Vintage steam locomotives are drawing crowds to the high Alpine Furka Pass as the Furka Steam Railway celebrates its 100th anniversary with a three-day festival from 3 to 5 July. The volunteer-run line links Realp in Uri with Oberwald in Valais, climbing to 2,160 metres via cog traction and hand-restored bridges. Although now a tourist attraction, the route once formed part of the Glacier Express and remains a bucket-list experience for rail enthusiasts. Swiss hotels logged a 15 percent spike in bookings along the route for the anniversary weekend, according to preliminary data from HotellerieSuisse.
![Century-Old Furka Alpine Steam Railway Drives Heritage-Tourism Surge]()
Meanwhile, international visitors keen to ride the anniversary trains can streamline their travel paperwork through VisaHQ, whose online portal clarifies Swiss visa requirements and handles applications end-to-end, freeing up time to plan mountain excursions instead.
For Switzerland’s inbound sector, the jubilee is perfectly timed: U.S. and Asian markets have recovered to pre-pandemic levels while European visitors are lengthening stays around cultural events. Tour operators are packaging the steam journey with gourmet experiences and VIP cab-ride add-ons—popular among incentive groups looking for “only-in-Switzerland” moments. Mobility planners note a knock-on effect on regional transport: SBB has added stops at Realp on key InterRegio services, and PostBus Switzerland is operating extra departures to distribute visitor flows. The Canton of Uri has temporarily relaxed parking restrictions for coaches but warns that the mountain road via Furka Pass remains closed to large vehicles. With advance tickets already sold out for most steam departures in July, DFB (Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway) says it will examine whether to extend the season or add mid-week charter slots—an example of how heritage rail can complement Switzerland’s modern mobility ecosystem.
Meanwhile, international visitors keen to ride the anniversary trains can streamline their travel paperwork through VisaHQ, whose online portal clarifies Swiss visa requirements and handles applications end-to-end, freeing up time to plan mountain excursions instead.
For Switzerland’s inbound sector, the jubilee is perfectly timed: U.S. and Asian markets have recovered to pre-pandemic levels while European visitors are lengthening stays around cultural events. Tour operators are packaging the steam journey with gourmet experiences and VIP cab-ride add-ons—popular among incentive groups looking for “only-in-Switzerland” moments. Mobility planners note a knock-on effect on regional transport: SBB has added stops at Realp on key InterRegio services, and PostBus Switzerland is operating extra departures to distribute visitor flows. The Canton of Uri has temporarily relaxed parking restrictions for coaches but warns that the mountain road via Furka Pass remains closed to large vehicles. With advance tickets already sold out for most steam departures in July, DFB (Furka Cogwheel Steam Railway) says it will examine whether to extend the season or add mid-week charter slots—an example of how heritage rail can complement Switzerland’s modern mobility ecosystem.
