Zermatt to Locarno We are going to take you on an epic train
ride through the Alps from Zermatt down south to Locarno riding on four different trains
during this day's journey to get you there.
We've enjoyed our visit to Zermatt but it's time for some new adventures.
We been staying at the Hotel Butterfly, it's right in the heart of Zermatt.
Most of the rooms have balconies you can sit out there and enjoy the view.
The Butterfly is located just a few blocks away from the main street so it's very quiet
up here and they serve a wonderful breakfast – it's all of your typical eggs, meat, fruits,
breads and coffee and juice that you find in a good European hotel.
This hotel scores very highly on Trip Advisor where 93% of the reviews are either excellent
or very good.
And the Butterfly is one of the most conveniently located hotels in town because it's only about
two blocks from the train station.
In three or four minutes you can easily walk down there and plus they'll help you with
your baggage.
They can shuttle down in their little electric cart so you don't have to drag your bag at
all, so it's very easy to make your preparations which is what we're doing now.
It's time to leave Zermatt.
It's really quite easy to load the suitcases on the train.
We help each other out, we have plenty of time and there's lots of room on board the
train.
It travels in the same car that we're sitting in at a little baggage area the end.
A final glimpse of the main pedestrian lane of town lined with shops and restaurants and
little hotels.
What a beautiful village this is.
We really enjoyed our stay here in Zermatt we've been here for three days and see a lot
– hope you checked our ther episodes on our visit to Zermatt, going up all those different
mountains and doing some hiking, riding the rack rails, and now it's time to move along.
We'll be enjoying another glorious train ride through beautiful mountains and valleys along
the river heading down to the town of Visp.
Tis first leg is actually part of the world-famous Glacier Expres one of the premier sightseeing
rail lines of the world.
And then we'll be changing trains and going south heading through the Alps and coming
out the other side into what's called the Ticino, that's the southern part of Switzerland
with the Italian language and cuisine and that Italian influence, but it's thoroughly
Swiss.
We will be heading down to Locarno and visiting Lugano in some future episodes but for now
were just enjoying this beautiful train ride.
Here and there you'll notice landslides and signs of past avalanches showing you how raw
hese mountains are.
They are still growing and being formed.
And we'll be spotting some animals along the way.
There will be cows, sheep, horses and goats out in the yards and pastures – all part
of the scenery.
Now and then you'll get classic views of the waterfalls spilling down the mountains.
The Swiss take advantage of many of the mountain streams to generate electricity through hydropower.
For train tickets you can buy point-to-point if you wish but if you're in the country for
any length of time you should consider getting the Swiss Pass or the Swiss Flexi-Pass.
The Swiss pass is good every day for a set period, maybe four days minimum up to a month
maximum, and priced accordingly so you can use it anytime you want during that time.
Or if you get the flexi pass it's good for a certain number of days within a month, so
if you just can be traveling let's say four days during a three-week period you're better
off getting the Swiss Flexi-Pass.
It would be little bit less expensive than buying a pass for the whole three weeks.
You'll notice is valley is rather sparsely populated but it is lovely to come across
the little hamlets with their chalet style homes and slate tile roofs and wooden construction.
It's nice that the windows slide down on many of these little Swiss trains, even in first-class.
Especially when you have that opportunity, go ahead slide the window down, stick your
head out, be careful it doesn't get lopped off by a pole, but you will be quite safe.
That's how you get some of these really spectacular views of the rivers curving around in the
mountain valleys and peaks beyond.
Occasionally a train will have some cars with windows that open and other cars were the
windows do not open, typically in first-class.
If you're in one of those cars where the window doesn't open and you really want to stick
your head out and get a view and take a picture, just get up and move, move to a different
car and take a different seat.
There's usually enough available space on the train where you have that flexibility.
If you are taking pictures through a closed window watch out for the reflection that can
ruin a shot – so just get the right camera angle and you should be fine.
Hillsides covered with grapes, this is for the limited wine production of Switzerland.
They do make red wine and white wine and it's usually quite good but not much of it is ever
exported.
About 95% is consumed in country.
You'll be spotting other kinds of economic activity has the train rolls along, passing
a major rock quarry, all these hard rocks of the mountains.
Some of them are put to good use for building materials, so you will see quarries, you'll
see lumber yards.
There are certainly some selective trimming of the trees and lumbering going on in Switzerland.
Powerstation for that electrical generation.
Keep your eyes open and you'll spot some beautiful bridges.
With all of the deep valleys and high mountains and rail lines and roads, Switzerland has
lots of bridges, some of them old stone.
Our train made a brief stop in the town of Visp and there was some kind of celebration
going on, not quite sure, costume soldiers, and then a priest with the religious canopy,
so maybe it was some kind of a holy day, a local saint perhaps.
