its own classic Swiss railway clock with a graphic black, white and face which has been adapted to luxury wristwatches that have sold in the millions. Of course, in a nation renowned for its timeless efficiency, never, ever be late for your train. The details Loading Tour Inspiring Vacations ' 12-day independent Grand Train Tour of Switzerland includes journeys aboard four of the nation's most famous scenic alpine trains, as well as a pilgrimage to Europe's highest railway station. Along the way the itinerary encompasses classic Swiss cities and towns such as Zurich, Lucerne, Lugano, St Moritz, Zermatt, Montreux and Interlaken. Book The tour costs from $6445 a person (airfares not included), based on independent travel in 2026 (with a limited number of departures remaining for the rest of this year). The price includes all rail arrangements within Switzerland, guest cards in Zurich, Lucerne, Lugano, Montreux and Interlaken, providing free local transport and discounted shopping, and 11 nights in quality three-star accommodation with breakfast daily. A 12-day Grand Train Tour of Switzerland with Ultimate Rail Upgrades from $8795 a person (airfares not included) with all of the above inclusions and quality four-star accommodation. See
The Age
05-07-2025
- The Age
Twelve days on trains in one of the world's most spectacular destinations
This article is part of Traveller's Holiday Guide to train journeys. See all stories. My Grand Train Tour of Switzerland effectively begins in earnest, not as you might expect on a stretch of silvery, standard-gauge track tracing a precipitous route along the edge of some stunning mountainside, but instead atop the turquoise waters of a mighty lake. No, there hasn't been any unfortunate rail mishap. I'm safely aboard not a train but a magnificently preserved vintage steamship, its gigantic splish-splashing red paddle wheels spinning across this enchanting expanse of water even more wildly than an Oval Office mouthpiece. The steamer, and the lake itself, is dwarfed by soaring peaks, their summits still dreamily spattered by the remnants of winter snow, converging from the cloudless heavens on this late spring day to the glimmering surface of the water. In a few hours or so of churning across Lake Lucerne (Switzerland's fourth largest), those aboard the venerable vessel, the Stadt Luzern, will rendezvous with the Gotthard Panorama Express, one of the iconic tourist trains which form this tour. It will be awaiting us, we're assured, at the lakeside village of Fluelen. Despite the fact an actual train is conspicuous by its absence on this dazzling, waterborne beginning of my 12-day Inspiring Vacations independent train odyssey, this truly is a grand start to a near fortnight-long journey around this fabled central European nation of spectacular mountains, lakes and, yes, railways. All the main railways featured – mostly red-painted tourist trains designed purely for pleasure – on the itinerary form not only the 1280 kilometres of the tour's official route but what may represent the world's biggest toy train set. Each of the principal trains, the Gotthard Panorama Express, the Bernina Express, the Glacier Express and the GoldenPass Express – none of which are 'express' in the truest sense, but, hey, what's the hurry? – feature glass-domed carriages that afford maximum viewing of guaranteed unsurpassed scenery. Add to that, meals, snacks and drinks on request, all served directly to your plush first- or second-class seat by cheery attendants. Frankly, the only item missing onboard these transports of scenic delights is a thesaurus to assist in searching for fresh superlatives as each passenger struggles to describe the next all-enveloping breathtaking sight from their slow-moving glass and steel capsule. While the trains remain the drawcard of any grand train tour, the overnight or longer stops offer time to explore several of Switzerland's most charming cities, towns and villages. Every journey has a beginning and, the real and only slightly less romantic start to this rail tour is in the north, in Zurich, Switzerland's largest city which is also surprisingly easygoing, having shed its stiff banker image. I depart from Zurich Hauptbahnhof, its grand central station which is also one of Europe's oldest railway terminals, dating to 1847. Zurich Hauptbahnhof is also one of the continent's busiest. To meet the Gotthard Panorama Express, the first of the class trains on the itinerary, we must take a scheduled service to the city of Lucerne, 52 minutes south, via a rather prosaic double-decker train that departs every half hour or so, a fine frequency for a country of only 9 million people. There are even faster services, but I elect for the longer one, so I can savour my first encounter with the Swiss