I am thinking about buying a Swiss Pass and be able to buy tickets to cog railway and gondola at reduced prices. But I am having difficulty researching this trip (boat from Lucern to Alpnachstad and cog railway on the way up, gondola on the descent). I see that I can buy a boat trip and gondola but not the cog railway ticket on sbb.ch. If I research a round trip Lucern-Pilatus-Kulm, I get a cable (gondola) option only for ascent and descent. Can't cog railway trip be purchased through sbb.ch? I am not sure I would risk going all the way to Alpnachstad to find out that tickets for the cog railway are sold out. Please help if you know how to make reservations and/or purchase discounted tickets for cog railway on sbb.ch. Thank you!
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
There is no discount for buying Swiss railway tickets in advance, and you don't need to reserve seats either. Tickets do not sell out.
You do not need to buy separate tickets for the separate legs. You can buy one ticket at the boat docks in Luzern (in front of the railway station) which covers the boat to Alpnachstad, the cog railway up Pilatus, the cable car down the other side and the bus back to Luzern.
Details are here: http://www.pilatus.ch/en/railway-cableways/golden-round-trip/
CHF 106.00 full price for the circuit, If you have a pass you only pay for Kriens/Alpnachstad–Pilatus Kulm–Kriens/Alpnachstad and it costs CHF 36. The pass covers the boat and the bus.
Prices are here: http://www.pilatus.ch/webautor-data/275/Preise-2016.pdf
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA
10 posts
Thanks, Chris. Sorry if I didn't formulate my question clearly. I understand that The Golden Roundtrip ticket is not discounted. My questions was about the Swiss Travel Pass. I traveled to Switzerland in 2014 and used my Swiss Travel Pass to buy a discounted ticket for a cog rail train in Zermatt. Since then the rules have changed, I understand. So my question is: as a Swiss Travel Pass holder now, do I get the Luzern-Alpnachstad boat ride covered by the pass or not? Will my pass allow me to buy the cog rail ticket at a discounted price? I am not finding this information or even the prices for the cog rail train to Pilatus. I am trying to figure out with new, higher pass prices, if I am going to break even with the trips I want to make.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Maria, According to the Swiss Pass validity map here: https://www.swisspasses.com/railpass/overviewmap_en.pdf the pass does include the boat Luzern - Alpnachstad and the bus back from Kriens to Luzern, and it gives a discount on the cog railway up from Alpnachstad to Pilatus and the cable car back down the other side to Kriens.
If you look at the page I posted last time: http://www.pilatus.ch/webautor-data/275/Preise-2016.pdf right at the bottom it gives the add-on fares for people with passes. This is the CHF 36 I quoted last time.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
But once price calculations are done, I would not buy the discounted cogwheel ticket online. I would buy it in Lucerne either the same day or day before.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA
10 posts
I checked the website again, and now I see their note that the cogwheel rail is indeed closed until mid-May http://www.pilatus.ch/en/open-facilities/ This explains why I could not get the price quote for it.