Need info on Lucerne area.

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    18 June 2010 at 11:44:18 #803871

    We are arriving via train from Rome 5pm on July 25th, and staying in Lucerne for the 26th, 27th & morning of the 28th and are looking for a train pass best suited for day trips out of Lucerne for three days.
    July 28th early afternoon we depart Lucerne for Frankfurt, Germany, we fly out of Frankfurt early on the 29th of July.
    I was looking at the Eurail Select Saver 3 Countries(2nd class) pass for part of our trip and the Swiss Rail Saver Flexi Pass (1st class) as well as the Tell Pass for our travel in Switzerland but was unsure of the flexibility of the Swiss pass, we were hoping to have the freedom of hopping on & off the train at different stations.
    Could you offer some advise and recommend sights to see (we are not great hikers, but can do 1km walks and are in our mid to late 50ies) for the above area.
    Please give us some direction.
    SA

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    18 June 2010 at 16:12:23 #831429

    hi Shirley, when we visit Switzerland we usually stay in the Bernese Oberland, but we have visited Lucerne on day trips from there. Go to the tourist office where you can find leaflets about Mt. Pilatus, Mt Rigi, lake cruises etc. Also get a city map with a suggested city walk which is very interesting and includes the famous covered bridge and old city walls. We have also visited the Glacier Museum in Lucerne and found that fascinating. I don’t know much about the surrounding area but you can have a good time in the city itself and the two trips to Pilatus and Rigi are highly recommended. Hope you have a good time. Maggie

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    18 June 2010 at 18:41:08 #831430

    Hi Maggie, thank you for your help, do you know anything about the rail passes, we would like to take a ride through the mountains by train. I will check out those places, right now we are more interested in the terrain/country side, as we will be coming off a European Tour with lots of visits to musems.
    SA

    Annika
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    7094 posts
    19 June 2010 at 4:11:35 #831431

    Hello Shirley! The Lucerne area is absolutely beautiful. Maggie already pointed out a few must-sees and I fully agree with her. I’d recommend to visit viewing points such as Mount Pilatus, which can be reached from Lucerne by cable car or through a spectacular cog train ride from Alpnachstad, and Rigi above lake Lucerne. Cog trains ride up here as well and Rigi offers a wide view of the surrounding snow-capped mountains; it’s even called ‘Queen of the mountains’. Mount Titlis at Engelberg is very pretty as well, just as the train ride up to Engelberg. Cheaper options, but beautiful nevertheless, are the Stanserhorn from Stans and Bürgenstock. And last but not least: make a boat trip over lake Lucerne. Short walks can be made along the shores of the lake. Some examples are Kehrsiten (at the foot of Bürgenstock) – Stansstad and Bauen – Seelisberg (via the viewing point Rütli). The latter walk does require some climbing, but it’s not too hard. A visit to the beautiully situated town of Seelisberg can be recommended anyway; it can also be reached by bus.

    As for rail passes: a 3 day Swiss Saver Flexi Pass might be an option for you. It allows free travel on a 3 days and discounts on remaining days. You could use your free travel days for the Swiss part of your inbound trip from Rome, for your outbound trip to Germany and for one of the days in Lucerne on which you’ll be making a longer journey. On the remaining day of your stay, a 50% discount would apply. You’re right in supposing that a Swiss Flexi Pass offers unlimited travelling on these 3 free travel days indeed, which means that you’ll be able to hop on and off trains, buses and boats (which might come in handy if you’ll be making boat trips). For mountain trains and cable cars (such as Pilatus, Rigi and Titlis) free travel doesn’t apply, but discounts. The same goes for the Swiss Saver Pass, which offers free travel on a number of consecutive days. A 4 day Swiss Saver Pass would in that case be valid for the Swiss Part of your inbound trip from Rome on July 25, for your stay in Lucerne on July 26, 27 and 28 and for the Swiss part of your outbound trip on July 28. A 4 day Swiss Pass would be slightly more expensive than a 3 day Swiss Flexi Pass, but as it offers unlimited travel on 4 instead of 3 days, this might eventually turn out to be cheaper if you travel quite intensively around Lucerne as well.

