2.Which app is popular for finding good restaurants/cafes nearby while in Switzerland?
In Luzern, I liked the Manora restaurant in the Manor department store. Up the street from Schwanenplatz. Good selection of food, really good salads. Good for lunch, dinner too but it closes early and the selection diminishes later in the day. Super casual and relatively cheap for Switzerland.
I also HIGHLY recommend Manora - half the price of a regular restaurant, and delicious. The only problems are that it's always mobbed (the Swiss know it's the best deal in town) and it has department store hours, which for Luzern means early dinner Monday through Friday, lunch only on Saturdays, and no meals at all on Sundays.
Tibits is a vegetarian buffet; you pay by weight. It's in the Luzern train station, on the top floor (other eateries in the train station are on the bottom floor). it's open for lunch and dinner every day.
For Mürren, I had excellent meals at Hotel Bellevue and Hotel Blumenthal. A meal at these restaurants will cost at least CHF 40-50, but I felt it was worth every rappen.
Once you see Swiss restaurant prices, you'll want to buy some meals at supermarkets. In addition to saving money, it saves sightseeing time; if the weather's good at midday, you want to be out on a trail, not sitting in a restaurant. So, when in the Berner Oberland, I often just got trail mix from the Coop supermarket; I liked this because it doesn't spoil or get crushed in my day bag. They also have sandwiches, "picnic eggs" (precooked boiled eggs, dyed bright colors to avoid confusion with raw eggs), and other prepared foods.
There is a small Coop supermarket in Mürren and in Lauterbrunnen, and a larger one in Wengen (no supermarket in Gimmelwald). For Luzern, there are Migros and Coop supermarkets in town; Manor has a fancy supermarket in its ground floor; and there is a Coop and an Aperto in the train station. The Aperto isn't as nice as the Coop, but has longer hours and is open on Sundays when other supermarkets are closed.
My husband and I very much enjoyed our traditional Swiss meals at the Rathaus Brauerei and at the Zunfthaus Pfistern in Luzern/Lucerne. The Rathaus had delicious rösti dishes and grilled fish, as well as great beer (It's a brewery). The Pfistern has wonderful Swiss regional dishes, including the Lucerne specialty, Chügelipastetli, which is a pastry-puff shell filled with veal, apple, raisins, mushrooms, and onion in a cream sauce. Both are on the Reuss River by the Rathaus Bridge in the Altstadt (old town).
I also like the vegetarian buffet upstairs in the train station, Tibits, very much, as mentioned by Harold.
In Lauterbrunnen, we loved the cheese fondue at Hotel Restaurant Oberland. It's on the main street. They bring out fresh mushrooms, garlic, onion, and chives for you to add to the fondue. We loved the fondue even more in Kleine Scheidegg at the Grindelwaldblick restaurant. Their fondue pot has separate sections to add your ingredient selections separately. And they use very flavorful strong local cheese there.
(The Rick Steves Switzerland guide book recommended all the above restaurants, except it didn't mention the Pfistern, which I learned about from the Luzern Tourist Information Bureau (Tourismus).) Google Maps is also helpful in finding restaurants nearby and showing reviews of them.
Thank you Rocket ,Harold , LindaL .I am checking those out .
In Lauterbrunnen you might try Hotel Oberland as the food there is very good. As with anywhere in Switzerland, budget accordingly for meals as they won't be cheap. In Lucerne there are lots of restaurants along the river, so just find one that looks good and give it a try.
I second the Hotel Bellevue in Murren -- it's good, comfort/casual food (we had our favorite schnitzel there). They also have a panoramic deck for a drink or if the weather is nice (it was too cold for us, once the sun set). If you want a restaurant with a view, I'd also recommend the Hotel Edelweiss in Murren, as the balcony seating is right next to the mountains. We were there for lunch and had casual fare -- rostis and a salad. Overall, Switzerland is expensive, but we found Murren to be far cheaper than Lucerne.
If you don't have fondue at least once, they won't stamp your passport when you leave Switzerland. :-)
