Zurich

Glacier Express Panoramic Train Round Trip from Zürich With Private Guide

Zurich, Switzerland

Private Guided Glacier Express 1 day Tour from Zurich

10 hours
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

Explore our promoted experiences

Zurich, Switzerland

Zurich Private Customizable Guided Walking Tour

155

from $292.88

Per group

Zurich, Switzerland

Beer Tasting Tour in Zurich

from $129.54

Zurich, Switzerland

2 Hour Floating Harmony Couples Course

from $777.25

Per group

Viator earns higher commissions on experiences featured here

Overview

Experience the majesty of the Swiss Alps on this train tour from Zurich. Alongside a private guide, board the Glacier Express and enjoy unparalleled views as that train climbs to approximately 7,000 feet (2,033 meters) above sea level from Chur to Brig. Take in spectacular views over Switzerland’s soaring peaks and spectacular valleys and you can opt for a short walk in Chur or Brig.

Private Glacier Express train day trip from Zurich
Take in pretty towns and villages such as Andermatt, Brig and Disentis
Hop off the train to sightsee with your guide
A private guide means a personalized experience

What's Included

One Day Train Pass for the Travel Day in 2nd class
Travel on scheduled train from Zürich to Chur 2nd class (1.5 hours)
Glacier Express train travel from Chur to Brig (4 hours) incl. seat reservation in 2nd class
3-course lunch served at your seat (vegetarian option available)
Headphones and written information available on board the Glacier Express train
Return travel by scheduled train from Brig to Zürich (2 hours) in 2nd class
Swiss tourguide for your party only
all taxes and fees

Drinks

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Zürich Tourist Information
Hauptbahnhof, 8001 Zürich, Switzerland
Meeting point in front of the Zurich tourist information office in the main hall of Zurich HB

Start time

08:20 AM

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

What To Expect

Meet up with your private guide at the Zurich Tourist Information office to start your day. Once you arrive at the departure point of your scheduled train, use your pre-booked 1-day train pass to seamlessly board and get settled in second class.

As you embark, begin to enjoy the views of Lake Zurich and the beauty of Walensee. Once you arrive in Chur, hop onto the Glacier Express train for a multi-hour journey to Brig.

Along the way, treated to more vistas while surrounded by the Swiss Alps. Stop to explore charming towns like Andermatt and Disentis alongside your guide.

Continue to marvel at the soaring peaks and deep valleys, ascending to an altitude of 7,000 feet (2,134 meters) above sea level, until the end of your journey.

Lake Zurich (Pass By)

Walensee (Pass By)

Sargans (Pass By)

Chur

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Ruinaulta Rheinschlucht (Pass By)

Ilanz (Pass By)

Disentis

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Oberalp Pass (Pass By)

Andermatt

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Furka base tunnel (Pass By)

Oberwald (Pass By)

Goms (Pass By)

Brig

1 hour • Admission Ticket Free

Lötschberg Basistunnel (Pass By)

Thunersee (Pass By)

Bern (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed
Near public transportation

Transportation is wheelchair accessible
Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
Most travelers can participate
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Cancellation Policy

This experience is non-refundable and cannot be changed for any reason. If you cancel or ask for an amendment, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.5

31 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 31 reviews

Journey Through the Swiss Alps: A Spectacular Glacier Express Experience

MALAY_P, Mar 2024

It was an incredible experience of trip to ZURICH, Switzerland, and I highly suggest everyone to embark on the Glacier Express journey at least once in their lifetime. Witnessing the breathtaking Alps up close from the comfort of the train as it winds its way along the mountain peaks is truly awe-inspiring. Our tour guide, Michael Myers, was just exceptional, serving as a knowledgeable and friendly companion throughout the trip. Exploring the quaint Swiss villages in CHUR and BRIG on foot was a serene experience, with lush greenery and meticulously maintained wooden houses adding to the charm of the surroundings of great mountains touching Northern Italy and Austria. Best regards, Prachi Malay Parikh March 21-22 ( 2024)

Response from Host, Mar 2024

Thank you for the review, forwarded to our tourguide.

Great journey and experience

Emma_K, Jan 2024

Enjoyed the experience with my partner who celebrated his 50th birthday. It was a gift so I ordered a cake unfortunately one of the waiter's on the train ruined the suprise as soon as we say down. This upset me and ruined the day but the train journey itself was a success

Response from Host, Jan 2024

And how was the tour? How was our tourguide? Your writing something that you organized outside of our tour and our control.