landscape along the way. I've made time, too, before my departure from Zurich Hauptbahnhof for a traditional hearty Germanic-like lunch at the cavernous Brasserie Federal, inside the station and across from its famed Swiss railway clock meeting point. In my carriage are a young Canadian couple trying not to sound or look American. Neophyte Switzerland visitors like me, the couple are struggling to find a spot to store their luggage (a common problem on Swiss trains). The wife ends up having to awkwardly squeeze her suitcase in the seat space between herself and a giant of a man barking loudly in Russian on his mobile. After a day in Lucerne, where a pair of covered medieval bridges cross the river that runs through it, I'm on Lake Lucerne aboard the Stadt Luzern. From the steamship's stern, a colossal red and white Swiss ensign furls and unfurls in the breeze under brilliantly blue skies as we approach the transfer point for the Gotthard Panorama Express. For almost the whole 30-kilometre passage across the lake from Lucerne, luxuriantly vegetated mountains form a backdrop for its crystalline waters; chief among them is the almost perfectly triangular Mount Pilatus at 2128 metres (only a smidgen lower than Australia's highest mountain), which seems to follow the steamer for much of our voyage. After a few hours on the lake, it's time to transfer to the waiting Gotthard Panorama Express for the 2½-hour journey to Lugano. Except for the day-long Glacier Express ahead of me, all the journeys on the prestige tourist trains are relatively brief by world standards, but the terrain encountered en route makes each one genuinely unforgettable. Yet, curiously enough, the Gotthard Panorama Express is almost as much about its no-view tunnels as it is about the sort of views you come to expect from a visit to Switzerland. Indeed, in a country famous for its tunnel vision, the sober Swiss are justifiably renowned for their boring skills, and it's not too long before the Gotthard Panorama Express is plunged into darkness (or, at least, the outside is), as we enter the tunnel from which it partly borrows its name. We're passing through one of three of the Gotthard complex of tunnels, namely the historic, 15-kilometre Gotthard Railway Tunnel, a marvel of engineering which opened in 1882 after a decade of construction. A century later, the Gotthard Road Tunnel, 17 kilometres in length, followed, with the final member of this subterranean trio, the 57-kilometre Gotthard Base Tunnel opened in 2016, allowing virtually seamless travel through, rather than across, Europe's tallest peaks, from one end of the continent to another. During the Gotthard Panorama Express' passage through the original tunnel the train intentionally slows to a crawl as the story of how it was built is related over the PA, complete with the sound effects of a tool, wielded by the mostly imported Italian labour of the day, chipping away at a rock. While passengers are purposefully kept in the dark for periods of the journey, there's no shortage of scenery beyond the myriad tunnels, with some of the most spectacular views emerging when the Gotthard Panorama Express nears the village of Wassen, distinguished by its centrepiece Baroque church. It's here the train descends from the direction of Lucerne in a tight double-loop, allowing passengers to view the aforementioned village and its church three times and to gaze down on it from about 1000 metres, only 100 metres or so shy of the highest point of the journey at Airolo. It pays to prepare yourself, cameras poised, around these parts for the quirkiest moment of the trip. Furthermore, it's around here that a Swiss couple, twice daily and apparently without fail, emerge from their alpine château waving two giant Swiss flags as a form of greeting and goodwill to the train and its manifest of passengers from around the globe. At Lugano, in Switzerland's south, where the Gotthard Panorama Express has almost magically transported us in the late afternoon, it's time to swap the guten tags of German-speaking Switzerland to b uon pomeriggio, in the Italian-language part of the country. Early the next morning there's time, but not all that much of it, to explore a little of Lugano before we need to board the Bernina Express. Lugano has a gorgeous lakeside promenade leading to an equally appealing old town with Bolognese-style porticoes. We have breakfast at Grand Cafe Al Porto, renowned for its chocolates and pastries, which opened its doors in 1803. But there's no time for a second cappuccino because to reach a waiting Bernina Express in the town of Tirano, we need to take the train fancier's worst fear – a positively unromantic connecting coach. Yet, as it eventuates, the three-hour route is spectacular (there goes that word