Four of us are disembarking from an Avalon River Cruise in mid-Sept and we’d like to get to Lucern (to visit several days) either by train OR book a van with driver to get us there. What is the most logical solution? Thank you!!
Posted by
The Heartland USA
8967 posts
Barbara, we were on a Viking Cruise, but I'll bet it works the same. Before the end of the cruise, the ship asked people who had further travel to let them know and they arranged for a bunch of taxis to meet the ship at the end of the cruise, to take people (by name) to the rail stations. There are two rail stations in Basel - you want the SBB (Swiss) station. It was about 35 CHF pp for undiscounted tickets to Luzern. A taxi driver may offer to take you all the way to Luzern for a negotiated fare. No need to worry ahead of the trip - plenty of people will be doing the same thing.
Posted by
OP
Galesburg
4 posts
Appreciate your tips! We’re cruising with Avalon. We are seasoned ocean-cruisers so this will be our first time cruising the (Rhine) rivers. Hope we like it since it was a lot more expensive!!
We will also will need transportation to Zurich from Lucern a few days later. Toying with traveling on a train or hiring a driver/van to get us there.
Posted by
NM, USA
911 posts
We did a Tauck river cruise ending in Basel a few years ago that included a day trip to Lucerne. It's about an hour drive. Lovely city. If you take the train you have to worry about taxis on both ends. For 4 of you it might be cheaper (and a whole lot more convenient) for a car service that would pick you up at the ship then take you to your hotel. There are companies that you can book ahead with. Just factor in tipping to your cost and make sure you have a contact number for the company so you can communicate the actual docking location upon arrival in Basel. The river cruise companies have a general idea but docking locations can change at the last minute.
Posted by
The Heartland USA
8967 posts
Barbara, from Luzern main rail station (Hauptbahnhof), there are trains direct to the rail station at the Zurich airport (Zurich Flughafen). You can't beat that for convenience. About 1 hour 20 minutes, and then an inside walk to your terminal. Easy. Its about 35CHF pp or so. Of course you can book a private transfer - your hotel can help. Its a civilized country so you don't need to have everything all preplanned and booked in advance.