4 days in Lucerne for Jungfrau and Titlis trips

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    10 March 2018 at 18:07:41 #814708

    Dear Arno , Annika ,Slowpoke and other’s in this community,

    Many thanks for your advice and suggestions which made my earlier visit a memorable one.

    I have planned to visit Swiss during first week of may with my son ( 13 years) and two adults .

    Will be travelling from Paris and reach lucerne around noon, stay for 03 nights and then leave for Venice.

    My plan is as

    Day 01 leisure

    Day 02 Junfrau

    Day 03 Mt Titlis

    Day 04 Lucerne cruise and proceed to Venice

    What changes can be made if I include Glacier express ride .

    Can I do it on day 04 and then proceed to venice . In that case I would try the lucerne cruise on day 01 or should I replace the junfrau ride with Glacier express.

    I have planned for France , Swiss and Italy rail pass. Does that include the swiss travel (04days ) ?

    Thanks & Regards

    Jagdish

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    10 March 2018 at 20:10:21 #878410

    Hi Jagdish,

    It is hard to include the Glacier Express from Lucerne. If you want to do most of the trip you’ll have to get to Zermatt or Chur at least. If you are ok doing just part of the trip you could get on-board at Andermatt or Brig.

    You could train to Chur and then to Brig on the Glacier Express on your last day and then head to Domodossola and on to Venice. Use the Swiss railways timetable to plan the trip.

    You can see what is covered in Switzerland on the Eurail Select Pass here. It won’t fully cover any of your planned trips except between the towns.

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    11 March 2018 at 0:21:43 #878411

    Luzern is really the wrong jumping off point for both Jungfrau and Glacier Express.

    Glacier Express route is east – west, traversing territory that is to the south of Luzern. In any case the Glacier Express is somewhat overhyped. It was named after (mainly) the Rhone Glacier, which you don’t see any more from the train (due to the diversion of the line through the Furka base tunnel.)

    There are only three sections of the Glacier Express route that are really spectacular and they can be ridden on an ordinary train in separate visits.

    rockoyster
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    11 March 2018 at 0:25:55 #878412

    I wondered why I never saw any glaciers! 🤓

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    11 March 2018 at 0:42:55 #878413

    You don’t even see the Rhone Glacier from the preserved section of the original Furka railway route as it has receded too far (ruined by all us tourists breathing out hot air!).

    Sadly its not really a joke as the Rhone Glacier (and the Swiss mountains as we know them) is in peril:

    http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/stories/blanke ts-rhone-glacier-switzerland

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    11 March 2018 at 1:02:11 #878414

    >> I wondered why I never saw any glaciers

    I had wondered about that too! It seemed to me that the Bernina Express line actually deserved the title more, as you actually do see several glaciers on the Bernina Express route!

    Some time ago, I saw an online TV broadcast about the history of the Glacier Express, and seem to remember they said that there used to be several glaciers visible from the track, but that they have now retreated out of view.

    I don’t remember which particular broadcast it was, but there is a three-part series about the Glacier Express on the SWR mediathek site (a German TV broadcaster):

    swrmediathek.de/player .htm?show=275505a0-00ee-11e8-8c1f-005056a12b4c

    swrmediathek.de/player .htm?show=215dc512-00ee-11e8-8c1f-005056a12b4c

    swrmediathek.de/player .htm?show=298fd300-01b5-11e8-8c1f-005056a12b4c

    The programs are in German, so may have limited appeal for people who can’t understand German, but the footage is nevertheless marvellous, including historical photos, and might make it worthwhile viewing regardless.

    That site also has a wealth of footage about other train trips.

    Alpenrose

    rockoyster
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    11 March 2018 at 1:08:22 #878415

    I think this Canadian program http://www.discovery.ca/Shows /Mighty-Trains/Trains/About-the-Glacier-Express was on SBS late 2016, early 2017.

    I’m loving 1960man’s candour! Not to mention a fresh source of local knowledge.

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    11 March 2018 at 2:44:10 #878416

    Thanks Lucas for the wonderful piece of information. will plan accordingly.

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    11 March 2018 at 2:46:13 #878417

    Hi 1960man,

    Thanks and in such case which place would be a better stay .

    rockoyster
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    11 March 2018 at 3:09:38 #878418

    Lucerne is a lovely place to stay and there are plenty of things to do around there. See http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne/activities

    Jungfraujoch is expensive and a long day trip from Lucerne. But doable nonetheless.

    If it was me I would enjoy the time in Lucerne and on day 4 follow the Gotthard Panorama Express (http://www.myswissalps.com/go tthardpanoramaexpress) route to Lugano and on to Venice. The timing may not suit you to take the actual Gotthard Panorama boat and train but you can start off earlier and use regular trains to follow the same route.

    Another alternative would be to catch a train from Lucerne on day 3 to Göschenen then to Andermatt and on to Chur. That will take you on the best part of the Glacier Express route though not on the actual train. Overnight at Chur and on day 4 take the Bernina Express to Tirano and from there on to Venice.

    The Bernina Express is a great train ride and more interesting than the Glacier Express in my experience.

    If you really want to experience the Glacier Express than you could aim to get to Andermatt in time to catch it to Zermatt and spend a night there and see the Matterhorn. Or go from Andermatt to Zermatt on regular trains. Next day carry on to Venice via Domodossola.

