From the handsome waterfront promenade at Bregenz, it is infinitely rewarding on a clear day to gaze out across Lake Constance, tracing the north shore of the lake from the nearby border with Germany on to the island town of Lindau, and then on beyond the Tettnanger Forest to the hills above Friedrichshafen. Away to the left Austria slips into Switzerland, where the south bank of the lake can be followed along to the castle at Arbon where in the 19th century scores of weavers were busily employed producing silk ribbons.
Our mission is a journey designed for those who, like us, have not fallen hook, line and sinker for the post-Romantic piety that gives almost unqualified credit to rugged mountains (see our perspective piece on pages 10–11). Here we explore a rail journey which is pre-Alpine rather than truly Alpine. It’s a route which offers rewarding views of the mountains without being hemmed in by them. The emphasis is on expansive vistas, especially in the first half of the journey, but in the final stretch there is subtle change in perspective, swapping wider horizons for more intimate views of pastoral landscapes in the Alpine foothills.
It’s a route that suits our personal landscape aesthetics. It may not suit yours. Ruskin had the notion of a hierarchy of beauty, noting that the great artists “reserved their highest powers to paint Alpine peaks.” He also suggested that artists who favoured pollards and flat land as their subjects “are always men of third-rate order.” To the modern mind, Ruskin’s perspective is easily dismissed as a fine piece of 19th-century nonsense, but yet there still persists the notion that, the higher or more precipitous a peak, the more deserving it is of attention.
Lake Constance
So let’s take what Ruskin, who couldn’t abide trains, would surely have judged to be a third-rate journey. We shall travel from Bregenz to St Gallen in Switzerland, then on via Lucerne to Berne. In a perfect world, and we do strive for perfection in journey planning, one might start by taking one of the thrice-daily Eurocity trains for the short journey to St Gallen — merely because they are exceptionally comfortable Swiss trains and usually include a first-class panorama carriage which is perfectly suited to this kind of rail-based sightseeing. If the timings of the Eurocity trains don’t suit, there are half-hourly local trains which follow exactly the same route and take no longer that the Eurocity service. But on the local services, you do need to change trains at St Margrethen, which is the first stop after crossing the border from Austria into Switzerland.
Rattling south from Bregenz, our train crosses the Bregenzerach where to the left there’s a fine view of the heavily eroded sandstones, rising up like a wave above the waters of the fast-flowing river. Then the train to the Swiss border swings off to the right, affording a remarkable view up the great trough carved by the River Rhine. It’s a vista that takes in a good part of Liechtenstein’s territory away to the south, with views of the Kuhgrat and other peaks which mark the eastern border of the principality.
Heading west towards the Swiss border, there’s a glimpse to the right of the first of a score or more castles on this journey. The Mittelweiherburg, with its striking slender white tower, dates back to 1570. Today it serves as a small museum, recalling the days when the textile and embroidery trade was so important in this corner of Austria. Then we cross the Rhine, framed on either side by protective dykes, and enter Swiss territory to reach the border station at St Margrethen.
Beyond the town, there are views across the motorway, which parallels the railway on the right, towards an area of land which is still Austrian territory, despite being on the west bank of the main channel of the River Rhine. The main flow of the river was diverted in a flood amelioration programme in the 1890s, when the course of the river was straightened. The two riparian states, the Swiss Confederation and Austria-Hungary, agreed that the land between the old course of the Rhine and the river’s new route to the east, as it entered Lake Constance, would remain Habsburg territory.
After briefly regaining the shore of Lake Constance at Staad, the railway then starts a long climb up behind the lakeside town of Rorschach, once an important port in the grain trade, with fine views over the lake to Germany, away to the north, and the mountains of Austria’s Vorarlberg region to the east. The railway climbs with purpose to reach the Steinach Valley which it follows upstream through rocky forests to the cantonal capital of St Gallen, a great ecclesiastical centre which once produced Europe’s most prized embroidery. It certainly deserves a stop.
The railway station at St Gallen is generously proportioned, its handsome main building dating back to about 1910. It has been beautifully preserved, so make time to look at the reception hall on Platform 1 with its elegant wooden panelling.
