vict4ia

Frist, thanks everybody. I've gotten so many good ideas from people here and I thought I'd ask for help with this piece as well.

My husband and I will be taking the Bernina Pass from Tirano, Italy to Chur, Switzerland. We should be getting to Chur at around 1 PM on Friday, Oct 29. Our flight back to the US leaves from Zurich at 5 PM on Sunday, Oct 31 (so, we'll need to be at the airport in Zurich by 3 PM or so I guess). That leaves us with Friday afternoon/evening, Saturday, and a piece of Sunday. Given that amount of time and rail passes, where would you go and what would you do? (We love scenery and charm. ) Any recommendations for mid-range accommodations are also most welcome.

PalenQ

You could hop the Glacier Express rail route to Andermatt, then take the shuttle train down to the Gotthard main rail line to Arth-Goldau and change there for Lucerne - a wonderful place under an hour from Zurich by train that can easily occupy Saturday - the town is small but with several really interesting things and i'd do a boat ride on Lake Lucerne, to me the most beautiful of all those gorgeous Swiss lakes -or take a trek up famous Mt Pilatus on one of europe's most thrilling mountain railways to the summit and then an awesome aerial cableway back down to Krens in suburban Lucerne for a bus the few miles back to the town center.

The boats and bus is covered by a Swiss Railpass (boats also by a Eurailpass)- what kind of railpass do you have? If a Swiss Pass you'dget 50% off on the pricey Pilatus excursion but not with a Eurailpass.

For other ideas on places to go by train and Swiss trains in general i always spotlight these fabulous sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com. For schedules www.swisstravelsystem.com and this site also links you to boat companies, Mt Pilatus type excursions, etc.

justshootme

Lucern, if you haven't been to Lucern. It's only an hour from Zurich by train and you can take a train directly to the Zurich airport from here.

Chur is a rail hub, so you'll have no shortage of destinations to choose.

vict4ia

Thanks, once again. Those are great suggestions! We've actually been using Budgeteuropetravel to plan some of our vacation, based on recommendations on this site. Byron has been incredibly helpful. We purchased the Eurail pass but we may be willing to do the Pilatus excursion anyway. =)

DalaiLlama

I would not suggest another marathon train ride to Andermatt and what have you, not on the day when you arrive on the Bernina Express in Chur. You will already have had plenty of mountain scenery and train travelling in your system.

Instead, I suggest that you do this - it doesn't sound glamorous but it will be practical and make your life easy and enjoyable:

First book in advance one of the many reasonable hotels near the Zürich airport, in the nearest town there called Kloten - google the words > Hotel Kloten < and go from there. They know how to get people from and to the airport - many have shuttles, or it's a quick taxi ride. Simply look up the individual hotel websites, allow for the time difference from home and call them and ask, there will be somebody glad to help you in English.

Then from Chur on Friday, after maybe a lunch near the train station, just get on a fast train to Zürich airport (no need to reserve, just hop on), come up from the underground train station below the airport and go check into your hotel.

After you freshen up, take the suburban light-rail S7 into Zürich, from the central station called Zürich Hauptbahnhof (HB for short) you walk down to the lake and enjoy yourselves for the evening - either with a boatride, or a stroll - whatever. Swing by the Grossmünster, the cathedral in the quaint old part of town on the other side of the river.

You'll come by no end of nice restaurants when you get hungry, no need to commit yourselves in advance. Quite possibly you'll want to go up on either the Zürichberg (www.zuerichberg.ch) or the Uetliberg (www.utokulm.ch/en/webcam - and more info at www.zuerich.ch) and have dinner with a view up there - google the two names and see.

Then on Saturday, if the weather is right, hop on the S7 into town, change to a train for Lucerne, and when you get there, do whichever of these you have looked up and decided on: Rigi (www.rigi.ch), Pilatus (www.pilatus.com - there are two ways to go up so you can make it a circular excursion), Einsiedeln (www.kloster-einsiedeln.ch). Also consider a boatride on the lake.

As an alternative you might want to go to a different region, Appenzell, and go up on the mountain called Säntis (look it up), and maybe go by the nice historic city of St. Gallen.

