SamJampa

Hi,

Thank you so much for reading this and replying. Your valuable suggestions are much appreciated.

I am planning for Europe trip from 5th September to 14th September. Is it right time to visit Swiss. Please help me out.

My itinerary goes like this

I am confused whether I should fly to Lucerne from Paris or take train. If the train journey from Paris to Lucerne is unique(scenec), then I would prefer train.
5th evening to 6th evening Paris( if I travel to Lucerne from Paris through Train)
5th evening to 7th morning Paris( if I fly to Lucerne from Paris)

6th late night or 7th noon to 10th(I may stay one more day as I have not decided about my stay in Swiss)evening Lucerne or some other city in Swiss. 10th late evening I planning to go to Zurich to catch flight to Athens next morning.

I need help in choosing some places from below mentioned places. I love scenec places and am not a history person.

Mount Pilatus
Lake Lucerne
Mount Titlis
Mount Rigi
Jungfraujoch
Interlaken
And much heard glacier express train
And I heard the train journey from Lucerne to Engelberg is good.

Which train pass I should take and from where.

Please let me know some websites like Kayak to get inexpensive flight tickets to travel from one country to another in Europe.


When I consider below tours my budget is going above the limit. So I want to know whether we can purchase tickets as we reach places.


http://www.viator.com/tours/Lucerne/...576-2460JUNG_L

http://www.viator.com/tours/Lucerne/...6-3885SW304BSL

http://www.viator.com/tours/Lucerne/...6-3885SW303LBS

http://www.viator.com/tours/Lucerne/.../d576-6400RIGI

Regards,
Sam

swandav2000

Hi SamJampa,

I have a few comments on your plans.

First, it won't be any faster to fly rather than take the train from Paris to Luzern, which takes about 4h30 or 4h40. If you fly, it will take:

45 minutes to get from Paris to the airport
90 minutes to go through security
1h to fly
20 minutes to get your bags
1h to take the train from Zurich airport to Luzern
Total 4h45

I think that's quite a lot of hassle compared to taking the train, which is peaceful and pretty. Even if the scenery isn't the best, still you're not stuck inside a building, a bland airport, for hours on end.

Next, I really recommend you don't book any tours to the mountaintops. An excursion to the mountaintops depends on having good weather -- otherwise, you'll have spent a lot of time and money to go stand inside a cloud. You need to check the weather on the day you want to ascend, and if it's clear, that's when you should go up. And it's super easy to go up on your own; all you need to do is get to the train station or cable car station, buy a ticket, and hop on! Yes, you can purchase the tickets when you get there.

I also don't think it's a great idea to try to see the Jungfraujoch from Luzern -- it's just too far. That trip is about 5h of travel in each direction, so 10 hours inside a train in one day. If you want to see the Jungfraujoch, you need to be staying in one of the nearby mountain villages (Mürren, Wengen, or Grindelwald), which is not a bad idea anyway.

Finally, the Glacier Express is on the other side of the country, and it's an 8-hour trip just by itself. Best if you postpone that experience until your next trip.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Dukey1

Fastest rail time Paris-Luzern anywhere between 4 1/2-5/5 1/2 hrs depending on routing and changes and there will always be at least one.

Fastest one-way from Luzern to Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland is 2 hrs 20 minutes one way.

The trip from Luzern up to Engleberg and then the three-stage cableway up to the top of Mt. Titlis is a scenic one and can be done in 1/2 day.

Edward2005

I had a great time in Luzern just riding the ferry to several little towns around the lake. Hop off, explore the town for an hour, hop back on the ferry to the next town. I think the Weggis stop is the one for going up to Mt. Rigi. All the ferry rides and mountain cable cars are covered by the Swiss rail passes.

Just thinking about that fun day has me jonesing to go back.

SamJampa

Swandav and Dukey,

Thank you so much for the comments.

I will save glacier express for next trip.

To travel from Paris to Lucerne by train, visit below places and to travel from Lucerne to Zurich by train, does it make sense to purchase 4 days travel pass from http://www.raileurope.com/rail-ticke...ass/index.html . It cost $560 for second class for 2 passes.

Mount Pilatus
Lake Lucerne
Mount Titlis
Mount Rigi
Jungfraujoch(may or may not visit this)
Interlaken(may or may not visit this)

Best Regards,
Sam

SamJampa

Edward,

Thank you so much. How many days you think one need to cover places around Lucerne.

Regards,
Sam

SamJampa

Edward,

Could you please let me know the best(inexpensive) way(place/website) to purchase Swiss Trvel Pass.

Thank you.

Regards,
Sam

swandav2000

Hi again,

You can get great advanced-purchase train fares if you book about 92 days early; fares can be as low as 35 or 45 €, so it's not worth using a pass for that.

You can find the fares at

https://www.capitainetrain.com/en

or at

www.voyages-sncf.fr

Have fun!

s

Dukey1

Here's what you might consider doing:

Use the SwissRail website to check ticket prices.

That is www.sbb.ch/en (for the English language version)

You can also buy rail passes on that site. You do NOT need to use an agency such as RailEurope or any of these other well-known internet/brick and mortar agencies for a pass which is good in Switzerland.

Be aware that the prices of point to point tickets may vary considerably depending upon how far in advance you make your purchase.

SamJampa

Swandav and Dukey,

Thank you again for the comments.

Is 5 days enough to visit below places?

Does this plan look good?

Stay in Lucerne to visit below places
Mount Pilatus
Lake Lucerne
Mount Rigi
Mount Titlis

Stay in Lauterbrunnen to visit below places
Jungfraujoch
Interlaken

Thank you.

Regards,
Sam

swandav2000

Do you mean 6 nights/5 days? If so, then, yes, you could do your plan easily. I would divide the time evenly, with 3 nights in each place. You need to remember that you need clear skies for a good visit to a mountaintop, so spending just 1 or 2 nights in the Jungfrau area might not give you sunny skies (the longer you stay, the better your chances for sun).

s