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Published: April 18th 2024
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Gotthard Panorama Express I
The engine of our train in Lugano. My mum and I had booked a journey on panoramic trains in Switzerland. We had started our trip in Basel, travelled to Chur, from there to St. Moritz on Glacier Express, and had spent a (rainy) day in St. Moritz. From there, we had caught Bernina Express to Tirano, travelled to Lugano by bus, and spent a day in Lugano. On Wednesday morning (30
thof August), the last leg of our journey was to start.
We walked to the train station from our hotel and caught the Gotthard Panorama Express from there. The train goes all the way up Gotthard Pass and ends in Flüelen on Vierwaldstätter See. Our route took us through Bellinzona, the capital of the canton Ticino with its castles. Then we went across fascinating viaducts and through tunnels and ultimately entered the Gotthard Tunnel that took us from Airolo to Göschelen. The tunnel was opened in 1882 and at the time was, with its 15 kilometres, the longest railway tunnel on earth. The project led the master builder, Louis Favre, to financial ruin, and he did not live to see the project finished. A few kilometres into the tunnel, our train slowed down, and we were shown
Gotthard Panorama Express II
Our train before departure from Lugano. projections on the tunnel walls, showing scenes from the construction of the tunnel. Today, only the tourist train drives through the old tunnel. Cargo and normal passenger trains use the 57 kilometres long Gotthard Base Tunnel, the longest railway tunnel on earth. When we emerged from the (shorter) tunnel, there was a guy standing in his garden waving a Swiss flag. Our travel guide told us that he was a retired local citizen who had this as a kind of hobby. How nice!
Around two hours after our departure from Lugano, we got off the train at Flüelen on Vierwaldstätter See, the lake on the other side of Gotthard Pass. We went on a boat that took us across the lake very slowly so that we could enjoy beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and towns. Some 2.5 hours later, we arrived in the city of Lucerne. We had some free time, so we could walk to the famous Kapellbrücke (“Chapel Bridge”). It is a roofed, wooden bridge across the river Reuss dating from 1365, 202 metres long. It has 111 oil paintings dating from the 17
th century in its gable, or nowadays only 81 because the others were
destroyed during a fire in 1993. In the middle of the bridge, there is the Wasserturm (water tower), the landmark of Lucerne. Bridge and tower used to be part of the fortifications of the city.
We did not have too much time, so we walked to the main station of Lucerne where we met with our travel group again and caught a local train to Alpnachstad, just 20 minutes from Lucerne Main Station. From there, we caught the steepest cogwheel railway in the world up to Mount Pilatus, 2,128 metres ASL. The cogwheel railway overcomes a gradient of up to 48 percent! The ride took about half an hour and not only amazed me with more wonderful Swiss engineering, but also offered most beautiful views of the lake below and the mountains surrounding Pilatus. Close to the top, we even saw two Alpine ibexes resting on the rocks high above the railway track. When we got to the top, there was an almost magic atmosphere. Clouds were coming and going; sometimes the surroundings were completely swallowed up by a cloud, then again one could see Vierwaldstätter See and Lucerne below and the mountains on the other sides of Pilatus.
There are two hotels on the mountain, one is Pilatus-Kulm, a vintage hotel, and the other one is Bellevue, which with its round shape and its windows reminded me of a habitat on some remote planet in a science fiction film. We checked into Hotel Bellevue, and before dinner I had just enough time to explore the various trails on top of the mountain. There are a few viewpoints: Tomlishorn and Oberhaupt, with the trail starting right behind Pilatus-Kulm Hotel, and Esel, with the trail starting just behind Hotel Bellevue. I took in stunning views, every now and then obscured by the passing clouds. The tale of the dragon inhabiting the mountain seemed not so unreal. I would have loved to have some more time, but soon it was dinner time. After a few not so special dinners we finally had a really nice, four-course dinner in the restaurant of Pilatus-Kulm Hotel.
On Thursday morning, I got up early to watch sunrise from the top of Esel, and the view was just magical. The sun was partly behind clouds, and its rays bathed the lake in the valley below and the surrounding mountains in ever changing shades of
Gotthard Panorama Express V
The highway, high above the rail tracks. red, orange, and yellow. It was just stunningly beautiful.
After breakfast, we caught the cable car that runs on the other side of the mountain, just opposite where the cogwheel railway runs. First, we rode on one huge gondola, and about halfway down the mountain, we changed into smaller gondolas. From the station at the bottom, we walked to the nearest bus stop and took a bus back to Lucerne Main Station. We had some time before our train back to Basel would depart, so we went for a little walk into the city and admired some of the beautiful paintings on the walls of the houses.
Again, we did not have too much time before meeting with the travel group again. We caught a train back to Basel, and there it was time to say goodbye to our group and our wonderful tour guide. A most amazing and stunning and wonderful trip was over, and I was still full of awe when thinking of the landscape and the daring engineering the Swiss had performed.
My mum and I had enough time to have lunch, then we caught a train to Karlsruhe. There, I made sure that
Gotthard Panorama Express VI
Another amazing highway bridge. my mum got onto her train back to Stuttgart. I could not go with her; I had to go straight back to Dortmund because tomorrow would be the first day in my new job. Everything went well for my mum. Her TGV train to Stuttgart departed almost on time, and she got home alright. For me, things did not go as planned. My intention had been to catch a train to Mannheim and transfer to a train to Dortmund there. However, the intended train to Mannheim was going to be diverted to Heidelberg, so I had to take another one to Cologne and transfer to a train to Dortmund there. I arrived in Dortmund with a delay of about 40 minutes, but given how chaotic Deutsche Bahn has become, this was a minor thing. Moreover, I was so happy about the most amazing trip with Swiss panoramic trains that the final leg of the trip could not drag me down. What an experience!
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Home and Away
Bob Carlsen
"What an experince" is right.
I miss the Swiss Alps so much!