On Sunday morning I suggest packing early and leaving your bags with the hotel folks, then heading out into Zürich to do whatever you didn't get to do on Friday. Maybe head up onto the Zürichberg or Uetliberg for a sumptous (rather early) Sunday lunch? For that you may have to book a table, so start thinking about that by Friday and ask the hotel staff to help you with making the reservation.

You should get to the airport by 2PM for a US flight leaving at 5PM. Note that you will do the passport control on the way from the check-in area to the concourses, but not the security check - you can still walk the concourses with shops etc. if check-in happens to be so quick as to leaving you time to do so (probable, and preferable to getting into a time crunch).

You will do the security check as you enter the (typically enclosed) gate waiting area from the concourse, and once you're in there, you can't get back out except to board the plane (there are toilets accessible from within that gate waiting area, but usually nothing else).

This way of doing it saves you any unnecessary packing and unpacking, you'll know where "home" is for the last two nights - right next to the airport, and you can adjust your schedule as per whim and weather.

All your train schedules are at www.sbb.ch - click on en on top for english.

Note that in Switzerland, unlike in Italy or France, you don't need seat reservations on trains, even the fast ones.

Enjoy!

swandav2000

Hi vict4ia,

I agree with DalaiLlama above that getting into the mountains quickly would be a better bet than spending another long day on a train. As nice as the views are from a triain window, they are hundreds of times better in person with the wind in your hair, the sun on your face, etc.

However, I disagree about staying at the Zurich airport for two nights. Staying at a bland and boring airport hotel would be like ending my vacation early! You can so easily stay in the center of Zürich and get to the airport easily and quickly by train in about 15 minutes. Because your departure is so late, you can even stay in Luzern the night before your flight! Trains from Luzern to the airport take about an hour, and there are several direct (0 changes) trains every hour. I think it would be a whole lot more atmospheric and wonderful to stay away from the airport until you *had* to get there!

Have fun!

s

PalenQ

We purchased the Eurail pass but we may be willing to do the Pilatus excursion anyway. =)>

As Pilatus IME is often clouded up, negating the whole expensive journey IMO then you can use your Eurailpass to hop on steamers that ply gorgeous Lake Lucerne - perhaps taking the classic 2.5-hr ride to Fluelen at the end of a long fjord-like part of the lake and then quickly return to Lucerne by train - consider stopping off en route at perhaps Vitznau and hopping a mountain train to the summit of Mt Rigi, one of Switzerland's most ballyhooed Alpine summits - not because it is so high but because of the scintillating views it offers over the lake far below but more because of its fabled lateral view to the west over the rocky spine of Switzerland and lots of famous peaks in the distance.

Mark Twain famously wrote about his ascent of Mt Rigi and the incessant alphorn blowing up top that bothered him so.

Last time i was there there were still alphorns being blown.

Then you can take an aerial cableway back to the lake and Weggis, to reborad the boat.

(Actually i think boats dock at Weggis first so take the cable up and train down to Vitznau's boat dock.

clevelandbrown

This trip sounds a bit rushed. My initial thought was to ride the Bernina express again, because it is such a great ride. But on reflection, I would consider spending some time in Chur, which is a pleasant town and even has an art museum. There is a skiing resort (I think it is called Ariose) above Chur, and the train ride up there and back is thrilling, and I think the ticket also entitles you to ride a couple of cable cars.

Luzern is lovely, but I think you might not have enough time for more than a glimpse. I would instead spend my time in Zurich, which while not in the mountains, is a very scenic place with lovely buildings (don't miss the Chagall windows) and what I think is the best art museum in Switzerland.

We stayed at http://www.stern-chur.ch/site_en.php in Chur which was quite nice (we saved a bit by taking one of the smaller rooms in the annex), and at http://www.st-josef.ch/page/e/hotel_e1.html in Zurich, which was close to the old town and the train station, and very reasonable, but not as charming as the Romantik Stern in Chur.

kleeblatt

Stay near Pontresina/Samedan/Celerina and take the gondolas to the top of the mountain.

