The additional time you travel will entirely depend on your destination and time of day. For instance a one-way trip between Engelberg and Kriens will add from 44 minutes to 1 hour 19 minutes. And a one-way trip to Interlaken will be an additional 13 to 20 minutes.

Look at http://www.sbb.ch/pv/index_e.htm You can go to and enter the destination of the places you are most interested in going to, to decide if Kriens is worth the additional traveling time for you.

Having said that I can tell you that Kriens is not that much of an inspiring place, very much a "working class" (as far as working class goes in high standard of living Switzerland goes) town and not near the Lake. Your evening options may be limited. There are other towns nearby that may interest you that are right on the rail lines. Hergiswil is on the Lake and has direct trains towards Engelberg, Lucerne and Interlaken. Less then 15 minutes into Lucerne www.hergiswil.ch

Sorry, but I can't imagine someone wanting to stay in Kriens (or Hergiswil)or anything else nearby rather than Luzern, unless it's summer, you have a car, and want to stay on the lake.

Otherwise, for goodness sake, stay in the city. It's such a lovely little city. Interesting to walk about. Nice restaurants. Several sights.

And why lose time on day trips or other by adding an extra 'wait for the next bus, tram or train' every time you go in one direction or another?

Not knowing your complete schedule, plans or situation I may be off base for your particular visit ... but, please, consider staying IN Luzern.

Ed

I appreciate the input! The only reason we were looking at Kriens instead of right in Lucerne was that there is a time share we might be able to exchange into, so it would be FREE. I was afraid that the situation would be as you state. Can you recommend any reasonable hotels in Lucerne with private bath? Thanks.

Quite hard to pass up a freebie. In defense of Kriens the tram goes directly to the main station which is just 3-4 minutes from the heart of town, adjacent to the steamer landing, and of course the head-of-line for many other buses and trams.

Our recommendation for a low-priced stay in Luzern would be:
The Villa Maria is a two-star 'garni' (no dining room), and the Goldener Stern a full (**). Both include a breakfast. A double with bath/shower runs CHF130-150 depending on room and date; both have rooms (typically about half) without bath for less. We've stayed at none. The GS is only 8 blocks from the railway station -- quiet location near the Franziskaner church garden. (The bell can be noisy; you may want to ask for a room on the street.) The Villa Maria is near the Transportation Museum, conveniently about 2 km by Bus #2 from the station; described as Swiss-clean, with English-speaking owners, and quite nice by a recent visitor.
Villa Maria PH: 041 370 21 19 Fax 041 370 21 19 (same)
Goldener Stern: PH: 041 227 50 601 Fax 227 50 61


Ed

Ed, thanks for the suggestions!