My husband and I are traveling to Switzerland in mid-May and will be staying three nights at Villa Honegg on Lake Lucerne. We plan to visit Mt. Pilatus, Lucerne, possibly Mt. Rigi, take a boat ride, and hike and bike the area. Any restaurant recommendations? What to do on a rainy day? We are renting a car - what sites in the area are accessible by car, and which ones would we need to ditch the car and take a train or lift? And would it be worth driving down to Mt. Titlis to see the glacier?
We will then head to Grindelwald for a night and Lugano for a night before heading to Italy. Anything we shouldn't miss? Restaurant recommendations? How is the Open air museum? We really want to hike and spend time outdoors. Do we need winter clothes in May for hiking on the mountains? We aren't sure how cold it will get at altitude.
Thanks so much for any input! We are beyond excited for our trip.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Your routing presents of bit of a challenge travel-time wise. From Lucerne to Lugano is a very nice run via the Gotthard tunnel. 2.5hrs. Likewise, you can take the nice Golden Pass scenic train from Lucerne to Interlaken Ost and from there take the Berner Oberland Bahn train to Grindelwald. 2.5hrs.
However, your train journey from Grindelwald to Lugano will take 5.5hrs with 2-3 train changes. When you travel from Lucerne to Grindelwald, you leave the nice routing to Lugano and go a bit southwest into the Berner Oberland. You will be nestled in the Alps at Grindelwald. Most routings on the Swiss train website www.sbb.ch actually take you back to Lucerne to put you on the train from Lucerne to Lugano. There is an alternate routing via Spiez and Domodossola, Italy, but this takes a bit longer and requires up to 6 transportation changes. You can see what I see on www.sbb.ch
Posted by
OP
Houston, Texas
2 posts
Thanks for the info Larry! We actually are renting a car and driving, but are willing to take trains locally (possibly to go to Gimmewald). Do you think that presents the same travel problems?
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Shelly, driving works just fine. It's a little bit better routing with a car. 3.5hrs for the drive. As for Gimmelwald, you won't get a car up there. The closest train station is Lauterbrunnen. From there you go across the street and take the postal bus to the Stechelberg gondola station. For driving, you pass the Lauterbrunnen train station and drive further into the valley to the Stechelberg gondola station. There is a large parking lot there. There are parking charges. Then, you take the gondola nearly straight up to Gimmelwald. You can get good driving directions on www.viamichelin.com
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
At 5-6,000 feet of elevation, there cab be snow on the ground in May. Bring a hat, gloves, and scarf, in addition to other clothes that you can layer.