Mount Rigi Scenic Train

Mount Rigi Scenic Train

There was train station ahead at station. We jumped in to the train as everyone did. The train took us to the top of mount Rigi. The rail tracks took several twist and turns around the snow covered mountain. We were trying to take glimpse of beauty around through every corner of the train. We could see few restaurants, hotels and homes on our way to the top of the mountain.
The train halted at the final destination and we hopped off. Being my first experience of the snow, I had almost gone crazy. We rolled in the snow and everything what ever was possible. We climbed observatory at top of the peak and took some pictures.

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Ropeway to Mount Rigi

Ropeway to Mount Rigi

The ropeway was huge one and accommodated 20 to 25 people for single trip. That was my first experience and we were wondering what we are ultimately going to experience in the foggy clouds. As we rose higher and higher above the clouds, the skies became clear and in front of us were mountain tips covered with snow. To our surprise we could see some snow scattered on the mountain cliffs next to the ropeway path. Hmm…the exciting journey had just started but suddenly the ropeway halted at its destination and everyone de-ported it.
Everyone was assuming that its top of Mount Rigi. We walked through the tunnel un-know of what’s going to come up ahead in our path. At the exit we could see snow shovelled off the path. I immediately jumped into one and took a snap. That was my first encounter with snow. Well it was not the last one.

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Rigi Village, Luzern

Rigi Village

Our initial plan was to stroll in the village Rigi and take the next boat back to Luzern city. On enquiry at the information desk, we came to know about the ropeway. Since I had not sat in ropeway, we decided to experience one. The ropeway centre was on top of a small mountain and we had to climb several steep streets to reach there. Both of us were tired and were bit taken off when we came to know that we have to pay 50% of the fair amount for train journey to top of the mountain tip. We were in dilemma, whether to spend 50 Franks for the train after the ropeway or just opt for the ropeway. Ultimately we decided to go for both.

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Cruising in Lake Luzern

Cruising in Lake Luzern

We reached the city centre and hopped in boat. The boat had several routes including 1 hour, 2 hour and four hours. Since we had to reach Interlaken in the evening, we opted for 1 hour cruise. Once the boat leaves the dock, one can see the Luzern city settled next to the lake bank. Many hotels and villas populate the lake side. The better the lake view, costlier is the hotel. On the other side you can see the Swiss Alps tips lost in the foggy clouds. The boat halted at the stop named Rigi and we decided to de-port .

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Dinner by Luzern River Side

Dinner by Luzern River Side

Dinner in restaurant by River side was the best way to end the day. This was our second experience to have food next to water body, the first one being Marriott Goa, India. Since the city’s shops close at 5 o clock in evening, it was calm and quiet. We could hear the waves dashing the river bank and the quacking of the swans and ducks. The atmosphere was pleasant and we enjoyed every bit of it with a glass of wine followed by main course. As the time passed it became quieter and colder. We had to pull over our jackets to help us.

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Walk in Luzern city centre

Walk in Luzern city centre

After crossing the bridge we walked along the lake side. We enjoyed the scenery and Swiss monuments in the city. There are loads swans swimming in the lake and you can take snaps with them with the city centre in backdrop. We reached the city centre by crossing the next bridge. There are many shops displaying swiss watches and knifes. You can walk along the streets browsing the shops. We came across a horse cart flooded with flowers and took snap of ours.

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Chapel Bridge

The Chapel Bridge in Luzern is the Ancient Bridge. There are three bridges in Luzern. Two for traffic and other is the pedestrian bridge.
The bridge has facility to control the flow of the water into the lake from the river. Thus it serves two purposes at time.

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Walk along the Luzern city wall

Walk along the Luzern city wall

:If you start walking along the wall then you can enjoy the view of the city from top. We took some snaps with cows grazing in the ground next to the wall. At the end of the wall you will walk down and reach the bridge.

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Switzerland: A travellers paradise

Switzerland is traveller’s paradise Travel Plan:
Before planning your trip, check out how effective is the Switzerland Train pass.Day 1 : Luzern local site seeing

Day 2: Luzern cruise, Mount Rigi, Golden Pass Panaromic Train Interlaken Youth Hostel

Day 3: Train to Jungfraujoch,Jungfraujoch, Grindelwald YHA, Kase Fundo Dinner

Day 4: Scenic Train From Interlaken to Montreux , Montreux

Day 5: Interlaken, Interlaken Cruise

Day 6: Zurcih, Back to Heathrow
Miscellaneous:

1) Essentials for Jungfraujoch

2) Vocabulary for first time tourist in Switzerland

3) Luggage storage falcility in Switzerland Train stations
If I am not mistaken, every Indian bollywood fan has dreamt of making a trip to Switzerland. This is most filmed country by the Indian film Industry. It attracts a lot of tourists all over the world.

