Holidays to Switzerland Travel Podcast Episode 196 Transcript

How to Navigate Lucerne Train Station Like a Local

You can see the full show notes and listen to this episode > here.

Carolyn Schönafinger: If you’re visiting Lucerne for the first time and will be arriving or departing by train, it’s easy to feel a little overwhelmed. How do you find the platform you need? Where can you store luggage? Where do you connect to the boat if you’re joining a lake cruise? And how far from the station is the bus stop and the famous Chapel Bridge? Well, in this episode, we’re doing something a little different. Rather than just talking about Lucerne Station,

We’re taking you on a guided tour. I’m joined by regular guest and Swiss rail expert Andy Nef, who knows Lucerne Station inside out. Together we’ll walk you through the main areas, show you where to find everything you need, and share a few handy tips to help you make your connections with confidence. This episode was recorded as a video interview, so you can watch it on the Holidays to Switzerland YouTube channel.

But if you are listening on a podcast app, you’ll still get plenty of useful tips for navigating your way around Lucerne Station.

Carolyn Schönafinger: Welcome to the Holidays to Switzerland podcast. I’m Carolyn Schönafinger, your Switzerland destination expert and the founder of holidaystoswitzerland.com. Each week, together with my expert guests, I introduce you to the Switzerland that I know and love and share inspiration and practical tips to help you plan your dream Swiss vacation. Before we dive in, a quick thank you to our podcast sponsors, Switzerland Tourism and Eco Rails. If you’re planning a trip to Switzerland, you’ll know just how much there is to consider. With so many incredible places to visit, figuring out your itinerary, booking accommodation, and choosing the right rail pass can quickly start to feel overwhelming.

So that’s where Eco Rails comes in. Their small group rail tours are carefully curated so that everything is taken care of for you. From the moment you arrive at the airport, your accommodation, transport, daily breakfasts and dinners, scenic excursions, and a knowledgeable local English-speaking guide are all included, so you can simply relax and enjoy the journey. If travelling through Switzerland with a small group tour sounds like your ideal way to explore, you’ll find more details via the link in the show notes. Along with an exclusive 5% discount code. Now let’s get into this week’s episode.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of the Holidays to Switzerland podcast. And this is another of our live on location podcasts. I’m really thrilled to have Andy Nef from Travel Switzerland with us again today. And Andy is going to give us a tour of the Lucerne station, which many of you will be traveling through when you visit Switzerland. So a warm welcome to you today, Andy.

Andy Nef: Hello and good morning from Lucerne. It’s a beautiful day, it’s actually almost too beautiful. We are in the middle of a wee heat wave here in Switzerland and we are expecting temperatures of up to thirty five degrees today. And sorry, I’m definitely not built for such kind of heat.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Yeah, well that’s nearly 100 for our North American viewers, isn’t it? So yes, that is getting a tad too hot for being especially being in the city. I’d say

Andy Nef: Yes, absolutely, I have to agree. Though lucky enough, all our trains are air conditioned and I’m looking forward to taking the train after this session back to the office.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Yeah, wonderful. Well, you’ll definitely be able to cool off. But seeing as you’ve given up your time to come to Lucerne station today and give us a there anything that we should know about the station before you set off and show us all the services and facilities that are there?

Andy Nef: first of all Lucerne station is a quite a special station. of all we have two different gauges of tracks here in Lucerne. We have the European standard gauge of the Swiss Federal Railways and we have the narrow gauge of the Zentralbahn. And that’s not all. There is four different railway companies coming in and out of Lucerne station. there is a whole variety of different train trains, including panoramic trains and scenic trains coming in and out of Lucerne station.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Okay, so what are the panoramic and scenic trains travel to and from Lucerne?

Andy Nef: first of all, we have the Gotthard Panorama Express, famous train crossing the Alps. Well, it’s actually not the train leaving from here, but the boats, and I will show it at the very end. Then we have the Luzern Interlaken Express connecting Luzerne with, well, what a surprise, Interlaken, of course. two hours trip, and I will show where this train is leaving from in a few minutes.

Then besides those two very famous panoramic trains, we also have the Voralpen Express coming to Lucerne, connecting Lucerne with Sankt Gallen in the east of Switzerland. You may remember that’s my home turf over there. And then we have also the Treno Gotthardo. the train going across the Alps on the same route as the Gotthard Panorama Express, but without all the extras and without the premium panoramic coaches. And well, there is also, you wouldn’t believe, the Kambly train here. Kambly, what’s that? That’s the world famous biscuit brand from Switzerland. And this train is also leaving from here, connecting Luzern with Bern.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Fantastic. So yeah, there’s a wide range of panoramic and scenic trains as well as all the regular trains within the SBB network.

