All aboard the Wilhelm Tell Express

It's no secret that I love Switzerland. But, somewhere along the line something was lost in translation with the term "express". As a rule of thumb, Swiss trains labeled with the word end up being pretty much the opposite. Not that it's a bad thing with scenery like this.

Take the Wilhelm Tell Express, a route you begin aboard a paddlewheel steamer in Lucerne and switches to a train at Flüelen before chugging its way down through the Gotthard 

Pass to Switzerland's Mediterranean style canton of Ticino.While Tell may be the stuff of legends, the route connects two very real - and incredibly scenic - parts of the country.

After two nights in Lucerne, we embarked on trip aboard to Wilhelm Tell Express for lunch and marvelous views of the Alps and lakeside towns. Along the way you'll pass by Rütli, where Swiss patriots from three cantons took the oath of the confederacy in 1291. We disembarked for a short walk to the station at Flüelen to begin a couple hours of scenic train travel.

Dramatic landscapes with gorges, rivers and melting glacial ice mixed with quaint church steeples and small villages along the way. After passing through the darkness of the Gotthard tunnel, the light greeted us with a new world, Ticino, Switzerland's rustic, Italian-speaking Garden of Eden. 

The journey ended at Locarno along Lake Maggiore, where we would feast on risotto, polenta and pizza, sipping the region's acclaimed wine. 

Further information about the Wilhelm Tell Express and
the Swiss Pass can be found at www.myswitzerland.com.