St Gallen is the headquarters of the railway company which runs the direct trains from St Gallen on the next part of the journey to Lucerne. The Südostbahn (SOB = South Eastern Railway) dates back to the late 19th century, when it started constructing cross-country railway lines which cut across the main routes radiating out of Zürich to the east and the south. Our onward journey from St Gallen takes in two long stretches of the very first SOB routes, both opened in the early 1890s. SOB now runs trains not merely on its own limited network but more widely.
The Pre-Alps Express
The second and longest leg of our journey from Bregenz to Berne is a double up-and-over run, climbing up over forest ridges south-west of St Gallen to reach the Zürichsee (Lake Zurich), then once again taking to the hills on the far side of that lake to cut through towards Lake Lucerne.
Leaving St Gallen, the single-track railway skirts the Ätschberg and then bridges a deep gorge just at the point where, far below the bridge, the waters of the River Urnäsch decant into the Sitter. With the railway almost a hundred metres above the waters below, this is — a little improbably — Switzerland’s highest railway bridge. Yet it hardly gets a mention in the mainstream travel literature, where the emphasis is so much on bridges and viaducts in fine Alpine settings — such as the celebrated trio of rail bridges in Switzerland’s easternmost canton of Graubünden (Grisons), viz. Landwasser, Wiesen and Solis.
Skirting a reservoir on the right, the train then reaches Herisau, a town which serves as the main administrative centre of the half-canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Switzerland has three cantons which are divided into half-cantons, although the reasons for the split are in each case different. In the case of Appenzell, it was a religious spat during the Reformation, where residents of the lower, more accessible, areas of Appenzell Canton were greatly swayed by Protestant teaching while the Appenzell heartland, in the upper reaches of the Sitter Valley, under the shadow of the Alpstein, clung to the Catholic faith.
The canton split in 1525, but the Catholics may be judged to have had the last laugh. Two hundred years ago, there was scarcely a Catholic in Herisau. These days about one third of the town’s population is Catholic.
Those tempted to break their journey in Herisau might want to make time for the narrow-gauge branch railway which runs from Herisau to Appenzell, the town which is the capital of the other half-canton. It’s just a 40-minute ride along a 26-km line which takes in gorgeous pastoral landscapes.
Those tempted to break their journey in Herisau might want to make time for the narrow-gauge branch railway which runs from Herisau to Appenzell, the town which is the capital of the other half-canton. It’s just a 40-minute ride along a 26-km line which takes in gorgeous pastoral landscapes.
Leaving Herisau on the Voralpen Express, there is a wonderful view to the left up a valley studded with mills which were once the backbone of the local textile industry. Then the railway climbs gently through forests, reaching the subtlest of summits (799 metres above sea level) at Degersheim, a pretty village surrounded by velvety meadows to the right of the railway with two striking churches, the Catholic one neo-baroque and the Reformed church a nice example of Swiss vernacular architecture (Heimatstil).
Dropping down, the railway performs a loop around Mogelsberg, where piles of wood are stacked neatly by the tracks, and reaches the beautiful Necker Valley. All too quickly, the train dives through a tunnel to reach the Thur Valley, and then an even longer tunnel escorts the train down to Schmerikon on the shore of the upper part of the Zürichsee. The silk industry which was once so important in this region is long gone, and today many of the lakeside villages are popular with well-heeled commuters, many of whom work in the financial services sector in Zürich. Villages once populated by weavers are now much sought after by bankers.
Rapperswil, on the shore of Lake Zurich, is a good spot to pause for a couple of hours when travelling on the Voralpen Express from St Gallen to Lucerne (photo © Luis Leamus / dreamstime.com).
There are fine views of the lake to the left as the train runs west to Rapperswil, slipping past a solitary lakeshore chapel and then passing through tiny Bollingen, little more than a hamlet but notable as the place where the eminent analytical psychologist Carl Jung built his eccentric castellated residence, known simply as The Tower. Jung would retreat to his lakeside home for long periods of self-isolation, living a life of utmost simplicity.
