Gornergrat Railway cogwheel train ticket: my review

What CHF 132 buys, and what it does not

CHF 132 is the operator’s own summer return fare from Zermatt to Gornergrat, May to October. It carries you 9.339 km and 1,485 vertical metres, from 1,604 m to 3,089 m, on the first electric cogwheel railway built in Switzerland; it has run since 20 August 1898. In the winter band the same return is CHF 102. The booking page charges the summer figure, matches the counter, and does not add a fee.

What it does not buy is a discount for booking early, because there is no cheaper online price on this line. It also does not buy a seat: no seat can be reserved on the Gornergrat Bahn, at any price. If you hold a Swiss Travel Pass, a Half-Fare Card, a GA or an Adventure Card, do not buy this listing at full price — those passes take exactly 50% off, so the same return is CHF 66 at the window. The discounts page lists all of them.

The missing child rate is worth a sentence. The railway’s own tariff carries children free up to their sixth birthday in summer and up to their ninth in winter, and half fare from there to 15.99, but the booking page shows no reduced rate. If you are travelling with children in that band, price the family at the ticket window before you buy a row of adult vouchers here.

What the 4.7 is made of

672 ratings is a large enough sample that the average is telling you something specific rather than something random, and what it says is that the ride does what it claims. Donna from the United States wrote that the train was clean and the ride smooth. Desirée from the Netherlands described an unhurried ascent with the view building as you climb, which is exactly what 33 minutes at a 20% maximum gradient feels like. Sharon from Australia got a completely clear day; Julie from the United States called it a highlight of ten days in Switzerland; Debbie from the United Kingdom found the train clean and got a seat without trouble.

Then the other two. Leona from Germany, five stars: “Perfectly organized, an experience, but very expensive.” Catherine from Australia disliked the pushing and shoving as people boarded, which is the part I watched every day from behind the window in July and August. Neither of them is wrong. This is a busy public railway on a fixed timetable, and CHF 132 does not buy you calm.

The seat is free, and it is on the right

The single most useful thing I can tell a ticket-holder costs nothing. Going up, the Matterhorn is on the right-hand side of the train. Near Zermatt the rear-facing seats hold the view longest. Priority Boarding is sold at CHF 7 per person in the Zermatt to Gornergrat direction, and it buys exactly one thing: you board three minutes before everybody else and then choose any seat. It is not a reservation and it does not guarantee the right-hand side. The priority waiting area closes ten minutes before departure, and people miss it. Where to sit has the detail.

The line is closed from 2 to 14 November 2026 for construction work. No train runs to Gornergrat on those dates, whatever your voucher says. The timetable page has the reduced service that follows it.

What reviewers wrote

Verbatim snippets from the listing. The high ratings and the complaint about the price come from the same people, which is the honest shape of this ticket.

Who should buy something else

Anyone who will walk one leg. The operator’s hiking ticket takes you up and lets you walk down to Riffelberg for CHF 108 adult, CHF 54 reduced, which is cheaper than this and a better day: see the hiking ticket. Anyone holding a Swiss pass should buy at the window at half price instead. Anyone choosing between mountains should read Gornergrat against Glacier Paradise first. And nobody should buy the other Gornergrat listing, which is this same train at CHF 206.

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