Laundromat and grocery in Luzern

Hi folks,

We will have trip on 10-13 May to Luzern. 11-12 will have Tell Pass and 13 we will use Saver Day Pass for BEX. We are on budget, sone would like to ask these questions:

1. Is there laundromat near to fox hotel (around train station area if I not mistaken)?

2. Do you know the best but cheap or reasonable grocery near to fox hotel? We would like to prepare breakfast and lunch by ourselves. We are think about bread or sandwich. Any idea about the breakfast and lunch will be appreciated :D

3. What is the cheapest restaurant or fast food near fox hotel for dinner?

Thanks and waiting for your replies.

Hi yosephra,

1. Check out Lilly's Bügelstube and Jet Wasch. Also check with the hotel, they may offer it as well or know of one even closer possibly. Look for "WaschSalon" in German.
2. A Migros and Coop grocery store are both within a 5 minute walk and will offer hot and cold takeaway options for you.
3. Manor department store is a good and relatively inexpensive option for a restaurant. I'm not sure about others in Luzern. The train station offers fast food options as well.

Hello Yosephra,

We were on the budget plan as well! No shame with that.

My wife and I stayed on Neustradsrasse which is walking distance from Hotel Fox in September. We shopped for snacks and breakfast items at nearby at Micros and Coop. We ate several times at Micros in old town area of Lucerne and avoided the touristy restaurants and enjoyed every meal. I included locations on a pocket map and ate at the nearest when it was time to eat!!!

We also "splurged" at Parterre on Mythenstrasse which is close to Hotel Fox. The food was priced for the locals, enjoyable and the service was good. We also ate at Restaurant Neustadt (Pizza) which is on Neustradstasse, this is also patronized by the locals, as I remember both had specials written on a chalkboard. Bring cash for Neustadt restaurant as no Credit cards. Please read Trip advisor as reviews on both. Parterre seemed to have larger menu and more patrons. My wife preferred Parterre but both worked out well and both are in your neighborhood.

Enjoy your trip. Jim

Hi yosephra -

I routinely use Jetwasch -

jetwasch.ch/en/

It is not self- service. They do it for you, as a separate individual wash load, so you can enjoy being a tourist.

Prices are good by Swiss standards, but because thereis a set cost for a washer load, you need to put in a many items as you can to get your moneys worth.

Not sure where you are coming from, but perhaps since you use the term "laundromat" you are from the USA.

No matter...just that laundromats are much less common in Switzerland than in the USA, because most apartment buildings have a wash machine for their residents.

They are common near campgrounds, however.

The German term is "Wäscherei mit Selbstbedienung." Laundry with self-service.

Slowpoke

There is a dry cleaners about 2 blocks from the Fox hotel that will do laundry for you. I dont know how much it costs, i went there on a Sunday and it was closed. The woman who checked me in told me where it was.

Hi Lucas, this the 3rd times you answer my questions. I appreciated it.

Hi Jnewman2308, we will check your suggestions. Thank you. Budget plan means more days :)

Hi Slowspoke, Thank you will check on that. Greetings from Indonesia !

Hi Clarksm67, Wow you've been around. I'll ask the staff. Thank you !

Hello Yosephra,

When I am on the road in Switzerland, I look for either a Migros or a Coop to find great value for groceries and also ready-to-eat food. My favourite breakfast is a croissant and a birchermüesli. A birchermüesli starts with rolled oats, yogourt, some milk or juice, and then all kind of fruits that vary depending on what is in season are added. I always make sure grated apples (with the peel) and a bit of lemon juice are part of it. It's practically a national dish and is very healthy, particularly if you hold back on the whipped cream. Attached are images of two varieties that are sold at the Migros. There is a folding spoon on the bottom of the container so you are all set to enjoy. If you have kitchen facilities you can kae them yourself. I attach a photo of one with blueberries that I clipped from a site called Helvetic Kitchen. Does that look good or what ? It is called Aunt Vreni's Birchermüesli, and I have just bookmarked the website ! www.helvetickitchen.co m/recipes/2017/8/3/aun t-vrenis-birchermesli

Note to Slowpoke and any others following this thread: These are easy to find at the Migros or Coop on the Romand side of the Röstigraben, but not as often on restaurant menus. When I took 21 of my students all over Switzerland for three weeks a good number of years ago, we were rating Birchermüeslis on a scale of 1 to 10, and the general consensus was that the one we had in Wengen was the best, with a 10+ out of 10, and that the one served in the buffet de la gare de Neuchâtel only rated a 1 out of 10.

