[Removed user]

14 August 2018 at 2:38:48 #817868

We have essentially only 3 days in Switzerland and want to see and experience a bit of character, beauty, charm, and history.

The details set hard are: Day 1–Arrive Zurich Friday a.m. Relax (adjust to time) local sightseeing, hotel.

Day 4–Monday 11:51 train from Chiasso to Venice.

We plan to take an early train from Zurich to Luzern on Saturday (Day 2) and stroll through some local landmarks (bridges, Old Town, etc) and then hopefully take an excursion to Mt. Rigi. I was thinking to maximize what we experience on the Mt. Rigi excursion we could take the boat to Vitznau and Cog to Rigi Kulm, then return by way of cable car and/or cog to Arth-Goldau and take a train back to Luzern. Is that even realistic in an afternoon? We have combination Saver Day Pass and Half-Fare Card so I believe all would be covered, correct? Can we just board with our passes or do we have to pre-book?

Our dilemma is whether to do a train to a village for an afternoon sort of thing from Luzern on Sunday, thus staying in Luzern 2 nights and making the journey from Luzern to Chiasso on Monday, or to stay in Luzern only one night and head down to Bellinzona mid-day Sunday, take in the castles, and stay there Sunday night. I think that would mean that we could catch the 10:50 #15 train in Bellinzona and not have a change en route to Venice (nervous about missing that connection).

We will only have light raincoats and a sweater so do not plan to spend serious time in the mountains. As much as we would love to see them, warmer climes are choice! That said, we do want to see some of the countryside charm. Will we see much from the train routes and the area surrounding the castles that can be accessed via bus and foot if we decide to do the Bellinzona stop-over?

Thank you for sharing your wealth of experience!

Effortlessly learn from the questions and answers in the forum. Receive a daily e-mail with new discussions. Sign up

[Removed user]

14 August 2018 at 7:39:03 #894149

Hi DvanJo,

Yes, Rigi can be done in an afternoon for sure. The timetable will give you all the needed details: http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable and the Saver Day Pass covers Rigi completely (you don’t need the Swiss half fare card for that mountain).

• http://www.myswissalps.com/on edaytravelpass/details
• http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isshalffarecard
• http://www.myswissalps.com/ri gi/gettingthere

If warmer weather is your hope, Bellinzona is a good option (or Lugano, but it seems you are interested in the castles)! You’ll get some great train scenery from Luzern to Bellinzona as long as you follow the Gotthard Express route (you don’t need to take the actual panoramic train) and avoid the long tunnel.

Just use the timetable and enter via Göschenen as noted here: http://www.myswissalps.com/go tthardpanoramaexpress

[Removed user]

14 August 2018 at 12:37:29 #894150

Thanks for the suggestion of the Gotthard Express. It doubles the travel time but likely more than doubles the thrill and scenery!

A few follow-up questions:

What does percent symbol (%) in the upper left corner mean? (I finally figured out that I needed to scroll way down to see the legend for the other codes.)

Also, does it matter which direction I choose? Just as long as I change at Arth-Goldau?

I was told there is room in the first class to keep our luggage by us. Is that correct? (Was especially warned that thieves jump on trains in Milan to seal luggage.)

[Removed user]

15 August 2018 at 6:48:16 #894151

The % symbol means that the price is a supersaver fare. It means that the ticket is only valid for travel on that train departure only (all normal tickets can be used for any departure that day).

Read more here: http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/discounts

No, train direction doesn’t matter if you are changing along the way (it just means where the train trip ends).

There may be room in 1st class to keep luggage with you (if it isn’t busy) otherwise you keep it at the luggage racks. The same could be said with 2nd class (1st is less likely to be busy though).

Luggage theft could happen but it isn’t something I really worry about – I’m not sure how common it is.

[Sandra59]

16 August 2018 at 9:05:39 #894152

Hi Dvanjo,

We had a great day out to Mt Rigi from Lucerne. The views from the top towards the mountains are breathtaking! Your idea of taking the boat to Vitznau and then the cog train to Rigi Kulm and then coming back down a different route is a good one. Nice to have a few different experiences. The cable car down was quieter than I had expected and the scenery going down was amazing. (Remember to fill up your plastic drink bottles with water from the many fountains in Lucerne before you go, as buying a bottle of water at the top of Rigi Kulm costs 3 CHF each)

We came down by cable car from Rigi Kaltbad down to Weggis (we walked down from Rigi Kulm to Rigi Kaltbad, it’s approx 4km, all downhill and fairly easy, with some great views, there are a few places to stop for a drink etc if you want, takes about 1-hour max) If you have the time I highly recommend this short walk, it added to our enjoyment of this day out and the little Swiss cottages and flowers on the way down were beautiful.

Weggis is a lovely wee place to spend about 1 hour before taking the boat back to Lucerne. If you have time and want coffee & cake try ‘Wehren’s Cafe’ a little pastry & coffee shop (across the road from the ferry, Seestrasse 2) the coffee and strawberry flan was delicious.

Check the times for coming back to Lucerne, I know we came back on the 5 PM boat which I think arrived in Lucerne at about 5:45 PM so still plenty of time to relax before having dinner etc. (I am sure they run even later) – but an afternoon is plenty of time and well worth it, it was beautiful!

Regards,

Sandra