The Gotthard Panorama Express is a

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity on ...

-oriented

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

and panoramic

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

line which connects

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

, crossing the

Swiss Alps The Alps, Alpine region of Switzerland, conventionally referred to as the Swiss Alps, represents a major natural feature of the country and is, along with the Swiss Plateau and the Swiss portion of the Jura Mountains, one of its three main Physica ...

from North to South through the Gotthard crest tunnel. Until 2017, the train was known as the William Tell Express (). It is jointly operated by the

Swiss Federal Railways Swiss Federal Railways (, SBB; , CFF; , FFS) is the national railway company of Switzerland. The company was founded in 1902 and is headquartered in Bern. It used to be a State-owned enterprise, government institution, but since 1999 it has be ...

(SBB CFF FFS), who operate the train, and the

Lake Lucerne Navigation Company The ''Schifffahrtsgesellschaft des Vierwaldstättersees'' or Lake Lucerne Navigation Company (commonly abbreviated to SGV) is a public Switzerland, Swiss company operating passenger ships and boats on Lake Lucerne. The company is based in the Luce ...

(; SGV), who operates the boat. Previous iterations of the train ran to a southern terminus at

Locarno Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...

rather than the current terminus at Lugano.

Route

In the southerly direction, the journey starts from the quayside in front of Lucerne station, in the central Swiss city of Lucerne ( canton of

), which sits at the north-western end of

Lake Lucerne Lake Lucerne (, literally 'Lake of the four Waldstätte, forested settlements' (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), , ) is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country. Geography The lake has a compli ...

(). This end of the lake is surrounded by the famous peaks of the

Rigi The Rigi (or ''Mount Rigi''; also known as ''Queen of the Mountains'') is a mountain massif of the Alps, located in Central Switzerland. The whole massif is almost entirely surrounded by the water of three different bodies of water: Lake Lucerne ...

, Pilatus and Bürgenstock, and the route sails between these mountains. The voyage then passes the Rütli meadow, where the

Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy, also known as Switzerland or the Swiss Confederacy, was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or ), initially within the Holy Roman Empire. It is the precursor of the modern state of Switzerlan ...

first came together, and the Tell Chapel that commemorates

William Tell William Tell (, ; ; ; ) is a legendary folk hero of Switzerland. He is known for shooting an apple off his son's head. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albrecht Gessler, ...

, the folk hero from whom the service took its former name. Finally the boat arrives at Flüelen landing stage (

canton of Uri The canton of Uri ( ; ; ; ) is one of the cantons of switzerland, 26 cantons of Switzerland and a founding member of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is located in Central Switzerland. The canton's territory covers the valley of the Reuss ...

), at the south-eastern end of the lake and a three minute walk from Flüelen station. Alternatively, it is also possible to start the journey at Arth-Goldau station, skipping the boat ride. At Arth-Goldau and Lucerne stations, the service connects to the '' Voralpen Express'', among others. At Flüelen station, passengers transfer to the train, which takes the scenic original line of the Gotthard railway that was completed in 1882. As the railway climbs up the valley of the

Reuss river The Reuss (; ) is a river in Switzerland. With a length of and a drainage basin of , it is the fourth largest List of rivers of Switzerland, river in Switzerland (after the Rhine, Aare and Rhône). The upper Reuss forms the main valley of the ca ...

, it makes several spiral loops (partly in tunnels) in order to gain

altitude Altitude is a distance measurement, usually in the vertical or "up" direction, between a reference datum (geodesy), datum and a point or object. The exact definition and reference datum varies according to the context (e.g., aviation, geometr ...

, giving a series of different views of the village and church of

Wassen Wassen is a village and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Uri, Uri in Switzerland. Geography , Wassen has an area of . Of this area, 12.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while 18.2 ...

, which lie in the centre of the loops. At Göschenen station the train enters the original

Gotthard Tunnel The Gotthard Tunnel (, ) is a railway tunnel that forms the summit of the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland. It connects Göschenen with Airolo and was the first tunnel through the Saint-Gotthard Massif in order to bypass the St Gotthard Pa ...

