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Good Morning
Over the last 6 months,we have extensively planned our Switzerland trip. With the awesome help of Jeff and Jen, we have gained knowledge and confidence that this will happen.
We purchased our Swiss Travel Pass (YEA) and we are ready to purchase our Scenic Train Reservations in a few short weeks. Here is our itinerary and questions.
Zurich airport to Lucerne-I can't find any schedule or trains for this connection, am I looking at the wrong stations?
Day One: Golden Pass-Lucerne-Interlaken-Zweismman-Montreux. We then want to get from Montreux to Zermatt the same day so we can do the Glacier Express the next day. What connections do I need to book for that trip?
Day Two: Glacier Express-Zermatt-Chur
Day Three: Bernina Express-Chur to Tirano How do we get to Bellinzona from Tirano to do the William Tell back to Lucerne?
Thanks so much for all the assistance.
Lynda
I’m
excited
Arrive into Zurich Airport & want to do the GoldenPass, Glacier Express, Bernina Express, & William Tell Express over 3 days
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Hi Lynda.
There are direct trains from Zurich Airport to Lucerne. These trains don't accept reservations, so the 'Swiss Travel Pass' is all you would need to board.
For planning purposes, you can just view schedules for non-reservable trains by clicking on 'Find Fares & Schedules' on our homepage and entering the route ('Zurich Airport' to 'Lucerne'). Since your purpose would just be to view schedules and you will not be purchasing any actual reservations for this route, you would not indicate that you'll be traveling with a rail pass when doing your search.
Connections from Montreux to Zermatt take about 2.5 hours in duration and involve changing trains once in Visp along the way. The trains that comprise of this connection also don't accept reservations, so the 'Swiss Travel Pass' is all you'd need to board.
You can determine which trains to book by viewing their schedules under 'Find Fares & Schedules' on our website. Once again, you would not indicate that you'll be traveling with any type of rail pass when you do your search (since your purpose here would just be to view schedules). You would just choose a departure from Montreux to Zermatt that leaves after your GoldenPass train arrives into Montreux from Zweisimmen.
Of the trains that comprise of the actual GoldenPass connection, reservations would only be recommended on that segment from Zweisimmen to Montreux. You would purchase reservations for the segment from Zweisimmen to Montreux by clicking on 'Book your Rail Pass Reservations' (instead of 'Find Fares & Schedules'), entering the cities ('Zweisimmen' to 'Montreux'), and indicating that you'll be traveling with a 'Swiss Travel Pass'.
Reservations are not necessary on the GoldenPass segments from Lucerne to Interlaken and Interlaken to Zweisimmen, so the 'Swiss Travel Pass' is all you would need to board.
The Glacier Express from Zermatt to Chur does require reservations in addition to the rail pass. You would purchase these reservations by clicking on 'Book your Rail Pass Reservations' (instead of 'Find Fares & Schedules'), entering the cities ('Zermatt' to 'Chur'), and indicating that you'll be traveling with a 'Swiss Travel Pass'.
The Bernina Express from Chur to Tirano also requires reservations in addition to the rail pass. You would purchase these reservations by clicking on 'Book your Rail Pass Reservations' (instead of 'Find Fares & Schedules'), entering the cities ('Chur' to 'Tirano'), and indicating that you'll be traveling with a 'Swiss Travel Pass'.
After your Bernina Express train arrives into Tirano, your best option for getting to Bellinzona would actually be to continue on the Bernina Express route to Lugano (the Bernina Express route also consists of a bus from Tirano to Lugano.) In Lugano, you would switch to a William Tell Express train up to Bellinzona.
The Bernina Express bus from Tirano to Lugano does require reservations in addition to the rail pass. You would purchase reservations for this bus by clicking on 'Book your Rail Pass Reservations' (instead of 'Find Fares & Schedules'), entering the cities ('Tirano' to 'Lugano'), and indicating that you'll be traveling with a 'Swiss Travel Pass'.
The trains along the William Tell Express from Lugano to Bellinzona don't accept reservations, so the 'Swiss Travel Pass' is all you would need to board for this segment. Our website may say that the Lugano-Bellinzona trains require reservations or that they're recommended, but that is not accurate. If you see a note attached to the Lugano-Bellinzona trains that they require reservations or that reservations are recommended, you can just disregard it.
For planning purposes, you can just view schedules for the trains from Lugano to Bellinzona by clicking on 'Find Fares & Schedules' on our homepage and entering the cities ('Lugano' to 'Bellinzona'). Since you wouldn't be purchasing actual reservations, you would not indicate that you'll be traveling with any type of pass when you enter your search.
