12 days Lucerne and Täsch trip report (1)
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Hi everyone,
After 2 years on this forum and 3 vacations in Switzerland, I thought I should write my first trip report. We had a great time, filled with beautiful scenery, informative and interesting visits, sun, rain, adventure and unexpected events. It was the second half of our vacation, coming from Austria and Germany and traveling by car.
The previous 2 years we stayed in Lauterbrunnen and Meiringen , with a short stop in Winterthur for Technorama . So for this year we thought we should explore new areas and decided for Lucerne and Zermatt. However I had some unfinished business with Brienzer Rothorn from last year, so one day would be dedicated to coming back to this area, totally doable from Lucerne.
The plan for the 6 days in Lucerne was : Pilatus, Titlis, Transport Museum and town visit, Elm, Brienzer Rothorn and Mooraculum at Sorenberg. For Zermatt : Gornergrat trip, Klein Matterhorn, Blauherd – Sunnegga, Hohsaas, Montreux trip, and the day of our departure taking the scenic Furka Pass way.
As I wrote in another post,we decided each morning what to do from the list, depending on the weather and meteo reports.
Day 1: It was cloudy and rainy and we decided it would be best to go to Elm , as the weather report was optimistic for that area and it was primarly for kids’ fun, which was achievable even with covered skies. At Elm we bought the Combi Tickets, meaning going up to Ampachli in the gondola and down on monster trottibikes. At Ampachli, near the restaurant, there is a playground for the kids, trampolines and Elmer’s Gold Mine, where kids can search for gold to win a small reward. Also it is the starting and ending point for the RiesenWald Trail, a themed trail with fun stations. We love themed trails, we did Lieselotte (Mannlichen to Holenstein) and Muggestutz 1&2 (up from Meiringen, at Magisalp and Lischen) the previous years and this was equally fun and interesting. There are several stations on the trail, one with an obstacle course, an upside down house with upside down table and benches, a climbing tower, a lythophone, a school, etc…The surrounding mountains are beautiful. It was a great day, with just a little bit of rain when we arrived, but after this it was mostly sunny. Monstertrotti info : Kids 8 and up are allowed to ride alone. Unlike the other places where we rode trottis( First and Niederhorn) , here the kids under 8 are allowed to ride together with a parent. It is not a long distance (about 4km) and not very off road (as you would think seeing the wheels on those trottis)
Day 2 : Copy -pasting what i wrote in another post – Rainy when we woke up, but the weather report said that it would stop and there will be clouds and sun. Not good for Titlis and certainly not good for Brienzer Rothorn. In Sorenberg was rainy and cold, not good for the kids to have fun with water. So we thought we should try Pilatus. I will never forget the look of mercy on the face of the lady at Lucerne train station when, after buying the half fare cards, we asked for the Golden Round Trip tickets. She asked us twice if we are sure, and immediately after I said yes, it started to rain very heavily:)). We got on the boat, jokingly saying that every time we are on a boat in Switzerland it’s raining on us:)). We had hope and even saw a little bit of blue sky between lightnings hitting not very far from us:). Arriving at Alpnachstad we saw the sun and we had good weather going up, beautiful views from the top and on the walk to Tomlishorn, but not that clear far away as we would have had on a truly sunny day. After that we got down to Frakmuntegg and only had the time to do one round on the rodelbahn before heavy rain started and rushing to the gondola station. So about 3 hours of good weather. A word about the rodelbahn, if there are enthusiasts and speed fans among readers – there were quite a few people in line, most of them going very very slow. It kind of ruins the whole thing, so I asked a man working there when would it be the best time to come (less crowded) and said the earlier the better. So from now on whenever I will plan for rodelbahn rides, it would be at the beginning of the day, not the end.
Day 3: It was raining and the weather forecast announced rain everywhere, so the best option was to go to Transport Museum. It is a big museum , interactive and very kid friendly , so although we wanted to visit the town later in the day, we stayed at the museum from opening until closing time. It is very well structured and never felt lost, like it happened in other museums. The kids loved mimicking the walking on the moon, driving a train, a helicopter, landing an aeroplane, learning about the Gotthard tunnel, being in a news studio and playing with the green screen.
