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Lucerne and Bernese-Oberland - how much time in each?

Hello,

We will be celebrating our 40th Anniversary next summer and will travel the whole month of August. We'll start our trip with Uniworld Castles Along the Rhine river cruise from Arnhem to Basel, departing on August 2, 2027 (8 days/7 nights). From the cruise, we want to visit Lucerne, Bernese-Oberland (Lauterbrunnen or Wengen), and conclude in Lake Como, Italy. So far, I'm looking at 5 nights in Lucerne, 6 nights in Wengen and 7 nights in Lake Como, either Varenna or Bellagio.

My questions for Lucerne: is 5 nights enough? too much? Mt. Rigi, Mt. Pilatus, Mt. Titlis - worth seeing all 3 or too much, especially since we will be continuing on to Wengen. If too much, which should I consider dropping? Any other tours or sights in Lucerne to consider? We will be staying at Hotel des Alpes.

My question for Wengen: is 6 nights enough? too much? There are a lot of activities that come up in this region. Top activity recommendations include: Jungfraujoch, Mannlichen, Schilthorn, Schynige Platte. Which are must see and which can be dropped, since we will be coming from 5 nights in Lucerne. Worth trying to visit all 4?

7 nights in Lake Como will be our relaxed chill time to decompress, so we're totally fine to be active during our stays in Lucerne and Wengen. We will not have a car.

Posted by
3147 posts

5 full days in Wengen and the Berner Oberland is good, imo. 6 full days is even better. We never wanted to leave Wengen and the BO.. One of the prettiest spots anywhere. We stayed 2 nights in Lucerne, took a boat ride and visited the Transportation Museum. Didn't do any mountain trips.

Posted by
11 posts

Not sure if you prefer the city to the mountains but I would do 4 nights Luzern and 7 in Wengen because we like to be up in the mountains hiking. We did love Luzern though and I would advise you to check the webcams for Pilatus, Titlis and Rigi in the morning before you go. I made the mistake of waiting until our last day to go to Pilatus only to be warned by the nice woman at the ticket booth that there was no view at the top due to clouds. Our favorites near Wengen were Mannlichen and Schynige Platte.

Posted by
1910 posts

I think 3 nights in Lucerne is good. Don't forget to take the boat trip in Lake Lucerne. It's the best boat trip in the country.

Posted by
979 posts

Don't forget to take the boat trip in Lake Lucerne. It's the best boat trip in the country.

Which boat trip is this? I've only been on the one to Mt Rigi, but if there's one I've missed that I definitely shouldn't miss next time I'm there, I'd love to know more about it.

Posted by
1423 posts

I think I would take 1 night from Lucerne and add it to Wengen, but your current plan is fine too.

Posted by
2 posts

Thank you for all the replies. I'm leaning towards 4 nights in Lucerne and 7 nights in Wengen. Upon further research, I was told that Mt. Titlis is a smaller rehearsal for Jungfraujoch, which we will definitely visit while in Wengen. We love active trips, and hiking in the mountains is right up our alley. I hadn't even considered that in the Oberland! 😊

Posted by
1423 posts

There are many hiking trails at all levels of difficulty. If you search the forum you will find many ideas and there are a number of posters who travel there every year or live there to provide advice.

Posted by
1423 posts

There are many hiking trails at all levels of difficulty. If you search the forum you will find many ideas and there are a number of posters who travel there every year or live there to provide advice.

Edited to add: with 3 nights in Lucerne and 6 in the Berner Oberland we had time to cruise the lakes in Lucerne (on our way to Rigi) and Brienz. Both great.