6 Days in Luzern Region
 

My mother and I will be staying with family friends in Malters, Switzerland (a town very close to Luzern). I have 1 day planned in Zurich, 3 in Luzern (Mt Rigi, Mt Titlis, Panoramawelt), and 1 in Interlaken (a tour of Gimmelwald and a hike in the Gimmelwald area). We will be traveling by train from Luzern to Interlaken and back on the same day (I believe it is about a 2 hour trip both ways), so that we don't have to get accomodations in Interlaken.
We have one day remaining to fill. What do you recommend we do for this day? Another day in Interlaken to go to Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn, or something else in Luzern?
I guess I am wondering whether it is worth the journey to Interlaken and back to go a second time, and whether there are some unique experiences that I don't know about.

Any advice about these regions would be appreciated! It is my first time overseas, and my first time planning a trip! Ahh!

If traveling by train from Lucerne to Gimmelwald and other places in 8 consecutive days then by all means investigate a Swiss Pass for 8 straight days - the fare from Lucerne to Gimmelwald and back could pay for a large chunk of the pass itself - 100% valid to whole way to Gimmelwald and back and also can be used on lake boats on Lake Lucerne - be sure to do that at least once.

You can incorporate Lake Lucerne boat rides with visits to Titlis and Rigi if you like - going by boat part way to join the Engleberg rail line or to Vitznau or Weggis to take either mountain trains or aerial cable ways to Rigi - all 100% covered by a Swiss Pass, which is also valid at museums in Lucerne, Bern, etc.

For lots of great info IMO on Swiss trains, boats, passes and things like Half-Fare Card I always spotlight these IMO fantastic sources - www.swisstravelsystem.com; http://www.budgeteuropetravel.com/id3.html and www.ricksteves.com. One thing about an 8-consecutive day pass, which neatly fits your time frame, is that it virtually coves all public transports you will take - including city buses and trams - just hop on as well as postal buses, lake boats, etc besides trains. A Saverpass is two to 5 names on one pass and is cheaper than solo passes - all names on the pass need not be on a train or boat, etc for the pass to be valid - one of the two or whatever can use the pass at times by themself.

I would consider a trip to the lovely nearby lakeside town of Zug (20 minutes from Luzern by train), home of the Zuger Kirschtorte (a special cherry cake). There is a tower next to the police station, where one can get a key (for a refundable deposit) for fantastic views of the area.

It is not clear whether your relatives will be transporting you or whether you two will be travelling by train, but point to point tickets to Zug are about 12 CHF roundtrip.
Another nearby town very worthy of a visit is Einsiedeln, home of a famous monastery with the "Black Madonna" figure and stables of famous horses behind the monastery. The monastery also makes and sells their own wine. Einsiedeln also has a century old Lebkuchen (spice cake) store to visit.
About 22 CHF roundtrip.

My final suggestion would be Rapperswil at 1 hr 20 minutes (about 54 CHF roundtrip). There you will find a pretty harbor lined with cafes, a castle above town looks beautiful from afar, but "only" houses a small Polish nuseum (ie, not a typical castle interior). Nonetheless, views from it are beautiful. There is a deerpark below.

I have visited each of these areas. If you wish to read details in a past trip report, click on my name and scroll down to get it!
When will you be going? Happy travels!

Oops! My mistake--fare to Rapperswil is only 34 CHF roundtrip.

You can check the price of point-to-point rail tickets at
www.sbb.ch/en/home.html to see whether a pass is the best
option for you.

Personally, I would not use your free day for yet another mountain trip (I know, heresy to some!)

PalenQ, the 8 consecutive day SwissPass is a great suggestion. I crunched some numbers, and the passes should pay for themselves (plus, they will be much more convenient than buying individual tickets for everything). Although, I am not sure we can get the 2-5 adult pass, as I am a youth. Do you know if they are stringent about this? I would get the youth discount, but the saver pass is actually cheaper.

