Across the Alps by Rail

Leg by leg

Each leg is a great journey in itself. Here's the loop, with travel times and what you'll see from the window.

1. Leg1

   Geneva / Annecy Chamonix

   🇫🇷 FranceMountain town

   90 km / 56 mi2.5 hrs

   Begin beneath Mont Blanc in Chamonix, reached by the scenic Mont Blanc Express up from the valley, to set the tone.

2. Leg2

   Chamonix Zermatt

   🇨🇭 SwitzerlandCar-free resort

   130 km / 81 mi4 hrs

   Across into Switzerland and up the Mattertal to car-free Zermatt, your first Matterhorn evening and the start of the great rail lines.

3. Leg3

   Zermatt St. Moritz

   🇨🇭 SwitzerlandAlpine resort

   290 km / 180 mi8 hrs▲ 2,033 m

   The Glacier Express, eight hours, 291 bridges, and the Oberalp Pass, the single most famous train journey in the Alps.

4. Leg4

   St. Moritz Tirano

   🇮🇹 ItalyBorder town

   60 km / 37 mi2.5 hrs▲ 2,253 m

   The Bernina Express over the highest rail crossing in the Alps and down the spiralling Brusio viaduct into Italy.

5. Leg5

   Tirano Bolzano / Dolomites

   🇮🇹 ItalyAlpine city

   200 km / 124 mi4 hrs

   Through the Italian lakes and vineyards to Bolzano, the gateway city to the Dolomites and their pale, theatrical peaks.

6. Leg6

   Bolzano Salzburg

   🇦🇹 AustriaBaroque city

   270 km / 168 mi4.5 hrs

   Over the Brenner Pass into Austria and on to Salzburg, all baroque domes, fortress, and Sound-of-Music backdrop.

7. Leg7

   Salzburg Ljubljana

   🇸🇮 SloveniaCapital city

   290 km / 180 mi4.5 hrs

   South through the Austrian lakes to Ljubljana, green, walkable, and the perfect launchpad for Lake Bled to finish.

How it’s done

The same route, packaged for different travelers. Pick the version that fits your time, fitness, and how you like to sleep.

Do I need a rail pass or point-to-point tickets?

For a multi-country loop like this, a Eurail/Interrail Global Pass is usually the simplest and best value, one pass covering all five countries. Note that the headline scenic trains, the Glacier Express and Bernina Express, are covered by the pass for the ride but require a separate paid seat reservation, which you should book well ahead in summer.

Is it really possible to cross the Alps without a car?

Yes. The Alps have the densest, most scenic rail network in the world, and this route is built entirely on it. Some of the most desirable towns, like Zermatt, are deliberately car-free and reached only by train. Between the panoramic expresses and frequent regional services, you can see the high Alps end to end without ever touching a steering wheel.

When is the best time for an Alps rail trip?

June to September for long days, green passes, and every line running, the prime window. December is the other sweet spot, when the same route links up the great Christmas markets of Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Ljubljana and the scenery turns to snow. Avoid the shoulder weeks when some seasonal scenic services pause.

How many days do you need, and can you do a shorter version?

The full loop runs about twelve days with a stop each night, which keeps the train legs short and leaves time to actually see each town. If that's too long, the Swiss scenic core, roughly a week around Zermatt, the Glacier Express, and the Bernina Express, captures the two headline trains without the wider circuit. There's also a December version that links the Salzburg, Innsbruck, and Ljubljana Christmas markets by rail.

Where do you start and end, and how do you get home?

The loop begins around Geneva or Annecy in the French Alps and ends in Ljubljana, so the simplest plan is to fly into Geneva and home from Ljubljana, both well-connected airports. If you'd rather a true round trip, Ljubljana links back toward the start by rail, but the one-way, open-jaw routing wastes no time backtracking. Build the legs around an overnight in each town rather than racing through.

Can you break the journey to explore places like Lake Bled or the Dolomites?

Absolutely, and you should. The route is built around a stop every night, and two of those towns are gateways: Bolzano opens straight onto the Dolomites for a few days among the pale peaks, and Ljubljana is under an hour from Lake Bled to finish on the water. Add nights wherever a place grabs you; the freedom to do exactly that is the whole appeal of crossing the Alps by rail.