Rail route of the month: cheese, chocolate and a magical trip to the Swiss city of Gruyères | Switzerland holidays

It was a handpainted signal on a picket barn that piqued my curiosity in Gruyères. I used to be travelling from Emmental to Montreux final yr, following the fantastic Golden Go rail route. Our practice paused at Montbovon, the beginning of a steep climb as much as the road’s last dramatic mountain cross. There was the prospect of gorgeous views of Lake Geneva forward. To the correct of the railway, I noticed the daring signal: “La Gruyère vous salue” (the cheese lacks the village’s last “s”).

With time to spare earlier this month, I returned to Montbovon to discover the department railway that runs from there down the Sarine valley to Gruyères and past. This time I arrive on one of many new Golden Go trains which now run by means of from Montreux to Interlaken, counting on some technical magic to slide from narrow-gauge to standard-gauge tracks alongside the way in which. The vacationers within the posh status class are tucking into platters of charcuterie accompanied by Swiss wine. The climb up from Montreux is as magical as ever, twisting and turning up into the hills with Lake Geneva far under. Forty minutes out from Montreux, the practice makes its first scheduled cease. That is Montbovon, a village that my outdated Baedeker information advises is “famous for good cherry brandy”. I’m the only passenger alighting from the practice, which after a short cease is on its means once more, now following the Sarine valley upstream in the direction of Gstaad.

Valley of La Sarine

On a facet platform, one other practice awaits. It’s a humble native service, with not one of the aptitude of the Golden Go practice, which will be heard tooting its horn because it climbs up the ravine carved by the Sarine River. The native practice is signed for Palézieux by way of Gruyères. Quickly we’re on our means and inside a minute rattling proper down the primary road of Montbovon, passing the dairy and the baker to our left.

So maybe this isn’t a practice in any respect! Is it actually a tram that masquerades as a practice whereas ready by platform 3 at Montbovon station? It’s actually a hybrid, generally operating alongside roads, however elsewhere looping by means of forests and skirting chasms and gorges. These hills are the Prealps, a sequence of folded ranges that give actual character to Switzerland’s Fribourg Canton. Not fairly the true deal, it’s possible you’ll suppose, however very particular in their very own means. The journey of 27 miles from Montbovon to Palézieux skirts the japanese, northern after which the western flank of Le Moléson, one of the crucial outstanding peaks of the Fribourg Prealps. For Baedeker, Le Moléson was “the Rigi of western Switzerland,” an allusion to the mountain by Lake Lucerne that achieves no nice peak however affords gorgeous views of many Alpine ranges. You don’t have to climb to the summit of Le Moléson to understand the surroundings. Even from the practice there are outstanding views of distant, snow-covered peaks.

“Individuals come for the panorama, but additionally for the cheese,” says a girl on the practice who tells me she is travelling to go to a pal in hospital in Riaz. “However not on days like this,” she provides, alluding to the vagaries of climate on this early March day that has seen threatening clouds and hail showers.

Dams management the river circulate down the Sarine valley and we cruise alongside the sting of a reservoir with turquoise-blue waters. We cross the hydroelectric dam at Lessoc then pause at Albeuve the place the pink station constructing has brilliant inexperienced shutters. Our practice slips by meadows with loads of cows and beehives. Then comes the announcement: “Prochain arrêt: Gruyères”.

Cheese and chocolate

I take the cue and alight from the practice to find that we are literally not in Gruyères in any respect, however in a neighborhood referred to as Pringy. However the station identify Gruyères pulls the crowds, despite the fact that only a few of the cheese lovers who flock to Pringy ever go to Gruyères village itself, which is on a hilltop a couple of 20-minute stroll away to the east.

La maison du Gruyère, simply by the station in Pringy, has plastic cows on the roof whereas inside there are cheese-themed excursions and tastings. For actual devotees of all issues Swiss, it’s even attainable to purchase a particular Gruyère version of Toblerone chocolate.

Again on the practice in the direction of Palézieux, the surroundings will get higher and higher as we skirt the northern flank of Le Moléson, its steep, forested slopes rising as much as the left of the railway. Now there are snow fences alongside extra uncovered sections of the monitor because the practice traverses excessive pastures with outdated farmsteads dotted right here and there throughout the panorama. The heavy clouds are clearing to present late afternoon solar, so I break my journey on the highest station on the road within the village of Semsales the place an indication on the picket station constructing proclaims that we are actually at 858.1 metres above sea stage.

With a few hours in Semsales, I hike up into the hills, gaining adequate altitude to gaze throughout to the distant French Alps on the far facet of Lac Léman away to the south. Nearer handy is the craggy summit of Le Moléson, its northern slopes nonetheless holding the final of the winter snow. I’m chased down by gathering nightfall, making haste again to the village to catch a practice earlier than evening falls. From Semsales, it’s simply 20 minutes right down to Palézieux, the place our practice arrives not in the primary railway station however on a platform by the road exterior. This being Switzerland, there’s a fleet of ready buses providing connections to surrounding villages. However I stroll to the station and catch the native practice right down to Lausanne.

I cherished this journey, and I’d fortunately do the identical once more. It makes an ideal spherical journey for anybody staying in Lausanne or alongside the Montreux Riviera, travelling out from Montreux by way of Montbovon after which returning by way of Palézieux. Serene, pastoral landscapes with excellent views of mountains make a profitable mixture.

The journey from Montbovon to Palézieux takes simply 80 minutes. The complete circuit from Lausanne or Montreux, out by way of Montbovon and again by way of Palézieux, takes three hours, however do permit time to cease off a couple of times alongside the way in which. Trains run at the least hourly on all the circuit, with a half-hourly service on weekdays between Gruyères and Palézieux. The most cost effective one-way fare from Montbovon to Palézieux is 17.40 Swiss francs (£15.75). Purchase tickets at Montbovon earlier than boarding. This ticket is legitimate for 3 hours, giving time for a brief stopover alongside the way in which. A return ticket is 34.80 francs (£31.50), and is legitimate a complete day with limitless stopovers, not merely on this route however on most public transport in Canton Fribourg. When exploring this line as a part of a wider itinerary, an Interrail cross is usually the most effective deal. Grownup passes legitimate solely in Switzerland are €165 for 3 days’ journey inside a month, whereas a worldwide passes legitimate for 33 international locations is €283 for 4 journey days inside a month.

Nicky Gardner lives in Berlin. She is co-author of Europe by Rail: the Definitive Information (Hidden Europe, £18.99). To assist the Guardian and Observer, order your copy of the seventeenth version from guardianbookshop.com. Supply prices might apply.