Switzerland without a Car, 5th

by Lambert, Anthony

• ISBN13: 9781841624471
• ISBN10: 1841624470
• Edition: 5th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2013-07-16
• Publisher: Bradt Travel Guides

Summary

Switzerland is home to the world's finest public transport system. This guide, fully updated with the latest route information, explores the length and breadth of the country by public transport. It has thousands of fine museums, castles, mansions and outstanding churches together with vernacular buildings. Anthony Lambert outlines special train routes and describes every railway line and what there is to see from each station as well as connecting journeys by steamer, postbus, furnicular, cableway, bicycle and foot. No other guidebook to Switzerland focuses solely on public transport.

Author Biography

Anthony Lambert is a journalist and author with a keen interest in rail travel; he has travelled on over 40 countries' railway systems. He is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Excerpts

The descent into Italy begins gently but steepens as the train drops down through two tunnels toAlp Grüm, another popular place to break the journey. The main reason to do so is the viewing point over the Palü Glacier and down Val Poschiavo. The station has a restaurant and adjacent terrace from which the view can be savored while you have lunch.

 

The descent toPoschiavois one of the greatest sections of railway in the world. Without rack, trains drop down at the astonishingly steep ruling gradient of 1 in 14, negotiating curves so severe and numerous that the direct distance between the two points is doubled by rail. In many places the railway follows the route of an old Roman road. The experience is, of course, made exceptional by the views, though the elbows of the curves are often in tunnels and trees cover the slopes in a landscape very different from the barrenness of the pass. With flanges squealing on the curves, the train reaches a short flat section throughCavaglia. The most sinuous part of the descent followsCadera, the line resembling a child’s fantasy as it twists through tunnels and crosses numerous watercourses by viaduct. Italian- influenced buildings are now in evidence and the linguistic divide is crossed. At

Ospizio Bernina you may see the station official rush in to get his binoculars to see a rare bird; here you are more likely to see hunting rifles.