Schilthron or Matterhorn or Hoher kosten

hi moderator,

Thanks for your valuable guidance . We are a big group of 14 and already planned to visit Geneva - bern , Jaungfrau & Mt Titlis on the first 3 days respectively
Now as the day 4 is free , we are confused about visiting MT Schilthron or Hoher Kosten( for children to choclate factory, is it worth missing out on nature?) or the Matterhorn . Pls guide . Our base is at Luzern until the 4th day morning and the 4th night is booked at Zurich .
do we need to reserve tickets for our journey to Matterhorn or Schilthorn.

on day 5th we have time until 15 hours before we take a train to Milan . This day, should we take a trip to Rhine falls or should we stay at Zurich for local sight seeing ?Which is more attractive? Will we be able to come back in time from Rhine falls to catch our train to Milan?
Pls guide the route from winthertour.
awaiting your reply

rgds
Anoop Daga

Hi Anoop.

I'm not a moderator, do you mind?

If I understand correctly, your question mainly concerns day four, when you will be leaving Lucerne and end up in Zürich, right?

Whether it's worth your while to visit a Chocolate Factory, I can't tell. Maybe you can ask the children in your group? If you leave Lucerne and return to Zürich, it will save you some traveling time if you visit Mt. Schilthorn instead of Mt. Matterhorn (I guess you think of visiting Zermatt and surroundings, and especially going up to Gonergrat?). If weather conditions are good on that day, both destinations are marvellous.

You don't have to make reservations for a trip to either Mt. Schilthorn or Mt. Matterhorn (probably Gornergrat).

You can use the Swiss Timetable to check whether you will have enough time to visit the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen (you'll probably travel from Zürich to Schloss Laufen).
In case you prefer to stay in Zürich you might want to look at this website. Maybe you'll find visiting the Swiss National Museum an interesting option.

I hope this helps and I wish you all a beautiful stay in Switzerland!

Hi wandermann ,

First of all i am really sorry about wrongly addressing you. Thanks for your quick reply & good wishes . You are right , i mainly concerned about day 4 of the trip. We want to utilize the 4th day for travelling to that destination which will give us entirely different experience in comparison to Mt jaungfrau or Mt Titilis.Please advise .
do you think ,Travelling to zermatt will give us an insight about the country side of switzerland as well as, give us an opportunity to travel on the panaromic or the scenic trains?
some of the sights suggested we could go up the Mt Matterhorn by Train & then lift? Is it correct? further please tell me At MT matterhorn Is there some Glacier palace 15 mtrs underneath the snow & is it worth visiting? Is Gonergrat the highest level of Mt Matterhorn that can be accessed by lift or Train? What are the other sightseeing places close to Mt Schilthorn. I think one is Murren. How are both the mountains different to each other ?
As advised by you , we will definitely visit swiss National Museum In Zurich.
Regards , Anoop

Hello Anoop,

If you are looking for "an entirely different experience" then it would be worth to go to Zermatt, rather than visiting Mt. Schilthorn (which is situated quite near the Jungfrau). I now get the impression that you are interested in visiting Klein Matterhorn (see also this link).

The trip from Lucerne to Zermatt is very beautiful, especially when you take the route via the Kandersteg-Goppenstein tunnel and via Brig. It will be a very long trip: you'll be traveling more than 8 hours that day.
There are two possibilities for scenic trains on the route from Lucerne to Zermatt (Golden Pass Line between Lucerne and Interlaken, and the Glacier Express between Brig or Visp and Zermatt), but I doubt if you can manage to fit them into your plans. If you can fit them in, check the need of making reservations for these scenic trains.

You'll have to check the Timetable I mentioned, where you can also use a "via option".

Klein Matterhorn is at a much higher altitude than the Gornergrat.

If you decide to go up to Mt. Schilthorn, you may want to go to the Trümmelbach waterfalls (not far from the valley station of the Schilthorn cable car): that's impressive too.

Good luck with your preparations!

Hi wandermann ,
Thanks for your guidance about Klien Matterhorn . From your mail,considering the time frame, you are doubtful if we can finish visiting Matterhorn in one day ?Am rightly understanding your point ? In that case We will have to drop the visit as i think getting reservations on the Glacier Express is also almost impossible .Hence we shall instead use the day for going to Rhine falls & also going around Zurich.

