Train from Lucerne to Venice or Flying from Zurich To Venice?

In the morning (8:30), you can get a 30 minute train to Arth-Goldau and get a direct train to Venezia S. Lucia in 6 hours. At other times, 2 connections in 6 hours.

Now lets look at how long it takes to fly. 1 1/4 hour to Zurich airport by direct train, 2 hours for check-in, security, waiting to board, 1 hour flight to Venice, 1/2 hour from landing to having your luggage and leaving the airport, 3/4 to 1 hour to get into Venice. 5 1/2 to 6 hours to get into Venice, a virtual tie. Plus you will have the cost of the train to Zurich airport and the transport into Venice,

I think the train wins, but just my opinion.

We love Venice but hate the Venice airport and the transport options into the city. I would choose to arrive in Venice by train, 100%. Walk out of the station and the Grand Canal is right there, in full view.

I will join the chorus: train! You will see lovely landscapes, have a snack or lunch, coffee, beer, wine, a chance to stretch your legs. Take a nap, read, use the (probably available) WiFi on board. Take a look at https://www.sbb.ch/en for schedules. Note prices on SBB assume you have a Half Fare Card which you may want to support your outings in Luzern as well as the trip from Zurich to Luzern.

Thank you so much for your responses and we definitely take your advices.
Cathy

I can only tell you what we did (and LOVED).

We started in Murren, so you starting in Lucerne will have a shorter day by a couple of hours. We drove to Chur (but you can take the train from Lucerne to get there also). We stayed overnight in Chur (a really nice little town).

We took the Bernina Express to Tirano, Italy, leaving about 8:00 am the next morning, and getting into Tirano around lunchtime (you can also take any of the other regional services that run on the same line).

There is not much in Tirano, but you walk across the town square from the Swiss train station to the Italian train station and onto a Trenord (regional) train to Milan that is timed to leave about a half hour after the Bernina Express arrives. This train runs every two hours. It passes by beautiful Lake Como on its way to Milano Centrale.

At Milano Centrale, there are many connections to Venice.

So this took most of two days, with an overnight in Chur, but we loved it. Consider it if you have the time.

If I buy STP for 5 days for 4 adults (12/15-12/19), does it cover a train ride from Arth-Goldau to Venezia S. Lucia on 12/19 or do I need to buy a separate ticket for it? I am trying to figure it out if it would be easier just to get STP or Half Fare Card.
Thanks for your help.
Cathy

When you buy the ticket, if you are in Luzern, make it form Luzern to Venezia S. Lucia at the website, www.sbb.ch/en. If you have an STP, put in G.A. 2nd class when it asks for discount (assuming you are getting 2nd cl STP). If you get a Half Fare Card, put that in for the discount. If you get nonrefundable advance discount, it will calculate that. Often the discount will not be that big when buying discount tickets.

I would also recommend taking the train from Lucerne to Venice. Taking a flight on that route will involve travel to Zürich, check-in,security, waiting, boarding and de-planing and then travel into Venice. Once all is considered, the time may not be much different, and travel by train will absolutely be much more pleasant and relaxing, and no restrictive and expensive baggage charges.

On the current schedules, there's a departure from Lucerne at 08:39, arriving Venezia Santa Lucia at 14:42 (time 6H:03M, 1 change, compulsory reservations on second leg).

As I recall, there are lots of food shops one floor down in the Lucerne station. You might want to buy a sandwich and beverages for breakfast. If you don't have time for that, there should be snacks available on the first train, which is only about a 32 minute ride. The second train will likely have a restaurant with more food options available.

Yes take the train. Rolling over the causeway in to the San Lucia station is the proper way to arrive in Venice.

One note: Boarding the direct Zurich - Venice train in Arth-Goldau is indeed the way I would suggest you do this. The SBB site will suggest you take the 8:39 train, which will give you 8 minutes to change trains in A-G. That is sufficient, but if that is outside your comfort zone you can just take an earlier train from Luzern. There are several trains per hour on that route, and while the EC to Venice has compulsory reservation, for the first part from Luzern to A-G you are free to take any train on the route at your own discretion.

It is too early now to buy train tickets in December, but as an example, I looked at September 19 for the train you are lookin at.

With no discount, a ticket that is exchangeable and refundable with a 20% fee is 118 CHF. Same ticket nonrefundable is 76 CHF.

With a Half Fare Card, a ticket that is exchangeable and refundable with a 20% fee is 90.50 CHF. Same ticket nonrefundable is 69.50 CHF.

With an STP, a ticket that is exchangeable and refundable with a 20% fee is 56 CHF.