Postcard Perfect: Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne
We arrived after a 2 hour flight to Zurich, followed by a 1 hour train journey to Lucerne. Nice short travel times, that’s what I like!
Our base for the 7 night holiday was the 4* Art Deco Hotel Montana, which was a lovely hotel, with enticing lake views at breakfast. It has a funicular that takes you from its hillside setting down to the lakeside promenade and vice versa. It’s then about a 10-15 minute walk into the centre or if you prefer, there is a bus stop close to the hotel, with frequent buses going into the centre and the train station, which is also close to the piers for boat trips on the lake. With the Lucerne card, which was given to us by the hotel, you can travel on the buses and trains, within a certain area for free. It also entitles you to discounts off museums, some excursions and free wi-fi at different hotspots around the centre.
There are complimentary soft drinks, Toblerone, crisps and peanuts in the hotel rooms, which they replace daily, together with tea and coffee making facilities. We stayed on B&B basis but you can also stay on Half Board.
Lucerne is a lovely city to walk around. The flower-lined Chapel Bridge arches gently over the Reuss River, leading into the cobbled streets of the Old Town, where there are colourful murals and medieval buildings. We also enjoyed walking along the lakeside, where in the distance you can see the stunning peaks of the mountains, such as Mount Pilatus and Mount Rigi. It’s even better when you’ve got one of their delicious ice creams in hand!
It has plenty of restaurants for all tastes, some by the lake, others by the river or in the old town. It might be handy to know that prices for food, drink and general spending is more than countries such as Spain and Greece, although if you just want a take away sandwich, a slice of pizza or a soft drink, there is a Coop in the train station which is great value.
Most of the boats on the lake depart every hour from Lucerne. If you have a day of unsettled weather, you can always get a day pass, so you can stay undercover on the boat, but still admire the scenery, and if you feel like getting off somewhere you can, then just get on the next boat.
The trains were easy to use and usually quicker and cheaper than the boats, but they don’t have as good a view as them.
We had a Half Fare card included with our package holiday, allowing half price tickets for boats and trains.
As mentioned at the beginning, this was quite an active trip for us, so what did we do? We went to the Swiss Museum of Transport one overcast afternoon, which comprises of different sections, such as Aviation and Space Travel, Rail Transport, Road Transport, Navigation (Boats and water) and Media World. It shows the history of the various forms of transport and is interactive, which makes it good fun for kids but adults will enjoy the exhibits too. There are vintage cars, a big model railway and various aircraft, amongst many other things to see.
With a clear blue sky the next day, we set off for Mount Pilatus, by rail and then cogwheel train to the summit of just over 2100 metres. It was actually warmer than I expected in the sun, so I didn’t need the ten million layers that I took! We walked the Pilatus Flower Trail, which had lovely views of the lake below. You have to return along the same path and it took about 90 minutes in total.
On another day we took a boat to the last stop on the lake, which is Fluelen, where we took a cable car up to the mountain resort of Eggberge. After a short walk uphill, we were rewarded with some fantastic views of the lake and mountain peaks.
The following day, after travelling by rail, cogwheel train and cable car, we arrived at our starting point on Mount Rigi for our next hike. This took us about 2 hours and again the views were amazing. I found that buying the Rigi railway day pass in advance was worth doing, as it covered unlimited use of the cogwheel trains and cable cars, of which we used quite a few!
On our final full day, we took the boat to Weggis and walked from there to Vitznau. This is a lakeside walk along a flat, well paved path, and it took about 90 minutes. From Vitznau we got the boat back to Lucerne.
Of course, you don’t have to be active every day like we were. There’s a Lido, from where you can swim or relax, or you can just take a stroll beside the lake and sit on one of the many benches and watch the world go by.
We travelled to Lucerne in June, and the weather was great with plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures. We had a fantastic time, and I can definitely recommend a stay there.
If you have any questions or would like to enquire about a holiday, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
