72625 posts
More than realistic! Absolutely no problem with that. (but I don’t think you’ll find much in the way of ‘offers’ for that short round trip, especially as the Bernina Express is run by the Rhätische Bahn and the Gotthard is (for short while still) an SBB operation.)
Staying a night in Lugano means you are on the spot to take the Bernina Express bus Lugano – Tirano which departs Lugano in the morning. However I am not a particular fan of the Gotthard Panorama Express – see below.
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 it is reservation obligatory and first class only.
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)
72625 posts
Hi Chip and welcome to MySwissAlps!
Yes, you can combine the Gotthard Panorama Express and the Bernina Express. Read about their routes at http://www.myswissalps.com/gotthardpanoramaexpress/gettingthere and http://www.myswissalps.com/berninaexpress/gettingthere.
For a combined package check these offers: http://www.myswissalps.com/gotthardpanoramaexpress/packages.
More information about Lucerne and Lugano can be found at http://www.myswissalps.com/lucerne and http://www.myswissalps.com/lugano.
I hope this helps,
Ildiko
3 posts
Thanks for your advice. I will have to think about it – but I like the idea of using the regular rail options so I can have a little more flexibility.
3 posts
I like some of the combined packages, but I am still on the fence – see my reply to 1960man. Since it is looking like I will have to push back my trip to October I will have a little more time to decide the best fit.
72625 posts
Just to let you know that the Gotthard mountain route passenger trains will change in December 2020. The new trains (as already operating on the Voralpen Express route) will be operated by the SOB railway company and dubbed Treno Gottardo. They will run through and therefore no change of train will be required in Erstfeld. They will be more like long distance train carriages than the current local service units which are glorified commuter trains.