Making Reservation Using Swiss Pass

Hi,
I am planning my trip to Swiss from Pairs and intend to stay 6/7 nights. I have some questions on using the Swiss Pass and need some advise on some of the Itinerary...
I planned to purchase a 4 days (2nd class) Swiss Pass and following are my plans and queries:

1. Paris > Geneva - Bought TGV already

2. Geneva (stay 2 Nights, already booked)

3. Geneva > Interlaken via Golden Pass
- I planned to activate my SWISS PASS here and make a reservation for "GENEVE - INTERLAKEN OST" route via LAUSANNE - MONTREUX - ZWEISIMMEN - SPIEZ. Is it possible to make this reservation online as I am afraid the "(GOLDENPASS PANORAMIC)" is fully booked?

4. Interlaken >Jungfrauoch - use Swiss Pass
- Is the route free from Interlaken to Wengen / Grindelwald?
- With Swiss Pass, from Wengen ~ Jungfrauoch, there's only 25% discount using Swiss Pass?

5. Wengen/ Grindelwald (stay for 1 night - is this really necessary?)

6. Interlaken > Lucerne - use Swiss Pass

7. Stay in Lucerne - (stay for X nights - could you advise how many days i should stay here? base on the tourist attract in this area)

7. Lucerne > Venice - Can you advise how to go about for this route? And is Swiss Pass applicable here?

Thanks All in Advance

Hello young10. Here are some answers:

• yes, the Golden Pass seats can be reserved in advance. Please read all about seat reservations at this page;
• the Swiss Pass indeed allows free traveling between Interlaken and Wengen/Grindelwald, and a 25% discount between Wengen/Grindelwald and the Jungfraujoch. All information, including a downloadable validity network map, is available at the Swiss Pass page;
• you don't have to stay overnight in Wengen or Grindelwald. Whether this is convenient, depends on your further plans. If you intend to travel to Lucerne the next day, you might just as well stay in Interlaken. Hotels are listed here;
• you could easily spend an entire week in Lucerne, as the region has lots to offer. I guess two or three days would be fine for your itinerary. Hotels near the railway station can be found here;
• the route to Venice can be found through the Swiss timetable. A valid Swiss Pass allows free traveling up to the border. Depending on your train connection, this will be either Domodossola or Chiasso. So you'd only need a regular train ticket from Domodossola/Chiasso to Venice. You'll probably have to reserve seats for the train crossing the border too. Make sure that your 4 day Swiss Pass is still valid during this trip though. If 4 days of validity prove to be too short for your plans (starting with Geneva-Interlaken), you may consider a 3 day Swiss Flexi Pass instead. This allows you to spread your free travel days. You'd use one for Geneva-Interlaken, one for Interlaken-Lucerne and one for Lucerne-Swiss/Italian border.

Thanks for the advise.
I have a few more questions.

For the below route, are the trains luggage friendly? I'm planning to bring a huge luggage with me, which can be quite a hassle

3. Geneva > Interlaken (via Golden Pass) - is the trains for this route luggage friendly?
4. Interlaken > Jungfrauoch - Planning to put the luggage at Interlaken OST for 1 day, is the lockers for huge luggage? How long does the luggage usually kept lock for?
6. Interlaken > Lucerne - Put up luggage and head to lucerne
7. Lucerne > Venice - is the trains for this route luggage friendly?
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Are the trips below recommended for online reservation (now) / reservation (when in Geneva) / no reservation required?
My trip in Switzerland is around 22~27 April 2013.

3. Geneva > Interlaken via Golden Pass
4. Interlaken OST > Grindelwald | Wengen
6. Interlaken OST > Lucerne
7. Lucerne > Domodossola or Chiasso

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Thanks!

Zhiliang
From Singapore

Hello Zhiliang,

All regular trains (not the smaller ones going up the mountains) have space for luggage. Larger items can usually be stocked at designated sections at the end of each car. The largest lockers in Interlaken Ost are 44.7 x 61.5 x 88 cm in size. You can rent them for 24 hours, perhaps even more.

Reservations are only necessary if the timetable indicates so for your particular train. If it doesn't, I wouldn't recommend to book them. Details can be found here.