Rapperswil has an enviable location on a small promontory on the north shore of the lake, which at this point is at its narrowest and shallowest. Even as early as the Roman period, the lake was bridged at this point. But, before crossing the causeway which divides Lake Zurich in two, make time for Rapperswil. With its striking castle, amiable jumble of narrow streets and cafés looking out over the lake, it’s a great spot for a short stop. The castle houses a real surprise, namely a museum which celebrates aspects of Polish life and culture, focusing on the links between Poland and Switzerland. Rapperswil has long had a small Polish community.
The train ride across the causeway is wonderful, with a real sense of gliding over water. To the right is Ufenau Island with its two churches, which looks idyllic in any weather; the entire island belongs to the Benedictine community at Einsiedeln Abbey, tucked away in the hills of Schwyz Canton on the south side of the lake.
After a brief stop at Pfäffikon, the Voralpen Express takes to the hills again, climbing up steeply behind Freienbach, and cruising past vineyards which are also part of the Einsiedeln estate. Built by SOB and opened in 1891, the railway gains over 500 metres elevation in just 20 kilometres. The views north over Lake Zurich are stunning.
Reaching a broad saddle above Biberbrugg, the landscape turns out to be surprisingly open, with montane meadows and marshland. There follows a steep descent, skirting the southern slopes of the Rossberg down towards Arth-Goldau with a grand vista over Lake Lauerz to the left and, far away to the south, the great Alpine ranges around the Gotthard Pass. It’s a salutary thought that this area was devastated by a great landslide in 1806, when a huge section of the Rossberg split away and tumbled down into the valley, destroying the village of Goldau and creating a tsunami on the lake below. Between 400 and 500 people perished in the disaster.
The Rigi and Lucerne
Goldau was rebuilt and from 1906 until recently made a decent living from the production of electric light bulbs. Arth-Goldau station is for many a place to change trains. It’s here we cross the main Gotthard rail route from Zürich to Lugano and Milan. But there’s a closer goal for many who board trains at Arth-Goldau. It is the 1797-metre summit of the Rigi which inevitably beckons, reached by a rack railway which leaves from the upper platforms at Arth- Goldau’s two-tier station. The Rigi is neither especially high nor rugged, but — partly on account on of its very accessibility — it is a mountain inscribed on the Swiss imagination.
It is just half an hour from Arth-Goldau on to Lucerne, and it is the stretch we would rate, on a good day, as being perhaps the finest on this entire journey. Skirting the slopes of the Rigi, with Lake Zug to the right, the railway veers west to Küssnacht and runs along the north shore of Lake Lucerne. In good weather there is a fine panorama east across the lake to the Rigi, similar to views of the mountain depicted in JMW Turner’s hauntingly beautiful Rigi watercolours.
Away to the south, across Lake Lucerne, is the Bürgenstock, then just beyond Meggen there is an inspiring view over the lake to mighty Mt Pilatus. The quiet drama of this lakeshore run makes this one of Europe’s great arrivals by rail, even if the final loop around Lucerne city centre in a tunnel is something of an anticlimax.
Lucerne once had a very grand railway station, dominated by a giant cupola. Sadly, it was destroyed in a fire in 1971, and replaced by an uninspiring but functional building. Step out to the front and you’ll see a ceremonial arch, which is all that remains of the original station. Beyond that arch are the boarding stages for the lake steamers and the bridge which leads over the River Reuss into the heart of the old city.
No-one could possibly dislike Lucerne. Framed in part by city walls, on gently sloping land at the north-west corner of the lake, Lucerne has a superb setting. Baedeker nicely described it as “amphitheatrical”, and there’s certainly a touch of drama about Lucerne, especially in the soft light of a spring morning with the sun rising up above the Rigi.
With such a strategic location, Lucerne has long been the transport hub of central Switzerland. It was from here that early travellers bound for Italy set off by boat for Flüelen at the southernmost tip of the lake, continuing from there on foot or mule over the perilous Gotthard Pass. Those embarking on steamers at Lucerne’s piers today surely have in mind nothing more demanding than a leisurely cruise on a body of water which, by virtue of its many twists and turns, rates as among the most inviting and visually dramatic of all Swiss lakes.
