MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial 3-day April visit to Lucerne and Basel
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We are first time Switzerland visitors and sure could use help. I have read a lot but still I’m confused. We will be landing at Zurich Airport on a Tuesday next April. Our plan is to take the train to Lucerne and spend one night in a hotel. The next day board a train to Interlaken to get a view of the Alps, again spending a night. Day 3 we would take a train to Basel to board a Viking River cruise that evening. What would be our best way to purchase tickets for this plan? Is this a good plan to enjoy scenery? I appreciate any advice, thanks!
Baffled in the USA
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Hi Nstpie,
Welcome to MySwissAlps!
Based on your itinerary, you might want to consider getting the 3-day Swiss Travel Pass. Use this link to find more details on how to use the pass and where to buy it online: http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass
For sightseeing suggestions in Lucerne, Interlaken and Basel, use the links below:
- Lucerne: http://www.myswissalps.com/lucerne
- Interlaken: http://www.myswissalps.com/interlaken
- Basel: http://www.myswissalps.com/basel
If you have any further questions, feel free to post again.
Best regards,
Anna
Thanks Anna. If our friends decide to just stay in Lucerne both nights and skip Interlaken would we be better off buying our ticket at the train station’s ticket machine? We would only need Zurich to Lucerne and Lucerne to Basel. Also, hubby really wants to go up Mt Pilatus. If we are staying in Lucerne both nights we would have time. Would we need a bus ticket to get there? We really are newbies to travel and appreciate any help and advice, thanks!
Hi Nstpie,
having a Swiss travel pass in Switzerland is a blessing and you can make the most out of your journey without need to worry about paying anything, otherwise do calculate your trip fares + visits to mountains, normally it add up to more than you pay for travel pass.
base on the condition if you buy your Swiss Travel pass, I made my trip as below,
day one arrive at Zurich, it’s a beautiful beautiful city, visit the old town and spend the remaining day visiting city.
keep Zurich as your base and travel to Lucerne in the morning, and take golden round trip
http://www.myswissalps.com/forum/topic/golden-round-trip-to-pilatus-from-lucerne
come back to Zurich spend the night travel to Interlaken next morning. Do not miss out to visit lauterbrunnen. (With Swiss travel pass there are many things you can do there for free like visit To Schilthorn in lauterbrunnen is free with Swiss travel pass
http://www.myswissalps.com/schilthorn
and I remember the boat ride in interlaken is free with Swiss travel pass
from there you could continue your trip to Basel as you like. I haven’t been to Basel so I do not have any advice on that.
i wish you have a great journey.
Best Regards
Hi Nstpie! In most cases it’s much cheaper to get a rail pass than to buy regular tickets, as Rkghauri mentioned. Here’s how to calculate which option is best for your plans: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass. If you don’t have a fixed itinerary, you’ll have to make an educated guess. I personally love the flexibility that comes with a Swiss Travel Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass), but that’s different for each traveler.
The route to Pilatus is explained here: http://www.myswissalps.com/pilatus/gettingthere. Which tickets you need, depends on the exact route you pick and the rail pass you’ll be using. More information can be found at http://www.myswissalps.com/pilatus/tickets.
If you’re interested in the Schilthorn recommended by Rkghauri, you can find details at http://www.myswissalps.com/schilthorn. It used to be free with a Swiss Travel Pass indeed, but now it’s discounted: http://www.myswissalps.com/schilthorn/tickets, http://www.myswissalps.com/swisstravelpass/validity. Other mountains are free with a Swiss Travel Pass now. You may be interested in Stanserhorn for example, which is close to Lucerne: http://www.myswissalps.com/stanserhorn.
Don’t worry about traveling in Switzerland: the public transportation system is magnificent and easy to use. This information may help: http://www.myswissalps.com/train/practical/howtotravel. You can plan each trip with the aid of the timetable: http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable.
Dear all,
I am really sorry as I did not had an up to dated information about Schilthorn and provided wrong information, sorry on that.
Best Regards
Don’t worry Rkghauri! Your helpful tips are very much appreciated :-). Rail pass conditions can change and it’s not your responsibility to keep up with that. We keep track of such changes, so it’s a small effort for us to point them out. Great that you had the opportunity to visit Schilthorn for free during your visit. Any plans for a new trip to Switzerland?
