We will be in Switzerland in September staying in Montreau for a few nights, and Wengen for 5 nights. We were planning to stay in Zurich the last night to make getting to the airport easy for a noon flight home. But now we added an additional night and are weighing spending 2 nights in Zurich v 2 nights in Luzern with an early train ride to the Zurich airport for our flight home. Our situation:
*LUZERN: We stayed in Luzern a few nights last trip and saw much of the city including Chapel Bridge, walking the walls, the Lion Monument, and went up Mt. Pilatus, back down to the lake, and went back to Luzern by boat. So we have seen a lot of Luzern, but we did not go to Mt. Titlis nor Mt. Rigi. So wondering if one of those would be worth taking a train back the Zurich the morning of our flight. I fully understand (as a nervous flyer) that there is a small chance that something will go wrong with the train trip causing us to miss our flight... We know it can happen but wonder if it's enough of a threat to really worry about?
*ZURICH: We have not visited Zurich other than driving through as we went from Basel to Appenzell on our last visit. So wonderng if Zurich is as much of a draw (Old City) to skip a second visit to Luzern (Mt. Titlis or Rigi) in favor of seeing Zurich and getting to the airport easier?
If you read this far.... thank you! Thanks for your suggestions!
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11872 posts
Zurich is worth a day and as the visit to the mountain top is very weather dependent, Zurich might be the safest choice as with poorer weather in the city you have more options. We have stayed in Zurich a couple of times for a night or two and enjoyed walking the old city, hiking at Uetliberg https://swissfamilyfun.com/uetliberg-planet-path/, walking along the lake, and eating good Italian food after weeks of mostly Swiss options in the mountains. In fact, there are things we’d like to return to Zurich to see as we’ve run out of time.
Posted by
Nashville, TN
725 posts
Zurich doesn’t need 2 nights. Either do 2 nights somewhere on Lake Luzern that allows you to do some new things (Rigi, boat ride from Luzern to Fluelen, Stoos?, etc) or do 1 night in Zurich or Bern and add your additional night to Wengen, where there is always more you can find to do.
Posted by
Canada 1st, not 51st.
4773 posts
We have a 7am flight out of Zurich so decided we'd spend 2 nights = 1.5 days in Zurich. We've found plenty of things of things of interest to fill that much time. We are concerned it won't be enough but we didn't want to take away our short time in Lucerne.
Posted by
287 posts
We once had four nights in Lucerne and one in Zurich and that worked perfectly for us. Our flight was a night flight though, so we effectively had the whole day until around 6pm when we needed to leave for the airport.
There was plenty to do in Zurich for that amount of time, and we really enjoyed it.
We did go to Mt Rigi and Titlis during our stay in Lucerne a few years ago and enjoyed them. Last year we were in Wengen and Montreux and Zermatt also and after a week in Wengen with the amazing mountains there I personally wouldn't bother with the Lucerne ones and just enjoy Zurich.
Maybe you could look at adding the extra night to Wengen, because you will find that you want longer there, and then just the one in Zurich before the flight home.
Posted by
San Diego, California
5972 posts
I've been to Luzern three times and would go back again. I think the summits each have their own personality, which changes with varying light and time of day. Each of my visits have been unique.
I personally would depend on the trains to get me promptly from Luzern to Zurich on the day of my flight, as the train goes directly into the airport.
Don't forget about Mt Stanserhorn, very close to Luzern, with the Cabrio open air cable car.
But if you're a nervous type, and addition day in Wengen is a great option. Also, the Swiss cities get quite warm in the summers, so the cooler mountain air is refreshing.
I don't think you have and wrong choices here, as it's Switzerland! Safe travels!