GoldenPass Express Prestige Class, Belle Epoque & VIP | Interlaken–Montreux | Swiss Panoramic Train

join us on the journey from mountains and glacier to lakes and palm trees on the golden pass Express this non-stop scenic train ride between interlock and and mantro takes 3 hours and 15 minutes it runs through three different Swiss cantons and links the French and German speaking regions of Switzerland besides the obvious panoramic views and Splurge worthy Prestige class it's the first train in the World to Change gauge widths that probably doesn't sound too interesting yet but we'll tell you more about it later and I'm sure it'll make you even more impressed by Swiss engineering today we're departing from interlockin but you can take the same ride in Reverse starting from montro of course you can look at the screens in the station to see which platform you're departing from or you could just look at the actual trains the golden pass Express is a deep blue color with gold accents and nearly floor to seiling Windows and since the name is painted on the side it'll be hard to miss [Music] this is our third time riding the golden pass Express and today we're in Prestige class and we actually have the entire cabin to ourselves which is very unusual so don't expect it when you ride we just happen to be taking the first train of the morning from interlockin and it's the middle of March this is the highest tier class with only 18 seats and a one two seat configuration the staff can swivel your seat so that you're always facing the direction of travel but any video seeming to suggest that you can swivel it any direction you want are completely misleading they either have to face directly forward or directly backwards and you have to ask the staff to swivel them for you and you really are going to want to spend the entire 3 hours and 15 minutes gazing out these massive Windows Prestige class is elevated by 16 in so you get an even higher view of the passing Landscapes each individual seat is heated and can be manually adjusted to recline offer more back support and even to kick your feet up of course there's a spacious trade table and reading lamp as well and there are even built-in EU Swiss and USB plugs on every chair we're always grateful for these plugs since we take so many pictures and videos along the way there are coat hooks and some space around the seats for small bags there are no luggage racks in the prestige class area and no overhead bins so they don't block The View so if you have large bags you can put them in the other part of the carriage on the luggage racks near the door another thing Prestige class doesn't have is it's own bathroom the first time we rode I was super disappointed but truthfully it's not really that big of a deal I just have a tiny bladder and we'll use the bathroom at least twice during our journey so that could have been a really nice amenity [Music] upgrade each complete golden pass Express train has 18 Prestige class seats 48 first class seats and up to 133 second class seats so the biggest difference between second class and first class is the space and the difference between first class and Prestige class is well why we're making this video the bathrooms are pretty comparable across all the classes though always clean true to Swiss standards we have arrived in zean and this is where the train changes gauges in 8 minutes flat the tracks between interlockin and zeiman are standard which means they're 1.4435 M wide but the tracks between ziman and montro are metric which means the gauge is 1 M see the problem instead of changing all the tracks to be the same gauge the Swiss invented the first train with variable gauges that means this train travels along one track and then adjusts its width and height to continue along the rest of the journey sure that's pretty cool but what does it mean for passengers like you and me it just means that unlike Travelers before 2022 we don't have to change trains and vice anymore interestingly enough the train also changes locomotives here that's because it's pushed from interlock into zeyan and then it's pulled from zean all the way to [Music] montro we love tasting local food and even though we've lived in Switzerland for almost a year now we still enjoys seeing how the food tastes different from one region to another we pre-ordered our food today so when we first boarded the train we both enjoyed a breakfast basket with a fresh croissant Jam butter coffee juice and tea and now we're having an apparo meat and cheese platter with AO wine all classes have dining options Prestige class and first class has inseat food service while second class passengers can pick up food from the bar the cups are PL so you don't have to worry about breaking them and I totally forgot you get a piece of Swiss chocolate of course do you think you're prestigious enough to ride in Prestige class if so hit that like button cuz we agree if you've seen some of our other resources than you know that our goal is to help you travel Switzerland with confidence and we want to help you plan your golden pass Express Journey too so allow us to show you some beautiful views along the way while we explain the details seat reservations are optional for first and second class on the golden pass Express but they are required for Prestige class they cost 49 Franks per person in Prestige class or 20 Franks in either of the other classes and can be purchased as far in advance as mid December on the golden pass Express websites both sides of the train offer stunningly Scenic views and honestly they kind of switch back and forth