We had planned our visit to Switzerland during Easter holidays for 6 days. Since there was no tourist visa required for UK Residents on work permit.

We booked BA return flight from London Heathrow to Zurich. If you are planning to go to Switzerland during Easter or summer holidays, I will advise you to book your tickets in advance. Last minutes deals to most wanted destination are always costly.

There is budget airlines airport at Basel and you can catch flights to Basel from any of the UKs budget airlines airport.

Luzern to Interlaken Panoramic Train

The Panoramic train - Luzern to Interlaken Panoramic train journey is the must item in your Switzerland itinerary. The train starts almost every one hour from Luzern to Interlaken and vice–versa. The tickets of the scenic train are costlier compared to the normal train routes. If you have the Swiss train passes, then you need not worry. There is another cheaper internal route of 1 and half hours to reach Interlaken from Luzern. So beware that you don’t get into the cheaper train after buying ticket of the panoramic train.


The scenic journey lasts for three hours and is specially designed to explore the most beautiful and scenic parts of the Switzerland. The train has huge glass windows and is designed in such way to one can experience the eternal beauty of Swiss Alps, lakes and glaciers from all possible angles. In summer season, you can open the windows and enjoy the light breeze of air, while the train passes through the dense forest and tunnels. The route of the train is printed on the tables in front of the chairs. It was such fascinating experience that we took train from Interlaken to Luzern at end of our stay there. We reached Interlaken Ost (East) station at around 6 o clock. There are two stations at Interlaken – Interlaken East and Interlaken West.

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Luzern, Switzerland, Day 2

The Luzern youth hostel had breakfast facility. We had breakfast and started with second day in Luzern. Our Swiss Rail pass was starting from the second day, so we had decided to avail cruise in Luzern and train services form second day.
Cruising in Lake Luzern

Rigi Village

Ropeway to Mount Rigi

Mount Rigi & Scenic Train

Lunch:

We ate at the restaurant
at top of Mount Rigi. There were not many options available. We tried Hot dog and Tomato and Basil pasta.

Downhill to Rigi Village:

We had to take train back to the station where the ropeway left us. Took Rope way and reached the village. On the return journey, we were more strategic and managed to grab corner seat to get the best view. Thus the unplanned visit to Mount Rigi was a real surprise for us.

Cruise back to Luzern City:

We had to rush to the Luzern city centre to catch panoramic train to Interlaken at 4 o clock in the evening. Our luggage was lying in the Hostel and we had to rush back to the hostel to collect it. We could have managed the entire thing more efficiently by keeping the luggage in the Luggage deposit lockers at the station.

Recommendations: There are many other activities and small villages or mountain peaks to explore in the area around the Luzern Lake. For more information, I would recommend you to explore the available options at the tourist information desk at the station.

We were all set to enjoy the scenic Swiss beauty in the panaromic train.

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Luzern, Switzerland

Day 1:

We took train to Luzern from Zurich Airport. It involved one change at local station in Zurich. It was 1 hour journey. On reaching Luzern we grabbed some sandwiches at the station. We visited the tourist information desk and took local tourist map.

The tourist information centre is at the right hand side of the station. Later we checked in at Luzern Youth Hostel. The hostel is far way from station and we had to walk for almost half and hour. If your Swiss tourist pass is not valid for your stay in Luzern then it’s advisable to have City day pass. The city day pass covers the local transport in the city. Since we started early morning we decided to have small nap. We started our day in afternoon with the tourist map in hand. Since our Swizz pass was starting from next day, we did walking tour on first day.

Luzern city is based on bank of lake and is surrounded by ancient wall. There is an old pedestrian bridge which connects the two ends of the river. The city derives unique character because of the wall and bridge.

Walk along the wall

Crossing the Ancient Bridge- Chapel Bridge

Walk in city centre

Dinner by River Side

End of the Day:
We marched towards the hostel. We had shower and crashed into bed hopping for good start of the next day.

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