Seven rail routes converge on Lucerne. The routes to the south, heading respectively to Brünig and Engelberg, both have uncompromising encounters with real Alpine terrain. But, in keeping with the spirit of this whole route, let’s head west to Berne, following a railway which, while affording remarkable mountain views, never really has any serious tussle with the terrain.
The railway from Lucerne to Berne has always had secondary status, although there was a time in the 1970s and 1980s when it carried a daily through train from Chiasso (in the Ticino region on the border between Switzerland and Italy) to Geneva. Today the hourly through trains from Lucerne to Berne are operated by a company called BLS, where the initials allude to the geographical core of the company’s operations: Berne, Lötschberg and Simplon.
Emmental means cheese
Leaving Lucerne, the railway briefly parallels the River Reuss, before tunnelling under Zimmeregg, where the open-air swimming pool in the forest is a big attraction for Lucerne families. Emerging into the daylight, the Kleine Emme (Little Emme) is on our right, and it is this river which the railway now follows upstream.
To the left the land rises up to Mt Pilatus, but close at hand are scenes of extraordinary beauty. Here there is a sense of an affluent rural Switzerland with neat villages and perfectly manicured meadows. High above the railway on a rocky outcrop to the left is a huge convent, handsome with its white walls offset by pale green shutters around each window. And then the train slows for Wolhusen with, for the first time on this entire journey through Switzerland, the ontrain announcements in German being complemented by a French rendering.
This long section of the valley of the Kleine Emme is called the Entlebuch. It is rich agricultural country with signs by farms advertising the sale of eggs and Alpkäse (mountain cheese). Gently tilted sandstones in shades of grey and yellow contrast with green meadows. There are covered wooden bridges over the river. If you are minded to stop for an hour or two, make the break at Escholzmatt where there are many good walks from the station, either short ones up through the village and beyond, or for more serious hikers a wonderful geomorphological nature trail (signed as Geo-Pfad) that introduces visitors to the landscape history of the Entlebuch.
A train from Lucerne pauses at Escholzmatt. The station is a good jumping-off point for walks through the Entlebuch region (photo © hidden europe).
Shortly after Entlebuch, we crest a gentle watershed and cross the cantonal boundary, swapping Lucerne for Berne, and now dropping down towards prosperous Emmental, a vale as celebrated for its striking wooden farmhouses as for its cheese. The first station in Berne Canton is Trubschachen which, though hardly known outside Switzerland, exerts a very special magic for many Swiss families.
Approaching the village, the unlovely factory to the right of the railway is the home of Kambly, a Swiss biscuit manufacturer that has developed a very powerful brand that draws heavily on the Emmental association. Kambly’s publicity dubs Emmental “a land of milk and honey” where “the quality of life is palpable: milk and butter production are age-old occupations and here, the Kambly family have devoted every day of their working lives to baking their specialist goods for the past 100 years.”
There’s not a Swiss kid who wouldn’t seize the chance to visit Trubschachen and feast on Kambly Bretzeli or the company’s crunchy Matterhorns with their milk chocolate and nougat slivers. It’s a mark of the power of the Kambly brand that some of the trains along this rail route carry a special livery celebrating the Kambly ‘experience’. If you are curious about all the hype surrounding Kambly, just follow the crowds to the company’s showroom and café, a short five-minute walk from the station.
It’s hard to trump Trubschachen as the ultimate immersion in Swiss consumer culture, and from here it’s a gentle run downhill through glorious Emmental countryside all the way to Berne. On our long journey from Bregenz which has had hundreds of remarkable mountain views, one of the most memorable is saved for the end. Just after leaving Konolfingen station, there is a view south up the Aare Valley with a great panorama of peaks in the Bernese Oberland.
Then, after looping around the east side of the Swiss capital the train makes a dramatic entry into Berne’s main station from the north, crossing the River Aare on a high viaduct with a fine prospect of the Old Town away to the left. Thus ends our journey from Bregenz in Austria, an extraordinary ride which has taken in a dozen lakes and enough mountain views to last a lifetime.
