10 hours in Lucerne and feedback on 6 days in BO

Hi

I am travelling with my family, God Willing, at the end of this month. Children are 11, 15 and 18. We are not avid walkers :) but surroundings can keep us going at some pace.

On the way to Zurich from Lauterbrunnen, we plan to spend about 10 hours in Lucerne. Can you suggest how we should plan our stay to maximize the benefit, given the duration?

I am sharing my travel destinations in BO here. Any input to it will be appreciated.

Day1. Train from Zurich airport to Lauterbrunnen

Day2. Brienzer-Rothorn steam train, return journey. Other than the journey itself, what can we explore?

Day3. Lauterbrunnen. to Wengen (train) ; Wengen to Kl Scheidegg (train) ; Kl Scheidegg to Grindelwald Grund (walk); Grindelwald Grund – Maennlichen (Gondola) ; Maennlichen to Wengen (cable car)

Day4: Gondola from Grindelwald to First (what not to be missed?)

Day5: Train from Lauterbrunnen to Bern for day trip

Day6: Train from Lauterbrunnen to Lucerne for day trip and continue on to Zurich airport

By the way, can we stick to our sneakers , or you think it will get too cold on the walks, or soaked / slippery in rain/mud?

Thanks

Hi syedghani,

There are numerous things you can do in Lucerne: city walk, boat trip, museums, peak visits. It really depends on what you're interested in. You'll find suggestions here: myswissalps.com/ lucerne. The children will love the Transport Museum, but if the weather's good you'd better do some outdoor activities I would say.

Day 2: hiking is what people do there, or you can even make a circular trip via Sörenberg: myswissalps.com/ brienzerrothorn.

Day 4: the walk to the Bachsee is worth it.

Sneakers will do in August, but not in rainy weather or on rocky hiking trails.

Hi again, syedghani -

I'll give some partial answers -

Your question about sneakers on the trails.

For the easy trails, they are OK, if you don't mind getting your feet wet. Most people who walk the trails frequently prefer sturdy shoes with lugged soles. Boots are even better to avoid twisted ankles.

www.myswissalps.com/hi king

This explains the trail markers:

www.alpenwild.com/stat icpage/trail-signs-in-the-swiss-alps/

Here are some hikes near the Jungfrau:

www.jungfrau.ch/en/som mer/tourism/destinatio ns/kleine-scheidegg/hiking-trails/

Note the yellow signs (tolerable in sneakers) and red/white signs - need sturdy shoes, or better boots for ankle support and hiking staffs for safety. (You can rent them)

Day 3 might be a bit much if you are not serious walkers.

I suggest a different order-

Cableway from Wengen to Männlichen, walk to Kleine Scheidegg. Optional walk to Alpiglen or, walk up to ( or take train to) Eigergletscher stop, then walk the Eiger trail ( boots...lots of scree) over and down to Alpiglen.

Train from Alpiglen to Grindelwald.

From there. train or ski lifts to your sleep location.

Note altitudes on this map:

map.geo.admin.ch/?topic=ech&lang=en&bgLa yer=ch.swisstopo.pixel karte-farbe&layers=ch.bav.ha ltestellen-oev,ch.swisstopo.swiss tlm3d-wanderwege&layers_visi bility=false,true&X=16 2380.00&Y=636360.00&zo om=5

<<"We are not avid walkers :) but surroundings can keep us going at some pace.">>

You will see that some of the walks you proposed have substantial altitude changes. Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald Grund is more than a 1000 meter descent. Unless your knees are in excellent shape, they will be painful by the time you reach Alpiglen, very sore at the bottom, and remain quite sore for a few days.

And, I have turned on hiking trails on a map overlay, which are color coded as yellow, red and blue. Blue is technical climbing.

