Lakes: Lake Brienz/Lake Thun--Lake Lucerne--Lake Como

There are huge differences in all three lakes (4 if you include Thun, but I don't because I don't like it as well as the others) - I've spent time on all. Maggiore is completely different again, but you didn't ask about there (too bad).

I'd suggest going the whole length of Brienzersee (Lake Brienz) so you don't miss the best bit, the Giessbach waterfall and the associated antique funicular. It is a stop well worth getting off for and taking a later boat.

The train back to Interlaken Ost from the town of Brienz at the end of the lake is timed to meet the arrival of the boat. One of the boats is a old side-paddle steam boat. The engine in the middle of the boat (triple expansion) is open to view.

Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee) just delivers scenery by the bucketload and just keeps giving. It is a very large lake and it is worth deciding which bit you want to see.

Como is beautiful in another way, the all stops ferry pulls at all sorts of picture perfect Italian villages and towns with the Alps in the distance.

Me? All 3. Or make it 4 and include the fabulous Borromean Islands on Maggiore.

Any chance of adding another week or two to the trip?

This is very helpful information for me! I honestly had not considered doing the entire length of Lake Brienz but it sounds great. Any idea approximately how long the round trip would take? I had not read much about Lake Thun so was curious but your comments clarify.

Inight into doing an excursion on Lake Lucerne vs incorporating it into the trip (GPE routing) on the way to Bellagio?

I would love to add more time to the trip but we already will be gone 5 weeks which pretty maxes out the lengthy of time we want to be gone.

1:13 boat, 17-20 minutes train, Interlaken Ost - Brienz.

2) travel by boat on our way from Lucerne to Bellagio--most likely the route of the Gothard Panoramic Express but not the actual GPE

The dock for trains to Lugano using the old Gotthard Tunnel are at Flüelen. There is a boat/train combination every hour from Luzern. To see the schedule, start at www.sbb.ch/en. "From" Luzern, "To" Lugano (or Como), your date of travel, earliest time you want to start, then click on "advanced search". Click on "add via" and in the pop-up box put in Flüelen, click on "add via" again and another pop-up box will appear. Put in Göschenen. Then hit "Search for connection". Immediately after, hit "Change extended search" again. Now below see the "Transport type". On the right hand side in small print you will see "show choice of transport for each partial route". Click on that, and you will see "Luzern > Flüelen" and all the different transport methods. Deselect all of them except "Ship". Now scroll down and hit "search for connection" and Voila! you will see the schedule to use the boat to Flüelen to get the train to Lugano.

The boat ride to Flüelen from Luzern takes 2 3/4 hours (several stops along the way) and you have 20 minutes to get from the dock to the train station. SBB estimates it is a 3 minutes walk. They even show a map if you click on it.

The very detailed information on booking the trip from Lucerne to Lake Como is exactly what I need. If unfamiliar with some of the European train websites, it can be very confusing so I appreciate this so much!

Re: the helpful directions for booking Lucerne to Bellagio

1) Is there one type of boat for the trip from Luzern to Fluelen or is different at different times? How can you access information about the type of boat/ship?

2). If we purchase the Swiss Travel pass and this trip is included in the number of days we select, is the entire trip free?

P.S. Should we purchase these tickets in advance or if we do in fact buy the Swiss Travel pass, can we purchase the day before?

1) Is there one type of boat for the trip from Luzern to Fluelen or is different at different times? How can you access information about the type of boat/ship?

Looks like routes with the "steamship" icon at the top are the classic style boats. Namely 9:12, 11:12, and 12:12 departures from Luzern are this type.
https://www.lakelucerne.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/PDF/Ihr_Schifffahrts-Erlebnis/Fahrplan___Preise/Fahrplan/Saisonaler_Fahrplan/Fahrplan_Sommer_2022_01.07._11.09.pdf

2). If we purchase the Swiss Travel pass and this trip is included in the number of days we select, is the entire trip free?

Only the last little bit from Chiasso, Switzerland to Como, Italy is not included with the STP. That you would have to pay for, should be just a couple Euro at most.

You can buy tickets anytime from 60 days out to right before departure. Since boats have a legal limit on the number of passengers they can carry, I guess I'd buy in advance just to be sure you can get on it. The 11:12 boat is likely the most crowded as it is the connecting boat to the Gotthard Panorama Express.

One more question: Assuming that we have purchased the Swiss Pass and that our next stay is in Bellagio, is it preferable to go from Lucerne to Lugano or Lucerne to Como?

Up to you. If you take the 9:12 boat from Luzern, you will arrive in Como at 3:35 pm. The bus schedule to Veleso on-line is only posted to Sept 11.