09 January 2025

When my sister suggested we go on a river cruise over new year I was a bit, ummm! I have to be honest that river cruises never really floated my boat (sorry), but my wife was keen to try it so I thought why not. We flew to Frankfurt and was met by the Tui representative and transferred to the ship (or is it boat!) by coach. We were on the Tui Skyla and had a cabin on deck one. Deck one is the lowest of the three and has a porthole type window rather than patio doors. This deck is close to the water and you will hear a bit of “sloshing” when other boats pass by. The cabin was well appointed with minibar/fridge (apparently not available in single cabins). Bathroom is a bit small but functional, with shower only. Restaurant was very good, buffet breakfast with hot dishes and cooking station for eggs etc. Lunch was buffet for salads and table service for the rest. Dinner was full table service. Could not fault the food and the services was very good. Entertainment was provided by three entertainers who were good. There were odd quiz and other games both evening and during the day. With this being a new year cruise there was little opportunity to visit the upper deck. Travelling between ports was mainly overnight, except that we travelled during the afternoon between Boppard and Rüdesheim so that we could view the scenery. This is probably the most interesting part of the trip with some interesting castles and towns along the way. We stopped at Mainz, Wiesbaden, Dusseldorf, Boppard, Rüdesheim, Emerich, Cologne and Koblenz. Our favourites were Cologne and Koblenz. In Cologne the must see places are the cathedral and the chocolate museum (bookable online, you have to book a time slot). Koblenz has an interesting town centre and the cable car up to the fort is good. During the Christmas period there are lights in the fort from 1630. You can book online your cable car and lights combo ticket). Tui do offer some excursions, but these were mainly walking tours or associated with wine or beer. There was no hard sell on excursions, in fact quite the opposite, it was very low key. At the port talks the excursion was mentioned and how many places available “if you are interested”. Other river cruise companies, such as Riviera and Viking are available. These do tend to be more expensive than Tui river cruises. With Tui the ships are not always berthed nearest to the city or town centres. For example we had either a 25 minute walk or a 10 minute coach ride to the centre of Dusseldorf. If you haven’t done a river cruise before, doing one with Tui on Skyla is a good way to try it out without spending too much money. What was nice about a river cruise is that you get to visit towns and cities which you probably would never have thought of visiting any other way. Let me know if I can help further.

16 October 2024

On Tuesday we took the stroll up to the station at Tiefencastel to board the Bernina Express for the three and a half hour journey to Tirano in Italy. It’s a fantastic journey through some amazing scenery across the Alps. It is a UNESCO listed route. For me one of the best bits of the route is the Brusio spiral viaduct (see my video) which is an amazing piece of engineering. After this as one heads down toward Tirano there is some street running which is not unusual for Switzerland. At Tirano we had just over an hour to take in the town and have a drink and/or a real Italian ice cream (there is a nice ice cream stall in a restaurant opposite the railway station). Our return journey was on local trains which meant a change at Samedan and Pontresina, might sound a bit of a drag but actually it was quite nice to break the journey. It is the same tracks as the Bernina Express but if you sit on the opposite side to when you go down you get to see the scenery you might have missed. The Wednesday was along the Albula Line to St Moritz. I first went to St Moritz in 1972 when I was just a lad and my memory was of having my first ever cheese and ham toastie. The next time was in 1983 and recall travelling up the funicular railway Chantrella Corviglia. We had to get out part of the way and continue on a cable car, but in 2006 it was railway all the way. But now one can go further up to Piz Nair in a cable car which gives some spectacular views over the mountains. There is also a restaurant which despite eating our packed lunch indulged in sausage and chips, albeit shared between us! After taking in the views we made our way back down the cable car and funicular railway ready to meet the group for the train back to Tiefencastle. Thursday was another free day and whilst some people explored locally we decided to head for Davos. I stayed in Davos in 1983 and wanted to see the hotel I stayed in, but I couldn’t remember the name of it or where it was! To get to Davos entailed getting the train to Filisur and then on to Davos. However, there was also a bus that departed from the Tiefencastel station to Filisur station and decided to take this for some different scenic views and we weren’t disappointed. Again the 50% off Swiss Travel Card being valid on the buses. A Filisur we caught the train which was one of the preserved carriages. At the back of Davos station was the Jakobshorn cable car which we took to the top. This gave commanding views over Davos. There is a restaurant there as well and yes, we had sausage and chips, again! We had a wander around the town and then made our way back to the railway station. We decided to take the bus direct back to Tiefencastel which was a nice ride giving some different views to the train journey. The bus stopped outside the hotel so we alighted there and joined some fellow group members for a drink before dinner. On Friday we made our way to Chur where we changed on to the Arosa Line which winds its way through some spectacular scenery to the lakeside resort of Arosa, crossing the Langweiser Viaduct and arriving in Arosa alongside Obersee. There is an open rail car available on certain journeys. Another cable car takes you to the top of the mountain which also has a bear pit half way. On the return journey we alighted the train at the northern end of Chur city centre, alighting at a street running station. This gave us the opportunity to walk down the centre, take in a coffee before meeting up at the main station for our journey back to Tiefencastel. Its Saturday and we say farewell to the Albula & Julier Hotel at Tiefencastel and make our way to the station for the train to Chur. Here we join the Glacier Express which takes us through some breath taking scenery. Through the Rhine Gorge also know as the Swiss Grand Canyon. The route goes over the Oberalp Pass and besides lakes and glaciers before entering the nine mile long Furka Base Tunnel before arriving into Brig. After sometime to explore Brig, we then set off towards Basel passing Lake Thun and Spiez. Our hotel in Basel was just by the station, so not far to walk. At the hotel, all guests were given a ticket which gave free travel on the trams, entrance to the museums and a few other transactions. Whilst issued by the hotel it was provided by the municipality. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to explorer the city, but we did take a tram ride for two stops, just to say we have used our free tickets. Mid morning we departed Basel for Paris Gare de Lyon. On arrival we were transferred by coach to Gare du Nord where we boarded the Eurostar back to London St Pancras. I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog, if you are interested in a Great Rail Journeys holiday let me know, I can book this for you. Alternatively, if you want to do something bespoke to your requirements let me know I can put together a package covering everything you want to do.

