15471 posts
Hi Jansergeant,
The Gotthard Panorama Express normally arrives on platform 4. You’ll have to go down the stairs, walk 20 m, and up the stairs. It’s a tight but normal change in Switzerland. If you miss it you won’t need to wait that long as the next train departs 17:18. That one does require seat reservations, so you would need to go to the ticket office to arrange for that.
The Gotthard Panorama Express also stops in Bellinzona, and I am quite sure the train to Milan does too. You can ask the staff on board the train if that change would be easier.
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Thank you Arno,
I have just one more question
if we change trains in Bellinzona , how scenic is it between there & Lugano? Are we going to miss much scenery being in a regular train or have we seen the best of it.
8889 posts
Hi Jan,
I haven’t been on the GPEX from Bellinzona to Lugano but I have been on the regular train. The only thing you would miss out on I think would be any commentary. The view would be the same. I don’t recall there being any major scenic attractions on that leg.
Having said that it looks like the connection time in Bellinzona is pretty much the same as in Lugano. Makes sense as both the GPEX and the Milan trains take the same route.
If you wait for the 17:18 connection from Lugano – Milan you will have time to take a wander outside the station. There are nice views over the city and the lake from up there.
12 posts
Hi Rockoyster,
Thanks for your reply. I think the connection time in bellinzone was 15mins but in Lugano it was only 3 mins & it allows us to connect up with the an earlier train into Florence. We are going through to Florence &prefer to get the earliest train possible , if we wait for the later trains we don’t get into Florence until 8.40 pm & then still have to walk to our accommodation & have someone waiting on us with keys.
Looking at all combinations to save a bit of time.
I have been reading your trip reports it all sounds amazing, we are getting to excited & counting down our days until we go.
Jan
8889 posts
Fair enough Jan. I didn’t realise you were going beyond Milan. 15 minutes at Bellinzona should be fine.
Enjoy your trip – it WILL be amazing! 😇
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Any tips on the Gotthard Panorama train, which is the best side to sit etc. We will be staying in Lucerne the night before so we can get on the 11.12 boat, we don’t want to miss any connections.We are going to try to book it this weekend. For some reason this train/boat trip is doing our head in, we are probably overthinking it.
Jan
8889 posts
Hi Jan,
The collected wisdom is that the right side of the train is better heading south – but I suspect it’s marginal.
Don’t stress – it’s pretty straight forward. I find it easy to say that now!