Day 44: Glacier Express, St. Moritz (Oct 30)

Blog post coming soon! Highlights: train ride across Switzerland on the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St. Moritz. In the meantime, here are today's pictures.

Luggage & netbook

I've debated back and forth about what kind of luggage to take. Many sites (One Bag, Reid's Guides, Rick Steves, etc.) say to pack as lightly as possible, with as few clothes as possible, in as small a bag as possible.

Until you’ve learned this lesson yourself (swearing to never make these mistakes again) the temptation is to pack everything you think you’ll be able to carry rather than pack as little as you can get away with. Even after hearing this advice most people will make this mistake anyway, so hopefully some of this will come in handy and you’ll be ahead of the game. (via)

I have decided to heed that advice but stray a little more to the side of comfort. I don't NEED my bag to be carry-on size (22"), I'm only going to be taking two flights (there and back) and will be on the train the rest of the time, and since I'm going overseas I can check a bag for free.

Switzerland (Oct. 24-30)

5/29 Update: I have deleted Zurich in favor of spending more time in the Bern Oberlander area.
6/12 Update: I found out that the Glacier Express only runs through Oct. 30, so I had to cut one day out of the Bern Oberlander stay
8/3 Update: Had to reroute my St. Moritz to Milan train

Day 39 heading out of Germany into Switzerland, I wanted to try to stop off in Liechtenstein but apparently no express trains stop there. My options:

1. The closest nearby town is Buchs, Switzerland, and only one train out of Fussen gets there within a reasonable time, leaving at 5:51am and getting in at 10:59am with two transfers (Buchloe, Germany, and St Margrethen, Switzerland). Then I could take the 2:12pm direct to Zurich, arriving 3:30pm, or the 3:01pm-4:23pm (via Sargans).
2. Or, I can take that same 5:51am train out of Fussen, transfer in Buchloe, and get into Zurich at 11:44am.

Not sure (yet) if it's worth nearly 5 hours. I'd lose pretty much all the daytime on my first day in Zurich if I did, and there doesn't seem to be much worth stopping for aside from postage stamps.

London and southern England (Sept. 17-22)

5/29 Update: Departure date from Houston is Sept. 17, so I get into London's Heathrow Airport on the morning of Sept. 18.
9/5 Update: Decided to add one day to the stay (4 days in town, 1 day out of town).

I will have a Eurail pass before I leave, I'll get the one that is good for about 2 months and allows me unlimited access. The rail pass also allows me discounts on buses, ferries, and other stuff along my way, but I plan to do the vast majority of my intercity travel by rail.

I went to England with my family after I graduated high school in 1984. We went to Paris in 1988 after I graduated college, before I started my job (and ironically, I'll visit after I leave my job with that same company). But that's the extent of my journeys in Europe. I've always wanted to do an open-jaw trip (fly into city A, travel on my own to city B, and fly home from there) so that's where this trip came from. And a co-worker suggested that "if you have the chance to do something that you've wanted to do since you were a kid, do it" so I've got a few of those sprinkled in this trip too.