Costing over CHF150 per person per journey in full price, the Gotthard Panorama Express isn’t just a pretty train line, it’s a journey with exceptional service. Here’s how to do it properly on a budget.
Go to Luzern early in the morning to have a walk around town and get a feel of the area, treat this as a bonus city that comes free along the way. Take the first class ferry to Flüelen and sit in the air conditioned restaurant upstairs without ordering any food.
Bar on the ferry 
First class ferry restaurant
The ride is beautiful and scenic, it goes through historic places like the shores of Schwyz where the standard dialect of Swiss German comes from and the location where William Tell founded Switzerland. When you get to Flüelen, hop right onto the panorama train as there’s nothing to see in Flüelen.
The train takes about two and a half hours going the long way down to Lugano. It is only available in first class so a standard first class day ticket will cover your fare, excluding a nominal mandatory reservation fee to make sure you get a window seat. Along the way, the speakers will provide information in four different languages with tour guides that are able to answer any questions in German, French, Italian, and English.
My favourite part of the trip was when the guides did a little physics experiment to prove that the train was indeed doing 360-degree loops in the tunnel. Speaking of tunnel, the train goes through some of the most historic tunnels in Switzerland and one even has a show projected onto the walls of the tunnel.
First class coach 
Free postcards and pen 
Second class wagon for photos
Unless you’re really quick, you won’t be able to take any nice pictures even if the view is very nice. For photography fans, an extra second-class carriage with sliding windows is attached just so you can take pictures without the reflection of the glass in the way.
Seen this church three times! 
Valley 
You could order food, or save yourself CHF30 and bring your own food from home with a cheap beer from a Kiosk in Luzern. The postcard on the table is provided free of charge and will be mailed for you by train staff with standard international delivery. The branded pen can be taken as a souvenir as can the promotional leaflet for the ride.
If you got CHF150 sitting around, this is the thing to do when going down to Italian-speaking Switzerland.
