Route: Lucerne > Lake Lucerne > Flüelen > St. Gotthard > Bellinzona > Locarno/Lugano
Fast is certainly what this "Express" is not. But it makes up for it by being first class, through and through. In Lucerne, you’ll be welcomed aboard the first-class upper deck of an historic paddlewheel steamer, complete with an elegant saloon. Two and three-quarter cruising hours later, and after a lunch in the onboard restaurant, you’ll transfer to a similarly first-class panorama coach of the Gotthard Railway which will take you to Locarno in Ticino.
It’s hard to believe that a cruise this long is possible on Lake Lucerne. One repeatedly has the feeling of simply being underway on a small romantic lake, encircled by idyllic places and nearby mountains. But then the steamer makes a gracious turn around a headland, just where the lake seems to come to an end. Your steamboat will take you to Flüelen, where the Gotthard Railway awaits you. Don’t be surprised if the church in Wassen passes by the gigantic windows of your panorama coach three times on your journey – each time from a different perspective. That’s because you will have been taken around in a circle on the same day, all in order to gain precious elevation. Then comes the 15-km-long Gotthard tunnel. On the other side of the tunnel Airolo, the Leventina valley, Ticino. Italian is spoken here. And it also has a lifestyle to match, under the southern sun.
Supplement of CHF 39.– to the Swiss Pass in 1st class. A 1st class ticket or pass is required to board the Wilhelm Tell Express. (The mandatory supplement is at extra cost, includes a lunch on the boat, reserved seats in train and boat and a souvenir.)
New: „Wilhelm Tell Express Premium“:
With a 3-course menu on the boat in the 1st class restaurant, a welcome drink and personal attention by way of a multilingual tour guide onboard the train, plus other surprises.
Supplement to the Swiss Pass in 1st class: CHF 79.–.
In summer, daily from May 1 2010, once in each direction.
