[quote]pico said: We will be spending 4 nights in Gimmelwald in mid June. I am firming up our itinerary to determine what type of pass to buy. We arrive from the U.S. to Zurich spend the night and then head to Gimmelwald. To maximize our time and use of a pass, I am considering taking the train to Lucerne first and going up to Rigi and then head on to Gimmelwald. So in one day we would go from zurich to the Rigi and then to Gimmelwald. Does this seam doable in one day?[/quote]
You can do it in one day. Is it worth it?
Play with the SBB timetable,
http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html
and check the screen captures that I have attached. No pauses in the schedule that I selected. Trains tend to run at least once per hour, ( every half hour from Zürich to Luzern) so you could add bit of time easily in Luzern. Up and down the Rigi has less frequent schedules. Look carefully.
One thing you might check as you work with the timetables. You might wish to go first to Arth-Goldau, up and down the Rigi by one or another of the options, then go through Luzern on the way to the Berner Oberland.
Exactly how many minutes do you want to spend in Luzern?
I’d spend a couple of days there and in the area, if I were doing it.
How many minutes do you want to spend on the RigI?
Gimmelwald is nice, but all of the Rick Steves fans in the whole world believe that.
Watch for the copies of Rick Steve’s book in their hands or their pockets.
Personally, I’d stay in Wengen. By then ,the walk that Rick notes as one of the best – from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg – is likely to be open (sometime at or after June 15th, depending on how deep the snow is on the trail) and it is readily accesible from Wengen. A lot further from Gimmelwald.
To each his or her own.