Advice on Swiss rail journeys

MY HUSBAND AND I ARE VISITING DIJON FOR A WEEK IN LATE AUGUST. WE PLAN TO SPEND THE NEXT FOUR TO FIVE DAYS EXPLORING SWITZERLAND. WE WILL HAVE A HIRE CAR IN FRANCE BUT ARE NOT SURE WHETHER TO DRIVE AROUND SWITZERLAND OR DO IT BY TRAIN. ANY ADVICE ON MUST-SEE PLACES AND A SUGGESTED ROUTE?

L. HUTTON, CASTLE HILL

While I prefer Europe with my hands on the wheel I would happily make an exception in the case of Switzerland. Not only does it have some of the most fabulous alpine and lake scenery on the planet, the engineering feats accomplished by the Swiss railway builders make this nirvana for anyone who loves rail travel. Any list of great Swiss rail journeys would have to include the Glacier Express (glacierexpress.ch) and the Bernina Express (rhb.ch) but there are plenty more such as the William Tell Express, the GoldenPass Line and the Swiss Chocolate Train.

Coming from Dijon you're probably going to enter Switzerland somewhere close to Lac Leman and I'd suggest you leave your vehicle at Montreux and board the The GoldenPass Line train which will take you through mountain villages to the Bernese Oberland. Stop overnight in Interlaken and next day take a ride to the Jungfraujoch, the top of Europe at 3454 metres and Europe's highest railway station. Hang on to your hat, it's an amazing journey. Continue aboard the GoldenPass train to Lucerne, a really lovely city well worth an overnight stop. Next day, hop aboard the William Tell Express for the trip to Locarno in the Italian-speaking Ticino region, which is a lovely part of the country even by Swiss standards. Overnight in Locarno and the next day take a train back to Montreux, which can take as little as 3½ hours. If you had more time you could take the train from Locarno back to Andermatt and pick up the Glacier Express on its way to Zermatt.

With just four to five days in hand you're going to be speeding through some areas that deserve a lingering look. If you can add a couple more days to your Swiss journey, so much the better.