Sightseeing in Lucerne and Golden Pass train

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    6 April 2018 at 9:20:44 #815163

    Hi people. Im gonna be in swiss from 23-29th may. will be landing in Lucerne from florence on 23rd by 3pm. my course of stay is 23,24,25,26,27 in Lucerne and thought of taking the golden pass line to montreux on 28th and stay there overnight. Head onto to paris on 29th. But i heard there is some construction work going and the rail line wont be functioning till june 1st. so are there alternate scenic trains which fall under the travel passes. im plannin to take the swiss travel pass of 4 day validity. and also help me out with the sightseeing i can do by keeping lucerne as the base . nature theme. not much hiking though as i have old parents travelling with me. Your suggestions will be very valuable to me.my stay in montreux is already booked so i need to get there either way. so help me out with like a day or couple of hours of main sights in montreux as well ! thank you

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    rockoyster
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    6 April 2018 at 9:41:46 #881116

    You can still travel on the Golden Pass Line (http://www.myswissalps.com/go ldenpass) to Montreux on 28 May. You will swap to a bus for a short detour between Zweisimmnen and Montreux but don’t let that put you off. SBB Railways are super slick and you will hardly notice a thing. The only issue is that you can’t reserve seats on the train. Should not be a problem at that time of year. Do it!

    For Lucerne see http://www.myswissalps.com/lu cerne/activities.

    Have you read “How to choose the best travel pass” (http://www.myswissalps.com/tr ain/ticketspasses/prac tical/chooserailpass)?

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    6 April 2018 at 10:03:41 #881117

    Thank you for your valuable info rockoyster . so the whole way from zweisimmnen to montreux is a bus journey or just a part that ? and how do i identify which are the golden pass trains apart from the regular because i dint see any mention about golden pass when i checked trains from lucerne to montreux. and Do u think the 4 days pass is good enough.I dont want to buy an 8 day pass of which 2 days wil be wasted. Im plannin to use the pass on 25,26,27,28. I though i would some kinda day packed day trip on 24th! Im oopen to suggestions !

    rockoyster
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    6 April 2018 at 10:15:10 #881118

    The bus detour is only a short stretch between Château-d’Oex and Montbovon.

    It is difficult to tell if you are on a Golden Pass Panoramic train due to the way the timetable is operating during the construction. If you pick an IR train rather than an R you have a better chance. But it is not a big deal. The scenery is still the same whichever train you are on.

    I’m not sure what “I though i would some kinda day packed day trip on 24th!” means.

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    6 April 2018 at 10:26:01 #881119

    what i meant was for the first day at luzern i thought of taking a package day trip or something that sort. I want u to suggest what to do.

    so i can do a reservation from luzern to zweissimmnen. after that i need to take a bus to montreux .

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    6 April 2018 at 12:11:43 #881120

    Hi tejaskumar10,

    You can make reservations from Luzern to Interlaken and then to Zweisimmen but in May there is no need so I would not bother.

    The bus is only a 10km section between Château-d’Oex and Montbovon. So a very short portion of the train trip from Zweisimmen to Montreux.

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    6 April 2018 at 12:21:50 #881121

    Hi Lucas so basically i can get back on train after that short journey on the bus ? il be travelling with all my luggage so wouldnt that be a hassle if i have to change trains and bus ?

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    6 April 2018 at 16:42:35 #881122

    The staff will direct you off the train and onto the buses and then back on another train afterwards. I suppose it could be a bit of a hassle if you have a lot of luggage. You’ll have to change trains at least twice on the trip before the bus portion so if you’d rather avoid all that you can find fast more direct trains the the timetable but nothing is direct.

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    6 April 2018 at 17:18:42 #881123

    thank you so much lucas. i have clarity on what should do now. well regarding the panoramic trains how do i know which one is panoramic as they dont mention while choosing the train. right ?

