General FAQ
ECHO Rails is the leading award-winning outdoor tour operator in Switzerland. We offer a wide selection of excursions to unique tourist destinations.
We specialise in Rail Tours and custom tour, tailoring your adventure based on your wishes.
We strive to make you happy with our high-quality services and combine it with our friendly multilingual tour guides.
ECHO Rails was founded by René Welti, a Swiss-American, in 2012, in Lucerne, Switzerland. René Welti had the vision to provide an easy bookable, English-speaking guided hike from your home so visitors have a confirmed tour and can plan accordingly. At the time, there were no such bookable tours for one or two people in advance. By having a reserved day tour in advance, people could now book the hotel overnight with confidence that their tour would begin first thing the next morning.
René Welti recognized that the US market generated over 200,000 individual roomnights in Lucerne, he conceived a number of half-day & full-day tours emphasizing the Ecology, Culture Heritage, Outdoors of what people were experiencing, hence the brand and name of the company ECHO.
The first booking was a couple from Dallas, TX who booked a half-day Lake Lucerne walking tour. Afterwards, René showed them a bit of the Old Town where they enjoyed experiencing the city hall square where the newly elected Lucerne Mayor offered free hot-dogs and beer to celebrate his victory. The couple met and discussed with the Mayor and learned more about how Lucerne and Switzerland are governed; so ECHO Rails tours began on such a positive & memorable note.
ECHO Rails quickly gained popularity, thanks to its commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, and became the #1 TripAdvisor Lucerne Tour company. It’s still a TripAdvisor 5.0-rated company with over hundreds of five-star, Excellent trip reviews.
Because of the popularity of easy-to-book English-speaking guided day tours, additional tours and guides were set up in other famous Swiss destinations like, Zermatt, Grindelwald, Zurich, St. Moritz and Lugano.
Soon requests came in for multi-day through Switzerland tours and rail tours. This resulted in the formation of new semi-guided multi-day Switzerland’s national Via Alpina # 1 trail tours with overnights in Alpine places which no other companies included the daily luggage transfer features.
With Switzerland’s world class public transportation system, multi-day rail tours offered visitors the opportunity to experience, Switzerland’s most iconic cog-wheel trains such as the Glacier Express, Bernina Express, Gornergrat, Pilatus, Furka-Steam train along with local buses, boats, funiculars, cable cars resulting in over 50+ public transportation experiences within the guided tour. Therefore ECHO Rails was one of the first to offer these all-inclusive featured guided rail tours on the market.
The company’s emphasis on small group sizes to ensure a more intimate experience, allowing guests to connect with their guides and each other continues to be one its unique operating policies.
This approach has positioned ECHO Rails to continue as a leader in eco-friendly tourism, attracting both locals and international travelers eager to explore the natural wonders of Switzerland.
ECHO Rails is an award-winning tour operator with over a decade of experience. We specialize in organizing all-inclusive Rail Tours around Switzerland.
What do we offer:
- Rail Trips. We offer unique and beautifully designed Rail Tours. Small-Groups Guided Tours with Luggage Transfers included & Guaranteed Departure Dates, or Private Guided and Self-Guided Tours with Flexible schedules.
- Custom Trips. We tailor our trips to your budget and preferences.
- Day Tours. We also offer unique Day Experiences throughout Switzerland.
We select carefully the people we work with. Every person is selected and certified to the highest standards in relation to the activities they provide.
ECHO Rails is a certified My-Switzerland Travel Expert.
Prices are displayed per person in USD including VAT and service fees.
No hidden fees.
Meeting point and time is always shown in the details of the experience.
For experiences that can be booked in multiple destination, your meeting point will be communicated after the booking.
You will receive the contacts of your guide few days before departure. If you have questions you can always chat with us.
Bookings
- Go to the Tour page on the website, then click the “Book Now” button.
- Select the Date you wish to take the tour in the Date Box.
- Input the number of participants: adults & children.
- Proceed by clicking the “Book” button.
- If you qualify for Swiss Pass or Half-Card tax – Select one or Select “No Card or Pass”.
- Accept the Terms and Conditions.
- Now you can pay with your Credit Card.
- Once the payment has been processed, a written confirmation will be sent to you and the bookings become binding.
Yes. As soon as your booking is accepted you will receive a confirmation via e-mail with all details summarized in it.
In order to process Credit Card payments, you need to provide your information. ECHO Rails does not handle Credit Card information nor shall we use your information outside the sole scope to provide you the services you requested for.
Yes, a cancellation of a booking is always possible.
Cancellations must be communicated via email at operations@my-mountains.com
Depending on the time of the cancellation a cancellation fee may occur.
You can check our Terms and Conditions here: Terms and Conditions
Payments
- We accept major Credit Card providers such as Visa (credit and debit-card), MasterCard (credit and debit-card). Depending on your country other cards may be accepted.
- Wire transfers.
- For some activities we also accept TWINT.
Yes. Our online payment systems use the highest data security and encryption standards. ECHO Rails is not storing any credit card details itself. The payment process is fully processed by an external payment service Provider.