<<"and that the one served in the buffet de la gare de Neuchâtel only rated a 1 out of 10.">>

I shall refrain from comments about the Röstigraben, mostly. And, I'll try to be positive. ;-)

I'd guess that the frites at Neuchatel were probably better then the frites at Wengen. ;-)

Did you try Fribourg?

For many years the buffet de la gare at Fribourg was high on the list of better station restaurants in Switzerland, with Arth Goldau near the bottom, if i recall correctly. There has been such attrition of serious station restaurants that those judgements may no longer be true, or may not have even been true when you made your tour.

And, for a further perspective on food culture, we were staying at a really nice bed and breakfast in Victoria, on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. The breakfast buffet was generous and had great variety. Cooked breakfast...eggs, bacon, etc., was also available. Really nice. Birchermüesli was on the buffet, with plenty of fruit, and bits of chocolate ( which seems to have disappeared form the Müesli that I get these days in Switzerland). No one knew what to make of it; no one except my wife and I took any of it. Someone asked what it was.......

Slowpoke

Bonjour Slowpoke,

<< Birchermüesli was on the buffet, with plenty of fruit, and bits of chocolate ( which seems to have disappeared form the Müesli that I get these days in Switzerland)>>. Bits of chocolate in a Bircher ??? Where in Switzerland would you find bits of chocolate in a Birchermüesli ? That should be verboten ! I have NEVER seen chocolate, not even dark chocolate, in a Birchermüesli anywhere in Switzerland. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE dark chocolate, but NOT in my Birchers. If you Google Image Birchermüesli, I don't think you will find a single one with chocolate bits in it. I just tried.

Just wondering; was that Birchermësli you had in Victoria a wet one or dry like a trail mix ? To the uninitiated, depending on what is in it, a wet Birchermûesli can look rather unappetizing, particularly to young people. Now this one look dé-li-cieux !

Do you remember the B&B Slowpoke? I grew up in Victoria. :)

I've never seen Birchermüesli in Canada before...Though I guess it is just oatmeal with fruit in it (and chocolate apparently). :)

Hi Lucas -

<<"Do you remember the B&B Slowpoke? I grew up in Victoria. :)">>

It was Mulberry Lodge. Not there anymore, apparently.

Slowpoke

This is what a Birchermüesli should look like ! NO CHOCOLATE !

I recall going to the Sonnenhof, a Swiss restaurant in Granby, QC, Canada a very long time ago, and I asked the waitress if they had Birchermüesli. She was French-Canadian and didn't have a clue what I was talking about. She went to the kitchen and repeated my question to the owner/cook. He was out to my table in no time; to say that he didn't have it on the menu and that I was the first customer who had even mentioned it. He told me to phone ahead if I was ever going to be there again and that he would make one. Unfortunately, before I got around to do this, he sold his business to a non-Swiss.

Hi Peterli -

In the early 1980's when I first traveled to Switzerland on business, we visited customers all over Europe, as well as in Switzerland. In those days, it was the custom to stay in fairly good hotels, when a visitor from the 'States came over.. We also had an arrangement for discounted rooms at the Hilton in Geneva, now the Kempinski.

I definitely recall a conversation with one of the business managers that went something like this -

"I noticed that there was no chocolate in the Müesli this morning."

"Yes, it's not always there, but you find it at the better hotels and inns. I tend to consider an indicator of the quality of the hotel."

He was a bit of a travel snob, and fussy, so he noticed those kinds of things.

I also recall having Müesli with small bits of dark chocolate in it at the then brand new Sheraton Atlantis near Triemli. That was my first trip to Switzerland.

I must admit that, apart from Geneva, we never stayed in Welschland. Perhaps it is just not done there. ;-)

Many things have disappeared from the Swiss table over the years.

It used to be almost universal to see those aluminum slabs on short legs which were warmed in the oven, and on which the second portion of your dinner was waiting for you, staying warm. Now, the second portion has almost disappeared.

3 or 4 years ago I walked past the restaurant near the station at Uitikon-Waldegg with a friend, and noticed a stack of the aluminum things stacked on a table near a window. We both noted how long it hand been since we had seen them.....many years, for sure.

Sometimes, though the second portion is still there at traditional restaurants...for example, the Kronenhalle in Zürich, they keep them off to the side somewhere and may even rewarm them over a flame at the tableside....happened to me last year with my Züri Geschnätlets... Geschnetzeltes in "high" German.

