5 days itinerary – what can we cover from Lucerne?

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    2 July 2018 at 17:13:01 #817024

    Hi All,

    I am excited to take 5 days swiss tour! Thanks to this Forum, i have jotted down following itinerary for which i need help to validate/suggest. As you can imagine since this is my first visit to Switzerland. I might being too ambitious in my itinerary; therefore need help to get the practical view to this.

    I will be traveling with my spouse and kid (8 years) from London from 23 July until 27 July 2018. We have already booked 4 days Swiss travel pass & hotel (2 nights in Lucerne – 23rd & 24th + 2 nights in Interlaken – 25th & 26th ). Based on this setting i have prepared following itinerary:

    23 July (Day 1) – Travel from London to Zurich – 7:05 AM UK time – Landing 10:30 AM (Local Time) Zurich airport

    23 July (Day 1) – Travel from Zurich to Lucerne – Reach by 1:00PM (Local time) – After reaching to Lucerne we are planning to keep the luggage in Hotel (Booked near to station) & continue our journey to either Mount Pilatus or Mount Rigi ? Is this feasible & which one should i cover on day 1 ?

    24 July (Day 2) – Travel from Lucerne to Mount Titlis – catch train by 8:00AM & reach Mount Titlis by 10:00AM. Spend 2 hours on top & start the return Journey by 12:00PM. Reach Lucerne back in afternoon 2:00 – 3:00PM & try to cover with Rigi or Pilatus based on what is covered in Day 1. So my query is, Is this doable or am i to optimistic 🙂

    25 July (Day 3) – Catch Early morning Train to Interlaken (7:00AM – 8:00AM) –> Reach Interlaken OST (10:00AM) –> store our Luggege in Hotel (Near to Station) –> Continue our Jounrey to either Jungfrau or schilthorn ? how feasible is it ?

    26 July (Day 4) – Catch Early morning Traing to Jungfrau or schilthorn (7:30AM – 8:00AM) – based on day 3 plan –> While return try to visit Trümmelbach falls and / Or Thun Lake. Does this looks fine or any other suggestions ?

    27 July (Day5) – I have a return flight to London from Zurich at 9:30 PM (Local Time). So was wondering if i could cover either Gornergrat or Rihne Fall ? Not sue if i am too ambitious. Would welcome your suggestions.

    Open to change this incase any other good suggestions. Looking forward to all your help.

    Many Thanks for your time & reply!

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    3 July 2018 at 6:08:43 #889960

    Hi Mahesh and welcome to MySwissAlps!

    Jul 23: either mountain can work – check the weather after you reach your hotel and see which mountain has better weather conditions. You can use the Swiss railways timetable to plan out the trip: https://www.myswissalp s.com/timetable (enter Luzern to Rigi or Pilatus) and it gives your the schedules.

    July 24: 2 mountains in one day can work for you here but i t becomes a long day. Stay flexible and decide if you and the family are up for another mountain trip once you are coming down from Titlis.

    https://www.myswissalp s.com/titlis / https://www.myswissalp s.com/rigi / https://www.myswissalp s.com/pilatus

    July 25: Pick the mountain with the best weather that day. https://www.myswissalp s.com/jungfraujoch / https://www.myswissalp s.com/schilthorn

    July 26: Trümmelbach falls would be easily down when returning from Schilthorn. Lake Thun is a bit further away but still can be done without much issue from either mountain. https://www.myswissalp s.com/boatlakethun

    July 27: Gornergrat (https://www.myswissalp s.com/gornergrat) is at the far other end of the country from Zurich airport (3 hours one-way) whereas the Rheinfall (https://www.myswissalp s.com/rheinfall) is about an hour from Zurich airport. That being said, if you want to see the Matterhorn you can do it and still get to Zurich airport by 7pm or so to catch your flight.

    Slowpoke
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    3 July 2018 at 8:06:23 #889961

    Hi Mahesh –

    Just a couple of thoughts to add to Lucas’ thorough answer.

    All three mountains near Luzern have their own personalities. The Rigi is the most “gentle” with more trails and is the lowest.

    Titlis is the highest, with snow probably still there even in July. There are several things to do. Pilatus is close to Luzern. A steep mountain with little at the top… some restaurants and a modest walking trail. Great views.

    From a logistics point of view, a recent post in this forum suggested going up Pilatus by the cableway from Kriens in the AM and returning via the cograil to Alpnachstad in the late morning. The stated objectve was to avoid crowds and long lines going up on the cograil in the busy Summer season. From Luzern, there are hourly boats taking about an hour ( check the timetable) to/from Vitznau, where you can get one of the the cograil trains up to Rigi Kulm, ( the top). A day with Titlis and the Rigi has the most travel in the middle.

    Search this site for the name of each mountain to find out a lot more details including travel possibilities. Tere are some options at the Rigi, for example.