(a culmination tunnel through the

Saint-Gotthard Massif The Gotthard Massif or Saint-Gotthard Massif ( or ; ; ) is a mountain range in the Alps in Switzerland, located at the border of four cantons: Valais, Ticino, Uri and Graubünden. It is delimited by the Nufenen Pass on the west, by the Furka ...

) and emerges into the southern facing

Leventina valley The Leventina District is one of the eight districts of the largely Italian-speaking canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The capital of the district is Faido but the largest town is Airolo on the southern flank of the Gotthard Pass. Situated to t ...

near

Airolo Airolo (''Airöö'' in Lombard, in ) is a municipality in the district of Leventina in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Geography Airolo is located in Leventina valley and the Lepontine Alps, on the southern flank of the St. Gotthard ...

in the Italian speaking canton of

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

. Descending this valley, with the aid of several more spiral loops, the train eventually arrives at

Bellinzona Bellinzona ( , ; ; is a municipality, a List of towns in Switzerland, historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its Three Castles of Bellinzona, three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello, Sa ...

, the capital city of Ticino that is famous for its three

World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

listed

castles A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This i ...

. Connections are available at Bellinzona station for at

Lago Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; ; ; ; literally 'greater lake') or Verbano (; ) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the List of lakes of Italy, second largest lake in Italy and the List of lakes of Switzerland, largest in southern Sw ...

. The train continues from Bellinzona to Lugano station, in the southern Swiss city of

on the lake of the same name. The whole journey takes about 5 hours and 30 minutes, divided roughly evenly between the boat and train rides, and operates once a day in both directions, almost daily (except on Mondays) between mid-April and mid-October. The section on Lake Lucerne is normally operated by a historic

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

, whilst the train uses air-conditioned 1st class coaches with panoramic windows. Premium fares or supplements are charged. There is a bus transfer between Lugano and Tirano RhB station in

Tirano Tirano (; ) is a town and (municipality) in Valtellina, located in the province of Sondrio, Lombardy (northern Italy). It has 9,053 inhabitants (2016) and is adjacent to the Italy–Switzerland border. The river Adda (river), Adda flows through ...

, linking the Gotthard Panorama Express and the

Bernina Express The Bernina Express is a Panorama Express (PE) train connecting Chur to Tirano in Italy by crossing the Swiss Engadin Alps. For most of its journey, the train also runs along the World Heritage Site known as the Rhaetian Railway in the Albula ...

. File:LakeLucerne.jpg, View from the boat on

File:SBB Re 420 181 (52475537598).jpg, The train near

in the upper

Reuss Reuss may refer to: *Reuss (surname) * Reuss (river) in Switzerland * Imperial County of Reuss or Reuß, several former states or countries in present-day Germany, and the People's State of Reuss * Principality of Reuss-Greiz and Principality of R ...

valley File:Gotthard Panorama Express - Tunnel Light show (33653666850).jpg, Images and short film sequences projected onto the wall of the

File:Wagen des "Gotthard Panorama Express" in Bellinzona.jpg, 1st class panorama cars in

Alternatives

Standard, non-premium, fare alternatives exist for both legs of the journey. The Lake Lucerne Navigation Company provides other services, utilising both paddle steamers and modern motor vessels, between Lucerne and Flüelen. The Swiss South Eastern Railway (, SOB) operates hourly

InterRegio The InterRegio, often shortened to IR, is a train categories in Europe, train category for mainly domestic train services in use in some European countries, with Swiss Federal Railways operating the most dense network. InterRegio trains are semi ...

(IR26/46) services ( named , ) over the same route as the Panorama Express train between Flüelen and Bellinzona, continuing southwards to Locarno (with connections to Lugano) and northwards to either or (via Lucerne). in addition, direct trains (

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

/IC and

EuroCity EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...

/EC) also operate between Lucerne, Bellinzona and Lugano via the less scenic but shorter

Gotthard Base Tunnel The Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT; , , ) is a railway tunnel through the Alps in Switzerland. It opened in June 2016 and full service began the following December. With a route length of , it is the world's longest railway and deepest traffic tunn ...

route. This route may be useful for passengers making a return journey, as the journey time by this route is under two hours.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.gotthard-panorama-express.ch/en/
SBB website

MySwitzerland website
Gotthard railway Lake Lucerne Named passenger trains of Switzerland Water transport in Switzerland

Route

Alternatives

See also

References

External links