Andy Nef: course, Lucerne is very central. There are numerous connections here to all directions and all parts of Switzerland.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Okay, so you’re on one of the platforms there I can see. Yeah, exactly where are you and what did you want to show us

Andy Nef: Yes.

Carolyn Schonafinger: on the platform?

Andy Nef: will just do a quick turn here, you will see I’m here on platform six and seven, and you have the trains here behind me. So this is just I I have just chosen this platform because it gives a very nice view of Lucerne station, and I will soon head down. is a subway right in front of me which will take me to the lockers here of Lucerne station because believe me, it’s just too hot to carry my backpack around with me all the time. So I want to leave it there in the locker. And I will show you how that works.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Great, thank you. Okay, so you’re now down in one of the other platforms. It’s been a couple of minutes walk. So not too far. Which platform are you on now, Andy?

Andy Nef: So right now, well that’s a good question actually. Where am I? Platform fourteen. Platform fourteen, and you see this is one of the Zentralbahn’s trains in the back here. And one thing I really want to show you here at Lucerne Station, you have these public water fountains everywhere on every platform. And this is the perfect spot to actually refill my water bottle on a hot day like this and make sure that I stay hydrated. And this you find at almost any station in Switzerland. And as you know, water in Switzerland, tap water, is just perfect. No need to buy any bottled water in our country. public fountains, fountains like this on the platform are

Carolyn Schonafinger: Mm-hmm.

Andy Nef: perfect for refilling your bottles and you got almost quality of mineral water here. So don’t waste your money on buying water.

Carolyn Schonafinger: That’s right, save your money to put your luggage in the lockers.

Andy Nef: Absolutely. So I have reached the lockers now, and you can see it here. Here are the lockers. They come in various sizes and very easy to use. You see here there is a green light indicating this locker is unoccupied. So I will just open it as you can see. And I will put my bottle in here. I don’t need that in the next few minutes. And I will put my backpack in here. Hang on, I just don’t have enough hands right now and because this door is closing automatically. But now everything fits in here. My backpack is well in the box.

we just close the box, be sure that everything is inside. And then we go to this small panel here. And the good thing is you can select your language to English. Deposit here’s how. Here we go. Put luggage in locker available in facility 0 2. Close door by clicking it into place. I haven’t done that yet. How come?

we go. There is now a flashing light. You have to push the door really for a few seconds closed. And here we go, it’s now indicating the price. So for six hours we pay six francs. And there is a little countdown here. I have 70 seconds now to finalize my purchase. Very easy here. You have contact less payments, so you can use your credit card or probably even Apple or Google Pay for doing so. we go. I just used my credit card today. wait, six francs, that’s it. Transaction okay. And here, surprise, surprise, there must be a QR code being printed. Here we go. That’s the thing. So that’s the receipt which I need then for recollecting my luggage. First part of my mission accomplished.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Perfect. Well done, very easy and convenient. So that’s great for anyone who’s a bit apprehensive about using one of the lockers.

Andy Nef: Yes, absolutely. Good. So what I will do next, Carolyn, is I will walk down to the main hall of Lucerne station, all along this beautiful train right next to me, and I will give you an overview on the facilities of Lucerne Station and what kind of trains we can actually catch here from Lucerne.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Okay.

Andy Nef: Here is the main hall, and you see all the trains are here, one next to the other. And Lucerne station, (what’s) special about it is that it’s how to how do we call it? All the trains enter from one side and leave from the same side again. So it’s not a go through railway station, and that makes it pretty easy to change trains here. you can actually easily walk from one train to the other here in the station. And I’m here now next to platform 14, 13, and 12. These are the stations (platforms) of the Zentralbahn. The Zentralbahn, as you may know, is operating the Luzern Interlaken Express but also the Luzern Engelberg Express. That’s the one I forgot to mention before. It’s another scenic train. And you can see they’re already here. That’s the Luzern Engelberg Express. And right here is the Luzern Interlaken Express. And here, right above me. Of course, is the indication board. And there is a lot of people passing me right now. It’s still how it’s a beautiful day. There is many, many Swiss also enjoying these trains on a beautiful day like this. So that’s why we always recommend to book seats on these trains.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Mm-hmm, yes. On those panoramic trains, it’s a great idea, as you suggest.

