Travels With Clo

I’m not sure where to even begin with this trip, other than the fact it was spectacular.

Back in January 2023, I embarked on a 9 day rail journey from London to Switzerland and back as part of a group escorted holiday, not knowing at all what to expect.

Dreary eyed, I arrived at London St Pancras Station at 05:30am, primed to go through security and passport control for our 07:00 train to Paris.

For my own travels, I’m not overly fussed about first class, but it’s always a nice treat, and on the Eurostar, a meal is included when travelling in their Premier Plus carriages, which was a nice pick me up.

From Paris, we transferred stations and caught an onward train to Strasbourg, our home for the night.

We ate dinner as a group in a local restaurant, and our tour manager briefed us that we had a free morning, and needed to be in the hotel lobby by 11:00 to catch our next train.

I used my free time to have a little walk around the town. As it was early January, the Christmas decorations were still up, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the teddy bears strung from the buildings. Sadly, the weather was a little dull, but that didn’t deter me from making it to the Astrological Clock as well as Petit France. I also stopped by a bakery to get some lunch for my onward travels.

We continued our train journey from Strasbourg to Geneva and then on to Chur, our home for the next three nights.

Day 3 was a highlight for me, as we travelled on the Bernina Express to Poschiavo on the Italian border.

The line that the Bernina Express uses is the UNESCO word heritage listed Rhaetian Railway in the alps, and the carriages offer panoramic views of the scenery.

The train also makes a brief stop at the mountain station of Alp Grüm for you to take photographs.

After a little bit of free time in Poschiavo, we returned to Chur and had dinner together in the hotel restaurant.

Day 4 of the trip was a free day, and overhearing that I was planning to go to Arosa, a group of two couples that had become friendly on the trip invited me to join them. Little did I know that saying yes to this would blossom a wonderful friendship. I still talk to both couples to this day, and whenever they are up north we go for coffee together.

Anyway, the five of us bought our train tickets and took another wonderfully scenic journey to the ski town of Arosa.

We took the Weisshorn cable car up to the summit, but it was too cloudy for us to be able to see anything. We decided to have a drink in the cafe up there before heading back down, and I went for a schumli pflumli.

To our surprise, when we left, the clouds had cleared and the view was amazing. The drink may have been disgusting, but the wait was worth it for the view.

We took the cable car back down to a mid stop, and spent the rest of the afternoon drinking mulled wine at a ski bar.

That evening, the five of us dined at a local restaurant to try some real Swiss fondue, with bread and potatoes.

Day 5 was the day we got to travel on the iconic Glacier Express, which is probably the most famous train in Switzerland. We took the route from Chur to Brig, which is approximately four hours, and in first class, there is dinner included. There was also a commentary available, so I would recommend taking plug in headphones to utilise this and learn a bit about the history of the towns you pass through.

On day 6, we took the train from Brig to Zermatt, wanting to take the Gornergrat funicular up to the top of the mountain. I was hell-bent on finding a Toblerone, assuming they’d be easy to find in Switzerland, but I checked four different shops before coming across one, and my new friends stood and waited at the station for me.

The views from the top were stunning. It was a clear day and the Matterhorn was on full display, which was perfect for the Toblerone I’d sourced to take this iconic photo.

Day 7 was another free day, and after a couple of busy days, I decided to stay in Brig and have a wander. I visited Stockalperschloss, and also found an ossuary.

My friends all travelled to Montreux, but in the evening we met up for dinner at a restaurant claiming to serve the “best” raclette in Brig, and it was also all you can eat. We were all excited by this, but sadly it didn’t quite live up to our expectations…

Day 8 was our last full day in Switzerland, and we travelled to the mountain village of Mürren. We didn’t have long to spend there, so we had a quick look around, and then proceeded to Lake Thun for our boat cruise.

Day 9 was a full travel day, boarding the train from Brig to Geneva after breakfast. We then changed in Geneva to catch a train to Paris, and then Paris to London. It was 20:30 when we arrived back, and I was exhausted after such a jam packed week.

All in all, it was an incredible trip and I made memories and friends to last a lifetime. Switzerland in the snow was just truly magical.