[Removed user]

22 June 2020 at 14:27:18 #825589

How do I buy a 1st class ticket for the Gotthard Express both boat and train from Lucerne to Lugano on Augus.t 26 2020? I have been to the swiss alps page and it is not help at all

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[Annika]

22 June 2020 at 15:24:36 #932641

Hi Johnanderson, welcome to MySwissAlps!

I’m sorry to hear you haven’t been able to buy a ticket through http://www.myswissalps.com/gotthardpanoramaexpress/tickets yet. Please note that train tickets can’t be bought earlier than 1 month in advance through many retailers. That’s quite common for Swiss train tickets, and it’s probably the reason why you can’t select tickets for August 26 yet. I just tried with HappyRail (https://www.happyrail.com/en/pass/europe/switzerland/passholder-fares-gotthard-panorama-express), one of the retailers we link to. You’ve probably been using their website?

• you can already buy a surcharge/seat reservation with them for August 26 through https://www.happyrail.com/en/pass/europe/switzerland/passholder-fares-gotthard-panorama-express;
• you can buy tickets for the month ahead, but not for August 26 yet through https://www.happyrail.com/en/depart?from=fluelen&to=lugano. If you wait until 1 month before August 26, this should all work. Just to make sure: first enter your travel dates in the upper portion of the page before you get to see options.

Tickets for the boat segment have to be arranged for separately. You can do so on the spot. Reservations for the boat ride aren’t possible.

Some retailers do allow you to buy combined boat/train tickets for the entire journey, and earlier than 1 month ahead. You may want to give it a try here: http://www.rhb.ch/en/gotthard-panorama-express.

In my e-mails, I also mentioned the option of rail passes. If you won’t be using any, I’d advise to look into Saver Day Passes for this journey. If bought well in advance, a Saver Day Pass (http://www.myswissalps.com/saverdaypass) will probably be cheaper than regular tickets for the train and boat segments of the Gotthard Panorama Express ride. Saver Day Passes for August 26 are already available online through http://www.myswissalps.com/saverdaypass/price. Prices are announced for 60 days ahead, so I advise you to wait a few days to see what’s available for August 26. (HappyRail already shows prices for August 26, but those are the highest rates. They’ll adjust that once prices for August 26 are determined.) You won’t need any train or boat tickets anymore if you use a Saver Day Pass; only the additional surcharge/seat reservation for the Gotthard Panorama Express train segment.

Tips about finding the cheapest ticket or pass option for your journey are available at http://www.myswissalps.com/train/ticketspasses/practical/chooserailpass.

I hope this helps you out. Please let us know if you have further questions!

[Removed user]

24 June 2020 at 23:41:23 #932642

Pure and simple – It’s not on sale yet.

Gotthard Panorama Express – a personal view

This is ‘take it or leave it’ advice:

Personally I am sceptical of the attraction of the Gotthard Panorama Express. It is an attempt to keep some tourism going on the Gotthard ‘mountain route’ since the rest of the fast trains now go through the base tunnel. However, you see mainly valleys not high mountains.

Also, the train gets rather lonely – part of the ‘romance’ of the Gotthard route previously was that your train competed for space on the line with huge long international long-distance trains carrying 000s of passengers a day between northern and southern Europe, and those passenger trains interacted and weaved in between dozens of heavy freight trains lumbering back and forth across the Alps.

The curiosity was seeing another train high above you one minute then a few minutes later passing by your train on the same level, then perhaps seeing it again below you a few minutes after that. It is this that no longer happens as there are so few trains left on the line.

(It could also be argued that it is just a way of finding a use for very expensive panorama cars that Swiss Federal Railways bought but don’t have now have any other use for them…)!

More economical might be for you to take any boat Luzern – Fluelen. Then take the train Fluelen – Erstfeld. Change at Erstfeld into the regional train that takes the same old mountain route but at no extra cost, and runs direct through to Como (and Milano)

[Removed user]

25 June 2020 at 13:49:54 #932643

Hi Johnanderson,

in addition to the previous answers, you can read about the differences between the Gotthard Panorama Express and the regular trains here: http://www.myswissalps.com/gotthardpanoramaexpress.

Ildiko

Also see: list of the panoramic trains in Switzerland at http://www.myswissalps.com/activities/scenictrips/train