Hay Annika,
thank you for your understanding. I am in love with this country, beautiful and welcoming people who are always ready to help. i have already visited twice and I cannot wait to visit again, I hope things get better soon and travel become as simple as like before where only hurdle was to get an appointment for the visa and get the visa. Thank you for the wonderful work you guys are doing by providing excellent support and information.
Best Regards From me and my family
Rizwan
Thank you everyone for helping me figure this out. Unfortunately Mt Pilatus won’t be open at the end of April so we will shoot for Mt. Rigi. One friend won’t ride a cable car. I believe we can take the cogway train both ways, correct?
also, our plans now is a train from Zurich to Lucerne on day one, boat and cogway train to Mt Rigi and boat back to Lucerne on day two, then train to Basel on day three. Does the Swiss Travel Pass benefit us? Maybe I’m missing something but I can’t see why it would. Any advice?
Hi Nstpie,
Yes, you can get to Mt Rigi via Arth-Goldau and Vitznau both by cogwheel train. The cable car station is at Weggis.
I still think the 3-day Swiss Travel Pass would be a good buy if you plan to use the public transport extensively throughout your trip. Just to give you an idea, a regular single ticket from Zurich to Lucerne cost about CHF25, Lucerne – Rigi CHF60 and Lucerne – Basel CHF34. These are just estimates but you’d be spending about CHF120 for just these one-way trips. If you calculate your boat trips and other travel expenses, you’d probably be spending around CHF200, and by just topping up another CHF30 for the Swiss Travel Pass, (STP), you’d get unlimited ride on all public transport without having to worry about buying tickets at all. And with an STP, you’ll have the flexibility to change your itinerary as you please. So that would be my reason for getting the STP, if I were you.
Alternatively, you can consider getting the Saver Day Pass for each day of your trip, which would cost you far less. You can find more details about the Saver Day Pass here: http://www.myswissalps.com/saverdaypass
Best regards,
Anna
Alright Anna, you have us sold on the pass 😁 Now I’m searching where to stay. With 10 60+ yr olds we want to be near the train station and activities in Lucerne. I have researched and looks like Ameron Flora Hotel, Hotel De La Paix and Hotel Anker are looking good. Opened to suggestions here if you have any. 5 rooms and ten people to make happy, no pressure, right?!?
Hi Nstpie,
Hotel de la Paix is a bit further from the train station, the others are a bit closer to it, it might be a decision point for you.
Have you seen Hotel Central? It is near to the train station and also has great reviews (https://www.hotelscombined.ch/Hotel/Hotel_Central_Luzern.htm)
I think Hotel Anker (https://www.hotelscombined.ch/Hotel/Hotel_Restaurant_Anker) and Ameron Flora Hotel (https://www.hotelscombined.ch/Hotel/Ameron_Hotel_Flora_Luzern.htm) would be also a good choice for your party.
Regards,
Ildiko
Super! I’ll look into those hotels. Some hotels are offering free zone 10 train passes. Not sure if our plans can use that because I haven’t searched where zone ten goes. How can 3 days be so much work in planning? Now I’m looking into the Eurail Global pass. After our cruise we are spending 2 nights in Amsterdam, six nights in Paris and undecided about Great Britain. We may just head home after Paris.
Hi Nstpie,
you’re totally right, even organising a few days can be tiring and difficult. I know what you mean. You are going to have an amazing holiday by visiting these countries and cities!
Here you can read about how to get around in Lucerne: http://www.myswissalps.com/lucerne/travel. In the small box on the right, called “Information on other websites”, you’ll also find the link to the visitor card you are going to receive from your hotel.
Here you are the ‘Zone10’ on the maps: passepartout.ch/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Agglo_Luzern_A4_quer_20_rgb.pdf and passepartout.ch/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Tarifzonen_reduziert_20_A4_ohne_EZ.pdf.
If you are going to Interlaken, you need to use your train pass. If you are traveling in other countries too, Eurail Global Pass might be a good solution for you: http://www.myswissalps.com/eurailglobalpass. Here is the validity map of it: http://www.myswissalps.com/eurailglobalpass/validity.
Have you seen our guide and calculation spreadsheet about how to choose a rail pass? http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass In case you haven’t, have a look, it might help you.