    A Tell Pass would offer 2 days of free travel around Lucerne, but of course it wouldn’t be of use for your inbound and outbound train trips, which are quite expensive. You could combine a Tell Pass with a Eurail Select Saver Pass though.

    As your stay is relatively short, and as you don’t seem to plan that many long journeys, it may be worth considering yet another option: the Swiss Half Fare Card, which offers 50% discount on almost all trips in Switzerland. It would be valid for your inbound and outbound trips and for trips made from Lucerne. In many cases where only a few and rather short trips are involved, the Swiss Half Fare Card turns out to be the cheapest solution. You should realize though that, other than the Swiss (Flexi) Pass, the Swiss Half Fare Card doesn’t give the freedom to hop on and off trains, buses and boats, as you’ll always have to purchase discounted tickets.

    To be sure which pass is best, calculations should be made, and these depend on your exact travel plans. Instructions on this can be found in our rail FAQ.

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    19 June 2010 at 10:54:37 #831432

    Thank you so much Annika, this information enables me to now continue with my plans, when coming from Rome and travelling by train to Lucerne what would be the first place/train station that I would be able to use the Swiss Saver Pass, I am trying to figure out what points I should buy my ticket for in Italy, also the same in travelling on to Frankfurt, what would be the last place/train station in Switzerland or Germany that the pass would get me to. Does anyone know if it is cheaper to buy these tickets in Canada before we leave and where is the best place to buy them…thanks so much…SA
    [quote]Annika said: Hello Shirley! The Lucerne area is absolutely beautiful. Maggie already pointed out a few must-sees and I fully agree with her. I’d recommend to visit viewing points such as Mount Pilatus, which can be reached from Lucerne by cable car or through a spectacular cog train ride from Alpnachstad, and Rigi above lake Lucerne. Cog trains ride up here as well and Rigi offers a wide view of the surrounding snow-capped mountains; it’s even called ‘Queen of the mountains’. Mount Titlis at Engelberg is very pretty as well, just as the train ride up to Engelberg. Cheaper options, but beautiful nevertheless, are the Stanserhorn from Stans and Bürgenstock. And last but not least: make a boat trip over lake Lucerne. Short walks can be made along the shores of the lake. Some examples are Kehrsiten (at the foot of Bürgenstock) – Stansstad and Bauen – Seelisberg (via the viewing point Rütli). The latter walk does require some climbing, but it’s not too hard. A visit to the beautiully situated town of Seelisberg can be recommended anyway; it can also be reached by bus.

    As for rail passes: a 3 day Swiss Saver Flexi Pass might be an option for you. It allows free travel on a 3 days and discounts on remaining days. You could use your free travel days for the Swiss part of your inbound trip from Rome, for your outbound trip to Germany and for one of the days in Lucerne on which you’ll be making a longer journey. On the remaining day of your stay, a 50% discount would apply. You’re right in supposing that a Swiss Flexi Pass offers unlimited travelling on these 3 free travel days indeed, which means that you’ll be able to hop on and off trains, buses and boats (which might come in handy if you’ll be making boat trips). For mountain trains and cable cars (such as Pilatus, Rigi and Titlis) free travel doesn’t apply, but discounts. The same goes for the Swiss Saver Pass, which offers free travel on a number of consecutive days. A 4 day Swiss Saver Pass would in that case be valid for the Swiss Part of your inbound trip from Rome on July 25, for your stay in Lucerne on July 26, 27 and 28 and for the Swiss part of your outbound trip on July 28. A 4 day Swiss Pass would be slightly more expensive than a 3 day Swiss Flexi Pass, but as it offers unlimited travel on 4 instead of 3 days, this might eventually turn out to be cheaper if you travel quite intensively around Lucerne as well.

