[mario777]

16 January 2017 at 17:43:53 #810587

Hi all! Will spend 4 days with my wife in Zurich in April,plus a daytrip to Lucerne, including a visit to mount Pilatus. As planespotters, we will stay in Rumlang and we will be visiting Zurich city every day by train. So does any pass suit our needs?

Also, If you have any alternatives to suggest for day-trip from Lucerne I’d love to hear it! Thanks in advance for your help and keep up the great work guys!

Mario

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[Removed user]

17 January 2017 at 7:41:13 #858105

Hi Mario and welcome to MySwissAlps!

Take a look at our Zurich travel page for more details on passes for the city.

I would look into the Zurich Card for your needs in the Zurich area, especially if you plan on visiting any museums (free) or taking the local city tour (50% off). Its not available for all transit zones in the area but is valid for the airport, downtown and a couple other zones if that is all you need. Details on my link above – click on ZurichCard.

If you aren’t planning on visiting museums or using any of the other extras on the ZurichCard you may find a day pass just as useful – especially the 9 o’clock pass (valid for the same zones as the Zurich card but you can only use it after 9am each day).

Regular day passes are valid any time (except after 1am) but not for the airport zone – you will have to add a zone supplement ticket to get into town. Both day passes are the same price (about 9 CHF) and can be bought at the ticket machines at almost all bus/tram stops.

For Luzern (local German spelling) take a look at our information page here. It lists activities in the area such as Pilatus, Mt. Rigi and Mt. Titlis among others. It would be a bit of a long day for any of these from Zurich but certainly doable.

I would then do a one-off purchase of a round-trip ticket to Luzern (or whichever activity you choose in the area).

Cheers,
Lucas

[mario777]

17 January 2017 at 10:35:34 #858106

Thank you so much for the quick reply Lucas, it is really helpful! I think I’m going for the 72h Zurich Card. Only using the train from Rumlang to ZRH city and back for 3 days costs about 41CHF while Zurich card costs 48. I’m also planning a climb to Uetliberg and some other activities, so I believe it’s worth it.

About my daytrip to Luzern, I read somewhere that if I catch the train that stops in Thalwil, I only have to buy a ticket from Thalwil to Luzern, because Zurich Card is valid for the ride till Thalwil. Is this true?

thanks once again

[Removed user]

17 January 2017 at 14:15:07 #858107

Hi Mario,

Yes, you can just buy a ticket from Thalwil to Luzern if you have the ZurichCard. The link I gave you before shows the zone map for the card and where you can travel to with it (it includes Uetliberg so well worth it for you I think).

However, the cost of the train from Zurich airport to Luzern and Thalwil to Luzern is virtually identical
(fluctuating between 10-15 CHF typically one-way).

Here is a link to the SBB (Swiss trains) timetable. Enter the to and from fields and you will see times and prices for that route. Typically the closer to your travel date that you buy them the more expensive they get, but not dramatically.
From Zurich to Luzern best case I’ve seen is about 6 chf and worst case is about 20 chf one-way.

Right now, for April 11 as an example it is 13 chf from Zurich to Luzern one-way.

Cheers,
Lucas

[mario777]

17 January 2017 at 14:48:09 #858108

Is the train ticket to Luzern that cheap? When I type in my dates I get prices between 26 and 30CHF one way. If I’m not mistaken 13CHF is the price for those who have a Half-fare travelcard. When I select ‘no reduction’ I get the price I mentioned above. If I make a mistake please correct me.

Thanks 🙂

[Removed user]

17 January 2017 at 16:50:43 #858109

Hey Mario,

Oh yes, I was thinking of my trips I’ve taken with the half-fare card. My apologies.

It can be as low as 15 chf though, depending on date and time (choosing specific times allow you to take advantage of ‘super save fares‘).

A couple searches just now got me down as low as 18 chf one-way. however, the price I get from Thalwil is the same (sometimes a couple chf less and sometimes actually more!). So it pays to double check once you are here to compare.

Cheers!

Lucas