Slowpoke

Hi Peterli -

<<"Bits of chocolate in a Bircher ??? Where in Switzerland would you find bits of chocolate in a Birchermüesli ? That should be verboten ! I have NEVER seen chocolate, not even dark chocolate, in a Birchermüesli anywhere in Switzerland. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE dark chocolate, but NOT in my Birchers. If you Google Image Birchermüesli, I don't think you will find a single one with chocolate bits in it. I just tried.">

I queried my friend in Zürich, who tolerates foolish questions, since he has relatives who live in the USA.

Here is his response:

<<"The Bellevue in Bern certainly had no chocolate in the Muesli. I remember well, because I would not touch a Muesli with chocolate. From now on I will be on the watch out for chocolate spoilt Müeslis.">>

You win.

As I now recall, the places that I had it cater to a foreign clientele, and my friend at the office in Geneva was not a native Swiss.

We had a very diverse community there. Some liked chocolate bits in their Müesli. So do I.

Slowpoke

Merci vielmal, Peterli.

Nice picture of berry-Müesli.

It would look better with small bits of dark chocolate in it, in my contrarian opinion. ;-)

Slowpoke

Hello Slowpoke and Lucas and Yosephra and anybody esle who is still following this thread !

Well, well, I looked and looked and finally found a site called MyMüesli where one can indeed purchase Schoko-Müesli. Mind you it is made with milk chocolate. I attach a photo of this scrumptious looking meal. Yech ! Or perhaps Ouasch ! is a better word. I also attach another image of a Früchte-Müesli. So go ahead, all you dudes who like chocolate in your Birchers, put all the chocolate bits you want and be sure to ask for them in restaurants and the "better hotels and inns". 😉 Maybe you'd like some chocolate syrup as well ? Me, I'll just stick to my fruit Birchers. 😋

HI peterli -

<<"Me, I'll just stick to my fruit Birchers">>

Probably healthier.

However, it is nice to find that senile dementia has not yet advanced to the point where I am imagining things.

I am sure that the tainted Müesli that you found is the result of some sinister foreign influence on the cuisine, caused by immigrants, or bilateral agreements and EU regulations, no doubt. Then, perhaps adapted and refined by an enterprising Swiss merchant who seeks a market among the many visitors to Switzerland.

We'll see if the SVP can be persuaded to start a campaign against this trend. ;-)

Clearly, no true Swiss would consume it. Next time I'm in a Volg or a Kiosk or some other venue selling Lebensmittel in a tourist region, I'll look for it. Probably, Migros or Coop would not display it on athe shelf...perhaps they would keep it behind the counter, out of sight for those who ask when no Swiss are nearby. ;-)

One can tell that it was modified by a person with a Swiss palate - they chose milk chocolate for the Schoggi . '-)

My memory recalls dark chocolate in small irregular chips or shards, hand crafted by an artisan in the kitchen, no doubt. Or else, maybe a dark chocolate bar dropped on a cold hard floor in a storeroom andbroke into pieces, and a frugal Swiss chef thought that it could be put in the Müesli instead of thrown away.

I find the earth tones in the color scheme of the presentation of the Schoko-Müesli to be soothing , by the way. Desirable for me at breakfast, because I prefer to wake up slowly.

One is tempted to ask about the Müesli mit Früchten that you have shown, by the way - "With all that appetizing fruit, who needs the horse fodder?" ;-)

Can you find Müesli in North Carolina?

Slowpoke

Hej Slowpoke,

It was fun reading your latest contribution. 😉

<< We'll see if the SVP can be persuaded to start a campaign against this trend. >>

Good idea ! I will send a message to Albert Rösti, President of the UDC (SVP) with the idea of a "votation", but I suspect they have other more important fish (like the "No Billag" one on March 4) to fry these days.

<<..and a frugal Swiss chef thought that it could be put in the Müesli instead of thrown away. >>

As long as he only served it to Americans he might get away with it. 😉

<< Can you find Müesli in North Carolina? >>

I haven't looked for it here in NC. No doubt the boxed dry ingredients will be in some grocery stores. Maybe I can buy what is needed (apples and other fruits, etc) and make one from scratch for meine Schwester, aber ohne Schokolade !

Wow what a discussion. I dont think I can afford Muesli, but I will try to check on it once we arrived. Thank you!

Look for them in a Migros or a Coop. Not expensive at all. And they won't have any chocolate in them. A good Birchermüesli is the best way to start your day.