Best Swiss rail pass including major excursions

  • Removed user
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    72625 posts
    17 May 2019 at 12:23:46 #821689

    Hi,

    I am traveling to Switzerland with my wife and 9 year old son.We travel from Venice on 9th June and fly back to India from Zurich on 15th June. Originally had planned to travel from Venice to Luzern and stay 2 nights in Luzern then move to Grindelwald for 3 nights and then to Zurich for one night.Having read about the Gotthard Panorama train was wanting to do that but to do that we will have to stay in Lugano for one night as train departs Lugano at 9.22 a.m and we won’t be able to making it from Venice so early as we don’t prefer travelling before 8 a.m. We wanted to visit Junfraujoch and villages of Wengen, Murren,Lauterbrunnen and do some hiking in Grindelwald region.

    Should we do the GPE trip and stay in Lugano for one night and one night in Luzern or skip the GPE trip and stay two nights in Luzern . Also suggest best pass for us as most of our stay is in Grindelwald is Bernese Oberland right pass for us or the full swiss travel pass or a combination of passes.Please also suggest things to do with a kid around Grindelwald.

    Thanks

    Deepak

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    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    18 May 2019 at 6:30:43 #912569

    Hello Deepak and Welcome to MySwissAlps,

    Should we do the GPE trip and stay in Lugano for one night and one night in Luzern or skip the GPE trip and stay two nights in Luzern

    I’d go for 2 nights in Luzern rather than introducing a hotel swap into your plans.

    You can still include the GPE route (but not the actual GPE). If you leave Venice at 8:20 you can arrive at Flüelen at 15:41 and connect with a boat to Luzern departing 16:00. You need to go Venice to Flüelen via Göschenen to replicate the GPE route. If you don’t want to include the boat just go Venice to Luzern via Göshcenen.

    Use the timetable on the SBB website (bit.ly/2HH1U7B) or the highly-recommended SBB Mobile app (bit.ly/2ICIUHi) to plan your travel, find fares* and buy tickets if required. If you are not familiar with using the timetable it will pay to first read the instructions on this page – http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable. *SBB website shows half-fare prices by default, mobile app allows you to nominate full or half-fare and is also smart enough to offer you the Saver Day Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/sa verdaypass) if that offers the best fare.

    To work out the best pass for your itinerary you should read “How to choose the best travel pass” (http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass), download the handy spreadsheet calculator and do the math.

    Your son will travel free with a Swiss Family Card (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw issfamilycard) which is available for free when acquired in conjunction with a Swiss Travel Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass) or Swiss Half Fare Card (http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard).

    See also http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/italy.

    For things to do in Grindelwald see http://www.myswissalps.com/gr indelwald/activities. Your sone may enjoy some of this http://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/grindelwaldfirst/ad venture-package/.

    Removed user
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    18 May 2019 at 10:35:34 #912570

    Thank you rockoyster for your reply. Will do as you have suggested and stay in Luzern for two nights .

    Another question for Is the boat journey worth Doing ???

    Thanks

    Deepak

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    18 May 2019 at 10:42:54 #912571

    Hi Deepak,

    Is the boat journey worth doing? That is a very personal decision. My wife and I enjoyed it immensely. See bit.ly/2lOio0g.

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    18 May 2019 at 23:17:36 #912572

    Hi Deepak

    In addition to the excellent information from Rockoyster, you may want to read up on the Gotthard Panorama Express, as the route and the boat journey are explained in detail: http://www.myswissalps.com/go tthardpanoramaexpress

    Wishing you a wonderful trip!

    Maria.

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    20 May 2019 at 9:25:10 #912573

    Hi,

    Thanks Rockoyster and Maria for your replies. I Have read about the route and know that it is a very scenic

    route. I just have to take in consideration that as we are in Luzern for only two nights by taking the boat

    we reach Luzern around two hours later than the train which is going to be a little tiring as well for our son

    and also we get to spend less time in Luzern. We were also planning to do Mt .Riggi trip the next day

    which also involves taking a boat trip on Lake Luzern.

    So what option would serve us better as we are very keen for a boat ride on Lake Luzern.

    1st option:Arrive by boat to Luzern and skip Mt. Riggi the next day and explore Luzern town.

    2nd option :Arrive by train to Luzern and experience lake Luzern by taking Mt. Riggi trip and use rest of time to explore Luzern town.

    3rd option. Do both and still have enough time to explore highlights of Luzern.

    From Luzern we will be going to Grindelwald and do the Jungfraujoch trip , Schilthorn and hike to Lake Bachalpsee so we will be doing a lot of cable cars.

    Also one more question on Our train ride from Venice to Luzern.How do I buy train tickets for the journey

    as Swiss leg of journey is discounted as we plan to purchase Half Fare Card.So should We book two tickets

    one from Venice to Chiasso for which we get no discount and other from Chiasso to Fluelen/Luzern using half fare card discount.

    Thanks

    Deepak

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    20 May 2019 at 11:12:23 #912574

    Hi Deepak,

    I think you can make this dependant of how you feel when you arrive, as you don’t need to book any of the trips (boat ride and Mount Rigi) in advance.
    http://www.myswissalps.com/bo atlakelucerne
    http://www.myswissalps.com/ri gi
    http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne

    Yes, you’ll want to get two ticket. For input, incl. purchase options of both for the Italian leg and the half fare tickets in Switzerland please use below links:
    http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/italy
    http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/switzerland halffare

    Hope this answers your questions.

    We’re here for further input.

    Best,
    Steph

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    26 May 2019 at 6:04:27 #912575

    Hi,

    Thanks Steph . We are following your advice and leaving it for how we feel at that time. Have booked tickets till Chiasso .Once we reach there will decide what to do next.

    Thankyou all the experts for your valuable advice.

    Deepak

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