Need help tweaking trip to Switzerland!

I understand your concern, as Luzern is expensive. We love Switzerland and have spent a total of eight weeks there in four trips, and have yet to spend a single night in Luzern. Once we stayed nearby on Rigi, at Rigi Kaltbad, for much less, but that might not meet your needs. Why a full week in Luzern? Do you plan to use it as a base for day trips? What time of year? What experiences raw you looking for? Answers might help us suggest solutions.

Thanks for your reply! Yes, we plan on a week in Lucerne as a base to visit the surrounding mountain tops and the beautiful lake and villages. I had also considered staying in Weggis, hoping it would be less expensive, but it's about the same. We love adventure, and plan to find some on this trip. But the last few days of any trip we love to slow down, find a beautiful place to lounge around and take a deep breath.
I appreciate your input! - Diane

We will be going the last two weeks in September. Hoping for good weather!

Check out the hostels in and around Lucerne. http://www.hostelz.com/hostels/Switzerland/Lucerne/Lucerne Hostels in Switzerland, Germany and Austria are immaculate.

BTW, many have 2-bed rooms which is a private room. Usually when they say 2 bed they are acutally 2 singles that can be pushed together as a double bed.

Thanks! I am doing my homework! There is a possibility not far from the center. Appreciate the tip!

If you are looking for a beautiful place to relax and don't mind a bit of extra travel to get there ( boat and cable car) consider Rigi Kaltbad. We stayed up there as an native to a night in Luzern and loved it. The views over the lake are gorgeous. Our hotel was considerable less expensive than the Luzern hotels. Or try Goldener Stern in Luzern itself--- their rates are pretty reasonable.

The one was not available, I'll look into the other. Do you think there are enough activities to keep us busy for a whole week around Lucerne?

Is there enough to do in the area of Lucerne for a one week stay? Depends on what you like to do. Do you like to hike in the mountains? You could probably do separate day trips to Mt. Titlis, Rigli, and Pilatus etc. There is a rotating cable car that takes you up to Titlis. While up there, you can walk through the Glacier Cave and go snow tubing in the Glacier Park. I have not been to Mt. Rigli or Mt. Pilatus. You could stay outside of Lucerne in a smaller town/village. The center of the town of Stans is charming. Check their town website at www.stans.ch Look under "tourismos" and you can get a listing of hotels. There are also some apartments, also known as Ferienwohnung listed. Using google maps, you can check the public trans from the main train station in Lucerne to some of the hotels in Stans. There is a local train that goes there. We stayed at a motor hotel in Stans several years ago. It was okay but was right next to the autobahn. However, the town was nice and had several restaurants. When you look at google maps for towns surrounding Lucerne, you can use this format to check for accommodations: www.townname.ch Unfortunately, not every town will have a list of hotels/pensions/apartments available. It's kind of "hit and miss".

Snow tubing in glacier park! That's the first I've heard of that. What fun! Thanks for the websites, I'll look into every possibility.

Diane, You get to Mt. Titlis by taking a local, regional train from the Lucerne train station to the town of Engelberg. On the way there, the train stops and turns into a cogwheel train. It's quite an experience. Once you arrive in Engelberg, you walk across the street and take the Rotair (first ever built rotating cable car) to the top. This is where the ice caves and glacier park are. It's a wonderful day trip. Don't forget to bring your gloves. Have fun!

Several years ago, we stayed at the Hotel Krone in Giswil, Switzerland. Here's their website: http://www.krone-giswil.ch This town is located between Lausanne and Lucerne. You can also check the town's website for accommodations: www.giswil.ch You could stay here for a few days and then onto Lucerne. Or, you could stay in Giswil instead of Lucerne. Personally, I like staying out in the countryside in small towns versus larger cities. Lucerne isn't that large of a city, however, like you have discovered, it is very expensive. The beauty of staying outside of Lucerne, is that there is public transport to take you easily into the city.

That's such a good point. Of course, the hotel would have to be very close to the train station, and have regular runs going back and forth, or you could lose valuable time getting to your day trips. I'll check that place out. Thanks!