again) since it traverses the glorious shores of Lake Como, aka George Clooney country; a cameo into Italian territory before re-entering Switzerland proper. Almost immediately after it departs Tirano on its 122-kilometre, four-hour journey, the Bernina Express begins its climb to its highest point of 2253 metres at Ospizio Bernina, from where it descends, affording breathtaking valley and village vistas, for the remainder of the trip to St Moritz. Before that, the train must negotiate a network of elaborate bridges and viaducts including the Brusio spiral, a single-track stone railway viaduct on the World Heritage-listed Bernina Railway. It's all part of an early 20th-century engineering feat that's one of the most photographed sections of the whole Swiss railway network. Climbing ever higher, the train pauses at the station at the 2091-metre Alp Grum, allowing passengers to momentarily de-train, as they say, to savour views of the Val Poschiavo, the Swiss valley famed for organic farming, and of the 3.5-kilometre Palu Glacier. Before we know it, the conductor sounds an all-aboard bell on the platform, and we're off again. While there's not much snow left here at in this latter end of spring, a bit higher up, at Ospizio Bernina, it's a post-winter wonderland, with lakes still frozen and the summits of peaks blanketed in snow, offering an exciting sense of what it must be like to ride these frosty rails in the winter months. ST MORITZ TO ZERMATT – The Glacier Express Even the Swiss make light of the slow pace of its most fabled tourist train, leading one to wonder why it wasn't dubbed the Glacial Express rather than the Glacier Express. No matter. The only haste here is to the expansive windows of one's train carriage to secure a snap, or these days an Instagram video, of the latest natural wonder on the opposite side of the regrettably glary glass. The Glacier Express consumes a whole day to traverse 291 bridges and pass through 91 tunnels on its tantalising trundle between St Moritz and Zermatt, Switzerland's two most glamorous winter and summer alpine retreats. Along its way and with summer approaching, the Glacier Express passes meadows filled with bell-wearing bovines. A veritable Swiss shag pile of yellow and purple wildflowers spreads out below the impossibly perfect white and grey, ever-pervasive snowcapped peaks. The extended duration of the Glacier Express allows time for a hot al carte meal, even in second class, served at your seat as some of the world's most appetising panoramas are revealed. With the menu declaring 'the 'world's slowest express train' does not serve fast food', I order the yellow pea soup, a main of Swiss macaroni with beef accompanied by a side of apple sauce (well, this is Switzerland), and a traditional local nut cake for dessert, all accompanied by a glass of excellent Swiss pinot noir. If I'd had a second, or even third, glass of that drop I may have even been tempted to scrawl on the menu, ' das Leben ist schön im Glacier Express' (or 'Life is good on the Glacier Express'). As my airline-style foldaway table is cleared, the Glacier Express pushes onwards and for that matter, upwards, to this leg's highest point, Oberalp Pass, at an elevation of 2033 metres. But that's positively puny, at least by Swiss standards, compared to the Gornergrat Heritage Railway, the rack railway you can take – when too many trains are never enough – from a station in the middle of the train's final destination, Zermatt. Dating to the late 19th century, it climbs to an altitude of 3098 metres above sea level. On clear days there are views of more than two dozen peaks rising above 4000 metres, including the mighty Matterhorn at 4478 metres. After an overnight stay in Zermatt, where, from the balcony of my hotel room, I can just make out the tell-tale form of the Matterhorn, wrapped, like a veiled dancer, in wispy cumulous, I take a regular passenger service from an altitude of 1620 metres all the way down to the Lake Geneva-side city of Montreux, at 375 metres. Famed for its annual jazz festival and palm trees that line the lakefront, it's from Montreux that the grand tour connects to the GoldenPass Express. But not all the grandest sights on this tour can be viewed from a slow-moving train while in Montreux, so I take a short bus ride from the city centre to Chillon Castle. Built on a rocky island a backdrop of mountains, this so-called water castle is the most visited historic building in Switzerland. Chillon was the residence and toll station of the Counts of Savoy between the 12th and 16th centuries. At the less lovely Montreux railway station, a gleaming French navy rather Swiss regulation red, GoldenPass Express awaits its passengers. This is the train, which when launched in 2022, allowed for the