Rosita and I arrived in the beautiful lake city of Lucerne, Switzerland by train at 5:30 PM on Wednesday. We started our journey from Cochem Germany at 9:20 AM and arrived 8 hours later. We were tired but pumped about being in Switzerland and Lucerne. We walked the two blocks to our hotel, The Renaissance by Marriott. We checked in and after suggestions by the staff we walked 2 blocks to old Lucerne and had dinner at Zunfthaus zu Pfistern. Don’t ask me how to pronounce it. We sat out side with a view of the River Reuss. We both had the Veal and pork pastry. It was very good and we also had the bread fondue. I wanted it because it looked so good. The cheese was good but I was not too crazy about the bread. Over all a very good meal.
The next morning we took a scenic train ride on the Golden Pass line to Montreux, Switzerland. The scenery on this trip was absolutely beautiful! This train ride was well worth the trip to Switzerland. We were on 4 trains and it took us 5 1/2 hours to go from Lucerne to Montreux. In Montreux, we got off the train, walked 3 or 4 blocks and a large flight of stairs and found a French Restaurant overlooking Lake Geneva. We had a leisurely lunch, then walked back to the train station and took a 2 1/2 hour regular train back to Lucerne. We were tired so we bought sandwiches and snacks at the train station in Lucerne, went back and dined in our room.
Friday was our day to explore Lucerne. We ate breakfast in our hotel. It was a very large buffet with about everything I have ever heard of for breakfast. If it was not on the buffet, they would make it for you. Then we set out to walk around Old Lucerne.
We walked across the River Reuss by way of the Chapel Bridge or Kapellbrücke in German. We spent time looking at the paintings inside the bridge. It is the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe and is worth a little extra time to explore. We walked around the shops of Old Lucerne. I could go broke and get really fat buying chocolate in all of the chocolate shops around town. Swiss army knives were easily available here and we saw Cuckoo Clocks in several shops. There are several fantastic pastry shops. Down River from the Chapel Bridge is the Spreuer Bridge or Mühlenplatz. It is a slightly younger wooden covered bridge with a series of paintings depicting the plague and death.
After wandering around old town we decide to make our way to see the remaining town wall or Musegg Wall, that protected the city in older times. There are 8 towers that sit atop the wall. We found a narrow stairway to walk up to the wall and you can walk between a couple of the towers. There were not many people around so it was a nice pleasant place to relax and enjoy the view. I climbed up the watch tower and had some amazing views. The stairs are steep, narrow and winding, but unless you have problems with stairs or are claustrophobic you should be able to navigate them.
Then we walked west to the famous Lion Monument or Löwendenkmal of a dying lion. I was following the apple map directions on my iPhone to find it. Just as I thought I was lost, I started seeing more and more people walking our way. We soon found the park with some benches to sit to enjoy the view of the monument. It is a nice place to relax and people watch. We saw several tours come and go while sitting here. The park has a public restroom.
Next we walked back to the lakefront and bought sandwiches and delicious cream pastries from a little shop on the waterfront. We ate sitting on a bench while watching the boats on Lake Lucerne and the other tourists walking along the lakefront.
After lunch we found a large boat that offered an hour long tour of Lake Lucerne. We went out several miles into Lake Lucerne and saw some great views. It was a very enjoyable boat ride although the boat was crowded.
After the boat ride we headed back to our hotel and a short rest before dinner. We went back toward the train station and had dinner at a small Japanese Sushi restaurant we had spotted earlier. We were tired and wanted something quick and close. I know, I should have found some more authentic Swiss food because this place had very average sushi at very high prices and certainly was not quick!
The next morning we got up early and made our way to the train station and another full day of riding trains on our way to Florence Italy.
Lucerne was a very beautiful and pleasant town to visit. There were many tourists here but it did not seen nearly as crowed as Florence or Venice. I highly recommend putting this city on your map if you are considering going to this area. It only took 6 hours to get to Florence, Italy from Lucerne so it is very easy to make this destination a part of a trip to Italy.
25 Comments
Excellent, thank you for sharing.
I was in Lucerne early this year and only visited mount Pilatus. I will add your article link to my blog to enhance the Lucerne sight seeing tips if you don’t mind.
Elyssa
Hello Elyssa. I definitely don’t mind. Feel free to add the link. Thank You for stopping by and I hope the article is helpful to you.
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