nooriskandar

Dear all,

You all have been incredibly helpful. Apologies for yet another separate query. I am on a roll ....of frustration and confusion.

The plan:
Lon-Paris-Switzerland-Venice-Milan (reroute because of departure to Singapore from Milan)


The dilemma is the section in Switzerland.

My party of aunt and sis is okay with me deciding everything. I am in love with Lucerne (I'm a photographer, the mountains appeal to me alot) but I am concerned about the rugged connections and time travel for their sake.

With so much research, there is the direct trains to Geneva and Lausanne. If we wanna go to Lucerne , departing on 28th Oct, Saturday from Paris, there seem to be alot of connections, accumulating to 6 hours. We plan to be in Switzerland for 3 nights.


Questions:
1) Should I just give in and directly stay in Geneva?
2)Seeing that Venice is our next destination, which Swiss city offers the most convenience for our transfer there as a midpoint?
3) Can I just go to Geneva, spend a day and get a ticket to Lucerne the next day upon reaching the Geneva station?
4) Am I reading the train timetable wrongly and there is a simpler way to get from Paris to Lucerne before the day is over, say we ideally wanna reach around 2pm? We don't mind leaving Paris early in the morning
5) Am I discounting other Swiss cities that fit the bill perfectly?

Sincerely appreciative,
Isk

PalenQ

3) Can I just go to Geneva, spend a day and get a ticket to Lucerne the next day upon reaching the Geneva station?>

Yes always always can hop on Swiss trains - no reservations needed or suggested - so so many trains and a ticket is valid on any of them. Absolutely no need to pre-order, book, etc. As I probably recommended in your other posts but if not check these sites for oodles of great stuff on Swiss trains - www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. If you want a more scenic albeit a tad slower rail route between Geneva/Lausanne and Lucerne you can take the Golden Pass special scenic train the whole way and have panoramic observation cars to ogle the awesome scenery - the scenery on the main lines via Bern is so-so (for Switzerland!)

swandav2000

Hi nooriskandar,

Do you want to visit Geneva?

I ask, because the quickest trains from Paris to Switzerland in fact go to Basel. From Basel, you can get to Luzern in about an hour. So your total travel for the trip would be 4h42 with ONE change, in Basel.

You can see this schedule easily if you use the Swiss rail site at

www.sbb.ch

Just change the language to English.

After your visit to Basel, you can continue to Venice -- and maybe stop off in Montreux on Lake Geneva, if you have the time.

Have fun as you plan!

s

nooriskandar

Thank you both of you for the prompt reply.

Only frustrating is I have been accessing that site for hours but I cannot find any schedule that is as short as everyone mentioned. Everything is more than 4 hours even when there is no change.

Or should I be just buying it separately? Paris-Basel Basel-Lucerne? Is 3 hours from Paris to Basel the right journey time?

Also, the only problem I foresee by not buying the tickets in advance is if I arrive late for the hotel checkin if we miss the next train from Basel to Lucerne had we not known the time it departs.

I would also like to ask if these kinda online bookings allow me to just print the tickets or will i have to collect or ship them (the horror!) as stated on some forum posts? That would be very troublesome. If they allow it, it should be noted when I am making the payment right?

nytraveler

I'm not sure where you are looking but there are several departures each day form Paris - the earliest at 7:19, the next at 10;23 - that get you to Lucerne in about 4:40. they leave from Gare de Lyons - are you checking the correct station in Paris?

and the one at 7:19 has a generous 38 minutes to change trains in Basel if you are concerned that a shorter time might not work for them.

If you go to bahn.de and click on the US or UK flag on the upper right you can see every train and all the details. You can't buy there (it sells tickets only for trips starting in Germany) but once you have picked out the details you should be able to buy the trip you want from the Swiss site.

nooriskandar

Dear friends,

yes, i must be tired. Got the airport mixed up thinking it was gare du nord as always. Then mixed up the departure/arrival buttons as well.

Got it! Even better the Gare de Lyons would be 9 mins away from our hotel in Paris.




Perfect, thank you now we are all set for Lucerne.

Only thing now is the ticket issue from Lucerne to Venice.

1) Can I buy it beforehand? I read that the prices for buying now or buying when in Lucerne won't have any difference at all.
2) I am just afraid it will be sold out when we get there or we cannot determine the timing in advance thus, making us unable to plan our time upon reaching Venice.
3)If I choose to buy online now, can I print it and show , how does the receipt work? Will I need to get it posted? (urgh)

Thanks!

nooriskandar

PS: I am thinking of splitting the tickets due to the price. Would that be doable?


_______________


Luzern - Milano: "Sparpreis" of SBB (=special offer) from CHF 23 (= EUR 19) - www.sbb.ch
Milano - Venezia: MINI fare of Trenitalia for EUR 29 - www.trenitalia.com

PalenQ

Yes at those prices - and you cannot get those prices at stations but must book those online NOW to be sure of getting these limited in number seats sold at those prices.

PalenQ

2) I am just afraid it will be sold out when we get there or we cannot determine the timing in advance thus, making us unable to plan our time upon reaching Venice.>

IME rarely will those trains be sold out - especially not any in Switzerland and once in Milan there are so so many trains to Venice - in the worst case scenario you would have to go first class in the rare event if 2nd class was fully booked for a certain train and IMO on the trip of a lifetime that is the way to go anyway - lots more relaxed ride - especially for folks porting around typically way too much luggage - lot fewer folks in the same-size train car so easier to stow luggage - bigger seats and often lots of empty seats - I can usually put my bags on a nearby empty seat rather than fending for space in 2nd class in perhaps already crowded overhead luggage racks.