Slowpoke

Hi Syedghani:

<<"On the way to Zurich from Lauterbrunnen, we plan to spend about 10 hours in Lucerne. Can you suggest how we should plan our stay to maximize the benefit, given the duration?">>

it is tough to try to fit a week's worth of sightseeing into 10 hours. ;-)

This thread has some thoughts:

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/3-days-in-lucerne

Anjan has given enough details to give a feeling for the possibilities, along with some good photos:

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/3-days-in-lucerne

Lake Lucerne stands out as one feature that is is special about Lucerne.

By the way, I tend to use the German spelling, Luzern, pronounced the same way, because the Canton of Luzern is in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. The lakes bracketing Interlaken are quite nice, too, but Lake Luzern ( der Vierwaldstättersee, the Lake of the Four Forest Cantons) is larger and has a wide range of scenic possibilities. I like the southernmost part of the lake best, but it would take a significant part of your limited time to really get a good look at it.

Toward the end of this link, there are some photos that show the surroundings. I'd not recommend the walk that I describe there, because it would take too much of your time, but you'll get a hint of the possibilities for your next trip:

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/the-swiss-path-and-southern-lake-lucerne

You might consider a boat ride as far as Alpnachstad, and the cograil up to the top of Pilatus. On a clear day, or even a cloudy one such as Anjan photographed, the views are quite nice, and it is close to Luzern.

www.myswissalps.com/pi latus

This link shows all the boat schedules on the lake:

www.lakelucerne.ch/en/ timetable-fares/timetable/

In the footnotes, there is a link to a map.

You could perhaps put together a short trip, to the Transport Museum ( das Verkehrshaus.) . Even that short trip would be nice.

The train to Alpnachstad is faster than the boat.

This map, if you turn on in the menus "Traffic" under Points of Interests, and select the type of transportation, can turn on an overlay with all the public transport stops.

map.search.ch/?pos=666928,210992&z=32 &poi=bergbahn,halteste lle,zug

Zoom in and click on any icon.

You could consider the one hour boat ride to Vitznau and the cograil to the top of the Rigi (Rigi Kulm.) but, once again,the total trip would consume a big part of your day. The Rigi has nice walks on it, and lots of open space and meadows, in contrast to Pilatus, so that some walks could be done, with more time required.

But, a boat ride to Vitznau and on to Brunnen has some chance of showing a large part of the lake, reaching the beginnings of the southern part (called der Urnersee) and getting you back to Luzern fairly quickly by train from Brunnen. The train station is a ten to fifteen minute walk from the boat pier in Brunnen, and you would need to look at at schedules for the train from Brunnnen with some care to see if that makes sense for you.

I would try hard to include a walk around Luzern . It is a small town. Aalk alog the river is obligatory, to see the Kapellbrücle (Chapel Bridge.)

I'd make sure to visit the Lion of Luzern, and, nearby, one of my favorite places is the Bourbaki panorama. All my friends and relatives from age 8 to senior citizens have enjoyed it:

www.myswitzerland.com/ en-us/bourbaki-panorama-luzern-luzern.html

www.bourbakipanorama.c h/en/

The old town on the north bank of the Reuss River deserves a walk around. Lots of tourists, but the oldest part, along the river, should be explored a bit from in the town, not just the river walk alone.

This is a good place for a meal with nice views outdoors if the weather is nice, a varied menu, and good food quality, including vegetarian options:

www.braui-luzern.ch/

Or, translated:

translate.google.com/t ranslate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://w ww.braui-luzern.ch/&prev=search

Walk up the steps on either side and into the old town

A walk along the lake shore through the gardens, from the Transport Museum to the Schwanenplatz (Place of the Swans) near the main bridge is about 1 and 1/2 kilometers, and is a good way to stretch your legs. You can see it on the map I linked above.

I've attached a few photos.

Slowpoke

Day 2-

Walk around Brienz, along the main street at least as far as Jobin, a famous wood carvers store. They have an attached museum which s probably not worth the few CHF admission, but might be, depending on your tastes. The store is worth a look.

Up top, there are some substantial hikes, but I don't know if you wish to try them. At that altitude, the up and down portions of the trails, even the short trail to the small lake, can make you pant and pause, unless you are accustomed to high altitudes.