    Regarding the Matterhorn. It is certainly possible…..but even with the reliability of the Swiss trains, I’d be a bit nervous about being so far from the airport. So, I’d try to work out a schedule using the timetable, including what you do at Zermatt,such as Gornergrat as discussed above,and do my best to schedule arrival at the airport more than 3 hours before flight time. I am perhaps overly cautious, because my travel patterns usually involve flight to the USA from Zürich, not to London. Still, the 27th is a Friday in the Summer, and traffic will be heavy, and some delays are possible.

    So, after you work out a schedule, I suggest that you take a look at how much time you will have to go up to one of the better viewing points and decide if it is worth a very long journey on a busy Friday.

    Slowpoke

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    3 July 2018 at 10:50:13 #889962

    Thanks Lucas & Slowpoke for your comments!

    Based on the comments i would like to test, if following alteration in itinerary sound right 🙂

    23 July (Day 1) – After reaching to Luzern by 14:00, Plan to visit to Mt. Rigi by taking a boat ride to Weggis –> Cable car to Rigi Kulm. Spend 1 about and hour –> Take cogwheel railway to Vitznau (18:00) –> Boat ride back to Luzern. Basically the idea is to cover both path (Cable car + Cog wheel railway). The question is shall we go to Mt. Rigi via weggis route and comeback via Vitznau route back to Luzern or vice versa. Not sure at this time which will be more crowded route. Any suggestions ? (all this plan based on whether of course)

    24 July (Day 2) – As suggested by Lucas, I will take a decision based on how the day has gone by and whether to continue our visit to Pilatus (I definitely want to cover this but if its to exhaustive may need to give it a miss) or spend more time on Mt. Titlis & once back in Luzern try to visit city attractions such as Lion monument.How far this monument from Luzern Train station ?

    July 26 (day 4) – Based on suggestions, Is it a good idea to do Gornergrat Day 4 & keep Schilthorn, Trümmelbach falls & thun lake on Day 5. This way i see 2 benefits & 1 drawback:

    1. We are near to Interlaken & can easily drop Thun lake or Trümmelbach falls incase any issues with the timings to catch our return flight to London from Zurich (9:30 PM).

    2. We could keep our Luggage in hotel after checkout.

    Drawback – We have 4 days swiss travel pass & i think Shilthorn journey is free end to end on this pass? if we plan to cover shilthorn on day 5 we will need to buy separate tickets ?

    Also Please suggest what will be the economical way of covering Day 5 Itinerary (Either Gornergrat or Shilthorn)& return travel to Zurich Airport.( e.g. Swiss Half Fare Card or Buy the individual tickets or any other option) ?

    Do we need to buy a ticket for my kid (8 years) as well in case we plan to buy individual journey ticket & mountain excursion on day 5 ?

    Thun lake & Luzern boat ride is free on Swiss travel Pass ?

    All suggestions are welcome 🙂

    Slowpoke
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    3 July 2018 at 11:39:50 #889963

    <<“The question is shall we go to Mt. Rigi via weggis route “>>

    15 minute up hill walk from ship landing to valey station of the cable car at Weggis.

    I’d take the cable car down, not up. More frequent service than the train, I think. If I recall correctly, the train is once per hour. Going up from Vitznau, the cog rail train meets the lakeboat.

    Check the timetable.

    Luzern –

    I have marked the map with a star where the Lion Monument is.

    map.search.ch/?pos=666525,212118&z=51 2&poi=bergbahn,haltest elle,museum,parking,to ur,viasuisse,zug

    Slowpoke

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    3 July 2018 at 14:49:08 #889964

    Thanks Slowpoke .. its useful to plan my Day 1.

    Any thoughts on the rest of the queries in my earlier post ?

    Cheers,

    Mahesh

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    3 July 2018 at 18:32:34 #889965

    Day 1 sounds good. I can’t tell you which route may be busier though

    Day 2: Google Maps show the monument at about 15 minute walk from the train station

    Day 4/5: Use the Swiss Travel Pass on day 4 to get to Schilthorn free. On day 5 either buy a Saver Day Pass: https://www.myswissalp s.com/onedaytravelpass /details or point to point tickets: https://www.myswissalp s.com/traintickets/swi tzerland

    The child will need a Junior Travel Card on day 5 regardless: https://www.myswissalp s.com/juniortravelcard

    Everything covered by the Swiss Travel Pass is noted here: https://www.myswissalp s.com/swisstravelpass/ validity

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    6 July 2018 at 10:05:55 #889966

    Thanks Lucas!

    If i decide to spend day 5 in interlaken, could you suggest what other option do i have ?

    Cheers,

    Mahesh

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    6 July 2018 at 12:18:29 #889967

    If you are in Interlaken for a day , you could do pretty much any of the activities we recommend in the Jungfrau region here: https://www.myswissalp s.com/jungfrauregion/a ctivities

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