The boat ride included with the Gotthard Panorama ticket has fabulous view of the Luzernsee

Bern to Luzern by train

How to take the rail journey from the Swiss capital to the city on the Luzernsee

There are two options for taking the train from Bern to Luzern/Lucerne.

  1. The IR (InterRegio) services operated by SBB are faster, but they can also be more expensive, particularly if you buying tickets last minute at the station.
  2. The RE (Regio-Express) services operated by BLS are slower, but they can be cheaper; and they also take a more scenic route.
Share

Routes

Option 1: the faster route

Travel Information

Final Destination Luzern

These trains also call at: Sursee

1 x train per hour

Tickets

Book early and save: Yes - If you book Supersaver tickets, more info is available on the the SBB ticket guide below.

You may need to search through the departures to find them using the ‘earlier’ and ‘later’ buttons; so try and be flexible with your departure and arrival times.

Online bookings open: up to two months ahead of the travel date

Seat reservations:

Seat reservations are not available on these IR services.

Travelling with a rail pass:

Rail pass users can jump on any train, without having to make reservations.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
SBB *

SBB Guide

SBB is the main national rail operator in Switzerland, but tickets for journeys by the other significant operators including BLS and SOB can be be booked on the SBB website.

SBB also sells tickets for journeys to many destinations which involve a combination of SBB trains and services provided by the many independent operators who serve the Alpine resort towns.
However, if you will be making a long-distance return day trip, look out for he possibility of SaverDay passes being cheaper than tickets.

Though if you download the SBB app, booking tickets on SBB's mobile services can be simper than using the website.
Also watch out for the fact that booking international tickets can be comparatively quirky.

Happy rail *

Happy rail Guide

Happy Rail is a Netherlands rail ticket agency which sells tickets for both national and international journeys within a range of countries including Belgium France, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland.

HappyRail doesn't charge booking fees in the conventional sense, but if you're not Dutch you can expect to pay additional transaction fees, which will be added to the total cost.
That's because the most common form of online payment used in The Netherlands is 'iDEAL' and HappyRail doesn't charge a transaction fee for 'iDEAL' payments, but only Dutch residents can sign up to 'iDEAL'.
Other forms of payment include Visa debit cards will incur a fee.

On this journey

Good to Know

The trains used on this route are the same single deck trains as used on many express IC services in Switzerland, the only difference being that they don't convey restaurant cars.

Passing by the Sempachersee north of Luzern Passing by the Sempachersee north of Luzern

This is a journey of two distinct phases

Switzerland doesn't have any high speed lines on which trains travel at more than 250 km/h, but between Bern and Olten the train will race at 200 km/h for around 25mins on a fast railway.
Though as is typical of purpose built higher speed lines, this isn't a scenically interesting part of the journey.
However, the very first part of the journey between Bern station and the higher-speed line is delightful.

When the train leaves the higher speed line behind, on the route it takes to Luzern will pass by the Sempachersee, which will be on the left.

Option 2: the slower, but more scenic route

Travel Information

Final Destination Luzern

1 x train per hour

Tickets

Book early and save: No*

Online bookings open: 2 months ahead of the travel date

*SBB does not offer discounted 'Supersaver Tickets' for this journey, so you won't save if you book online.

Though seat reservations are available for this journey and they cost 5 CHF per person.

Where to book
Ticket Provider Approximate Cost
SBB *

SBB Guide

SBB is the main national rail operator in Switzerland, but tickets for journeys by the other significant operators including BLS and SOB can be be booked on the SBB website.

SBB also sells tickets for journeys to many destinations which involve a combination of SBB trains and services provided by the many independent operators who serve the Alpine resort towns.
However, if you will be making a long-distance return day trip, look out for he possibility of SaverDay passes being cheaper than tickets.

Though if you download the SBB app, booking tickets on SBB's mobile services can be simper than using the website.
Also watch out for the fact that booking international tickets can be comparatively quirky.

On this journey

Journey Features

Scenic - Yes

Good to Know

BLS typically operates its Lotschberger trains on this route, despite this route not involving a journey through the Lotschberg Tunnel.

For much of the second half of this journey, after Langnau, the railway passes through the Entlebuch Biosphere nature reserve, and on this part of the journey, the best of the views are on the left.
Though until Langnau the pick of the views are on the right

This video, filmed from the front of a train travelling in the opposite direction from Luzern, gives a great idea of how delightful this journey is.

Take the stress out of your journey Everything planned to your specification, so sit back and relax… Try Concierge
hand-money

Please support ShowMeTheJourney

Help keep us advertising and paywall free!

Donate

This second version of ShowMeTheJourney is exciting and new, so we are genuinely thrilled that you are here and reading this, but we also need your help.

We’re striving not to let anything get in the way of providing the most useful service possible, hence a facility has been set up with DonorBox which can be used to support the running costs and make improvements.

Instead of advertising or paywalls, your financial support will make a positive difference to delivering an enhanced service, as there’s a lot of ideas which we want to make happen.

So if you have found the info provided here to be useful, please consider saying thank you.

See if there’s a unique journey guide for your trip, featuring info on the trains, tickets & stations.
Leaving From
Going To
ShowMeTheJourney

This is one of more than 100 train travel guides available on ShowMeTheJourney, which will make it easier to take the train journeys you want or need to make. As always, all images were captured on trips taken by ShowMeTheJourney.