30 September 2024

I love travelling by train, you see so much more than you would travelling by car. So we embarked on a Great Rail Journeys tour to travel on Switzerland’s Bernina Express, Arosa Line and Glacier Express back in October last year. Setting off from St Pancras on a Saturday lunch time for the Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord. On arrival at Gare du Nord, we made our way on foot to Gare de L’Est which takes about 10 minutes and is fairly level. It’s certainly quicker than any other mode. At Gare de L’Est we boarded the TGV train to Strasbourg which takes two hours. Strasbourg was our overnight stop, with the hotel conveniently situated opposite the railway station, although the hotel is set back with a small park in between. In the morning we had some time to explore Strasbourg, whilst the shops were closed being a Sunday morning, it was quite busy. The city centre was quite pleasant to walk around and the architecture of half timbered buildings was very nice. Unfortunately, unable to visit the cathedral inside as preparing for morning service but nice to see the outside. After a cheeky coffee we returned to the hotel to collect our luggage and meet the rest of the group, ready for our lunchtime departure. We took the train to Zurich where we changed to another to take us to Chur. At Chur we changed to the Rhatische Bahn railway, a narrow gauge railway which would take us to Tiefencastel. On arrival at Tiefencastel our luggage was collected by the hotel we then walked to the hotel which is 10 minutes downhill. Note that there is a local bus which passes the hotel and some in the group took advantage of this. The hotel Albula & Julier was our base for the next five nights. The hotel was well appointed with friendly staff and some nice meals. A packed lunch was also available to take in the mornings if you wished to. The Monday was a “free day” but we wanted to see as much as we could and took advantage of the 50% discount Swiss Travel Card we were all given to travel to Zurich. We shocked our tour manager as we were the first down for breakfast at 0700. She wasn’t expecting anyone to be up that early! We made our way to the station and caught the train to Chur where we transferred to the SBB train to Zurich. I have to be honest and say that there is not a great deal to see in Zurich but I’m glad we did visit. After leaving the station we crossed the river and made our way towards the lake, seeing some interesting buildings on the way. At the lake we discovered a “short lake cruise” and on enquiring at the ticket office the next cruise departed in eight minutes. What was even more surprising was we received 50% off for having the Swiss Travel Card, which made the just over 90 minute cruise good value at CHF9.00 (approx. £7.95). The cruise stopped at a number of places going up the lake and down the other side. One stop was Kilchberg home of the Lindt chocolate factory. You have to book online to visit the factory, unfortunately for us all slots were full that day, probably not a bad thing we might have spoilt our dinner eating chocolate! There was a snack bar onboard which we shared a sausage and chips which was good value considering where we were. After the cruise we wondered down what must have been the main shopping street, which was fairly busy. There were a number of chocolate shops and yes, in one of the pictures that box of chocolates is CHF59.00 (about £52.00). We had a nose in the Laderach chocolate shop and bagged some free chocolate as we signed up for their newsletter. We purchased a small package of slab chocolate which contained nuts, raisins etc, there was about eight pieces in squares of about 6cm x 6cm, marked as CHF8.00. At the till the price was just on CHF24.00, we paid and then continued to browse and discovered that the CHF8.00 was per 100g, but shown in very small type. But it was great chocolate. We made our way back to the station and took the train back to Chur and connected with the train to Tiefencastel, ready for our dinner. Part Two to follow……