    There are always infinite ways of doing things in Switzerland.

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    11 March 2018 at 11:45:23 #878419

    wow that seems amazing. Thanks Rokoyster for your multiple plans .

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    11 March 2018 at 12:23:07 #878420

    Hi Rockoyster,

    On day 04 I would skip the lucerne boat cruise , and follow the Gotthard Panorama Express as it’s a combination of boat and train ride. But will I make it to venice the same day and offcourse with the luggages?

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    11 March 2018 at 15:15:24 #878421

    You can use the timetable on my first link to find out the train schedules.

    The Gotthard Panorama Express (boat connection) leaves Luzern at 11:12 and you finished in Lugano at 16:38. You’ve then got about 4 hours on a train to Venice. So you won’t get in until quite late.

    You can take a regional train on the same route and leave earlier though.

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    11 March 2018 at 16:47:02 #878422

    Thanks Lucas .

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    11 March 2018 at 17:24:06 #878423

    Hi Lucas ,

    I don’t find any train from lugano to venice late in the evening but only busses.

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    11 March 2018 at 17:26:29 #878424

    Instead i have the only choice of travelling from lucerne to venice which is about 06 h on a different route?

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    11 March 2018 at 18:16:52 #878425

    What is your travel date to Venice?

    The timetable only gives me train options, no buses at all from Lugano to Venice. They are around 4 hours with a connection in Milan.

    16:42, 17:42, 18:42 & 19:24 (on May 5 for example).

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    11 March 2018 at 18:34:49 #878426

    Tentative date to Venice is 03 may. I will check again Lucas. Thanks for your constant reply.

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    12 March 2018 at 1:09:16 #878427

    I fear you will have to drop one or more of your ‘aims’ to avoid things getting too hectic

    Venice is a long way from Switzerland so any idea of doing an ‘excursion’ in Switzerland then travelling on to Venice is risky.

    There used to be several through trains from Geneva to Venice, but now there is only one, and it leaves Swiss territory (Brig) at 09.44 (arriving Venice 14.10). However this would avoid the irritation of changing trains in Italy.

    Personally I suggest you forget the idea of Jungfrau and Glacier Express, your stay in Switzerland is really quite short so you won’t have the time to do everything.

    Maybe do everything around Lake Luzern building up your strength for a marathon scenic journey on day 4. The following can be done:

    Luzern (07.35) – Thalwil – Chur – St Moritz – Tirano – Milano – Venezia (20.40)

    Thalwil – Chur is scenic with views of the Zurichsee then mountains (you will even see in the distance Austrian and Leichstenstein territory) as you head towards Chur. Then the Bernina railway is classic (includes Glaciers!).

    .

    Peterli
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    12 March 2018 at 5:06:34 #878428

    Hi Alpenrose;

    << I don’t remember which particular broadcast it was, but there is a three-part series about the Glacier Express on the SWR mediathek site (a German TV broadcaster) >> I just finished watching the first segment (Teil 1) of the three videos from SWR Mediathek, hoping to see some coverage of the area around Gletsch where the water from the Rhonegletscher arrives in the Rhone Valley, but I guess that will be in Teil 2. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, and liked the way it went from black and white coverage of the “good old days” and colour coverage of things as they are now. I was lucky enough to go by Gletsch a number of times when I was a teenager and one could look up and see the end of the glacier next to the Belvedére Hotel. Those were the days when one could pull down the windows and lean out and soak in the scenery and take photographs. I noticed that in the black and white parts of the video people were leaning out of the open windows, and that nowadays they are sitting with fixed windows, and it appeared to me that many of them were not even looking out at the passing view. I am so thankful that I was able to do Switzerland by train when I did. Nowadays, the train from Zermatt goes through a tunnel from Oberwald to Realp and so one doesn’t even get to see where the glacier was ! See attached map where I have indicated Gletsch, the Belvédere in black and the two ends of the Furka-Basistunnel in red. When I took a class of students along in that region many years later, hoping to show them the end of the glacier, we too missed it as we went through the tunnel. Tunnels make things quicker (and safer) but they aren’t as much fun as the old routes. Now I am going to watch Teil 2.Thank you for providing links to these three videos.

    :

    Peterli
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    12 March 2018 at 5:24:07 #878429

    Hi 1960man,

    << You don’t even see the Rhone Glacier from the preserved section of the original Furka railway route as it has receded too far (ruined by all us tourists breathing out hot air!). >>

    << Sadly its not really a joke as the Rhone Glacier (and the Swiss mountains as we know them) is in peril: >>

    I just sent a message to Alpenrose about the end of the Rhonegletscher at Gletsch, and here I will attach an aerial image (courtesy of Swisstopo) of the entire area that shows how endangered the Rhonegletscher (red oval) really is, much more so than the ones to the south-west. Global warming nay-sayers like 45 should come to see the Rhonegletscher and if this isn’t enough they can take a look at Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro. Actually, I have seen photos of disappearing glaciers in his own USA so he doesn’t really have to come to Switzerland. What scares me even more is the situation on the Indian subcontinent, where so many people depend on the waters flowing from the Himalaya.

    I looked at your Mother Nature Network link and must say that I had heard something about this a number of years ago. Very interesting. Imagine covering ice with white blankets to reduce melting !

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