We are spending 5 days in Lauterburren and now wondering if we need to go to Luzern or can we just skip it?
If we decided to which option would be recommended:
1. Land in Zurich, take train to Luzern, will be in Luzern by 11am, spend day and night in Luzern. (We have ONLY one day for Luzern)
2. Head to Lauterburren and spend 4 nights and 4 days over there.
OR
1. Land in Zurich and head straight to Lauterburren for 5 days and 5 nights. Possibly (play it by year) takea day trip to Luzern from LAuterburren. (I know we are adding travel time by doing this.)
OR
1. Land in Zurich and head straight to Lauterburren for 5 days and 5 nights. On day 6 when we are leaving from Lauterburren, since we only need to get to our destination by late evening, we can stop in Luzern for lunch and roam around for 4 -5 hours!
Posted by
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
77 posts
Luzern is beautiful though a bit touristy, you will not regret spending a day there.
since you have to go through luzern to get to lauterbrunnen from zurich. its better you do it either on your onward or return journey as opposed to doing a day trip. You will lose 4 hrs (2 hrs one way by train).
I would suggest on day 5 take the train to luzern in the evening. that way you have whole day of day 6 and then reach your destination by late evening.
We found luzern to be very pricey compared to Lauterbrunnen in terms of hotel acommodation.
Posted by
Everett, WA
1299 posts
I like the last 2 options. If the weather if beautiful in Lauterbrunnen you probably won't want to leave. Howwever, it is a good rainy day option. In 2003, my husband and I had a couple of days of rain (and a car) so we went to Gruyere and visited the cheese factory, rode a luge, and toured the chocolate factory and drove back to Lauterbrunnen. It is always good to have rainy day options in the alps.
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
695 posts
Simran, i think Luzern deserves at least half a day. I would do option one, you will need to do some walking and get over the jetlag. Luzern is a lovely city, you can go everywhere by foot, lion's monument, brige, shops, etc. We also went to a small thai restaurant which was very good, it is called Takrai. The next morning i would go to Lauterbrunnen early in the morning. Have fun!
Posted by
West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
213 posts
I like Mala's suggestion to take a train to Lucerne later on day 5. Have a little of the evening there for dinner--eat along the river. It won't be like eating along the Chicago River--no skyscrapers;-), but its a lovely thing to do. Then explore the old town the next day. Lucerne is probably my favorite Swiss city, and I hear that from a number of people. If you are so enthralled with the Lauterbrunnen Valley area that you want to skip Lucerne, then save it for your next trip. I wouldn't do it at the beginning of your trip.