Visiting Lucerne from Basel

[sharkster77]

Contemplating a post-cruise extension after a Ams-Basel Viking cruise. Lucerne is gorgeous from all I read and hear, but is very expensive ($799pp, vs. $499 pp for Basel).

 

How difficult is it to visit Lucerne from Basel? Does anyone know of any tours one can book from Basel to visit Lucerne for a half-day or day long tour?

 

This way we could get a taste of Basel on Day 1 of the extension, and get a taste of Lucerne on Day 2.

 

We are torn---should we just bite the bullet and book the Lucerne extension--will we be kicking ourselves wishing we had skipped Basel?

 

Not trying to be a cheapskate, just trying to get best bang for our buck.

[MikeyB]

Just my two cents-

We did this cruise a couple of years ago.

 

We flew into Zurich for one night, took the train to Lucerne for three nights and then on to Basel by train. Much cheaper doing it yourself. Lucerne is very pretty. I think the Viking extensions have crazy rates. All of them. I don't see how $800 per night (for the 2 day extension) can be justified.

[acwmom]

I agree with MikeyB. We did Lucerne, DIY. It's easily walkable, and the major sites easy to see on your own. The train from Basel to Lucerne took about 2 he, IIRC

 

Robin

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

[eal7]

We booked out stay in Lucern ourselves. The hotel Viking was offering us was not worth the price, IMO. we havent travelled yet but from previous experience we found Swiss trains easy to navigate and the people to be very helpful. Good luck!

[MareT]

We did the Lucerne extension through Viking a few years back. Yes it was expensive but to us it was well worth it. We stayed at the Radisson Blu, a great location. We walked the old town, so many great places to dine. There were several on our cruise that did the extension. One day we went to the train station, which was close to our hotel, and we bought tickets as a group and went to Mt. Titulus in the Alps. Amazing day! The Viking rep was with us at our hotel, printed our boarding passes and dropped us all off at the airport in Zurich. We had a great time!!

[Jeff in Torrance]

You can take the boat ride around the lake, as we did a few years ago. I think the entire circuit took about 2-1/2 to 3 hours, with food and drink available aboard the boat. We had taken the train from Basel.

[sharkster77]

We are leaning toward doing Lucerne ourselves post-cruise. It is my understanding that the cruise director will help us get a cab to the Basel train station--Swiss trains supposedly run like Swiss watches--spend 3days/2 nights in Lucerne, then take train from Lucerne to Zurich airport (train station at airport).

 

As expensive as Switzerland is, we've gotta be able to do this for less than the $799 pp Viking charges.

 

We realize that there will be a deviation fee if we use Viking Air. We expect to be traveling in Oct. 2019.

[TMLAalum]

We are very much DIYing our pre-cruise plans that include 3 nights in Lucerne. The hotels we had under consideration were Des Balances, Des Alpes and Hotel Centrale, but we ended up reserving The Krone on the Weinmarkt Square. The only difference is that we will have a rental car picked up in FRA and returned to Nuremberg where we will board the Avalon Illumination.

 

Our hotel for 2 for 3 nights comes to @half of what Viking is charging for one person!

[swixpat]

Maybe a bit late but here it goes. Lucerne as a day trip from Basel is feasible and easy.

Your hotel in Basel will give you as part of the deal a mobility voucher that allows you to take busses and trams in Basel.

Take the tram or combination of trams that take you to the train station SBB. In the station hall on your left are counters and self serve machines where you can buy your return tickets for Basel.

There are at least 2 trains every hour taking about 75 minutes.

In Lucerne, when leaving the station, turn around and look at the station. It burned down many years ago and the portal was the only thing they were able to save.

 

Outside the station you can either direct yourself to the left and start walking to the old town. Or right and take a look at the Kultur and Kongresshaus on the right. Off the top of my head the architect was Jean Nouvel. Or, my favourite if the weather is good, you can leave the station straight ahead and go for the boats. Various lengths. I probably would do Küssnacht and back with a timed stop in Meggen where Richard Wagner lived. The view on the boat returning to Lucerne with Mt Pilatus behind is beautiful!

 

At the end of your day you hop back on a train to Basel. You will be tired but see plenty of other people having naps on the train. The trains run until late you could even have dinner in Lucerne and return only afterwards.

[caripoo]

DIY......More control...less$$...and easy

[sharkster77]

We decided to DIY Lucerne from Basel. Will need a cab from ship to Basel SBB station. Once we reach Lucerne, station is right in the heart of the old city, where we can get a train to the Zurich airport train station for flight home when needed.

[mtebor]

We did a tour From Zurich to Lucerne and then to Mt Pilatus. It was very good. Zurich airport was our pickup point for the cruise

[Captiveguru]

We are leaning toward doing Lucerne ourselves post-cruise. It is my understanding that the cruise director will help us get a cab to the Basel train station--Swiss trains supposedly run like Swiss watches--spend 3days/2 nights in Lucerne, then take train from Lucerne to Zurich airport (train station at airport).

 

As expensive as Switzerland is, we've gotta be able to do this for less than the $799 pp Viking charges.

 

We did this ourselves last month and you are right, $799 is a crazy fee. The trains from Basel to Lucerne cost only $36. There are at least two direct trains each hour that take only 61 to 75 minutes. Nice Ride.

 

We splurged in Lucerne and spent $500 a night for a hotel 4 minutes from the rail station.

 

We spent $100 each on the Golden Round Trip which gets you to from the rail station to the summit of Mount Pilatus and back via boat (90 minutes), cog railway (45 minutes), aerial cable car (10 minutes), panoramic gondola (40 minutes) and bus (10 minutes). You can easily spend two hours on top. It was a full day.

 

Food is expensive (not sure if that is included in Viking's $799). You can spend $25 per meal or do what we did; buy take away from the many great places in the rail station for less than half that amount.

 

Your basic cost should be less than $400, before any tour costs.

Edited September 7, 2018 by Captiveguru

[Captiveguru]

Wait... I just looked at what Viking includes:

 

2 nights in Lucerne: Radisson Blu, Lucerne (or similar) = $250 value

2 breakfasts = $40 value

Guided Walking Tour = $50

Services of a Viking host

Hotel & ship transfers = $65 (Basel to Lucerne to Zurich Airport)

 

With the money you save you can eat well and enjoy the Golden Round Trip.

[Got2Cruise]

On 9/7/2018 at 8:15 AM, Captiveguru said:

Wait... I just looked at what Viking includes:

 

2 nights in Lucerne: Radisson Blu, Lucerne (or similar) = $250 value

2 breakfasts = $40 value

Guided Walking Tour = $50

Services of a Viking host

Hotel & ship transfers = $65 (Basel to Lucerne to Zurich Airport)

 

With the money you save you can eat well and enjoy the Golden Round Trip.

Just to clarify, we ask for the Golden Round Trip at the Lucerne train station? 

[Captiveguru]

1 hour ago, Got2Cruise said:

Just to clarify, we ask for the Golden Round Trip at the Lucerne train station? 

I do not know if you can buy GRT tickets at the rail station.  We bought ours at our Lucerne hotel.

 

More here:  https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g188064-d267683-Reviews-Mount_Pilatus-Lucerne.html

 

Edited October 31, 2018 by Captiveguru

[Bizmark'sMom]

Both Basel and Lucerne are really easy to DIY.  No way would I pay a cruise line for that extension.