The Postcard-Perfect Journey Aboard The Excellence Class Of The Glacier Express
Eight hours, 291 bridges and one very good glass of champagne. A first ride on the Glacier Express, from Zermatt to St Moritz.
Lifestyle16 October 2026 Words abdul aziz draim
Images: Glacier Express.
It’s 8:45am in Zermatt in the middle of December, and I’m about to board the Excellence Class on the Glacier Express, one of the hottest train tickets in all of Switzerland—and with good reason. The cabin’s expansive windows present an unobstructed postcard-perfect view of Switzerland’s natural beauty, stretching from Zermatt to St. Moritz.
Red carpet treatment
The concierge waits on the platform, where a red carpet leads me into my carriage, and within minutes my luggage has disappeared into a lockable hold I won’t think about again until we reach our destination. A glass of champagne appears before the train has even properly left the station. In the Excellence Class, the standard is set early.
The carriage smells faintly of walnut. Here, luxury travel is defined by quartzite surfaces, beige leather seats—two passengers per window— and a swanky bar as the train pulls away from the Matterhorn’s shadow at 8:52am sharp (Swiss precision, after all).
Each passenger is provided with their own personal tablet, powered by an onboard server rather than the network, that tracks the route via GPS and narrates the highlights of the 8-hour journey in eight languages.
Tastes of luxury
Breakfast opens with smoked trout with beetroot and horseradish cream (the start of a five-course meal) followed by a pea and mint soup scattered with dried Alpine blossom—my personal favourite.
In spite of the long journey, I don’t fall asleep for a second—and hardly look at my phone. How could I, when you have such gorgeous landscapes to soak in from start to finish?
Outside, the Mattertal valley gives way to Brig, its 17th-century castle glimpsed briefly before the train turns towards Andermatt. Nobody rushes. That’s rather the point of the slowest express train in the world.
From the high alpine views at the Oberalp Pass (the highest point of the trip at 2,033 meters above sea level) and the majesty of The Rhine Gorge (dubbed the Swiss Grand Canyon) to crossing the stunning Landwasser Viaduct, a six-arched limestone bridge along the UNESCO-listed Albula line, I don’t want to miss a single view.
The Glacier Express is easily the most breathtaking train ride I have gone on so far because Switzerland itself has the kind of natural beauty that encourages you to slow down. (I’ll let the pictures do the talking).That I get to experience it in the lap of luxury just makes that experience even more memorable.
