I can use FF miles to fly to either Lucerne or Munich and then take a train to Venice.
So which one do I fly into?

Is the train ride from Lucerne to Venice considerably longer than from Munich?

Are both rides equally scenic?

Lucerne appeals to me because of the lake & mountain combo, but I know Munich is larger and perhaps has better museums?

Would appreciate your thoughts.

NorthShore,

There is no airport at Luzern. Do you mean Zurich? Is someone pulling your leg?

I think the train trip from Munich is marginally shorter than from Zurich.

s

Either route would take about 8 hours to get to Venice, but there is an overnight train from Munich to Venice. The scenery factor would be nil due to darkness, but you'd get an entire extra day to explore Venice (and save a night's lodging expense). Seems like a good trade to me.

There may also be some kind of overnight deal from Luzern but I could not find it easily.

OMG, you are correct. It is Zurich with supposedly a short train ride to Lucerne. Would that be a hassle to go from the airport to the train station or do trains leave right from the airport? Maybe the choice is not so simple.

Northshore,

No, it's not a hassle at all to get to Luzern. There's a train station right under the Zurich airport, and the trip is quick, about an hour. So would you spend the night in Luzern? If not, just go directly from Zurich to Venice. I like Edward's idea of a night train.

s

Zurich has a major train station at the airport, and Luzern is only 1.5 hours from there. Zurich to Venice by rail would still be about 8 hours (adding up the times for the Zurich-Lugano-Milan-Venice route).

Let me add that if you go the night train route, look into reserving a sleeper car. You do need reservations for those even if you have a rail pass. During peak season on busy routes these often sell out. You could still get a regular car, but those aren't as conducive to sleep.

Wow - thanks for the super responses.

Actually, I wanted to spend 3 to 4 days somewhere North of Venice that would provide a nice contrast to Italy.

This would be in either May or Jun so weather might be a factor? What if I went to Lucerne and it was cold and raining?

Hi NS,

There is a direct train from Luzern to Venezia.

See http://plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/quer...n?L=profi&

Munich is more interesting culturally.

If the question was really.... "should I opt for Munich or Lucern?" and you haven't been to either, Munich wins hands down in my book. Lucern is nice. Munich is one of the gems of Europe IMHO. The train ride seems to be a coin flip.

I would definitely pick Lucerne. The boat rides on the lake and the mountain railways/cable car trips to the mountain tops win. The region is much more beautiful than the Munich area.

Lucerne itself has a pretty old town, while Munich has an old town with a mix of old/modern buildings. Munich is much larger, and of course offers more (and better) museums, galleries, theatres.

I tend to agree with Ingo. Don't forget that Munich is in fairly close proximity of the four Ludwig castles which can be done in a long daytrip and by rail/public transport if necessary.

Lucerne is in a lovely setting and is much more picturesque, as a whole, than is Munich IMO.

You might find, in some ways, the train trip from Munich to Venice more interesting than from Lucerne although the really "interesting" scenery uring the former is when the train crosses the Brenner Pass and descends through the Dolomites.