Trens para Martigny

The Swiss town of Martigny in Valais canton is not the sort of place you’d want to spend more than a night or two. But it is extremely important as the gateway to some of the finest mountains in the Alps. To the immediate south of Martigny lies the rugged pays du Grand-St-Bernard, beyond which is the Aosta Valley in Italy. There’s a useful year-round express bus from Martigny to Aosta.

Much closer to hand, the ski resort of Verbier is just ten kilometres east of Martigny. For adrenalin-soaked thrills and ultra-chic chalets, Verbier is hard to beat, but it’s not a place for travellers on slender budgets. If you are heading for Verbier, book rail tickets to Martigny and then you can pay locally for the transfer (by mountain railway and bus) to Verbier. That transfer does not need to be pre-booked.

Martigny is the Swiss terminus for the Mont-Blanc Express train service to Chamonix. It is anything but an express, but a delightfully slow trundle through gorgeous mountain scenery. The ride to Chamonix takes 90 minutes (including a change of train at the Swiss-French-border). Regular Swiss Railways trains run from Martigny to Brig, Montreux and Lausanne, all less than an hour away. There are also half-hourly trains from Geneva Airport to Martigny.

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