Stay longer in Zermatt or Lucerne?

Short summary – read this first

A traveler is planning a winter trip to Switzerland and is considering spending 3 days in Lucerne and 3 days in Zermatt. They are unsure whether to adjust their itinerary to spend more time in Zermatt for winter activities. Based on advice received, it's suggested that more time in Zermatt would be better for skiing or snowboarding.

Key takeaways:
  • Consider spending more time in Zermatt if you want to focus on winter activities like skiing.
  • Engelberg is a great alternative for winter sports compared to Lucerne; consider staying there instead.
  • The Swiss Travel Pass can be very useful for traveling between cities and accessing mountain resorts.
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InfoAI-generated summary
  • Anonymous
    Inactive
    83503 posts
    6 December 2021 at 7:19:55 #826341

    hi, I would like to get opinion.

    my original plan is to spend 3 days 2 night in Lucerne, then 3 days 2 night in Zermatt.

    Itinerary :

    Zurich Airport > Lucerne (3days 2 night) > Zermatt (3 days 2 night).

    should I consider Zermatt 4 days and Lucern only 2 days 1 night?

  • Anna
    Moderator
    7726 posts
    Reply 1 of 4 • 6 December 2021 at 12:46:07 #937751

    Hi bear2019,

    That really depends on your interests and when you are travelling. Based on your previous posts, this is a winter trip and you’re probably planning a bit of skiing or snowboarding? In which case I would spend more time in Zermatt. If you’re mainly sightseeing, I think Lucerne would be a better option for planning day trips and excursions.

    You can find more suggestions about planning a winter trip here: http://www.myswissalps.com/wheretogo/winter

    Hope this helps.

    Regards,

    Anna

    The easiest way to plan for Switzerland

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    User
    Inactive
    83503 posts
    Reply 2 of 4 • 6 December 2021 at 13:29:28 #937752

    hi Anna,

    thanks for your input, yes i would like to spend more time to do winter activity.

    pkerr
    Participant
    270 posts
    Reply 3 of 4 • 6 December 2021 at 14:06:49 #937753

    As someone in a similar situation to you and having been both to Lucerne and Zermatt, I would agree with Anna. Much easier to get to winter activities in Zermatt.

    User
    Inactive
    83503 posts
    Reply 4 of 4 • 7 December 2021 at 1:20:11 #937754

    Winter sports are available equally in the ‘Luzern’ area and Zermatt, however I recommend a winter sports trip is limited to one location as it takes time to familiarise oneself with all the possibilities. You can easily fill all of your proposed time in Zermatt.

    The reason I put ‘Luzern’ in inverted commas is that the best winter sports place in that area is Engelberg / Titlis, so if you are doing mainly winter sports, you should stay in Engelberg not Luzern itself, although you can travel each day to Engelberg on the very fast and efficient Zentralbahn train.

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