depending on the section of the journey but if we absolutely had to choose one side we'd pick the right side on the way from interlock and Zant or the left side coming from montro to Interlocken this puts you right next to Lake tune near Interlocken and gives you the best look as you loop around the Chateau Du chatar before entering mantro in 2024 full price tickets for the golden pass Express between Interlocken and mantro crossed 56 Franks in second class or 96 Franks in first class in Prestige class with the Swiss half Fair card those get cut by 50% and the ride is fully covered by the Swiss travel pass as well as the year Rail and Inter rail pass but you don't actually have to have a first class pass to ride in first class or Prestige class if you're traveling with a second class Swiss travel pass for example you can buy a point-to-point class upgrade for 40 Franks which is equal to the difference in price between a first class and a second class ticket but you can also look to see if a sa day pass will save you any money especially if you have plans to ride Beyond Interlocken or montro on the same day finally you might be wondering if if the burner overin pass covers any of this route and you would be correct you can ride for free between interlocking and zanan and you can buy a ticket from Zan and tantro at 50% off thanks to the burner Overland pass even without a half Fair card that means you'd pay just 13 1 12 Franks in second class or 23 Franks in first class for the whole golden pass express route with a burner Overland pass just keep in mind that you'll also need a class upgrade if you have a second class pass but want to Rite in first or Prestige class tickets class upgrades and sa day passes can be purchased on the SBB mobile app up to 6 months in advance we demystify Swiss Train passes train tickets the SBB app and lots of other confusing things and our Ultimate Guide to Swiss Transportation so be sure to check that out after this video if you need more help well the golden pass Express is an amazing journey it's not the only option for this route first you could ride normal trains from interlockin to Zin it takes about 15 minutes longer and you'll have to change trains in spads and again in visce men and since ticket prices are exactly the same for both trains there's no reason to take the normal ones unless you just can't wait for one of the golden pass expresses for daily departures second if you're looking for something fancy consider riding the Bell AO train on the route between Vian and montro it runs two times daily in both directions and it won't cost you any any extra to ride in luxury just like they did in the early 1900s and by luxury we mean plush seats wide bay windows sun shades wood panel ceilings net shelves fancy coat hooks foldable tables elaborate headdress and even modern power outlets seat reservations cost 10 Franks per person in both first class and second class but they're not required and they're not usually necessary either and I'm here to tell you these seats are Mighty comfortable third you could ride the golden pass Panorama which also runs between montro and spicy men with departures pretty much hourly from about 8:00 a.m. to 6 p.m basically if you don't ride the golden pass Express or belt a pocket train you'll be on the golden pass Panorama fourth how do you feel about being a VIP some golden pass Panorama trains but not all have this really cool VIP section of only eight seats where you're literally on the end of the train with the conductor driving above you but the thing is that you cannot Reserve these seats in advance and unfortunately there's no way of knowing which trains have the VIP sections but if you do see it on your train you can simply ask the staff and pay them the fee to ride it's equivalent to a first class ticket or seat upgrade plus the VIP supplement fifth you can connect your golden pass Express journey to lern with the luzer interlock and express this is currently a separate scenic train ride but one one day they hope to equip these same trains with a cog wheel so that it can travel the entire route between montro and LZ that's pretty cool because then there would be a standard gauge metric gauge and Cog wheel Network all on the exact same train and that would be a world's first and of course as a tourist it would be really nice that you could just go all the way from montro to LZ without having to change trains as you can tell by the Landscapes we are almost to montro but you might be wondering how do I fit the golden pass Express into my Switzerland itinerary an ideal Swiss vacation would include a few days in lucern about a week in the yraa region and then a few more days along Lake Geneva and you can reach all of these destinations using the golden pass train lines and once you get to montro you're in the frenchspeaking part of Switzerland which feels like a whole new country but before you visit Switzerland don't overlook these 50 plus things to know and get help with your itinerary using our Swiss travel guides enjoy your ride on the golden pass Express and we'll see you in Switzerland

Channel: Aplins in the Alps

Views: 7,741

Keywords: alpins in the alps, goldenpass express, goldenpass panorama, belle epoque, belle epoch, montreux, interlaken, traveling swiss, panoramic train ride, swiss train, swiss transportation, swiss train pass, swiss rail pass, how to switzerland, golden pass express, prestige class, scenic train ride, vip train, glacier express, bernina express

Id: SCISLxOMaC0

Length: 11min 39sec (699 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 30 2024