Andy Nef: Yes, I’m now walking a little bit farther, just have to make sure I’m not crashing into somebody and well I walk here alone. before I show you what’s available in the big hall, I want to show you some more of these trains here. we have here regular intercity train going to Zurich, for example. But then when we look a little bit farther, you see there a greyish green train. So that’s one other of the private railway companies connecting into Lucerne. That’s the BLS Bern Lötschberg Simplon Railway, which is mostly operating regional train services in the area of Bern. Of course also connecting into Lucerne. I think at the very end of the platform, there should also be the Voralpen Express. Not yet. We are just a little bit too early. Anyway, you see here now I’m in the middle of the big hall. You have here right behind me the big indication board where you have the train connection of the next 30 minutes. You have here

Carolyn Schonafinger: Okay.

Andy Nef: Always in front of the track, an indication board showing you where the trains are going, where you find the various coaches, first class, second class, etc., so that you can easily find the right coach for yourself. What else is available here? This is quite a modern station. It’s on three levels actually. And one level down, you can see it right here. That’s where you find shopping. And as you know, shopping hours in Switzerland are quite conservative, but it’s not here in the stations. In the station, the shops are open every day in the week from early morning until late. And I think I quickly go down and show you how it looks like down here in the shopping area.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Please do. And yeah, I know a lot of people will be interested to know that there are a couple of supermarkets down there. So if they do need groceries on a Sunday, the station is the place to go.

Andy Nef: There are, yes. Yeah, but well, just be aware that you wouldn’t be the only person thinking like this.

Carolyn Schonafinger: No, very true. Sunday is, especially Sunday late in the evening, is very busy at the supermarket at the station.

Andy Nef: Absolutely. So now I’m here in the lower part of the station. You see there is there is facilities of the Swiss Federal Railways. There is shops right behind me, there is the supermarket on on the other side. Well, you can’t see it very well, I’m afraid, but there is Coop at the very end of the hall here. You can get sandwiches here, you can get drinks here, you can get cloth clothes here, almost everything. But I don’t want to spend too much time down here. We are not here for shopping, right? So I’m heading up again to the train level. And there is a facility which can be quite useful for all our watchers and listeners. That’s the Lucerne Tourist Information.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Yeah, that would be very good to know where that is. And I noticed there you’re on an escalator, but of course there is an elevator at the station as well.

Andy Nef: Yes. There is an elevator as well, so it’s super accessible, this whole station here. I can show you where the elevator is. The elevator really, you don’t have to search for it. It it’s right here. So in the in the middle of the station hall, as you can see. Good. Tourist information is situated on platform number three at Lucerne station. And well, that’s a good thing about the railway station. You have all these platform numbers here, and obviously we have platform number three right here. So let’s go and have a look. Well, if you can’t find the Lucerne tourist information easily, just watch out for the big Burger King logo. So here we go. You see here that’s the indication for the tourist information. And right here, we have the entrance to Lucerne tourist information office.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Okay, great.

Andy Nef: Good. I’m heading back to the main hall right now. There is trains coming and going, there is always something happening. have to say today the station is quite busy. I guess there is a lot of people going to the boats as well. That’s where we will be heading later as well. So again at the main hall you see busy busy busy, and I will take the escalator at the very end of the hall

Carolyn Schonafinger: Mm-hmm.

Andy Nef: which will bring me up to the SBB counters. Well, I assume most of you watching me right now would travel with a Swiss Travel Pass here in Switzerland. Well, the best and easiest option for traveling on the Swiss public transport. So you would not really have need to visit the counters of the railway station but at the same place, upstairs, is also the luggage service. So should you need to pick up luggage or send luggage, which is possible from station to station, but also from hotel to hotel, so this would be the place to go. I’m here now on the escalator, and you see the sun is shining straight into my face. And it’s a beautiful railway station, but there is a lot of glass and a lot of windows.

Carolyn Schonafinger: It’s a very compact station isn’t it too? Zurich is much much bigger but you know the compactness of Lucerne station makes it so easy to get around.

Andy Nef: very True, true. Zurich is much bigger. Zurich has railway tracks on four different levels. Yeah, it’s it’s really something different. But I have to say, in general, Swiss railway stations are compact. Even Zurich is in a way compact and quite easy to find your way once you find out how to do it, right? How to navigate the railway station. So I’m here now on this kind of gallery. See the big main hall right behind me, below, and here are the SBB counters where you can get tickets or maybe also last minute sea reservations, international tickets if necessary, should you want to head down to Italy or whatever, or get your luggage or bring your luggage for luggage registration. Very well.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Mm. All right.

