I am trying to come up with some alternative activities for our trip to Luzern in case of bad weather. So far I have got local boat trips and walks round Luzern in case of low cloud. I have just added the Voralpen especially if there is better weather that way. Thinking of Rhine Falls if the weather is better in the north. What would be the best train route, please?
Is the weather likely to be changeable enough between the areas to make these trips feasible, please?
Luzern is bang in the centre of the world’s best public transport system. If you own an STP you can get to almost anywhere in Switzerland on a day excursion. The only significant exception is the Bernina line to Tirano, which would take about fourteen hours to get there and back….
Though Switzerland is a small country in area, the existence of the mountains does mean that the weather can be very different from one area to another. In particular, the weather north of the main Alpine chain can be very different from that south of the main chain.
About four years ago the weather in Ticino canton was poor, so I headed back north on the Treno Gottardo, which takes the old (1882) line. Coming out of the old Gotthard tunnel at Goschenen the weather was much better. Ninety minute later I was on my way up Mount Rigi on the cog-wheel train from Arth-Goldau; (remember the Rigi lines are free with the STP).
We all know that bad weather usually ‘clears from the west’. If the weather in Luzern is bad, but the forecast indicates that good weather will later in the day be spreading from the west, the IR15 train is waiting for you. Every hour, on the hour, the IR15 leaves Luzern bound for Geneva (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/geneva/), via the historic towns/cites of Bern, Fribourg, Romont, Lausanne and Nyon.
To get to the Rhine Falls (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/rhine-falls/) you go to Schaffhausen via Zurich. After you are finished with the Falls, go on to the medieval town of Stein am Rhein. Return from Stein am Rhein via Winterthur and Zurich.
To provide the best experiences, we and our partners use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us and our partners to process personal data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site and show (non-) personalized ads. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Click below to consent to the above or make granular choices. Your choices will be applied to this site only. You can change your settings at any time, including withdrawing your consent, by using the toggles on the Cookie Policy, or by clicking on the manage consent button at the bottom of the screen.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. If you don't agree, some parts of the website might not work properly.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.