    A Tell Pass would offer 2 days of free travel around Lucerne, but of course it wouldn’t be of use for your inbound and outbound train trips, which are quite expensive. You could combine a Tell Pass with a Eurail Select Saver Pass though.

    As your stay is relatively short, and as you don’t seem to plan that many long journeys, it may be worth considering yet another option: the Swiss Half Fare Card, which offers 50% discount on almost all trips in Switzerland. It would be valid for your inbound and outbound trips and for trips made from Lucerne. In many cases where only a few and rather short trips are involved, the Swiss Half Fare Card turns out to be the cheapest solution. You should realize though that, other than the Swiss (Flexi) Pass, the Swiss Half Fare Card doesn’t give the freedom to hop on and off trains, buses and boats, as you’ll always have to purchase discounted tickets.

    To be sure which pass is best, calculations should be made, and these depend on your exact travel plans. Instructions on this can be found in our rail FAQ.[/quote]

    Arno
    Moderator
    15471 posts
    19 June 2010 at 12:40:18 #831433

    Hi Shirley,

    The most obvious Swiss border station for your inbound trip from Rome is Chiasso. The border station for the outbound trip to Frankfurt is Basel Bad Bf. Please check the link to the detailed map (‘Overview of the network on which the… is valid) on the Swiss Pass page.

    The inbound and outbound tickets can be purchased along with the pass. Details on purchasing European rail tickets (in your case from Rome to Chiasso and from Basel to Frankfurt) can be found here. I don’t know whether that’s cheaper than purchasing via the Swiss, German or Italian railways; this depends on exchange rates as well. You can purchase your passes online through the Swiss Pass page, under the header ‘Order your Swiss Saver Pass here’. An advantage of an online purchase in advance is that you don’t have to get out during your inbound trip to purchase the pass (which is for sale at Swiss railway stations only and not in Italy), so that you can simply continue your journey.

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    21 June 2010 at 11:31:38 #831434

    Hi Shirley,

    The most obvious Swiss border station for your inbound trip from Rome is Chiasso. The border station for the outbound trip to Frankfurt is Basel Bad Bf. Please check the link to the detailed map (‘Overview of the network on which the… is valid) on the Swiss Pass page.

    The inbound and outbound tickets can be purchased along with the pass. Details on purchasing European rail tickets (in your case from Rome to Chiasso and from Basel to Frankfurt) can be found here. I don’t know whether that’s cheaper than purchasing via the Swiss, German or Italian railways; this depends on exchange rates as well. You can purchase your passes online through the Swiss Pass page, under the header ‘Order your Swiss Saver Pass here’. An advantage of an online purchase in advance is that you don’t have to get out during your inbound trip to purchase the pass (which is for sale at Swiss railway stations only and not in Italy), so that you can simply continue your journey.

    At Chiasso, there is a fox town – branded goods at factory price for shopaholics

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    21 June 2010 at 20:14:47 #831435

    I have spent the last hour trying to find a post replying to an inquiry that I read a few days ago, it was by Dick I think and he mentioned a trip or two that is a must do and it is free if you have a Swiss Pass, did anyelse read this and can you give me some direction on how to get back to it, or even better give me some examples that you are aware of, keep in mind that I am staying at a hotel in Lucerne and this must be done by day trips.
    SA

    Annika
    Moderator
    7094 posts
    22 June 2010 at 10:33:01 #831436

    Hi Shirley! I’m not sure to which of the topics you refer, but maybe one of these is what you’re looking for:

    • this topic on a roundabout trip in Switzerland
    • this topic on day trips which can be made from Zurich. They all apply to Lucerne as well, many of them even with shorter travel distances
    • this topic on day trips from Lucerne

    These topics all include information on day trips which can be made from Lucerne. Rigi, Titlis and Pilatus are definitely highlights. Rigi is for free with a Swiss Pass, Titlis and Pilatus are discounted. A boat trip over lake Lucerne would be free with a Swiss Pass as well.

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