Hi, my boyfriend and I are visiting Rome, Florence and Venice this August/September. We only have 15 days on this trip, but would really like to take a side trip to Lucerne.

What options do you suggest? Should we leave from Florence or Venice? Is it cheaper to take a train? How long will the ride be?

Sorry for all the questions! Anything you can do to help will be great!

Thank You!

It actually seems to be a little faster from Venice (6 hours) versus from Florence (7 hours) since there are a couple of trains with no stops.

But - given one day to, one day from and one day in Lucerne (is that enough?) you've now taken at least 3 days out of a not that long trip.

If you really want to do Luceren why not fly into Zurich, do Lucerne first and then head south to Italy, returning from Rome. That is - Zurich (an hour train to Lucerne) to Venice to Florence to Rome.

It will save you a full day sitting on a train.

If you go to bahn.de it's really easy to see all the options - although it won;t have prices.

www.cisalpino.com for fares and tickets on the few direct Venice-Zurich day trains (change at Arth-Goldau for Lucerne i think)

Cisalpino is a company formed by Swiss and Italian railways to handle cross border trains between the two. These tilting trains can tilt around curves, making them faster in mountainous areas than normal trains.

Well if you haven't already booked your flight to Italy, nytraveler is right. Start off in Zurich, where there are hourly trains to lucerne. Go straight to tourist office in Lucern and they will give you great map of the city with "walks" to take. I recommend walking toward the famous bridges, then into the picasso museum, then to the city rammparts (lunch), then up to the Lion (though not much to see here IMO), then maybe ending the night with a nice sunset cruise on the lake.

Otherwise, PalQ's suggestion is a great solution. Maybe you can take the night train. It is a bit rough on the back, but saves time and includes 2 croissants, coffee and juice in the price. I took it from Zurich to Venice last September. Here's a deal on the ticket price (book early, pick up ticket at train station):

http://www.trenitalia.com/en/promozi...art_price.html

Switzerland starting from 19 euro
On all day trains Cisalpino, except for the IC 350/353 "Brianza" and the IC 351 "Lario", 19 euros for seat in 2nd class.
On the "Luna" Euronight train leaving from Rome, Florence, Bologna for Geneva, Basel and Zurich, and from Venice for Geneva and Zurich: 39 euros for couchette in 6-place compartment; 49 euros for bed in 4-place compartment; 59 euros for bed in 3-place compartment; 79 euros for bed in 2-place cabin; 119 euros for bed in single compartment.

You might actually not even need to go to Zürich. If your train stops in Arth-Goldau (which it usually does), just change trains and then take the 20 min. ride to Luzern. There's no use going through Zürich if it's not a destination.

cali123: Great information.

Anyone know the safest accomodations for 2 women for overnight train travel?

Also, do most night trains have A/C?

in theory yes but in the great heat wave of 2003 night trains i took were insufferable - windows don't open and AC was not up to the task.

But normally would be OK.