creation of the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland and the cannily conceived continuous journey from Zurich and return. The GoldenPass Express delivers passengers to Interlaken through the Bernese Alps and via Gstaad, an exclusive resort town beloved of the too rich and too famous (from the train, look out for the Louis Vuitton outlet in the traditional burnished timber Swiss chalet-like building by the track). If the Swiss scenery gods are co-operating, there are mountain vistas to be enjoyed all the way on this journey of three hours, 15 minutes over 115 kilometres, with the loftiest point on the route being Saanenmoser, a high mountain pass at 1274 metres. Alas, on this day those peaks and their summits are concealed behind low-hanging cloud, leaving a still captivating view the entire way of pea-green (as opposed to yellow pea) Swiss farmlands full of indigenous simmentals, each sporting 'treicheln' and 'glocken' (cow-bells), that tinkling symbol of bucolic Switzerland. After descending the alps, the final stretch of the GoldenPass Express journey, the line traces the southern edge of Lake Thun with our final destination, the touristic Interlaken, announced by a cute, preemptive strike of a cowbell over the train's PA. INTERLAKEN-JUNGFRAUJOCH-ZURICH – The Top of Europe cog railway By the penultimate day of the tour, I'm running out of both railway lines and lines in this account of the Grand Train Tour of Switzerland. Nonetheless, it remains necessary to take three more trains to reach what is by far the highest point of the trip in every sense. I'm en route to Jungfraujoch, which at 3454 metres is billed as the 'top of Europe'. This mountain pass is home to the highest railway, and for that matter, train station on the continent, with its peak, Jungrau, rising another 704 metres. To reach Jungfraujoch, I train it by the regular service to the alpine village of Lauterbrunnen and change, due to the abrupt rise in altitude from here, to a rack railway, at Klein Scheideggg, at 2061 metres. From there a final change of trains is required when I connect to the 40-minute ride aboard the rather miraculous cogwheel railway. Almost all of this section of the journey is in a tunnel carved deep inside the mountain. By the time you reach what is today one of Switzerland's premier tourists attractions and where, even in summer, outside temperatures can be well below freezing, you'll encounter a kind of Swiss-style Disney on Ice. It's a lot of fun. Loading Here at Jungraujoch is where that 'international Australian' George Lazenby shot scenes from the James Bond instalment, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The main structure on the summit features in the movie, along with restaurants and cafés, both the planet's highest Lindt chocolate outlet and watch shop. Well, this is Switzerland. As I venture outside onto the icy so-called Sphinx observation deck, excited, puffer-jacketed tourists are in a selfie-frenzy, even though, with late spring snow falling and the temperature reading minus 10, there is not a single mountain visible. Yet on this highest point of a grand train tour of Switzerland brimful of scenic highlights, it's still sufficiently impressive to leave me again wishing I'd popped a copy of a superlative-inducing Roget's in my frozen day pack. Five tips for an even smoother ride Adopt a pack mentality Swiss trains, a little like their Japanese counterparts, don't have abundant space for luggage. Be one of the first to board to secure luggage rack space. Remember to pack warm items of clothing, even in summer. Food, ingloriously expensive food Even their fellow Europeans consider Switzerland expensive to visit with the Swiss franc valued even higher than the euro. Food is one of the biggest expenses of any visit, so if you want to save pennies, tuck into those inclusive pre-train journey hotel breakfast buffets and look out for fixed-price lunches. No drama panoramas If you don't find yourself on the right side of the train carriage for views don't obsess about it. Switzerland's scenic tourist trains are glass-domed to maximise viewing, with the Gotthard Panorama Express even boasting its own dedicated 'fotowagen' carriage where windows can be opened for photography. Be sure to clock on You'll never be lost for time in Switzerland as every single railway station features its own classic Swiss railway clock with a graphic black, white and face which has been adapted to luxury wristwatches that have sold in the millions. Of course, in a nation renowned for its timeless efficiency, never, ever be late for your train. The details Loading Tour Inspiring Vacations ' 12-day independent Grand Train Tour of Switzerland includes journeys aboard four of the nation's most famous scenic alpine