Lucerne Hotels - July 2025

I think you will get more responses if you correct the year (wink emoji.)
Enjoy this beautiful country and have a memorable family adventure. Safe travels!

I have twice stayed at the Ameron Luzern Hotel Flora

It's a few minutes walk from the train station and just down the street from the Chapel Bridge.

What are your plans for your time in Luzern? Would it work to stay in nearby Weggis, a short boat ride away, in a nice hotel right on the lake? You could spend one day in Luzern on a daytrip, and spend the other doing the Rigi roundtrip by boat to Vitznau, train up the mountain, and cablecar back to Weggis.

https://www.rigi.ch/en

We loved this hotel, and our grandchildren especially enjoyed the outdoor pool by the lake (at the sister hotel next door, available to Seehotel guests). My son’s family stayed in their 4-person family suite, and I believe it is under $500 per night.

https://www.gotthard-weggis.ch/en/

Thanks for the information.

For our 3-nights stay, we would arrive at Zurich Airport (from USA) early in the morning around 8:00 a.m. We would train to Luzern.

For the trip, we would like to do the following if not too ambitious: Chapel Bridge, Old Town, Glacier Gardens, Lion of Luzern, Museum of Transportation, Mt Rigi, Mt Pilatus, and possible 3/4 day trip to Bern.

We would leave on Day 4 to take a train to the Lauterbrunnen Region.

Please let me know if there is a particular order to experience all these activities, sites, etc. Would it make sense to stay in the City Center of Luzern? We will not have a car.

Take a look at the Hotel Des Alpes in Lucerne. Centrally located with a very helpful staff. We would stay there again.

I would do either Mt. Rigi or Mt Pilatus, depending on the SBB Pass that you have. I actually like Rigi better because of the beautiful boat ride and the dramatic cogwheel train ride to the summit. I have found that each of these is about a half day adventure.
Then enjoy the sunset on Mt Stanserhorn , with the open air Cabrio cable car. This is 45 minutes from the Lucerne train station to the summit, so a shorter adventure. There is food at the summit, blankets if it's cool, and a 360 degree view. The open air ride is a thrill, with the cow bells below you.
Of course, weather dictate all!
Enjoy!

Thanks again for these suggestions. They all sound amazing.
As for the Fräkmüntegg toboggan run, is this at Rigi or Pilatus? I know my children would love the toboggan run. They would also love dramatic cogwheel train ride and Cabrio cable car.

The Fräkmüntegg Rodelbahn is on Pilatus. There is an adventure park there, but most of the activities are for older children. Children 8 and up can do the summer luge alone; the 7 will ride with a parent.

https://www.pilatus.ch/en/discover/fraekmuentegg

https://www.rodelbahn.ch/

But as to your hotel needs, start with booking.com. You may have to make some tradeoffs as to a/c, cost, but there are places available that meet most of your needs.

We also travel with two kids and I prefer an apartment with two bedrooms, unless I can find a family hotel room with a separate room for kids. Booking.com is a great place to start. Mt. Pilatus is amazing for kids, but definitely plan out your day carefully. We missed the playground on the way up, so we ended up taking the cable car both ways rather than taking the cogwheel train. Thankfully the Mt. Pilatus staff kindly helped us switch our return ticket to accommodate this. If you need any recommendations for the Lauterbrunnen valley, I am happy to share those. Between Zurich and Luzern, check to see if your train has a "ticki park" family car. My kids were delighted to find a train car that they could play in.

We had a wonderful stay at Hotel Beau Sejour. Great room, comfortable bed, immaculately clean, warm and welcoming staff, portable A/C that was very efficient and delicious breakfast. They do have rooms that can accommodate a family of four that are less than $500 per night. I was a bit concerned about the "portable" A/C, but it was great, and very necessary. It is a bit of a walk from the train station with luggage, but there is a bus that stops in front of the hotel, or you can take a cab. Before arrival, you will be sent a pass for the free bus. This is explained on their FAQ page. It's a beautiful walk along the lake to get to the Old Town. The hotel is very quiet at night, since it is not on the river in the Old Town. We booked direct for the best price. https://beausejourlucerne.ch/

July in that area will need at least fans for each bedroom/bed. If you are staying in the city, it will be noisy to have the windows open. At least until 10 pm.

I was at Mount Pilatus July 2024. We got a later start and several tour buses were arriving. There were too many people at Fräkmüntegg making for long lines at the activities. Your kids would like the trails at the top as there are several short tunnels. If you take the train down, consider a seat reservation. Lola provided good links - check the interactive map.

Another day trip we enjoyed was Titlus. Like Pilatus, lake Trubsee has some activities and an interactive playground. We found Trubsee a nice place to relax. If you are more active, there is the four lakes hike.

Consider the Tell pass to cover the transportation options up the mountains.

When we were in Lucerne this past June, I kept thinking how great it would be for a family. I don’t know if the Hotel Krone Lucerne has family rooms, but it is in a good location and was a bit less expensive when we went than some other hotels suggested here.

The Transport museum is great. We only went to Rigi, so I can’t compare to Pilatus.

Have a wonderful time!

Heads up: in July 2025 Switzerland hosts UEFA Women's EURO 2025 (football). Likely this causes higher prices.

I can't vouch for it yet, here's where we're staying in May. https://beausejourlucerne.ch/

I have stayed in the Ameron Flora and would also recommend it.
Online says there is a club next door, but I never heard noise.
It can be busy with groups at breakfast.
I could also recommend Hotel Ambassador, near the Lion monument.
On the day of arrival, you can take a bus across the river to a close stop for no fee. Just show your hotel reservation if asked.

I would caution the Hotel Des Alpes. My daughter stayed there with her husband this summer (June 2024). Its was 80+ degrees in Switzerland and their room was small and stuffy. They even had a wonderful balcony to look down upon the Chapel Bridge but the noise from the street below was another challenge with the windows open all night. Its a nice hotel, don't get me wrong, but keep in mind you will need some space and comfort with children in tow. Lucerne is expensive for sure, staying in the new town rather than the old town might help on the price.

I will also add, that we were a wedding party of 10 and we all ended up in different hotels around the city. Some did not want to book too far in advance but I tried to tell guests, Lucerne is not a very big place and hotels get booked up quickly. Literally, past January/February of this year we were seeing prices go up considerably for our June stay and yes a lot of hotels there are $500 a night or more. Book early.

Thank you all again for your input.

I am trying to decide between Hotel Cascada and Hotel Beau Séjour. Cascada is a bit more expensive ($100 more per night), but it is a lot closer to the train station.

Do you also like the location of Beau Sejour even though it is about 1 mile from the train station?

Thanks again.

Staying at a hotel in Luzern, you and all guests will get a Luzern Guest Card for the duration of stay, from arrival day to departure day. That gives free public transportation in the city. The No 6 and No 8 buses from the train station stop about a block from the Beau Sejour, less than 100 yards. Buses are very frequent, every 7 1/2 minutes during the day and it takes 9 minutes to/from the station.

That includes from arrival at the train station to the hotel. I got an email with a QR code to use on buses a day before arrival, so I could use it on a bus from the train station. Even if that does not happen, you just need to show your reservation if a ticket inspector does come by. At check in, you will get your hard copy transport pass.

Do you also like the location of Beau Sejour even though it is about 1
mile from the train station?

I can't speak from experience yet since we are staying there in May, but the reason the distance didn't scare us away is that there is a bus every 5 minutes that leaves from a spot right in front of the trains station, and if we don't use the bus it looks like there is a nice lakeside walkway once you cross the bridge.

Thank you again for the information.
We hope to book everything this month :)