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    6 April 2018 at 19:23:44 #881124

    They are normally denoted as MOB Panoramic or Belle Epoque (heritage panoramic) on the timetable between Zweisimmen and Montreux. BUT during construction they are not noting those on the timetable unfortunately. I do believe they are running nut they aren’t guaranteeing what you will get.

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    7 April 2018 at 3:36:10 #881125

    >> so the whole way from zweisimmnen to montreux is a bus journey or just a part that ?

    Just a 10km stretch between Château-d’Oex and Montbovon, taking 15 minutes. I have attached an aerial map and a station diagram showing the affected sector in context of the whole sector between Zweisimmen and Montreux.

    >> Do u think the 4 days pass is good enough.I dont want to buy an 8 day pass of which 2 days wil be wasted.

    It could very easily be the case that an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass is still cheaper than cobbling together other options with a 4-day Swiss Travel Pass. But you won’t know for sure unless you do the sums. A 4-day Swiss Travel Pass costs an average of CHF 67.50 per day. An 8-day Swiss Travel Pass used for 6 days costs an average of CHF 66.33 per day.

    Alpenrose

    rockoyster
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    7 April 2018 at 5:17:44 #881126

    You wrote . . . ” for the first day at luzern i thought of taking a package day trip or something that sort. I want u to suggest what to do.

    There are heaps of things to do around Lucerne. See the link I provided earlier.

    I wouldn’t look for packages. They just tend to end up costing more then excursions you can easily do yourself – especially if you have a Swiss Travel Pass.

    One thing about having an 8-day Swiss Travel Pass is that you will have evry incentive to travel and see as much as you can rather than worrying about how much the next ticket is going to cost. For example if the weather looks good you can hop a train to Interlaken and go up to Schilthorn (http://www.myswissalps.com/sc hilthorn) and return to Lucerne without any additional expense with an STP. There’s a “DIY package” for you right there. 😇

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    7 April 2018 at 5:45:47 #881127

    yes i have decided to take an 8 day pass as it is going to cost pretty much the same as a 4 day pass when calculated for a single day. my other questions is will i get a discount on train fares when im travelling from Florence to Luzern when im arriving and Montreux to Paris when im leaving.

    rockoyster
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    7 April 2018 at 5:53:15 #881128

    Good decision.

    The STP only gets you to the Swiss Border. Chiasso from Italy and not far from Geneva for France.

    See http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/italy and http://www.myswissalps.com/tr aintickets/france.

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    7 April 2018 at 6:04:34 #881129

    ok does eurail global pass have same benefits as a STP in switzerland ?

    rockoyster
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    7 April 2018 at 6:11:28 #881130

    Read http://www.myswissalps.com/eu railglobalpass and compare with http://www.myswissalps.com/sw isstravelpass – especially the where it’s valid tabs.

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    7 April 2018 at 6:41:33 #881131

    Thank you rockoyster. you have helped alot regarding my trip. i have decided to just take an 8 day STP so that i can travel comfortably without having to think about how much its going to cost on every trip like u said. thank you everybody i shall be back to ask any queries if need be !

    rockoyster
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    7 April 2018 at 7:10:54 #881132

    You’re welcome.

    You might get a few ideas for Lucerne from this thread http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/lucerne-itinerary-help. Make sure you make the most of the lake.

    Happy travels.

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    7 April 2018 at 7:49:30 #881133

    Thank you il look into it.

    Have a great day !

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    9 April 2018 at 11:14:47 #881134

    Hi rockoyster. so i have 4 full days in lucerne. i dont know about the order but i have decide to do the following

    day 1 lake lucerne and MT.rigi

    day 2 stanserhorn and trummelbach

    day 3 lucerne city tour.

    day 4 not yet decided

    so please help me out excursions i can do and i can add anymore sights to visit on the other 3 days. im confused as i dont know which is close to each other and how much time each place requires to soak in the scenery. i was considering the excursion to JUNGFRAOJOCH but that seems to be pretty expensive even after the discount from STP. is there any alternative to that ?

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    9 April 2018 at 11:24:07 #881135

    And i also came across some strikes by the swiss railway ? is it true ?

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