[Removed user]

26 February 2012 at 8:22:19 #804958

Hi,
I am planning a visit to Lucerne, Mt. Tiltis & Geneva.
The 4 of us are travelling on a budget and want to see as much as possible in a very limited period of just 3-4 days.
We are having trouble figuring out what & how to book for our transportation.
Our rough itinerary is as follows:

18/03 – Travel from Paris to Lucerne arriving in the evening.
19/03 – Lucerne – Mt. Tiltis early in the morning, Planning to spend a whole day in Mt. Tiltis & returning to our hotel in Lucerne in the evening.
20/03 – Sight seeing in Lucerne & travel to Geneva mid-day (after hotel check out)
21/03 – Sight seeing in Geneva. Catch a 3pm flight out of Switzerland.

Our main concerns are:

• Are booking the train tickets online in advance necessary? Will it be cheaper? Will ticket availability be limited? Or is there no problem buying the tickets in person when we arrive there?
• Is train the best option from Lucerne to Geneva? and is advanced booking necessary?

Kindly advise.. All help is appreciated!
Thank you.

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[Wandermann]

26 February 2012 at 15:49:12 #834998

Hi sarahbuffy,

Booking train tickets online will not be necessary and I very much doubt if it would be cheaper. There’s no need to worry about ticket availability nor will there be problems buying tickets in person.

As you plan to leave Lucerne around mid-day on 20/03 I think the best train ride will be the direct route from Lucerne to Geneva (via Bern). You don’t have to book in advance for this train ride.

Another possibility would be the panoramic Golden Pass Line between Lucerne and Montreux (and from there continue to Geneva), but you may find this too much time consuming. In case you prefer the Golden Pass Line reservations have to be made. Or, you could take the same route in regular trains (no reservations needed).

You can use the Time table to plan your trips.

Enjoy your stay!

[Removed user]

29 February 2012 at 9:59:25 #834999

Hi wanderman!
Thank you for your response! =] It has been helpful.
I hope you / others could further advise me on the following:

I am checking out the prices on sbb website for the tickets.
1. It seems like the tickets for Lucerne – Geneva are CHF74 per person without the half fare card. Is this a normal price? Is there any way to get a cheaper fare? Is the half fare card worth buying? and What about City-City-Tickets?

2. What about snow ‘n’ rail tickets? Is this ticket worth buying? It is inclusive of various attractions on Mt. tiltis itself, right? Sorry I am not good with going through the details on the website. Some wordings are confusing to me. would appreciate if you could walk me through it.

Thanks! Looking forward to your reply

[Annika]

1 March 2012 at 12:07:57 #835000

Hi sarahbuffy! Whether a Swiss Half Fare Card is more economical than regular tickets, depends on your exact itinerary. If you enter Switzerland from Basel during your inbound trip from Paris, there’s hardly any price difference between both options. If you’ll be entering in Geneva too (which results in a longer, and thus more expensive, trip to Lucerne), the Swiss Half Fare Card will be a bit cheaper. Guidelines on calculating if you need a rail pass can be found in our FAQ.

I’m not sure if the Snow ‘n Rail Ticket is that economical; it’s especially convenient if you want to ski. Is that part of your plans? Details on the City to City tickets can be found at the SBB website.

In case you’re still looking for hotels: they can be found at the Lucerne and Geneva hotel page.