For this trip, we thought we’d try something a bit different. I put together a slower-paced trip without a rental car. We used primarily trains, with some buses, and metros. We flew into Cologne, Germany and started our 12-day journey from the nearby Bonn train station. In Germany, we used the Deutschland ticket which allows one calendar month of unlimited travel on any local or regional trains for about 58 euros per person. We used it to see several small to medium-sized towns in Germany which included the scenic Rhine River Gorge and the Black Forest routes. We bought standard French 2nd class tickets for a 3-day diversion into France. Then, we bought Swiss train tickets to get to Luzern. From there we took the famous all-day Luzern Express and Golden Pass routes through the Swiss Alps from Luzern to Interlaken to Montreux. Our last train took us from Montreux to the Geneva airport for an easy flight home to Porto. There were no major snags in spite of the notoriously late German trains.
We saw lots of charming old towns with interesting architecture and stunning flower boxes. The weather mostly cooperated with warm fall temperatures and only a couple of drippy, overcast days. We learned a lot about European train travel and will definitely be doing more of it. Highlights of the trip were: our stay in Colmar in France, going up to the top of Pilatus Klum mountain in Luzern, and taking the Golden Pass train route. I couldn’t get great photos through the tinted and sometimes dirty windows of the moving trains, but I documented the adventure as best I could. We enjoyed it all immensely; everything from wine tastings to beer gardens to playing darts in a heavy metal pub.
Bonn to our first stop for lunch in Bacharach:
Bacharach through the Rhine River Gorge to Mainz for two nights:
From Mainz to Heidelberg to see the old University town:
On into France with a few hours exploring Strasbourg before continuing to Colmar for two nights:
Colmar to Basel to Freiburg im Breisgau (3 countries in 90 minutes):
A slow ride through the Black Forest region with a brief lunch stop in Gengenbach:
After an overnight in Singen, we went to Konstanz to start our Switzerland journey. Konstanz through Zurich to Luzern:
Lovely Luzern:
Pilatus Klum: From Luzern, we took two cable cars up the mountain and the world’s steepest cogwheel train (48%) down. We finished with a cruise across Lake Luzern. Magnificent views from the top:
Our last full day was the picturesque Golden Pass train ride from Luzern to Interlaken to Montreux. Capped off with a stormy sunset over Lake Geneva in Montreux.
In Interlaken, we enjoyed watching dozens of paragliders take off from the mountain and gently land in the park across from where we were having our very touristy fondue lunch.
