Switzerland by train

A few weeks ago I travelled by train from Durham to Biarritz by train and back. I have mobility problems although I did not request assistance. If you book in advance,and buy a travel together permit you can book 1 st class at a good price. It's well worth the price as food is brought to your seat so your DH would not have to get up and wander. The trains in France can be double decker and in 1st on the sncf they swivel for the best direction. It is certainly possible to go from Durham to Geneva in a day. You change from the Gare du Nord to he Gare de l'est in Paris. the station in Geneva is clear and easy to manage but the ticket people there can be surly. I'm not sure if it's reasonable to carry on to Interlaken or have a stop over but there are two or three acceptable hotels immediately opposite the station.
Your friend is the man in seat 61 website and get alerts for when the cheap seats come out. Also send luggage on ahead. Worth its weight in gold.
I think granjura has left but juragran might have ideas. I used to travel to Geneva a lot. Please pm me if I can help.

NanaK54 you have given me the best idea of all! How about a camper van? That will have beds AND you can get ones with a toilet compartment and chemical toilet. This is surely ideal for someone who needs to be as comfortable as possible on a long journey. You can hire them. Just take care you don't get one that is too bulky for the winding mountain roads. You can still stop off overnight at hotels too.

I have travelled with groups of Scouts from here, Brussels, to Kandersteg on the Swiss/Italian border. We got a Chouchette and the only change we had was to a local train when we got to Switzerland, journey of about an hour.
It was quite easy, perhaps you could look at getting to Eurostar to here and leaving from Brussels.

Would it be possible for some family to hire a 'mini-bus' and drive together - oh but perhaps not a useful suggestion as no easy access to toilets......

There is a cheaper type of sleeper - used to be called "couchette" where you have 6 bunks in the compartment and you share with strangers. If you or they have a cough or snore it's impossible to rest, so make sure you get a private compartment

Just to add another thing I just remembered about sleeping cars on the continent is if you were on a journey you would normally have to change, instead of waking you up they would shunt the sleeping cars into a siding then have them reattached to the other train that was going to your destination.

I wonder if they do sleeping trains across Switzerland. That could at least mean he's resting for most of the journey, and unless the private sleeping compartments have changed a lot since I last used one, you even get a little potty thing in the side cabinet that empties to the outside of the train so if you just want a pee you don't have to go down the corridor.

Thanks for all the ideas. Unfortunately plane not possible as OH has heart rhythm problem - so train or car it has to be!

I am doing lots of research and hope to find a solution.

What about flying to Geneva, staying in a lakeside hotel with fab view. There are many minibus companies available for hire with wheelchair access, will take you on private tour. Thirty minutes out of Geneva fab views of the Alps, stop on demand, back to hotel in a jiffy if OH tired or ... Keep going. Speak to Swiss tourist office. Enjoy.

It was about 20 years ago now but when I used to have to use train around Switzerland, the journeys were somewhat tedious as the train weaves slowly around mountainsides as opposed to going as the crow flies (by road it's even more frustrating) but the stations are warm and have lovely buffets. But the journey will take a LONG time - far longer than covering the same map distance in the UK.

After Monica's description it sounds like plane travel is far less difficult. They cater for disabilities - for example you can have wheelchair assistance practically up to your seat on the plane, then at the other end, too.

There are also services that take charge of everything for you (including checking you have your passport and ticket ready at the right time and place, but all sorts of other helpful things, such as looking after toddlers if you have to change a baby's nappy, helping with luggage and telling you where to go). At a cost, of course. One is called "Flying Companions". I'm trying to remember the name of the other one I saw advertised in Dublin Airport.

However, I remember you have mentioned before that your husband has panic attacks so that may be the reason you ruled air travel out from the start.

Don't forget: Enjoy the planning part - prepare well! And make the actual journey part of the holiday. Consider yourselves on holiday the minute you step out of your front door. Treat yourselves to things en route, get as comfortable as possible, follow the route on the map and enjoy the view from the window.

If you are determined to do this I think Eurostar runs all the way to Avignon now. Could you try this route? However, it sounds to me as if you should plan a family holiday in this country. I speak as someone whose husband has not been well enough to travel abroad for the last 6 years and could now no longer get Travel insurance even if he wanted to. I also know what it is like to be abroad with someone who is taken seriously ill.
Rent a large house in this country, put up posters of Switzerland and serve cheese fondue.
Whatever you decide to do, good luck and best wishes

Thanks M0nica - I will pm you tomorrow. Happy New Year!

I would have deep reservations. DH and I, both fit and well have taken to train holidays recently and after a very successful train holiday to Spain 18 months ago. We followed this up with a train holiday to Switzerland last February. Our destination was Interlaken.

It was not an easy journey. We had to travel London to Paris then change stations to get a train from Paris to Strasbourg, then another from Strasbourg to Basle and a third from Basle to Interlaken.

The train from Paris to Strasbourg was a double-decker, and I think the train to Basle was as well. This means going upstairs or down to your seats and toilets were shared between decks so you would need to check there was a loo for the right gender on the same deck and readily accessible to where you are sitting. We also had to hang around for up to a couple of hours at interchange stations waiting for connections. There are no porters so you need to carry all your own luggage on and off trains, and the steps up and down into trains are far steeper than we are accustomed to in the UK

We found it tiring and tedious - and we are in good health and reasonably fit. I think travelling to Switzerland by train with your husband would be completely impossible for a man with his health problems. Too physically demanding and tiring.

If you are determined to go, I would suggest you and your husband make the journey by car and take several days with overnight stops. Or, if he can tolerate long periods in the car, some years ago we did Calais to Geneva in one long day's drive, we stayed the previous night in Dover, caught the 7.00 am ferry from Calais and arrived in Geneva about 12 hours later. With two young fit drivers sharing the driving that is perfectly possible.

If you still think train is possible, I would contact the Kings Cross/St Pancras international train office and talk to them about the facilities they have to help disabled travellers. However once you are out of the UK help is uncertain and the make up of trains, where loos are on double deckers, is uncertain.

I have some understanding of PD because my FiL had it. If DH had, even mild, PD, I would not even consider travelling to Switzerland by train.

If you would like to discuss this further PM me.

I did of course mean Interlaken!!!

Thanks for the suggestion of pm'ing Granjura.

Luckygirl
Can't help with the trains in Europe but I was thinking, wouldn't it be easier to drive to Ashford and leave the car there ready for your return.
You say from South Wales, couldn't be easier. M4, M25, M20. Motorway all the way.
The holiday sounds wonderfully. Switzerland is stunning.
From what you've told us over the past months, you deserve it

Luckygirl sounds a wonderful holiday for you both .
What about sending Granjura a PM.
I am sure that I have read that she uses trains to travel back and forth between UK and Switzerland .

Do you mean Interlaken?

Why Innsbruck? That's in Austria.