The remaining part of the William Tell Express, consisting of a train from Bellinzona to Flüelen and a boat from Flüelen to Lucerne, would require reservations in addition to the pass. For this part of the route, you would actually just purchase one set of reservations to cover you all the way through, including both the Bellinzona-Flüelen train and the Flüelen-Lucerne boat. Also, when booking the William Tell Express on our site, you would type 'Lucerne-Boat Wmtell' (instead of just 'Lucerne') in the field for the arrival city. Therefore, to purchase these reservations, you would click on 'Book your Rail Pass Reservations' on our homepage, enter 'Bellinzona' and 'Lucerne-Boat Wmtell' as the cities you'll be traveling between, and indicate that you'll be traveling with a 'Swiss Travel Pass'.
All of the reservable segments in your itinerary can be booked once within 90 days of an intended date of departure. -
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Hi Jeff.....just read your answer to Lynda. When you say you have to make reservations, does that cost extra. Are all of the transportation choices you mentioned included in the Swiss Travel Pass?
Ken-
Hi Ken,
When possible, reservations are an additional cost to a rail pass.
How to travel with a Swiss Travel Pass on these routes is explained in the response itself. As I indicated, the Swiss Travel Pass does cover the GoldenPass, the Glacier Express, the Gotthard Panorama Express route (formerly the 'William Tell Express' route), and the Bernina Express, as well as trains from the Zurich Airport to Lucerne and connections from Montreux to Zermatt. Reservations are required where indicated.
The procedure for booking reservations is also explained. For the William Tell Express, however, you would just have to refer to the update I added explaining how this route is now known as the 'Gotthard Panorama Express' route.
The bus portion of the Bernina Express (Tirano-Lugano) only runs up until October 29th of this year, before it starts back up again in April of next year. -
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EMPLOYEE
As of 2017, the ‘William Tell Express’ scenic route is now known as the ‘Gotthard Panorama Express’ scenic route.
The actual route is still the same, following the rail line between Flüelen and Bellinzona/Lugano that goes through the old Gotthard Tunnel.
Also still considered part of this experience is the steamboat on Lake Lucerne, connecting Lucerne and Flüelen.
From April 14th to July 2nd of 2017, the actual 'Gotthard Panorama Express' trains only operate on weekends and will not run all the way to Lugano. Therefore, during this time frame, the 'Gotthard Panorama Express' will only run between Flüelen and Bellinzona. In Bellinzona, passengers can connect to another train that will take them the short distance to Lugano.
From July 3rd to October 22nd of 2017, the 'Gotthard Panorama Express' trains run daily between Flüelen, Bellinzona, and Lugano.
For taking in the scenery, 'Gotthard Panorama Express' trains have panoramic windows in 1st class.
For passengers traveling with a rail pass, the ‘Gotthard Panorama Express’ trains do require reservations, which would also be inclusive of the steamboat. When booking reservations for the ‘Gotthard Panorama Express', you would have to type 'Lucerne-Boat Gotthard' (instead of just 'Lucerne') in the field for the departure city or arrival city, with either ‘Bellinzona’ or ‘Lugano’ in the opposite field.
If you'll be traveling on a day when the 'Gotthard Panorama Express' trains don’t run (i.e. a weekday between April 14th and July 2nd, 2017), you would instead take a series of regional trains that follows the same route. While you would still be following the same route and enjoying the same scenery, the regional trains do not have panoramic windows, like the actual ‘Gotthard Panorama Express’ trains do. The regional trains on the ‘Gotthard Panorama Express' route are:
Flüelen-Erstfeld
Erstfeld-Bellinzona
Bellinzona-Lugano
The regional trains do not accept reservations. Therefore, any passenger traveling with a rail pass would only need to show the rail pass to board.
Other notable changes with the new ‘Gotthard Panorama Express’ route are:
- Now offered in 2nd class but with no panoramic windows
- Eurail Passes no longer cover the Lake Lucerne steamboat but do provide for a 50% discount (Swiss Travel Passes, on the other hand, are still valid to cover the Lake Lucerne steamboat in full)
- A meal is no longer included on the steamboat
Ken Bornstein
Those are renowned scenic routes that do come highly recommended.
We are actually not a travel agency, so we would not really be able to suggest specific places for you to go, but we can certainly help you with your rail pass purchase or tickets once you decide. What you purchase for any itinerary would depend on the specific itinerary itself and various other factors. This can be determined once a specific itinerary is settled upon. If you need assistance determining the best option for an itinerary, you would call us. We can be reached at 1-800-622-8600. Our current hours are 8:00 AM to 6:30 PM CT Monday to Friday and 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM CT on Saturdays.