trains, as well as a pilgrimage to Europe's highest railway station. Along the way the itinerary encompasses classic Swiss cities and towns such as Zurich, Lucerne, Lugano, St Moritz, Zermatt, Montreux and Interlaken. Book The tour costs from $6445 a person (airfares not included), based on independent travel in 2026 (with a limited number of departures remaining for the rest of this year). The price includes all rail arrangements within Switzerland, guest cards in Zurich, Lucerne, Lugano, Montreux and Interlaken, providing free local transport and discounted shopping, and 11 nights in quality three-star accommodation with breakfast daily. A 12-day Grand Train Tour of Switzerland with Ultimate Rail Upgrades from $8795 a person (airfares not included) with all of the above inclusions and quality four-star accommodation. See
Sydney Morning Herald
10-05-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
I dismissed the world's most popular way to travel, until I tried it
Best for Those just getting into travel or solo travellers who might find the tour-group framework reassuring. Or those who don't have a big travel budget and want to see as much as they can. Or even the well-travelled, eyeing up more adventurous places. Tell me more Don't dismiss the overview tour to multiple destinations with varied sights and activities. You won't have to deal with any travel hassles on journeys that are complicated to organise yourself, which leaves you with more time and energy to enjoy the destinations. One major advantage of large groups is that you'll find like-minded fellow guests. However, you will only get a regimented day in each place; don't expect to see it all. Take it The world is your proverbial oyster with Melbourne-based Inspiring Vacations. It packages tours to every corner of the globe, from Armenia to Zimbabwe, including fully inclusive tours, self-driving tours, cruises and train journeys. It has a great range of classic tours covering destinations as far-ranging as Sri Lanka, South Africa and Iceland, with flexible add-ons and upgrades. Essentials Inspiring Vacations' 22-day 'Five Stans Unveiled' tour from Ashgabat to Almaty departs June-October 2025 and May-October 2026. From $5495 a person. See The active group tour Best for Travellers who can't sit still, want to get (or stay) fit, and who like the great outdoors. But for any traveller, these specialised tours provide another way to enjoy familiar and much-loved destinations. Tell me more If you're put off by the idea that tours involve sitting on a coach, then get on your bike, horse or feet. Active tours can be relaxing or very challenging, and you benefit from mutual small-group encouragement and commiseration over blisters. Some tours provide group safety in remote places – whether the summit of Kilimanjaro or the deepest outback – that you'd be rash to tackle on your own. Your horizons, though, will be limited. Take it Intrepid, founded by two Melbourne backpackers in the 1980s, has a terrific range of energetic worldwide tours focused on cycling, walking, trekking and sailing. Multi-active tours might include kayaking, rafting, paddleboarding or snorkelling too. It also has specialist tours for families, solos and women. Tours are small-group, adventurous and focused on local and socially responsible experiences. Essentials Intrepid's 11-day 'Patagonia: Torres del Paine Full Circuit' tour round-trip from Puerto Natales departs October 30 and December 1 and 22, 2025 and January-March 2026. From $9525 a person. See The train lover's group tour Best for Anyone entranced by the clickety-clack of a train's wheels, which is surely most travellers. For the eco-conscious looking to tread lightly, there's no better way to go. Tell me more Transportation by coach may be common, but you'll find other ways to tour, from barges to sailboats and cruise ships. The railway tour provides authentic local transport, will likely take you longer distances, and provides a comfortable window onto the scenery. In some countries such as India and Japan, trains and train stations themselves are a great travel and cultural experience. Take it For more than 25 years, Australian travel specialist Wendy Wu Tours has rolled out journeys in China, then Asia, and now far beyond to destinations such as Egypt and South America. Its Rail Tours either include iconic rail journeys such as the Reunification Express in Vietnam, or explore predominantly by train in destinations such as China, Japan and India. Essentials Wendy Wu Tours' 18-day 'Tibetan Railroad' tour between Xian and Chengdu departs September 5 and October 10, 2025 and in April-May and Aug-Sept 2026. From $8980 a person. See The cultural events group tour Best for Anyone looking for a bit of fun and excitement along with their