Take care,
Ildiko
That train information is great! I am confused on the train from Lucerne to Basel. I thought Basel was in zone 10 on another map. If we take a train from Lucerne to Wahligen Nord, couldn’t we just stay on until we get to Basel? Or maybe take a free train with the visitor card from Lucerne to another stop where we could purchase a less expensive ticket for Basel?
looks like we can get a 20% discount on Mt Rigi with the visitor card, sweet!
Hi Nstpie,
You can go to Booking.com, or Hotels. com, or other sites to search for hotels. I booked 8 out of ten of my hotels on my two week trip to Switz. through Booking.com. If you search any city, and click on any hotel, it will say “show on map”. When you click on that, it brings up a whole map with numbers on it. Each number represents a different hotel (price of). You can click on any of the numbers and search/explore that way. They are on the map so you can see which ones are close to train stations and such. Also, even if you are (searching) in Lucerne, you can shrink the map and search in Amsterdam, for instance, or go to any city you may want to search in. There are many hotels around the train station in Lucerne, with varying prices, just a matter of how far you and everyone else may want to crate their suitcases. Other sites may be similar, but I didn’t look through them as much. Also you may locate the hotels, and even contact the hotels directly and possibly save some money that way. Be aware though, that not every hotel may show up on the site. You can even type a particular hotel in the “search” field and see if it comes up. I hope this may help in some way. Seems you have plenty of time to play around on the sight, and that your work cut out for yourself. Good luck, and hopefully you can make everyone happy. Seems a shame that you only have 3 days in which to spend in Switzerland. Enjoy your trip and the planning process.
Danielsan
Thanks Danielsan. Our group is shy to pull the trigger after our River Cruise was cancelled two years ago. Guess we need to pay more for refundable and not deal with it all over again.
Nstpie, it sounds like you are in the same situation as my group. We have a Disney Cruise leaving from Basel on a Thursday in July and decided to come two days early, arriving in Zurich, and spend three days in the Alps. We are deciding to take the train to Lauterbrunnen and see the sites for two days before taking the train to Basel on Thursday afternoon. I think you are getting good advice here!
Yes Jeremy, same situation and more. The group I am traveling with, 18 this time around, are all Disney Vacation Club Members. Matter of fact that’s how we met, through a Disney chat room about 9 years ago. We have taken cruises together, followed by a meet here in Maine. After that others hosted in their homeland. Toronto, Michigan, Chicago…our Viking River cruise was to happen in 2020. Then 2021. Now in 2022, I hope.
I am thankful for all the good information I am gathering here. After your journey in July I would love to hear how you travelled from Lauterbrunnen to Basel and from the train to the ship. I sailed The Magic once. Good time!
Hi there,
can anyone update how to get the information for Disney crusie ship from Basel?
Thanks
Hi Nstpie,
The fastest option from Lucerne to Basel is a direct train via Oltigen and the total route takes 1 hour. If you would like to travel via ‘Rothenburg, Wahligen Nord’ it will take longer (1h 47) and you need to change trains several times. I recommend you check the timetable at http://www.myswissalps.com/timetable, use the advanced one on the right side, it will direct you to the SBB timetable. Also on this page, you can learn about how to use the timetable, if you are in doubt. Use ‘Rothenburg, Wahligen Nord’ as a via-station.
If you are going to buy the Eurail Global Pass it gives you a 50% discount to Rigi (http://www.myswissalps.com/eurailglobalpass/validity) and also your train route from Lucerne to Basel is for free.
If you check the normal train ticket prices in the timetable, you’ll see that from ‘Rothenburg, Wahligen Nord’ to Basel has the same price as from Lucerne to Basel. (Careful, the default price is always half price on SBB timetable as you would have the Swiss Half Fare Pass, so you need to double it to get the correct amount if you do not have that pass).
Another way to save money – if you have no valid train pass – if you are buying Supersaver tickets (http://www.myswissalps.com/traintickets/switzerland). But be careful, Supersaver Tickets must be purchased in advance as they can run out and also if you miss that particular train, you lose your ticket. In other words, you have to travel on the chosen train, you cannot modify your itinerary.
I hope these help,
Also, this one might be useful too: http://www.myswissalps.com/rigi/gettingthere
Ildiko
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