[Removed user]

8 April 2017 at 9:50:45 #811318

I have 6 days in May where I need to start from Lyon airport on a Sunday and fly back from Milan airport on Friday night. Must sees are Annecy, Jungfraujoch, Lake Como and need a recommendation for scenic Swiss train ride. Here’s my current thoughts:

– Day 1: Land in Lyon at 9:30am – go to Annecy for a couple of hours then head to Interlaken and spend the night there.

– Day 2: Trip to Jungfraujoch. Is it possible to take the Golden Pass from Interlaken to Lucerne and make Lucerne as my base in Switzerland?

– Day 3: Spend the day in Lucerne.

– Day 4: Can I do the Glaceir Express on a day trip from Lucerne?

– Day 5: Go to Varenna and spend the night in Milan.

– Day 6: Depart from Milan at 9pm.

I am considering renting a car given the short timeframe and the number of things I want to do, I am aware of the one way charge. Would it really save me time to hire a car? I am thinking it may save me time on Day 1 by allowing me to go from Annecy to Interlaken directly avoiding Geneva and also from Lucerne to Varenna directly avoiding Milan.

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[Arno]

8 April 2017 at 16:53:46 #861130

Hi Mnasrat,

Thanks for joining us here! Please find my feedback below:

Day 2: yes, you can certainly do so, and you can take the Montreux to Interlaken section of the Golden Pass line on day 1.

Day 4: you can do part of it. It’s explained on the Glacier Express page.

A car will not save you time except perhaps on day 1 indeed. Also you can’t use it for the Glacier Express and Jungfraujoch, and having a car in Lucerne is quite inconvenient as the city is compact and parking is not cheap in the center of town. Also Milan is not a place to drive yourself unless you know the city well. The page myswissalps.com/carver sustrain might be useful to compare modes of transport.

If you prefer a car on day 1 then you can drop it at the French side of Geneva airport to avoid extra international drop off charges. Then take a train to Montreux from there to join the Golden Pass line to Interlaken.

[Removed user]

10 April 2017 at 16:02:12 #861131

Dear Arno,

Thank you very much for your helpful reply.

It does seem like a good idea to rent a car from Lyon airport, drive to Annecy and then drop the car at French side of Geneva airport. This solves my luggage problem and it also seems buses to Geneva are less frequent on Sundays. If I drop the car off at French side of Geneva airport, can I resume my journey by train to Montreaux from Geneva airport train station?

I have also decided to spend night 1 in Montreaux rather than Interlaken.

Do you have any tips on trip to Varenna from Lucerne please?

Best regards,

Marwa

[Removed user]

11 April 2017 at 7:11:19 #861132

Hi Marwa,

Yes, after dropping your car on the French side of the airport you can hop on the train to Montreux from there (it is still in the same airport).

It is a bit of a trek to Varenna – about 5 hours with 3 to 4 train transfers, but not much can be done about that. Look up the schedule for your date of travel here.

Lucas

[Removed user]

1 May 2017 at 12:24:17 #861133

Dear all,

Thanks for your help so far, this hasn’t been easy and here is where I currently got to and need help with Glacier Express and Bernina Express please.

– Day 1: Land in Lyon at 9:30am – rent a car from Lyon airport go to Annecy for a couple of hours then return the car at Geneva airport French side. Take train from Geneva airport to Montreaux.

– Day 2: Trip to Jungfraujoch from Montreaux to Interlaken on Golden Pass train and from Interlaken to Lucerne to spend the night.

– Day 3: Spend the day in Lucerne.

– Day 4: Need help on deciding between Glacier Express or Bernina Express daytrip from Lucerne. To help in my decision making, I need to know if it is possible to take a scenic route from Lucerne to Milan that would replace the Bernina Express? If yes, then I would take the Glacier Express daytrip.

– Day 5: Depart from Lucerne to Milan.

– Day 6: Spend the day in Milan and depart from Malpensa at 9pm.

[Removed user]

1 May 2017 at 13:58:19 #861134

I think doing the Glacier Express would be a little easier for returning to Lucerne in one day (from Zermatt rather than Tirano). The trip from Lucerne to Milan is scenic as well (as are all train trips in Switzerland 🙂 ) but not on a “panoramic train” and taking the Gotthard Panorama Express for part of the trip would be a nice option.

Lucas