Zurich – Lucerne – Wengen – a memorable holiday

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    19 May 2019 at 17:53:21 #821725

    Thank you to everyone who gave us heaps of ideas for our trip and made it a memorable experience for us all. We firstly travelled on a 20 hour flight from Brisbane Australia with a 4 hour stopover in Singapore on May 6 and landed in Zurich very excited to actually step foot in Switzerland and to start our 2 week holiday. My 2 Aunties, my Mother and Myself. The view of the snow capped mountains from the plane will be something that will never be forgotten. So if you can plan your holidays so that you travel during the daylight and when there is snow, then it is amazing. We planned our first 2 nights in a Zurich hotel booked by our Travel Agent. We wanted to cook most nights for ourselves and decided to drop into a local Supermarket to stock up on some basics for our first couple of nights. On arrival to the hotel, we realised there was no fridge for our milk, butter and Yoghurt etc, but it was so cold outside that we decided that outside on our window ledge would have to be our fridge for the next couple of nights. Luckily no-one was able to see it from our upper floor, I hoped. But it worked. Zurich was a lovely City. We walked the local streets and small shops and admired the trees down the side streets which were beautiful. We also headed to Uetliberg for a superb view over Zurich City. It was an easy walk up to the top by road and the tomato soup in the restaurant when we got off the train was to die for. Our hotel was directly above a tram stop, in which trams passed by frequently, so arriving at the stops and just waiting wasn’t a problem. The transport system, was a little to get used to but it didn’t take long and we got the hang of it. If you like flowers, you must visit one of the florist shops. The different display of flowers in which don’t grow in the hotter climates of Australia are amazing.

    As we headed to our next accommodation just outside of Luzern we were amazed at the green pastures and rivers running alongside the trainline and the tulips and poppies displayed in Luzern on the roundabouts and near the lake were breathtaking. We took a trip on one of the paddle steamers from Luzern to Vitznau and stopped into Weggis on our way. I loved Weggis with the beautiful pink tulips on the waterfront and the mountains in the background. We were talked into trying a sausage (wurst I believe) from a gentleman selling them near the waterfront. Ohhhh! Yumm! We had to go back for more. Walking around the waterfront of Weggis was another of my most memorable moments. Recommend going when flowers are blooming. Our next trip was to Mt Titlis and another memorable moment (have I said that before). I braved the suspension bridge in which the rest of the group declined as they were older. It was extremely cold, blowy and snowing. I just managed to take a short video crossing the bridge before I had to put my hands back into my gloves thinking one of my fingers might snap off. I remember my mother laughing as I came back inside with snow all over me and looking like I had been through a blizzard. I also walked through the Ice Cave. Managed to video myself talking a fall on the slippery ice in the cave. Only my pride was hurt when everyone back home laughed at it. The Cave was awesome and well worth it. We stayed 3 nights in Luzern, then headed for Wengen.

    We booked a chalet in Wengen as it was recommended on MyswissAlps as being lovely, and it was. But would recommend getting accommodation close to railway as an uphill walk to your hotel is exhausting after you have already been out all day. Even though a taxi is available, it will cost you 20-25CHF each time. We ended up paying for a taxi as 3 in our group were over 70 and it got too much for them in the end as well as myself and I am 47. We visited Grindelwald Canyon. Fantastic, even though half of it was closed due to chances of avalanches (was what we were told) but they discounted the ticket price a little. Two of us managed to walk the net which was exciting and you do get a little bit wet so take a light raincoat or jacket. We also visited Trummelbach Falls near Lauterbrunnen. There were a lot of stairs, but it was great to see and hear the force of the water in these falls. There is an elevator, but once you get into the falls there are quite a few stairs. Next was Harder Kulm. The funicular up was very steep and fantastic. I sat up the front to watch it going up and then sat at the front again coming down to see the view. It was well worth the visit looking over the lakes and mountains and saying hello to the ‘cow’ up on top (my mum in the picture with the cow). Next was ‘First’ Mountain from Grindelwald. Again it was very cold doing the cliff walk but very much recommend it. The water coming out of the pipes nearest the restaurant was frozen and we saw icicles formed on the side of the mountain during the cliff walk. It was so comforting walking into the heated restaurants when it was time to eat but having to brave the cold afterwards was still awesome. We decided to do the glider. They strapped the four of us in alongside each other (oldest being 82) and off they took us up the mountain with me in hysterics with excitement and some of us wondering what we got ourselves into, then off we went down again. A lot of fun, but would try the sitting up one next time as we couldn’t see much in front of us, just snow down underneath as we couldn’t lift our heads up far. But was great. Some guys lining up as we walked out had a laugh at our expense as they saw my 82 year old Aunty walk out after she got off smiling and my other Aunty crossing her legs in hysterics. Of course I just had a smile from ear to ear. We finally sentled down and after having some lunch in the heated restaurant we headed off. We were starting to slow down and decided to take a cable car up to Murren. Lovely walk through town and a good photo opportunity about half way. Looks like you are very close to the edge of the cliff, but once you walk up to it its not really if that makes sense. There will be plenty of people there so you shouldnt miss it.

    Our 5 nights in Wengen was coming to a close. We travelled back to Zurich the next morning and stayed in our final hotel near the Airport where we relaxed and watched plane land and take off. Flew out the next day and took loads of awesome memories with us hoping to next time bring both my daughters back with me to experience this wonderful and beautiful Country. Even though I took hundreds of pihotos, nothing will ever erase the memories I will carry in my mind of my experiences in this lovely country Switzerland. I will be back.

    Regards Phillipa

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