MySwissAlps.com features ads, commercial and non-commercial 5 day trip starting end of October around Lucerne
-
Hi, I will make a stop-over in Switzerland for 5 nights on my way to India reaching Zurich 30th Oct 8 am and starting again for India on 4th Nov morning. I have booked a hotel for 5 nights in lucerne considering it is a central location in Switzerland.
I am traveling with 2 kids 4 and 8 years old. Considering that this would be not the ideal time to visit and it starts getting cold and many attractions also are shut down, I wanted to take advice on how to best plan the trip. With small kids with us I want to keep it light as I need to move with kids (strollers etc) even if we cannot cover many places in these 4-5 days. My thought is to avoid far places from lucerne and only cover the nearby attractions.
Here is the high level plan in my mind:
day 1. 30th Oct – reach on morning at zurich and check in to hotel at lucerne. Relax a little after 15 hrs of travel. Go to lucerne lake in evening
day 2. 31st Oct – Go to Mt Rigi – Ariel cable-way and any other attractions there
day 3. 1st Nov – lucerne to Bern – scenic train ride, stop by at Lausanne and Montreux and enjoy the whole route
day 4. 2nd Nov – Go to Mt. Titlis – rotoair and any other attractions there, but Gondolas and aerial cableway are closed
day 5 3rd Nov – Mt. Pilatus clog railway, or zurich/interlaken area visit
Oct 6. 4rd Nov – start from hotel in morning to catch 9 am flight from Zurich
I am still deciding if I should do both Mt. Titlis and Mt. Pilatus. Which one would be more fun or easier with kids?
We may prefer lower elevation places to skip some cold if there are any good options to visit with kids instead of going to mountains on 2-3 days. Any other better places to visit with kids, like do a scenic train rides so that we can enjoy scenery and also not exposed to weather? My brief research shows Bernina, glacier (both far anyways) and Gotthard express will be closed on my travel days. only Golden pass line may be open. Is that a right understanding?
Should we go towards interlaken on one of the days, maybe by road by renting a car and enjoy scenic area around interlaken?
Please provide your inputs to better plan the trip with 2 kids. I am avoiding visit to chocolate factory as my younger one is allergic to nuts.
Thanks in advance for your your inputs!
-
maybe your children would enjoy the transportation museum if the day is rainy
Hi phxtraveller –
Welcome to my Swiss Alps.
Just a partial answer:
Depends on where you want to go, but the most scenic areas are only accessible by rail or public transport.
However with three travelers, a car can be an economical choice, even after you park it at Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald and then use public or private rail transport.. Of course, if you are driving on strange and mountainous roads, you wil not have much chance to look at the scenery.
😉
Slowpoke
thanks for the links to museum, will be very useful for bad weather days as a plan b in back pocket!!
I am also planning to buy 4 or 5 day rail pass and not drive, not want to get tired driving as well as miss the scenery along the way like you said.
How about skipping one of the mountains as it looks repeating the similar scenes. I may be wrong here as each of these may be unique in their own way 🙂
I only visited Mt Rigi but if I were with children, I would pick the mountain with the most cows and sheep! I’m not sure which one that would be in November. Whichever you choose, I think it is only nice to go on a day that is clear. I just checked to see if the gondola for Mt Rigi is open in November, and it will be closed for maintenance for the days you are in Switzerland. The cogwheel train will be available, however.
I very much enjoyed taking the boats on Lake Lucerne and I think you can sit inside comfortably and be warm if the weather is cold. The very old paddle boats have the steam engine open to view, so that is very interesting for children (and adults!) to see
Hi phxtraveller
You can also consider Ballenberg open air museum in your itinerary, if you want to skip any mountain visit.
Hi Constance,
Yes looks like Gondolas and aerial cable-way are closed at Mt. Pilatus as well if I ma checking schedule correctly.. Enjoying boat on lake Lucerne while sitting inside would be really good with kids if available, this will take away my worry of them catching cold:)
Hi FazilT,
Thanks for museum pointer, it seems to have very good reviews on trip adviser too! One worry is open air setting with kids, so I need to bring all accessories (gloves, Cap) to cover them along with winter jacket.
<<“Yes looks like Gondolas and aerial cable-way are closed at Mt. Pilatus as well if I ma checking schedule correctly.. “>>
The cog rail is unique. I think that it is the steepest one in the world. There are lots of cableways/ gondolas all around Switzerland.
Slowpoke
Hi phxtraveller,
The cogwheel train and cable car are not scheduled to be closed at the same time. Pilatus is always accessible by one of those means of transport.
You can check operating times on our Pilatus page here: http://www.myswissalps.com/pi latus/gettingthere
For any mountain attraction page we list (http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/naturalsites/ mountains) click the route tab for information on operating dates.
Hi phxtraveller,
I would think the Swiss Travel Pass would be a good idea for your plans. I’d compare the 4 day (days 2 -5) plus point to point tickets on day 1 and 6 or just the 8 day pass to cover everything.
http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass/price
No way to know for sure without doing the math. If you are having trouble finding ticket prices let us know, but everything can be found on the timetable.
Hi Lucas and all forum experts,
I am in Switzerland now and we covered mount rigi today, and it was beautiful. I am planning a scenic train trip tomorrow and need some help in deciding which one to go for.
With some research I did, it looks like bernina and glacier Express are too far from lucerne and requires a 8+ hour of round trip, so I am considering Golden pass line, or Gotthard aexpress.
1. Gotthard express – Lucerne to Flüelen is the boat section, Flüelen to Lugano is the train section. Is gotthatd panorama express running on Nov 1st or 2nd? or we need to take regular trains on the same route?
2. golden pass line – Is golden pass train running on Nov 1st or 2nd? or we need to take regular train services on same track? is the round trip from lucerne around 4 to 5 hours? I understand that it involves changing trains at interlaken and Zweisimmen.
Can you please advise which one I should go for if I need to do it tomorrow or day after? I am travelling with kids (10 and 4), and have swiss travel pass if that makes any difference.
Thanks!
This might be too late for your travels but maybe these answers will help!
- Yes, the panoramic train isn’t running but you can follow the same route on regional trains. Search for Lucerne to Lugano VIA Göschenen on the timetable http://www.myswissalps.com/go tthardpanoramaexpress/ gettingthere
- Yes, it runs year-round. The panoramic train runs between Zweisimmen and Interlaken. Details are found here: http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass/gettingthere (pick any departure you want when searching Lucerne to Montreux VIA Zweisimmen on the timetable. Panoramic trains are denoted as MOB Panoramic or Belle Epoque on the timetable starting in Zweisimmen)
- Both trips are free with the Swiss Travel Pass so it really depends on which trip or destination appeals most to you and your family.
Hi Lucas,
This was super helpful and thanks for the detailed reply!!
- The thread ‘5 day trip starting end of October around Lucerne’ is closed to new replies.