Now the next day we are travelling to Milan by direct train . The important point that i wish to seek your guidance is that:
1) Do we pay only reservation charges including the children upto Swiss border, as we are holding the swiss pass & family card for the entire family ? Is this rule valid on direct trains also?Then in that case we are travelling by Eurocity Train no ES 17 departing from Zurich @11.09 hrs going directly upto Milan .so please Guide me as to the which border city of switzerland, the difference fare is applicable.
2) Since we are not going to Zermatt , Please guide if it is worthwhile to travel to Milan via Chur , Bellinzona just to enjoy the scenic beauty . Please note we have to make three changes on this route . Hence is the scenic beauty really worth the pains , considering we are travelling with children & Baggages coupled with the Changes that we have to make ?
Your guidance in this regard will be highly appreciated .
Thanking You ,
Rgds
Anoop Daga

Hello Anoop,

Concerning Klein Matterhorn: I just wanted to point out that you would be travelling long hours that day and that if would be difficult to fit in scenic trains.

1. Please look at this web page. I think you'll have to change to the actual date of your trip. For today (i.e. 19-04-2012) you'll see that a high occupancy is expected, that reservations are compulsory (Chiasso to Milano), and that you can order your tickets including the discounts of Swiss Pass and STC family Card up to Chiasso. Note also that today there's a Travel advice EC 17.
You can always try out the ordering process without the last step of ordering!
If you are in doubt about how everything works you can contact the SBB, either online or by telephone.

2. I can't tell you if there are strong reasons to prefer traveling via Chur and Bellinzona: both journeys offer scenic beauty. I can imagine it would be a bit difficult with all the changes of trains etc.

Hi Wandermann,
HOW YOU DOING? Thanks for your continuous advise & Link which informed us about centenary discounts . Jaungfraujoch railways is offering centenary discount For travel between 10th april & 14th may.They have listed discounted fares from different stations .Though we are on conducted tour but jaungfrau is optional and hence we are travelling from Geneva to lauterbrunen by coach & from Lauterbrunen we are on our own/. Hence i want to know from which station should we buy the Tickets so that lauterbrunen falls in between ? The list is Bern , Luzern , Zurich , Basel etc. Is it also compulsory that the train has to be boarded from that station which is specified on the ticket, Or can we board the train from inbetween station like Lauterbrunen even though we are holding ticket from Luzern , for example?

Further i am still unable to reserve my tickets from Zurich to Milan on swiss pass fare with family card . Please help me . we are travelling on the 17th of may 2012. The rail europe online excecutives told us to contact agents in India . On contacting these agents including the swiss toursonline office in India ,we were informed by them that they are unable to give us bifurcated fare from swiss border to Milan even though we are holding swiss passses. They informed us that they can give tickets only for full fare and tickets for children should also be bought.


Hence please advise how do i make this booking online and get a bifurcated fare i.e . Travel free upto Chiasso on Swiss pass and then pay the difference upto milan. Simultaneously i have to pay at least for reservations from Zurch To Chiasso for all the passengers including the children which you indicated is not required . Please clarify once again . I am unable to book the same on the Link forwarded by you. I am troubling you but please guide me once more , precisely, about the online reservations giving the exact site address . i tried to look for the phone no's also but could not get the same.


Reserving this journey is the only part remaining of my preparations for the historic Trip . Your guidance will help me complete the preparations and relieve me .
rgds
Anoop daga

Hi Anoop,

You can board the train at any station along the route you have a ticket for. Your tickets Zurich - Milan, including free traveling for the Swiss leg, can be ordered through the timetable Wandermann linked to. Just click "Fare/buy" for your preferred connection. When asked for reduction, select the "GA subscription" as that provides the same discount as a Swiss Pass. If you're unsure about how to order, please contact the Federal Railways for assistance.

Enjoy the Alps!

HI Arno ,

Thanks a lot ,Your information about "GA Subscription" is indeed helpful. All this while i was looking for "Swiss pass" heading under discounts which unfortunately is not listed and hence was unable to make reservations.My suggestion , they should change/add/Brief the heading for freshers to understand & buy tickets with discounts that they are eligible for.
Great , you guys are very very helpful .I think your forum's back support is the reason, swiss has been endorsed as the hot favourite place in europe by all the visitors. my hearty regards to your team
Rgds
Anoop Daga

Thank you for your compliments, Anoop Daga! I'm glad we could help. Enjoy your stay!