general sightseeing. Festivals and celebrations can be some of the most memorable events in travel. Tell me more This type of tour (and cruise) is becoming more and more popular, offering an easier way to enjoy major festivals that might otherwise be costly or booked out long in advance. You'll find tours that cover cultural and sporting events, religious pilgrimages and celebrations, and annual events from ice festivals to national days, Christmas markets in Europe and Diwali celebrations in India. Take it Bunnik Tours takes you around the world in various tour styles with a maximum 20 guests. It has numerous Festival Departures to events such as Central Europe's Christmas markets, the Day of the Dead in Mexico, the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Scotland, and festivals in northern Japan, Peru and Sri Lanka. This Adelaide-based family-run company has operated since 1995. Essentials Bunnik Tours' 21-day 'Colours of Rajasthan – Pushkar Festival' tour round-trip from Delhi departs October 23, 2025. From $7995 a person. See The far-flung group tour Best for Anyone, even the most rugged and experienced traveller, who wants to get into the Earth's most difficult-to-access crannies, or even relatively accessible crannies with unpredictable conditions best not tackled alone. Tell me more Sure, bread-and-butter tours take you to mainstream Europe or Asia and are often city-centric. But there's virtually no destination you can't get to these days on a tour, from truly remote places like the Canadian Arctic or Amazon to places not much on the Australian radar, such as Ecuador or Mongolia. You might, however, miss out on mainstream or urban sights, and sacrifice comforts. Take it APT is one of our most recognisable travel brands and operates rail tours, river and ocean cruises, four-wheel-drive tours and more worldwide. Many will take you to mainstream destinations, but the adventurous can choose tours from the Kimberley to the Galapagos Islands, Alaska to Zambia. Freedom of Choice options allow you to personalise your experience. Essentials APT's 'Tasmanian Wilderness Escape' tour round-trip from Hobart departs November 3 and 24, 2025, and March 9, 2026. From $5395 a person. See The immersive group tour Best for The curious traveller keen not just to see big monuments and museums but explore local culture and learn more about local life. Tell me more These tours bring you more cultural depth and often more time – sometimes even four or five days – in key destinations. Expect activities such as home or farm visits or even stays, along with leisure time scheduled for individual exploration. You'll usually veer away from the most-tramped tourist towns or, in popular cities, explore alternative neighbourhoods favoured by locals. Loading Take it The strength of Albatross Tours is that it offers multiple nights in certain destinations, allowing for a more in-depth exploration over three, four or five nights, both on local tours and during free time. You'll see the highlights but also enjoy more local and nuanced experiences and because you aren't constantly on the move, the pace is relaxed. Essentials Albatross Tours' 24-day 'Cradle of Civilisation' tour between Istanbul and Athens departs September 2, 2025, and May 5, June 9, August 25 and September 8, 2026. From $18,887 a person. See Five tips to make your guided tour work for you Manage the socialising A big plus of guided tours is the company of like-minded people and the security of company in unfamiliar places. But you don't want to be constantly distracted with conversation or to travel in a social bubble. Be sure to explore on your own instead of getting sucked into long lunches and hotel bar drinks with fellow guests. Loading Get on with your tour manager Tour managers aren't personal butlers, so don't pester them with trivial requests and don't hog all their conversation, which creates ill feeling among other guests. Be polite and undemanding except when required: if you have a problem, speak up. A tour manager who's on your side is a font of useful local information and advice. Pace yourself Guided tours make the most of your time with busy schedules that often run from early morning until dinner time. Long days, constant chatter and jet lag all conspire to exhaust you. Manage your pace so you don't crash. Please don't hesitate to skip breakfast, retire early or pass on the museum visit to dawdle in a park if that's what you need. Do your own thing some of the time You aren't in a chain gang, you're on a guided tour, and you have no obligation to join every activity or meal. Besides, many tours these days have built-in free time, so take the opportunity to follow your own interests, see a particular sight not on the itinerary, or simply sit in a local cafe.
