Day Trip From Lucerne

I agree with Tim. Luzern is a nice town and Mt Pilatus is nice (the sommerrodelbahn is outstanding). But it is 2 1/2 hours on the train from Luzern to Lauterbrunnen. If you just want to see Lauterbrunnen and Murren, you could do that in a day trip, but would be a lot of sitting on the train. If you want to go high up to Jungfrau Top of Europe or Schilthorn, you are adding a lot more travel time. Just not feasible in a day trip. If you want to see the Alps, stay in the Alps. Use Murren or Lauterbrunnen as a base.

Where are you arriving from? You have 4 days or 4 nights? If you're arriving into Zurich airport then personally I would just jump on the train all the way to Mürren or Wengen. Lucerne is very nice, but if you want to see the Alpine Villages and do the Jungfrau trip then no need to waste time in Zurich or Lucerne. Alternately, spend 1 night in Lucerne and then be off to Mürren for 2 or 3 nights. Jungfrau too long for an enjoyable daytrip...unless you count enjoyment as spending your vacation time sitting in a train seat. If you really want to see the alpine villages of Wengen, Mürren, Lauterbrunnen then best thing to do is to stay there. If you're going to do the Jungfrau and possibly the Schilthorn then you don't really need another mountain top experience like Pilatus or Rigi. It would be nice to see/experience everything, but when you only have X days you have to pick and choose.

If you want to see the Alps, stay in the Alps. Use Murren or Lauterbrunnen as a base. Agree 100%. Luzern is good for one day. Nice place but not 4 days worth IMHO. Lauterbrunnen is a GREAT base in which to see so much in the way of Alps beauty.

Hi All, I appreciate the advice that has been given! I should have given a few more details before posting my question. The issue we have now is that I have already booked a hotel room in Lucerne. I was hoping to use Lucerne as a home base and find a day trip from there. We could leave early in the morning and come back late afternoon.

You will be fine. Lucerne is a charming city and there is lots to see. A day trip to the Jungfrau region is easy, but Inwould skip the long and expensive trip up the Jungfrau itself. Lucerne to Interlaken is only two hours. Add 25 minutes to get to Lauterbrunnen. From there, you can do a loop up to Muerren, walk abound, have lunch, maybe ride the funicular up Allmendhubel, walk down to Gimmelwald, cable car down to the valley, walk back to Lauterbrunnen or take the bus, see Trummelbach Falls if you want. That is all easy to do in a day. Or you could take the train up to Wengen, walk around, ride the cable car up ( straight up!) to Manninchen, walk the very pretty trail to Kleine Scheidegg ( easy and level, great views of Jungfrau and Eiger). Have lunch there. Then take the train down to Grindelwald and have a look around. There are some fun things to do there like Rodelbahn and a zip line (First Flyer). Then take the train back to Interlaken and return to Lucerne.

Thank you for the advice Sasha! I am definitely going to try to make the day trip you suggested. My thoughts were as follows: Train in Interlaken and walk around. Train to Laterbrunnen and catch a cable car to Grutschalp. Either walk to Murren or take train to Murren. Walk down to Gimmelwald. Cable car down to Stechelberg. Possibly go to Trummelbach Falls if time permits. I would have loved to do the Allmendhubel Funicular trip but it looks like it is closed the week we are visiting :(. My concern now is weather. We are going to be arriving in Lucerne on May 24th. According to the 10 day weather it looks like 60% chance of rain. I am hoping that changes but if it doesn't is this trip still do-able in the rain?

We have done the loop you describe in the rain, while staying in Mürren. It is actually our rainy-day activity (instead of a hike). It generally doesn't rain constantly, or very hard; mosre of a gentle rain. With good rainwear you'll be fine. but hopefully it won't rain at all. I wouldn't spend much time in Interlaken (or any, beyond the time it takes to change trains). You'll want most of your time to be up on the bench where Mürren sits, with the great views, and then walking down to Gimmelwald. If you have time and energy at the end of the day, you could make a little detour at Brienz, catching the boat for a short ride to Giessbach, ride the funicular up to the hotel, and walk up to the waterfall: http://www.giessbach.ch/about-the-grandhotel.html

Awesome! Thanks, Chris! Fingers crossed that the weather cooperates! Also, now I am trying to decide whether or not a Swiss Pass would be beneficial for my trip. Itinerary would be: Day 1: train from Zurich to Lucerne-visit Luceren's museums Day 2: Mt Pilatus trip-round trip looks to be 96CHF, 1/2 day trip then walk around Lucerne
Day 3: Trip from Lucerne to Interlaken, cable car up to Murren and possibly visit the falls. Right now they are offering a 2-1 Swiss Pass.

Lola, you took the words right out of my mouth!! To re-emphasise - it will take you long enough to Interlaken from Luzern. Its a wonderful ride, so much to see and experience but it will eat into your day. Please take an early train. You want better weather? Get thee up the hill. If you spend time in Interlaken before you go up the hill you risk more rain. My experience is that it is often clear in the morning and clouds bubble up mid-day. Rain is sometimes in the afternoons. You may get mist in the morning but if you are up the hill you can be ready when it breaks. If you have time and energy after you are done up the hill then a short detour to Giessbach would be really nice and refreshing. Scenic too.