But have no worry about just getting on trains once there - but you see you can save a lot of money by booking yourself online - 1st class has discounted tickets as well so check them - like in Italy sometimes if all the discounted 2nd class ducats are gone there may be discounted first-class tickets still available for not much more than 2nd class fare.

nooriskandar

Hi I just realized I made a grave mistake syating 28th Oct when it is in fact 18th october on a Saturday.

New search results of timing gave not so favourable ones. There are no transfers at Basel for that morning but one to Geneva.

It takes forever though. What is a safe transit time? Should I just risk it and take the ones with more than 1 transfer stops, seeing that they actually reach earlier.

I would like to reach Luzern best around 3pm latest.
Thanks

PalenQ

It takes forever though. What is a safe transit time? Should I just risk it and take the ones with more than 1 transfer stops, seeing that they actually reach earlier.>

what kind of transfers are you talking about - in Switzerland? If so don't worry - if you miss one train there will be another you can hop on with a valid ticket to your destination - you do not need reservations on any Swiss train - now in Italy you must reserve ahead of time a specific train and your ticket is only valid on that train (unless you change it before the train leaves I think)

So once you get to Switzerland don't worry about changes and usually Swiss trains are spot on time but not always - leave 10 minutes between trains if possible or more - you do not want to have to be running to jump on some train - relax - there will be another one within half an hour usually you can jump on.

don't worry about changing trains - everything in Switzerland is orderly - they will often hold up the connecting train for a few minutes if they other train is late IME.

swandav2000

Hi nooriskandar,

There are several transfers daily between Paris and Basel, so I don't understand your statement that there are no transfers on 18 Oct.

Are you using www.voyages-sncf.fr or www.sbb.ch?

I suggest you just keep trying.

s

kybourbon

Are both the French and Swiss sites 90 day purchase windows and the OP's date is outside that time?

PalenQ

If 90 days then not yet online.

OP should take the cheapest ticket but if all things about equal take a TGV from Paris to Bern or Zurich to be closest to Lucerne after getting off at your final destination.

nooriskandar

swandav2000 - I wrote the wrong date. It is actually on the 18th October , whereby there are no transfers via Basel, unless we book separate.

Even so, Paris to Basel has no direct trains, it requires transfers for that particular date.

Palen- Thanks I'll see if there are bern or zurich ones are faster/cheaper.

kybourbon

>>>Even so, Paris to Basel has no direct trains, it requires transfers for that particular date.<<<<

That is probably because you are looking outside the 90 day purchase window. Give it another 10 days or two weeks and you will be within 90 days. Right now those non-stop trains Paris/Basel (3 hour travel time) are only showing through about Oct. 10.

nooriskandar

Ahhhh that explains it! Thank you, I was bewildered by the absence of trains.

__________________
On another note,

I have some reservations pertaining to my itinerary.



18TH oct SATURDAY ARRIVES IN LUCERNE BY 3-4PM (from Paris)

I hope we can take a night stroll or something, I guess most things are closed, that means we will have effectively 2 full days in Lucerne starting the next day.

19TH oct SUNDAY •

Right now I am thinking of doing the Mount Titlis excursion (train to Engelberg-cablecars up) in day and touring luzerne evening till night. If this can be done in a few hours, we can still do Lake Luzerne the later part of day.

20TH oct MONDAY

Free day here, should we take a Golden Pass train to Interlaken and have a day trip there or just stay put in Luzerne?

21ND oct TUESDAY DEPART FOR VENICE (early morning)

---------------

Questions:

1) Looking at my itinerary, it is safe to say the passes including half price passes would not be worth the extra money right? Or am I overlooking a pass that may be beneficial for this small trips?

2a)If we do a Mount Titlis halfday trip, is there a way we can take an alternative route back to Luzern instead of a return train ride back, say perhaps a boat trip via Lake Luzern so we can combine these two attractions in a day?

2b) Cost and time-wise, Mount Titlis would be the best choice right instead of Rigi and Pilatus? Furthermore, 3 of us are not hikers type so we prefer to play around with the eternal snow or walk about.

3) Is a day trip to Interlaken mainly for the golden pass ride worth it? Or should I see if there is such a route for a golden pass when entering Lucern on Day 1 from Paris altho it may be longer?

Thanks for all the help thus far,

you guys are the best!

Isk

PalenQ

I think a boat ride on Lake Lucerne - to its fjord-like tip is a great think to do - much better than a short ride on the Golden Pass - do a day out on the lake by boat - You can get off the boat and take the mountain train up to Mr Rigi, come back down and rejoin another boat.

nooriskandar

Hello all I am back!

Update re train: SBB website altho already within the 90 days timeframe still has no direct trains for that route via Basel. Only ones showing are long routes via Geneva or trains with multiple changes. It is so frustrating because I know the price will rice gradually if I don't book something now, right?

Some posters adviced me to wait but I checked the weekdays the following week from the 18th and they have those trains via Basel scheduled already. Could this be a weekend thing as I suspect? Should I just go ahead and book the long dreary route via Geneva? Thanks.

Much love,

Isk

mokka4

I just checked for Saturday, Oct. 18 as well. You are CORRECT. On that date, there are no with only one change in Basel. Your choices do indeed seem to be: 7:25-13:05 via Strasbourg Ville/Mulhouse Ville/Basel,
8:11-15:00 via Geneva,
OR
8:11-14:55 via Geneva/Bern/Olten.
There is a train leaving Paris Est at 7:25, arriving Luzern 14:05 with changes in Strasbourg Ville and Basel.
October 20 DOES list that elusive 7:19-12:05 to Luzern with only one stop in Basel.....