loafyofbread

I will be flying LX C in June YUL-ZRH-SIN and this itinerary entails a 16 hour layover in ZRH. Obviously I won't be staying in the airport/lounges the entire time and have a plan on visiting both Lucerne and Zurich. I'll be making use of the arrivals lounge in ZRH (^ for SWISS) for a shower, breakfast and possibly even a quick nap before heading out.

Would it be better to do Zurich first then head to Lucerne or the reverse? As of now I have myself taking the train to Lucerne first because I really want to do the golden round trip up to mount Pilatus. I figured if I take longer than expected in Lucerne I can always skip Zurich and come back another time seeing as Lucerne is more "out of the way". Does anyone have any advice/conflicting opinions?

Also, I understand that one can buy tickets for the golden round trip at Lucerne itself without having any reservations prior. Do the counters at Lucerne train station take credit cards? Or will I have to have CHFs on hand to pay for the tickets?

Thanks in advance!

startpacking

I'd definitely head for Lucerne first, it's the more interesting of the two cities (from a tourist perspective). Zurich is more a business city and Lucerne a tourist city.

There is train station connected to ZRH, you can take a train from ZRH directly to Lucerne. Definitely spend time strolling around the city and see Kapellbrucke and the Lion Monument.

The main disadvantage of sightseeing in Lucerne first is that some things in Zurich might be closed (the Swiss National Museum for instance, which is right opposite HBF) once you arrive in Zurich. Time permitting, on return to Zurich stroll around the Old Town and on Bahnhofstrasse, the main shopping street.

Don't forget to make a quick stop at a store to buy Swiss chocolate!

loafyofbread

Thanks, that is exactly my plan. Get into Zurich after Lucerne possibly in the early evening and then walk around for abit. Any recommendations on shops to buy souvenirs/chocolates/collectables? Sprungli seems to be pretty popular.

Also, will I have to have CHF on hand to pay for the golden round trip ticket for mount pilatus in Lucerne or do they accept credit cards?

startpacking

You'll find tons of souvenir stores in Lucerne, I'd buy souvenirs in Lucerne not in Zurich.

AFAIK, there is a Sprungli on Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich, Sprungli has many locations. If you're looking for prepackaged chocolates just head to a grocery store such as Coop. Whatever you do please avoid the over priced prepackaged chocolate sold in the souvenir stores.

No idea whether the Golden Round Trip ticket can be purchased with a credit card.

greg5

Sprüngli in the airport is pretty decent as well. The prices aren't much higher than they are in town, if they're different at all. The shops in town might have more selection of the 'Truffe du Jour', with a rotating special version. They also have a coffee shop were you can also get some of their cakes.

The online gift ticket store accepts Visa, Mastercard, and the Postfinance card, so I'd imagine you should have no trouble buying your ticket with a credit card.

The walk up to the very top is breathtaking.

nrr

From Zurich Airport, there are two trains an hour to Luzern, for most of the day the departures are at xx:13 and xx:47 (this one is direct, no change of train required) [1:12 and 1:02, trip time, resp.].
Luzern has covered bridges and an old town area--the main street, Pilatus Strasse has some department stores and upscale shops. Not too far from the Lion Monument there are lots of stores selling lots of interesting "touristy" stuff.
Central Luzern is smaller than central Zurich, and so you can see lots of interesting things by foot--more than in Zurich.
The Golden Pass train from Luzern to Interlaken Ost, departs at xx:55, and the xx:47 departure from Zurich (which arrives in Luzern at xx:49)--even with a 6 minute connection is possible, I've done it many times.
[This routing does not go to Mt. Pilatus.]
You can buy a ticket (at ZRH airport): ZRH airport-Luzern-Interlake Ost-Luzern-ZRH airport, all at one time--and they DO accept most CC's (including AMEX).

ZRHexPat

The Golden Round Trip is quite awesome, but it does take a good deal of time. To do the full round trip including boat it could be 3 hours of transportation time. That is before you spend any time on the top of Mt Pilatus. This is after a you will have spent 2- 2.5 hours in train time to get to Luzern from Zurich. So while the trip on a sunny day is awesome, depending on when you land you might have a tough time squeezing this in.

You can check out the Trains to Luzern at http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

and then look how that matches up Mt. Pilatus http://www.pilatus.ch/en/railway-cableways/timetable/

Both SBB and Mt. Pilatus accept most major credit cards, so payment shouldn't be an issue. Golden Round trip, 2nd class with boat is 97.20 CHF.

loafyofbread

This is extremely helpful, thanks. I was hoping to squeeze in both the golden round trip on Pilatus and then back to Zurich to do abit of sightseeing and for a visit to the Lindt factory in Kilchburg but i'm not sure if I can squeeze everything in.