Andy Nef: So I have to move, I have to move, because the next thing I actually want to show you is how you connect to the local buses here in Lucerne. And again, it’s it’s it’s such a perfect example. It’s like out of the guidebook, because the buses are really right next to the station, actually in front of the station, so within two, three minutes walks, you can reach the buses from the trains. Remember, I’m down in the big hall again. Here are the trains over here, all the trains. And now I just turn 180 degrees. And here is the exit, which brings me to the buses.

Carolyn Schonafinger: And just on time, one pulled in there right into camera view.

Andy Nef: Yes, true. I have to say at the moment there is a huge construction going on on on the main square, on the station square of Luzern, where many of the buses are leaving, so it’s not the best example. I hope whenever you come to Switzerland, I hope these construction works are over. And I’m here now on the big station square. And you see just behind me here is the KKL. That’s the big culture and congress and concert hall of Luzerne. And here you find the buses. That’s where we connect to the buses. Behind me now, the railway station. And you see here there is a big arch behind me. Here we go. You see that? This is the original entrance of Lucerne main station. You probably have not heard that, but Lucerne main station actually burned down. The historic railway station burned down. I think it was in the 70s of the last century, so 50 years ago about

Carolyn Schonafinger: Yes.

Andy Nef: and they they couldn’t save anything except this big arch right behind me. Good. Where am I heading now?

Carolyn Schonafinger: Well, think I heard a steamboat horn, did I?

Andy Nef: Exactly. So again, Lucerne is the perfect example how well connected public transport in Switzerland is. So it takes me only three, four minutes to go from the trains to the buses, but also the steamboats or the boats on Lake Lucerne, which are actually very famous. And I actually think to finish this video podcast should go on a boat, shouldn’t I?

Carolyn Schonafinger: Absolutely you should, please do. And while you’re boarding the boat, we will just mention too that Chapel Bridge that most people will visit when they’re in Switzerland, or in Lucerne, is just across the road there. So it’s only a couple of minutes walk from the main station as well.

Andy Nef: Yeah, I can actually show it. Well, I have to say that the boat is leaving in four minutes, and even the boats are absolutely on time here in Switzerland. So I better hurry up not to miss it and while I go over there, I think I have to stop filming, but I can quickly show you where the boat actually is. Here we go. Isn’t she beautiful?

Carolyn Schonafinger: Beautiful, yes, what a magnificent vessel.

Andy Nef: So that’s Steamboat Uri, one of the historic paddle steamers running on Lake Lucerne. And I will take this boat now and I will be back in a few seconds.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Okay, We’ll see you on board.

Andy Nef: Absolutely. So I’m on the boat now, as you can see. Behind me is the old town of Lucerne. And right over here, can you see? No, you can’t. I’m on the wrong side, is the Chapel Bridge. Let me quickly move to the other side as well. The boat is extremely busy today. It’s super, super busy. And it will be difficult to find a seat actually.

Carolyn Schonafinger: year.

Andy Nef: here we go. See the Chapel Bridge? yeah. So it’s about time for the boat to leave.

Carolyn Schonafinger: yes, there it is. And Fantastic. Well, thank you for that amazing tour of Lucerne Station, Andy, and the bonus of hopping on board one of the beautiful steamboats there in Lucerne.

Andy Nef: Always a great pleasure.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Fantastic and for everyone who’s watching and listening, if you’re interested in a similar tour of Zurich station, Andy gave us that tour back on episode 138. So I will link to that in the description and the show notes for this episode. Thank you so much again, Andy. I hope you enjoy the lake breeze while you’re on the boat and then the air conditioning on the train when you’re heading back to your office.

Andy Nef: Very good. Yes. I will. Thank you. I will.

Carolyn Schonafinger: Thanks again. Bye bye.

Carolyn Schonafinger: I hope you’re now feeling more confident about navigating Lucerne Station and making connections to the city’s other modes of public transport.

If you’d like more practical tips and resources about travelling by train in Switzerland, you’ll find links to the many Holidays to Switzerland podcast episodes and articles covering rail travel in the show notes. And please let me know if this episode was helpful by leaving me a short voice message on Speakpipe. I truly appreciate your feedback. The Speakpipe link is in the show notes, which you’ll find under the podcast menu at holidaystoswitzerland.com.

Until next week, when I’ll be back with more Swiss travel tips and inspiration. Tschüss!

You can see the full show notes and listen to this episode > here.