Lucern and Mt. Pilatus vs one extra day in the Berner Oberland area

I would personally do just about anything I could do to spend more time in Murren. That's my favorite place in all of Europe and my home away from home. Lucerne is beautiful, but since you're going to spending your days there on mountain tops there's really no need for Pilatus. Stick to the medieval town center and the lakes while in Lucerne.

I agree with Tim. I didn't get to Mt. Pilatus, but I did go up Mt. Rigi, and it was very impressive. But that was before I stayed in Mürren and went up the Allmendhubel, the Schilthorn, and the Jungfraujoch. Had I done Mt. Rigi after these, I would definitely have felt let down.

Luzern is a nice town, with very pretty painted buildings, but Mürren was the undisputed highlight of my Switzerland trip. Spend as much time there as you can (which is also a hedge against bad weather).

I might be biased because I have family in Lucerne, but in my opinion it's not worth more than a day. The museums aren't much, but it's fun to walk around the city and the lake. Mt. Pilatus is sort of a tourist trap, so I strongly agree with the others that you should find another hike/gondola ride. My favorite is Mt. Titlis (train to Engelberg, gondolas up to top and depending on the weather you can hike down). Depending on where you start the hike from, it's a relatively easy day trip.

We just spent two nights in Lucerne after coming down from Paris. For the time we were there, it was picture postcard perfect. The Switzerland of your dreams. We spent one full day exploring the Old Town, buying chocolate, seeing the Lion Monument, and basically admiring the efficiency of the Swiss as a people. Very enjoyable.

If we had a third day (and we could've afforded it--Switzerland is expensive!), we probably would've taken some kind of excursion as we probably maxed out in town. But I wouldn't have minded just hanging around, either. It was that fun.

That's a good description of Lucerne. It is indeed beautiful...so just imagine how much more so are the alpine villages of Mürren and Wengen. Switzerland is a postcard for sure (a very EXPENSIVE postcard).

There is so much to see in the Mürren area--various hikes, villages, peaks, etc. Stay there. I love Lucerne (put the transport museum there on your list), and but this is an easy choice.