Tips from a rail trip to Switzerland

Here are tips from my trip to SWITZERLAND in May ’08.

Rail service in Switzerland is exceptional! Clean trains run on time and correlate with other forms of transport for expedient connections. In the stations are excellent schedule signs noting the times and track numbers.

The 22-day Swiss Pass was a great buy ($668 first class, $446 second). It covered travel on trains, buses, boats; gave half off fares for cable cars, mountain trains and funiculars, and provided free admission to over 440 museums. I bought it before my trip from Rail Europe (800/622-8600, www.raileurope.com).

Switzerland Tourism (New York, NY; 877/794-8037, www.myswitzerland.com) is a great source for information on hotels, activities and the different regions. Their book “Discover Switzerland by Train, Bus and Boat” was very useful. (For a free copy, call Switzerland Tourism or download it from www.myswitzerlandshop.com.)

May is too early for Switzerland, especially at high elevations; it was cold and snowy in St. Moritz and Zermatt. On previous trips I went in June.

The weak dollar meant one Swiss franc was about equal to one dollar. I carried several credit cards, including an American Express card, which was widely accepted, plus several hundred dollars in cash.

All of the hotels I’ve listed had showers, TVs and other common amenities and included breakfast in the price.

• In Zermatt, Hotel Alphubel (Brantschenhaus 7, 3920 Zermatt; phone 027 967 3003, fax 967 6684, www.zermatt.ch/alphubel) is nice and very close to the railway station. A room cost CHF75. During my stay, the Gornergrat train was running, but many of the cable cars were not.

• I took the Glacier Express (reserved seat, CHF30; reserve a seat at any Swiss travel agent’s office and at most railway stations) to St. Moritz. Twenty minutes outside of town, via bus from the railway station, I stayed in St. Moritz Bad at Hotel Sonne (Via Sela 11, CH-7500 St. Moritz; phone +41 81 833 03 63, fax 833 60 90, www.sonne-stmoritz.ch). Their Casa Franco cottage cost CHF90.

• Hotel Sonnenberg (CH-3818 Grindelwald; phone +41 [0] 33 853 10 15, fax 853 28 02, www.

sonnenberghotel.ch) is a lovely, small hotel. It’s up a terrace, though — difficult for me at 80-plus to climb with my luggage. If you can manage it, I highly recommend it. CHF90, including breakfast.

• On the no-car promenade in Gstaad I stayed at Sporthotel Vicotoria (Promenade, CH-3780, Gstaad; phone +41 [0] 33 748 44 22, fax 44 20, ww.victoria-gstaad.ch), one block from the railway station. CHF90.

• Lauterbrunnen is known for its many waterfalls. There, I stayed at a great, small hotel overlooking Staubbach Falls. Hotel Silberhorn (3822 Lauterbrunnen, Berner Oberland; phone 033 856 2210, fax 855 4213, www.silberhorn.com) had a very helpful staff. CHF75.

• I ended my vacation in Schaffhausen, partly because of its proximity to Zürich International Airport. I stayed at Hotel Park Villa (Park 18, CH-8200 Schaffhausen; phone +41 [0] 52 635 60 60, fax 60 70, www.parkvilla.ch), an outstanding hotel ably run by Katharina Tobler. I highly recommend it. CHF78.

The breakfast was outstanding, with lots of fruit, breads, meats and cheeses and soft-boiled or scrambled eggs on request — yummy!

Although it’s near the station, I recommend that you use a taxi to and from; the station is up a hill and a few stairs from the hotel.

• Schaffhausen has a wonderful Old Town just east of the railway station with lots of old buildings that date back to the 12th century. The Cathedral of All Saints is a magnificent Romanesque structure with a great pipe organ. The cathedral’s recently improved All Saints Museum has interesting paintings and a great archaeological section with artifacts that date back to the Stone Age.

The largest waterfall in Europe, the Rheinfall, is close to the city. Also in the region is the Bodensee (aka Lake Constance).

G.E. TRUEBLOOD

Scottsdale, AZ