I arrive in ZRH 0610 hours afterwhich I will want to use the arrivals lounge for an hour or two to grab a shower/breakfast before heading out. My onward flight from ZRH-SIN departs at 2245 at night which leaves me about 16 hours.

0610-0830: Arrivals lounge
0830-0949: Take the 0847 train from Zurich airport to Lucerne
0950-1500: Golden round trip on pilatus (some have mentioned not to make the trip up if the weather is not co-operating. Considering the golden round trip is 110 CHF, I am seriously considering just touring Lucerne and saving 110 CHF if weather is not co-operating. What do you guys think?)
1500-1556: Take the 1510 train from Lucerne to Zurich
1600-2030: Tour Zurich + make the trip to the lindt factory in kilchburg before they close at 1800!
2030-end: Take the 2037 train from Zurich HB to ZRH for the 2245 flight

Let me know what you guys think (what you would change etc). Thanks again!

greg5

RE: The Lindt factory in Kilchberg. It's not such an interesting sightseeing location, except for two things. 1. There's a chocolate outlet shop where you will get some of the freshest chocolate you've ever had. 2. The building is interesting to look at for a couple of minutes from the outside.

If I were you, I would try to take the lake ferry to and from the Lindt factory. I ride the train past Kilchberg every day to and from work, and to be honest, it's just not the most interesting ride when compared to the boat trip.

I've heard that they're going to put in a chocolate museum at some point, but as of my last trip over there in early April, it wasn't there. I might head over there today for a bit though.

Actually, on your way back to Zurich from Luzern, get off the train in Thalwil and switch to either the S8 or S24 that stops at Kilchberg. After you visit the Lindt factory, head back on the lake ferry.

toronto04

I have the same flight as op but in December. I am interested in riding the gondola/cable car that I see on the website. Could I do that and look around town and still have time to see some of Zurich before heading back to airport?

greg5

It is much faster to do the trip with the gondola/cable car roundtrip. You do have to take the bus to and from Kriens.

loafyofbread

I will not be at the Lindt factory in Kilchberg for any sightseeing whatsoever...only interested in the 390g pralines for 3.90CHF and other stuffs that they produce on a daily basis. haha!

Interesting you mentioned the ferry instead of the bus. Does the ferry ride take much longer? I also did not know I could transfer trains and just train it to Kilchberg! I might just end up doing that.

Where exactly do I buy tickets for the ferry and buses?

greg5

We ended up going over to the factory shop today and picking up some of those very pralines. BTW, you'll need to buy five bags to get the cheaper price, as the fifth will be the free one.

You can buy tickets for all at the SBB desk at the airport. If you just get the RT from Züri HB (Thalwil if you don't take the train that doesn't stop in Thalwil - but you need to change trains in Thalwil on the way back) to Luzern and tack on a city ticket plus the zone for the airport (and the zone for Thalwil), and the you should be good to get you to Luzern and wherever you want to go between Thalwil and the airport. If you don't get a ticket for the right zones, you can always get the ticket on the ferry, or from the ticket machine for the bus (or on the bus, though it depends on the bus line).

The ferry might be a bit longer than the bus. But the bus also goes from Bürkliplatz to Kilchberg and back.

Or, you could just take the train. It is a little bit of a walk from the Kilchberg train station to Lindt though it's not too far.

loafyofbread

Were they 3.90CHF per bag as expected? I doubt buying 5 bags would be a problem since I have a feeling I'll lose all sense of self-control once I step through the door. are tasting of samples allowed?

hmm, public transport seems to be somewhat complicated with zones and stuff by the way you described. :P will it be possible to just buy tickets as and when I need them? E.g buy tickets at the airport only for ZRH to Lucern then at Lucerne buy tickets from Lucerne to Kilchberg? is there a cost-advantage/savings in buying all tickets at once? I tried looking for a one-day pass kinda thing but apparently you need a half fare card to purchase those so my only options are separate tickets.

greg5

5.95 CHF actually, so with the fifth it's 4.76 per bag. They're slightly damaged versions of Lindt's high end pralines though. And they're amazingly fresh, the bags that we grabbed having just been brought out from the back room. They only had a few samples. They do give out a couple of free pieces of chocolate at the checkout though.

It's not so bad, actually. You can get a round-trip from the airport to Thalwil, which is actually a 24 hour all-you-can-eat card. Then you can book a Thalwil-Luzern RT on the train. ZVV has their website in English so you can check out info about the local transportation options around Zürich.