Fantastic. You should do this.

Jeff_H, Jan 2024

Our guide, Michael, was knowledgeable, enthusiastic, accommodating and great company. We particularly appreciated our walking tours of Chur and Brig whilst we waited for our trains. The scenery on the express itself was mind-blowing, and it was amazing to think that we travelled over the headwaters of both the Rhine and Rhône. We saw so much of Switzerland in a single day. The food on the express was good, although it was disappointing to learn that our dietary requirements (specified when I booked on the Viator site) had not been passed on to Glacier Express catering. Despite this rather unsatisfactory lapse, we still say 5 stars - mostly due to Michael and the scenery. Vielen dank, Michael!

Response from Host, Jan 2024

Thank you for your review and we forwarded it to our guide.

Spectacular view

Darlene_K, Dec 2023

We enjoyed the whole trip, and had a great tour guidance. Watching the hills with the snow so close was very impressive.

Response from Host, Dec 2023

Happy you had a great day. Thank you for the feedback.

Glacier Express train trip is worth it!

Howard_C, Mar 2023

Uli is an experienced tour guide , he provided a rich historical and insight talking points on each interesting view spots, we really enjoyed travel in big with Uli.

Response from Host, Aug 2023

Thank you for your feedback, we'll forward it to our guide.

Disappointed

Emilio_C, Oct 2022

Nothing it was boring 4 hours of seeing the same thing. Our guide was fantastic but the tour itself is boring. Lunch was part of the package but it was never provided we paid almost two thousand for a party of four for a plain train ride. We sent an inquiry as to why the full package was never provided but to date we have not received any justification to the cost of the tour

Response from Host, Oct 2022

Hello You booked this tour through Viator. If you would have booked direct with us, the price would have been much more attractive. As I already told you, food was not included in your tour. But we changed it from Dec 12 on (which increases the price - for sure). Talking about the price: You pay for a full-fare-one-day ticket (which you got reduced as you booked this tour), you pay for the Glacier Express train, you pay for the tourguide (Swiss salary) and finally Viator/Tripadvisor takes out commission. That makes the price of the tour. By the way - you sent me the e-mail during the tour that you mention in the review and I replied to you within 10 minutes. Just stay on the truth! Kind regards

Not as expected

Leslie_N, Aug 2022

This tour is not at all as described on the tour site. We expected a breezy day through the country side with a guide that would accentuate the experience. The train made several stops throughout the day to allow for other trains to pass (one shared track) on several stops it was in dark tunnels. Not exactly an opportunity to see the sites. Our guide, although a very sweet man, fell asleep during the tour. Our takeaway...too expensive, not what expected and we would not recommend. I would recommend downloading the SBB train app and routing your own tour between your destinations. The trains are much less expensive (even for 1st class) the sites are as good or better than what we saw on the Glacier Tour.

Response from Host, Aug 2022

Hello Thank you for your feedback. Currently, there is the youth scout camp in the Goms-area and to transport 30000 youth-scouts they had to extend the schedule a bit. But your tour was always on time. Just want to remind you - this tour you can not do just with an app from SBB as we have special tickets for that day to make it possible to travel on the Glacier Express route just in one day. Normally you use 3 days for it and you need a expensive 3-day train pass. About the price: Did you ever thought about, that you could book the tour direct with the touroperator and not feeding a tech company with commission? Kind regards

Swiss Alps where sky meets with mountain peak

Tapas_B, Jun 2022

It was a wounder full journey in a wounder full sunny day through a spectacular pass. Our English speaking guide Michel was very good and professional. He was very much on time and explained the various flora and faunna of the regions nicely. Would recommend to make this trip to everybody who loves to see the scenic beauty and remoteness of Swiss Alps

Response from Host, Jun 2022

Hello. Thank you for the feedback - it's already forwarded to our tourguide. Happy you had a great day, even the Glacier Express was fully booked at you travel day.

Great excursion

Marla_K, May 2022

Our guide Rolf was great. So very formative and friendly. The trip was fantastic. Trains so clean and comfortable.

Response from Host, May 2022

Hello Maria, thank you for the review. Already informed the tourguide about it and happy that you have seen, that train travelling in Switzerland is enjoyable.

