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Spend a day in Lucerne or save it for later?

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Been traveling and am towards the end of my Switzerland trip. So far I’ve been 4 full days in Wengen and 1 full day in Zermatt and saw the Matterhorn! Tomorrow I can take a late 6:45 pm flight (or a redeye the next day) to my next destination (Istanbul) where I have 3 nights in total. If I did that I could spend the day in Luzern. Is Lucerne a must see in your eyes? Or should I save it for another trip to Switzerland?

If I saved Luzern for later I could take a 7 am flight to Istanbul. That way I have about a half day more in Istanbul.

Posted by
7850 posts

Luzern the town is not a must see; it is more the excursions on the lake and to the mountains around it; but I would go to see it and fly to Istanbul in the morning instead of arriving late.

Posted by
128 posts

Sorry you mean go to spend a full day there and then take a morning flight or go just spend the night in Lucerne, and then fly out of ZRH in the morning?

Posted by
7850 posts

Lock you bag in the locker at Luzern train station Spend a full day in Luzern take the boat to the train to go up Mt Rigi or take the train to Engelberg and go up Mt Titlis. After that take the train to Zurich Airport and stay in a hotel overnight to catch that redeye to Istanbul.

Posted by
5581 posts

I loved Luzern. For me, it ranks towards the top of my favorite smaller cities in Europe. The boat ride across the lake to the train to Rigi was quite lovely, but since you have been in the mountains, I would just use the time to wander around the town.

Posted by
128 posts

Gotcha so worth taking a day out of Istanbul for it? It sounds like I shouldn’t miss Luzern! I’m thinking if I did Luzern then I would visit Mt Rigi via cog train and then take boat across the lake back to Lucerne, then walk around the city and call it an end to the trip.

If I did that then I would be spending 2 nights in Istanbul before going to Athens. With the 7:40 am flight I land 11:40 am in Istanbul. So that’s 2 ish full days there

Posted by
8446 posts

You can get a train from Luzern directly to the Zurich airport rail station in about 1.25 hours. I would say in Luzern.

Posted by
128 posts

I decided I’m gonna spend a full day in Luzern! I’m planning on going to Rigi for the first half of the day, doing a boat cruise back to Luzern and then walking around the city. How’s that? Or is Rigi not worth it if I’ve done Berner Oberland?

Posted by
768 posts

I agree with Jazz+travels. We used the lockers at Lucerne train station and it turned out fine.

Posted by
128 posts

Glad I didn’t miss Lucerne, such a beautiful place. The excursion to Mt Rigi was so nice and on the way back they had us go on those steam boats like from Mark Twain era. The interior was so cool!

And Luzern the town was really nice.

Posted by
72 posts

Lucerne is definitely a must see! It is the most Swiss city of all cities in Switzerland.

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