But we don't have time to get off the train.
It's only about a five-minute stop and we are continuing on to the terminus of this
line, the next town down at Brig.
The train we been riding on is a narrow gauge private train line, just 43 km in length between
Zermatt and Brig where we get off the train.
And we take our suitcases with us as usual.
So most of the big train lines in Switzerland are owned by the national government but there
are a number of the smaller private lines.
And we find we're in the middle of the street.
We have to unload our baggage and then we walk across the main street into the major
train station to get on the international train that will take us down south below the
Alps.
The station at Brig is quite large because this is a international train junction, several
rail lines intersect here.
Our destination is the Swiss city of Locarno, but to get there we have to go through Italy.
We're heading south in Switzerland through the Alps, through the Simplon tunnel.
It's quite a rail route.
The tunnel was first opened in 1905.
And on the south side of the Alps we will be arriving in the Italian city of Domodossola,
and there we get off this train and get on another train to continue our journey.
Reluctantly say goodbye to our big comfortable train and notice all these tracks and switches
here at Domodossola.
Most trucks get loaded on trains to go through Switzerland.
They don't like the diesel pollution so they put them on trains.
This time we have a small challenge on the transfer.
We don't have a lot of time and we're going to have to deal with some staircases, so we
get the bags off, we help each other out.
Walk through a tunnel, up on another platform, walk along, roll our bags down another staircase,
and we're not quite there yet.
We keep going and through another tunnel and we make it to the train on time as the conductor
points us to the proper car.
Domodossola where we just changed is in Italy and that's an example of the difference between
the Swiss rail provisions and some Italian rail stations in the smaller areas.
Well now were happy to be settled in and enjoying our scenic ride, already crossing the big
rivers.
The conductor comes along.
We will be enjoying a lot of views out the train windows because this is the Centovalli
line, which means hundred valleys are in the region that the train is traveling through.
No dining car on this simple train but a very friendly gal running the snack cart.
We're in the middle of a fairly long day on all these trains and never did get a chance
to sit down for a real lunch, so a little snack will get us through.
It's about a two-hour train ride to get from Domodossala over to our in destination of
Locarno.
We do manage to spot some hill towns in the distance.
With all these valleys the area is noted for the little villages on the hills.
And we see quite a few rivers passing under our viaducts, beautiful houses and some narrow
gorges.
So we thought we were doing pretty good here, getting comfortable in the train and shooting
pictures out the window and then we slow down – there are a number of stations along this
little line, there are 22 stations, it doesn't stop everywhere, but came to a halt, and we
were told to change trains.
We had to get off of one train and fortunately the other train was right there at the same
small platform so it was really the easiest possible transfer, but for some reason our
train was stopping even though it was supposed to go all the way.
And we got on the other train that will indeed take us off to Locarno.
This train route is 52 km long of which about 65% is in Italy, and yes you can tell we're
still in Italy from the station names and from some graffiti.
The scenery was wonderful all the way, even on a day like this which is fairly cloudy.
It was not raining out there so our view was not obliterated.
On a sunny day it would probably be nicer but on a light cloudy day like this, very
pleasant.
As you can see we have now arrived.
We have arrived in Locarno and there is a escalator to take us up.
Welcome back to Switzerland.
And then we're going to find it's a very short walk to get to our hotel which is only two
blocks away from the train station.
So that is really convenient.
Great location right on the waterfront facing Lake Maggiore.
Hotel Garni Geranio is going to be our home for the next two days, and a good base for
exploring the Ticino, the southern part of Switzerland.
In upcoming episodes we will take you out on Lake Maggiore on a boat ride going from
Ascona back to Locarno.
And we're going to go down to the city of Lugano, a beautiful lakeside town on Lake
Lugano and take a boat ride over to the village of Gandria, all coming up.
Now that we're in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, the Ticino, we want to go
out for an Italian dinner.
And they have got a nice range of Italian restaurants right here in Locarno.
The southern part of Switzerland is the best of both worlds.
It has got the romance of Italy and the efficiency of Switzerland, what a combination.
They speak Italian, the cuisine is largely Italian, they enjoy Italian-style wines as
well, gelato is available widely.
And yet they are all Swiss and proud of it.
This restaurant, called Divino, was very convenient for us, right next to hotel.
And we enjoyed this outdoor seating, kind of a sheltered area but outdoors, beautiful
weather and great food.
We had a variety – there was some risotto and pasta, there was of course some pizza,
soups and salads, all kinds of things on a big menu at Divino.
We have a lot more shows about Switzerland and all of Europe on our YouTube channel and
website, check it out.