Oskar was a very...

NoraD_V, Mar 2022

Oskar was a very knowledgeable person, he had the best attitude to explain every single detail during the trip to us. We had a very nice time with him, he is a very patient and polite person. We would love to have this experience again!

Response from Host, Mar 2022

Thank you for the feedback, I'll forward it to our tourguide. Happy you had a great day.

Best views

Sujata_S, Oct 2021

The views from the train is amazing. It is a whole day experience, but covers a lot. Food was delicious on the train. The guide that we had wasn’t much of a help, besides getting us on the different trains/ connections. Can easily be done on your own. Definitely worth the time of you have a whole day.

Response from Host, Oct 2021

Thank you for your review. You're right, it's easy to travel without guide and that's we offer this tour as self-guided on our website as well. For guests, not familiar with travelling through half of Switzerland in one day, we recommend a tourguide from us. Kind regards

Must See Once!

SAGAR_G, May 2019

Simply Awesome! No words can define it... Must check-out Bern & Brig too, if you can... Thanks to our guide Rebacca who was par-excellence for making our journey a memorable treat.

The highlight of our time in...

Cade W, May 2018

The highlight of our time in Switzerland. Our guide, Dominique, was super fun and extremely knowledgable. She knew the answer to every question we asked and we really enjoyed our time with her. Although it's possible and pretty easy to do the trip without a guide, I would really recommend booking a guide. It removes all of the stress and allows you to learn a lot more about Switzerland than you would without one. I would absolutely recommend this tour to anyone that has a free day in Switzerland! The Swiss Alps are amazing, and the meal on the train was delicious.

loved our guide, this is a full day...

Daniel_R, Apr 2018

loved our guide, this is a full day tour. we visited in december and the sights were amazing, all the countryside covered in snow, just amazing! the train is very comfortable, the food is good, our guide was very enthusiastic. i think the highlight ofthis tour was the small town of Brig, i just wish we would have had more time in there, otherwise its a 10/10

We had Oskar as our guide. It was...

Darren P, Feb 2018

We had Oskar as our guide. It was myself, my girlfriend and him. He was very knowledgeable and had a great sense of humour. My partner has a hard time walking and Oskar was totally patient and when it was time to board the the trains, he went ahead of us so we had the best seats on the train for the spectacular views. Well worth the money spent.

The day trip was amazing with...

Robert T, Dec 2017

The day trip was amazing with spectacular views. Our tour guide, Anja, was really helpful all day. Arrived on time. Offered her local knowledge of the trip throughout the day. Made sure we got all the right connecting trains. We got much more out of the day because of her service. Highly recommended

Mr. Oskar did an amazing job of...

gfunk3881, Aug 2017

Mr. Oskar did an amazing job of guiding our day. The sights, sounds and tastes of Switzerland left us planning our next visit. While we could have planned our day adventure on our own, having Mr. Oskar walk us through personal experiences and history of this beautiful land was well worth every penny.

This was a great tour. We got to...

Kathleen K, Mar 2017

This was a great tour. We got to see a lot of the country with some personal attention by our sweet tour guide, Dominique. We had some difficulties with the Glacier Express, in that they had double booked our reserved seats. We ended up in the back of the train and so the service was less than first class. This was not Viator's fault though, sometimes stuff just happens. The views were incredible. Once you've done such a tour once and you see how easy it is to manage such a trip yourself, next time I think we would try it on our own, but for the first time, it was nice to have the comfort of a personal guide.

The trip itself was brilliant, and...

Glenys_E, Jan 2017

The trip itself was brilliant, and we had a fabulous day. The Glacier Express lived up to all our high expectations and the scenery was spectacular. Although our young guide was quite inexperienced it was her second tour, she did a good job getting us everywhere we needed to be and on time to make all our connections. We were picked up from our Zurich, taken by local train to the main central station to catch the regional train and then the Glacier Express. We returned to Zurich via a different rail route so in effect we circled a large part of Switzerland which was a bonus. Although we could have managed the day on our own, it was much easier and more relaxing to have the local knowledge of our guide.

The guide was informative and...

Kevin S, Dec 2016

The guide was informative and helpful. The train was comfortable and the lunch was good. The only disappointing thing was the lack of snow in mid-December, not something Viator could control. Even without snow, the scenery, including distant glaciers, was great.