Base town and day trips for 8 days Switzerland
A traveler is planning a 12-day trip to Switzerland, with 8 days spent there while based in Lucerne. They want to know about train accessibility to popular destinations such as Engelberg, Interlaken, and Zermatt, and seek advice on whether they can return to Lucerne each day, plus tips on must-see scenic spots since they're not into hiking.
- Trains are accessible from Lucerne to the mentioned places, and yes, you can return each day.
- The Glacier Express and Bernina Express do not depart from Lucerne, so consider staying in nearby cities for easier access.
- You do not need to buy the Swiss Travel Pass before reserving seats on these scenic trains.
- For going to Nice, check connections from cities like Zurich or Geneva to save travel time.
AI-generated summary-
We’re planning to do a 12-day trip to Switzerland and French Riviera (8days In Switzerland). After reading all the information in the forum, I still have a lot of questions.
1) We want to limit the number of base towns the whole time we are in Switzerland and we plan to maintain our lodging inLucerne.
***Is train accessible from Lucerne to Engelberg, Titlis, Interlaken, Wengen, Yungfraujoch, grindelwald, zermatt, & Mt Moritz as we are planning to buy the STP (8days)?
***Can we make it back to Lucerne at the end of the day after the trip to these places?
***any advise on what places to spend more time at (we’re not into hiking, just sceneries)
2) we want to take the Glacier express and Bernina express, I know these needs reservations. Still overwhelmed and need help on these questions:
***are these trains accessible from Lucerne?if not, what city do I get lodging.
***do I have to buy STP first before I can reserve the seats?
3) the trip from Zermatt to St Moritz to Tirano, Italy.
***how many Train transfer and how long? Can we make it back to Lucerne at the end of the day?
4) what train goes to Nice, France from Lucerne? Or what town should we originate from Switzerland to lessen the Travel time to Nice?
*** is Eurail pass advisable to use going to Nice? Planning to visit surrounding cities/towns along French Riviera e.g. Monaco. We’ll stay in Nice for 4 days before heading back to USA.
This is an amazing website. Thank you for any advise.
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Hello Silver and Welcome to MySwissAlps,
Nice to hear you’re planning to come to Switzerland! The big advantage of the country’s small size is that it makes it quite easy to explore as nothing is really, really far away.
Lucerne is for sure a good choice for a base town, as it’s well connected by train, as is almost everything in Switzerland.
– http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerneTo figure out travelling times and connections for your plans use the timetable provided below, a fabulous tool for any planning, so make sure you read how it works first:
– http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metableBoth the Glacier Express and the Bernina Express don’t run from Lucerne directly, find out about their routes and also about the Gotthard Panorama Express, which can be reached by boat from Lucerne, below:
– http://www.myswissalps.com/be rninaexpress/gettingth ere
– http://www.myswissalps.com/gl acierexpress/gettingth ere
– http://www.myswissalps.com/go tthardpanoramaexpress/ gettingthereYou will find “seat reservations only” in the packages tab of above links and there is NO NEED to purchase the Swiss Travel Pass before making the reservation, you simply have to hold it when traveling.
– http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpassFor more detailed information about the Eurail Global Pass (also valid in Switzerland) and your journey to France see:
– http://www.myswissalps.com/eu railglobalpass
– http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/franceHappy exploring and planning and get back to us anytime.
Best,
Steph
I think you’d waste a lot of time running back and forth from one base like Lucerne. And you don’t get to experience the uniqueness of other areas, esp the small mountain villages.
Lucerne was my least favorite place on our 11 day trip. Totally mobbed and felt like a Disneyland in China!
Hi Virgingorda –
There was one awful day in May when a very large number of buses full of tourits came to Luzern. All of Switzerland was upset about it.
Were you there in May?
In spite of the over population of tourists, Luzern is a good base…but not for all of the places mentioned. I agree that more than one makes sense.
St. Moritz is a stretch, for sure.
Slowpoke
Hiyo Silver…and Away!
You forgot to tell us when you are traveling.
It makes a difference for many seasonal services.
Slowpoke
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