The walk to Schönbüel used to be a challenging one, with lifts down to Lungern, and train ride back. I think that only some of the lifts above Lungern are running these days....I'd not take that walk if I had to do it as a return trip.

www.turren.ch/

That link is for the part directly above Lungern; it does seem to be running, but I think the leg from Schönbüel is not running....

If you do go down the "back" side of the mountain, via the cable way to Sörenberg, you have a long ride to get back to Lauterbrunnen by bus and trains.

Slowpoke

Many thanks to all for detailed reply with referenced hyper links. I will take a day or so to digest the valuable posts and assemble my travel notes accordingly, but thought I would drop a than you note to you all :)

Hi Syedghani -

<<" Day5: Train from Lauterbrunnen to Bern for day trip

Day6: Train from Lauterbrunnen to Lucerne for day trip and continue on to Zurich airport">>

In my opinion, unless you decide to visit some museums, you might not find that Bern will occupy a full day for you.

You might consider going to Bern, and when you are finished, go to Luzern, Stay in Luzern. That would give you a bit of Day 6 on Day 5.

You may not wish to do this if your accommodations in Lauterbrunnen are firm, and Luzern hotels could be quite full by now, but it is an option that you might consider.

Also, on day 2, you might wish to take a lake boat to the stop for the hotel Giesbach...it has its own funicular, and a cup of tea or a snack on the terrace can be very pleasant. Nt sure if it would fit into your schedule, but I thought I'd mention it. Watch for the Giesbach waterfall across the lake as you ride on the train up to the Brienzer Rothorn.

Slowpoke

Slowpoke I will take your advice and change my plan for the steep walk to the suggestion you made.

Question though: "Optional walk to Alpiglen or, walk up to ( or take train to) Eigergletscher stop, then walk the Eiger trail ( boots...lots of scree) over and down to Alpiglen."

1. Is your suggestion to walk from K.S. to Alpiglen? and how long is this walk?

2. Alternatively, are you suggesting that we walk from K.S to Eigergletscher stop, and take the Eiger trail to continue walking to Alpiglen? How long is this walk?

Please let me know if I interpreted your message correctly.

Also, www.jungfrau.ch/en/som mer/tourism/destinatio ns/kleine-scheidegg/hiking-trails/ has a higher level of difficulty marked for EIGER TRAIL. On the other hand , EIGER WALK has a lower level of difficulty. In your message, did you mean to say Eiger TRAIL or Eiger WALK?

Thanks

Hi Syedghani-

Yioou interpeted my suggestions and options correctly.

You can understand the distances by looking at this map:

map.search.ch/?pos=645024,159792&z=32 &poi=bergbahn,halteste lle,zug

Altitude changes and distances are visible on the SwissTopo map that I linked you to before on August 5th ( geoadmin....link)

Details of each walk or hike in the Kleine Scheidegg trail list are available if you dig into the menus. Even in German, time and distance is clear. Anstieg is climb, Abstieg is descent. Maps are given. if you want a more detailed map, go to the Swisstop link I mentioned before (geo admin....)

The Eiger trail has a fairly level section with modest and mildly annoying ups and down across the face of the Eiger, lots of scree., then a steep descent to Alpiglen.

It would be a difficult option, but does not have as much descent as you were considering earlier. You are corerect , it is "hiking trail" (red/white marker) and boots are necessary because of the ease of slipping on the scree. I am not recommending it, but, rather pointing it out in view of your originally stated plans.

The Eiger Walk would be more suitable for you, and could be continued as noted.

The indicated trail fro the "Walk" ( just as for the "Trail" ) also starts at Eigergletscher station and goes down hill back to Kleine Scheidegg. From there, as noted in the discussion of this walk, you could take an easy trail to Alpiglen ( preferred for views) or to Wengernalp. Both aer train stops.

Slowpoke

Thanks Slowpoke. I continue to assemble notes as per your suggestions.