Day 4: The weather report said clouds and sun, and an even better forecast for the next day, so we chose Titlis for this day and left Brienzer Rothorn for the next, as that one meant more to me. We planned to spend the first half of the day up on top, and the second down at Trubsee. It fitted perfectly with the weather, as we had almost clear skies and great views until half past noon, and then, when we were about ready to go down, we were swallowed by clouds that never really went away. I personally found Titlis a bit too commercial, although the views are certainly great. Down at Trubsee the kids had fun on the bag jump and trampolines and then we did the trail around the lake which is also a clue hunt trail. Children receive a map at the gondola station and need to punch a letter at each station, to find a word. There is fun at every station, climbing or searching for gold pepites. The last to punches are at a big playground. At the end they received a prize for finding the word.
Day 5: It was indeed a beautiful sunny day, as the forecast said and we happily left at 7:30 for Brienz, to take the brienzer Rothorn Bahn and then hike the ridge trail to Turren. We chose to drive from Lucerne to Brienz, to get there faster and take an earlier train up to Brienzer Rothorn, as we didn’t want to feel rushed on the trail to Turren. We arrived in the parking lot at the train station at 8:32 jumped out of the car, left my husband to pay for parking and take the children and ran to the Brienzer Rothorn’s station to buy tickets. I asked for tickets, the girl asked if I am sure that we will catch the train, I said yes, took the tickets and started waving at my family to come faster, as they were still near the car at the other train station. They arrived, scanned the tickets , a nice girl opened a compartment just for us and we got in. Just thought I should take a look at the tickets and it was then when I noticed that I bought return tickets instead of one way. Actually I never really asked for any type of ticket, in my rush, trembling and scrambling to find the half fare cards, I just said 2 adults and 2 children and I guess the girl at the counter gave me the most popular tickets. Faster then my thoughts I got down of the train even though it was ready to leave, ran to the guy at the turnstiles, told him my problem, he took my tickets, ran to the counter, changed the tickets, ran to me, gave me the new tickets and the money difference, got back to my seat and the train left. Not even 2 minutes into the ride, my husband tells me “you know, the parking ticket is only until 13:47.” He thought that 5 chf would be enough and just took the ticket. Only when he put it in the windshield he noticed the hour and by then I was waving at him desperately to come faster. We put this aside and enjoyed the ride up. It is amazing, spectacular , everything I thought it would be. Arriving up we sat at a table and had breakfast with the most beautiful views. Only after this I started to worry about the parking. So trying to find out how bad the situation was, went to the lady at the hotel reception and told her the story. She said that this is not good, that we can’t pay the difference when we go back, that there is someone checking during the day and we will get a ticket. A pricey ticket. I asked if I could do anything, like to give someone money for parking and I think she misunderstood me and replied “das ist verbotten”. Not satisfied, I went to the train station thinking I could find some nice tourist going down and ask for the very big favor to pay for a parking ticket for me. No tourists there, only the signalman . Lucky me, like everybody in Switzerland , he was speaking english and didn’t even get to finish what I had to say and he said “no problem, I’ll just ask a colleague to pay for your parking” . I wrote the car number and model on a piece of paper, handed 12 chf (to be sure it would cover the hours) and thanked the man a million times. And just like that, our problem was gone and our beautiful day saved. I just love swiss people and their helpfulness. Nothing is complicated, everything is smooth. Like changing tickets that were already scanned, giving back money even though the payment was done via card, or going out of their way to help correct your sillyness.
The hike was spectacular , I think I took a million pictures. From Turren we took the cable car to Lungern, then walked to the train station and took the train back to our car in Brienz. Arriving in Brienz we saw from the window the second parking ticket put on the windshield.:) I did went to find and thank the man that helped us save our day (or our budget – still don’t know what we would have chosen – going down or continuing and accepting we will get a ticket).
Day 6: the day of our departure to Tasch – The plan was to stop in Sorenberg and have fun at Mooraculum before continuing to Tasch, but it was raining and it was chilly , so we went directly. We took the Grimsel pass way , but it was cloudy and foggy , couldn’t enjoy the nice scenery.
Some pictures to accompany this very long post and will come back with the second part of our trip, which had it’s adventures as well, like coming back one night from a day trip and finding the road to Tasch closed because of rock falls:)
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