GoldenPass Belle Époque Train
A vintage train styled on the 1930s Pullman expresses, climbing from Lake Geneva at Montreux into the Bernese Alps at Zweisimmen.
Step aboard at Montreux and the present quietly recedes. The GoldenPass Belle Époque runs in carriages built to echo the Golden Mountain Pullman expresses of the 1930s: wood panelling, brass fittings, deep armchairs in turquoise and blue, and panoramic windows that frame the view like a series of paintings.
The route is the point. Over roughly 70 kilometres and a little over two hours, the train climbs from the palm-lined shore of Lake Geneva, through the terraced Lavaux vineyards, and up into the Bernese Alps at Zweisimmen, gateway to the Saanenland and Gstaad. Villages, gorges, alp meadows and lakes pass in slow succession.
Operated by the historic Montreux Oberland Bernois railway, the Belle Époque is unhurried by design. There is no rush to it, no upgrade urgency; a standard ticket buys the same wood-and-brass theatre, and first class simply buys more room to enjoy it. One carriage even keeps a small cellar of regional wines.
We have a soft spot for train travel that earns its keep twice over: it is the lowest-carbon way to cross this stretch of Switzerland, and comfortably the most beautiful. The Belle Époque is not a heritage novelty bolted onto a tourist circuit. It is a working scenic line, dressed with care, that treats the journey itself as the destination and trusts you to settle in and watch the country go by.
