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Pre-Cruise Days in Switzerland

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We are two couples traveling to Basel to catch a river cruise to Amsterdam. We arrive in Basel at 10:30 am on July 15 and our cruise boards the afternoon of July 17. We want to spend some time in Lucerne and are struggling to determine what gives us the best bang for our buck and the amount of time we will have pre-cruise.

What we are currently considering and would certainly appreciate feedback on is:
1- We fly into Basel and are heading directly to Lucerne by train. QX: is there a rail connection at the Basel airport? nearby?
2- Currently planning to stay in Lucerne the 15th (we will get there mid afternoon) and leave late the 16th returning to Basel.

In Lucerne we are hoping to be able to see the sights on foot - so we would have late afternoon, evening and most of next day. Sounds like we will want to spend some time in Old Town, of course seeing the lake and the bridge and Lion. Is there anything else we should not miss in this limited time?

We also planned to take a boat tour of the lake, but see mention that an option is to take the boat to a Mountain attraction where we can ride a cable gondola up to the top of the mountain... is this doable in our time frame? do you recommend it?
3- Should we instead stay a second night in Lucerne or are we planning correctly heading to Basel early evening, spending the night there and checking out Basel (any recommendations) and then getting on the boat

I know it's a lot of info I'm asking about but know you have so much experience in this planning that I think. you could really help us.

Thanks!

Posted by
60 posts

Recommendations for Lucerne: The bridge, the lion and the old town you already got. Near the lion there's also the glacier garden though it's been way too long since I've last been there. I've also heard that there are some old town walls to ascend to not sure if I'd do that with such limited time.

As for a boat trip on the lake. A full trip on the lake will take a long time. Yes there is a train or funicular going up to the Rigi from Vitznau. A second line connects Mt Rigi to Arth Goldau from which you could easily return by train.

I was wondering if you could squeeze in the Rütli too by going Lucerne -> Brunnen by train. To Rütli by boat. To Vitznau by boat. To Rigi by train. To Arth Goldau by train and back to Lucerne by train. But that's at least 5h on boats/trains not counting waiting time and - well - actually sightseeing.

Another option would be to go up Mt. Pilatus. There's a gondola and a funicular. Limited options for doing a part of the trip by boat tough. You'd have to plan that separately.

Finally Basel has loads of art museums and that's about all I know...

Posted by
8889 posts

QX: is there a rail connection at the Basel airport? nearby?

Not at the airport. There is a shuttle bus that runs between the airport and Basel station (Basel SBB). Runs every 7½ minutes, takes ~15 minutes. You can buy a ticket from Basel airport to any rail station in Switzerland, including the bus.
If you are going direct to Luzern, I suggest you investigate flights to Zürich. Zürich airport has more flights than Basel, and Zürich airport does have a station ("Zürich Flughafen") with trains to Luzern, the trip takes 70 minutes (Basel, Zürich and Luzern are in a triangle).

but see mention that an option is to take the boat to a Mountain attraction where we can ride a cable gondola up to the top of the mountain..

You are talking about a trip up Pilatus, out by boat, back by bus. Details here: https://www.pilatus.ch/en/discover/golden-round-trip/

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