Or walk around the lake.

It's a beautiful area. If you don't have to rush through it, I'd stay there for 2.5 days and then go to Zürich.

PalenQ

Back to the lures of Lucerne and what you can do in a full day there - you can also take the train from Lucerne to Engelberg - once the train leaves the west side of Lake Lucerne it begin a serious climb towards one of the Alp's primo winter/summer resorts - Engleberg, nestled in at the foot of towering Mt. Titlis, which can be ascended by public transport as well.

anyway a Valhalla of ice-girdled rugged peaks - thrilling aerial gondola rides, scintillating hiking for all levels, cows with incessant tinkling bells, etc.

Mt Pilatus offers relatively little at its summit except rave views - but Titlis is more like the Jungfrau-Zermatt regions in having lots of conveyances, ice fields, etc.

vict4ia

Thanks again, everybody. Great insights. =)

PalenQ

Leave Chur most days 11:16 be in Lucerne in a tad over two hours - leaving loads of time to say take a boat ride to relax from traveling on Lake Lucerne - a ride to nowhere perhaps - again Eurailpass valid 100% on boats and with a first-class pass you get to ride in the first-class only open-air upper deck in front.

babyatlas

i second lucern - loved it there! we also loved zermatt - touristy yes but just old world charm to me. not sure if that would work with your travel plans however.

PalenQ

Lucerne is IMO after decades of travel in Europe one of Europe's don't miss places - not only for the nice city but perhaps more for its setting on fjord-like Lake Lucerne.

Plus it is fairly small and compact - ideal for a day and a half IMO - boat trips on the lake, ice-girdled mountain peaks to ascend - great shopping for last minute souvenirs and best of all just about an hour to Zurich's airport - probably with hourly or so direct trains to the airport starting in the early early morning hours.

PalenQ

If you want a luxury boat ride then investigate the popular William Tell cruise that offers Germanesque bands on board and a full meal as you float to the end of the lake at Fluelen, from where you can take a train back to Lucerne in a few minutes. I believe there is commentary onboard and perhaps other special events. Eurailpasses in first class are valid but there is a surcharge for the meal - a substantial regular meal served in the ship's restaurant.

PalenQ

Boat ride on lake Lucerne | Europe Forum | Fodor's Travel Talk Forums
Hi, A boat ride on lake Lucerne seems to be very highly recommended in all ... The William Tell Express is more than a boat ride as at Fluelen - at the ...
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ke-lucerne.cfm -

clevelandbrown

There are all kinds of boats in service on Lake Lucerne (it is something like bus lines). I like the few boats that have the sidewheel propulsion. They are very old, and very well built and maintained. There's a feel of luxury in riding them, even in second class.

PalenQ

I like the few boats that have the sidewheel propulsion>

me too - and i think indeed the William Tell Express boat may well feature that - other boats seem to have faux paddlewheel steamers - paddlewheels that are mainly a facade. But the boats are invariable called 'paddlewheel steamers' it seems.

vict4ia

Ah...that all sounds lovely. It looks like we'll most likely make our way to Lucerne one way or another. Thanks for all of the advice. That just leaves one piece of the trip - we're deciding whether to spend 5 days in Munich with day trips or whether we should spend a couple of nights in Munich and a couple in Salzburg. Perhaps I should start another thread for that one, though.

Thank you so much, once again.

PalenQ

That just leaves one piece of the trip - we're deciding whether to spend 5 days in Munich with day trips or whether we should spend a couple of nights in Munich and a couple in Salzburg.>

Though Salzburg is an easy day trip by train from Munich i would stay a few days in Salzburg if possible - though the city itself is compact and a day there will let you see the prime sights there is an excellent day trip from Salzburg into the Sound of Music country just to the east of the city and easily done by public transports - buses go regularly to the sweet Lake Wolfgang area and dreamy lakeside towns like St Wolfgang (from where an old steam train climbs a mountain above the lake!) and St Gilgen - the area figures a lot in the Sound of Music movie.

So in just about an hour and a half each way you can spend a wondrous day in this lovely lovely Alpine area.