Thank you for the suggestions mokka4! Those towns sound great, and you are right, I don't want to be "mountained-out", so we will definitely explore some towns (this will also be a good alternative to a mountain trip if there is bad weather). We will be in Switzerland in mid-August!

you do not specify when you are going which renders all info. above invalid/

you can't go to the jungfrau from coming from luzern because you won't know what the weather will be like until you get to interlaken/

there is no use going up to the schilthorn or the jungfrau if the skies are not clear of clouds/

if you are doing this trip in the next 30-40 days, do know that many times tickets up to the jungfrau are sold out by 11 am because this is high tourist season/

people come from all over the world to travel up to the top of the jungfrau/

why are you hiking at gimmelwald/

have you ever been to gimmelwald/


the performance artist known as razr//

oops! And our friends won't be able to transport us as they will be at work most of the days unfortunately!

Thanks for the advice Pepper_von_snoot. We will be in Switzerland starting August 7th, so it is good to know that tickets go fast.
Neither my mother or myself have been overseas, but Gimmelwald was recommended by several sources that I have watched and read (Rick Steves in particular). We are hiking there because I read about a lovely hike down into the Sefinental Valley, and we both love nature and hiking.
Have you ever been to Gimmelwald? Do you have any comments about the area?

gimmelwald is a tiny town/

there really isn't much there save a few houses, a hotel, and maybe two small cafes/

you do see hikers walking through gimmelwald, but they seem to be serious hikers/

if you just want to go for a nice easy hike, i and many others would suggest--

mannlichen to kleine scheidegg/

lauterbrunnen to stechelberg/

murren to grutscalp/

there is nothing wrong with gimmelwald, but there are far better walks with staggering views in the bo/


razr//

The walk down from Murren to Gimmelwald is also a nice short easy stroll - paved walkway along edge of cliff as I recall - or you can take the cable car.

The walk Gimmelwald to the Lauterbrunnen Valley is a more serious and much longer hike - even going down can be strenuous as muscles must help the leg/foot brake constantly.

Hi Brooke, Could I ask you - how do you intend to spend your day in panoramawelt. We will be in Luzern for a couple of days at the end of the month and am interested to know what made you pick a day at Lungern.

Yeh as Pepper says some of those other walks offer scintillating views and vistas whereas the walk down from Gimmelwald offers a much more limited view - going downhill thru forests - the Grtuschalp to Murren walk and Murren to Gimmelwald are mainly near the edge of the cliff with the magnificent Lauterbrunnen Valley far below and the glacier-girdled Jungfrau Massif high above the other side of that narrow valley.

Papper and PalenQ, thank you for the advice again. I think we still want to see Gimmelwald and meet some people there, as we are interested in seeing a small traditional Swiss town, but we will choose a different hike - one that is easier and has better views. The Murren to Gimmelwald walk sounds very nice.

A_Guy_80, we will take the cable car from Lungern and chair lift to Schonbuel and then hike to the summit of Brienzer Rothorn. The views are supposedly breathtaking. There are various other activities available here, such as chocolate pouring, the butterfly path etc.

Thanks Brooke. Yeah I have heard that too that it's a very nice walk but we decided to miss it as it is one of those challenging walks with lot of ascent and descent. Hope you have good good weather and great time :)

Gimmelwald is a one of a kind place - very very one of a kind - not a town at all but just a farming hamlet - strung out along about a mile or so and just out in the middle of stunning panoramas of glacier-girdled Alps and rocky vistas as far as the eye can see.

The local hotel/restaurant there is famous for its meals and makes a unique place to stay overnight - I stayed in the adjacent HI youth hostel once and my companions stayed in the hotel with lots of fluffy feather beds to snuggle with, etc.

so yes do not miss Gimmelwald - a special place - yet to use as a base perhaps not most folks cups of tea but it can be a viable base if you are seeking total solitude at night and total quietness.

I savor my one night stay in such a place but was ready to get out the next day as I more enjoy a proper town with stores, restaurants, people watching, etc.

if you just want to go for a nice easy hike, i and many others would suggest--

mannlichen to kleine scheidegg/>

Again Pepper is right on - this is the most popular walk in the whole Jungfrau Region and a very easy one at that - a ridge walk from The Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg - though it is not as flat as I remember (pepper set me straight on that a few weeks ago!) is does not ascend quickly anywhere and is, for the high altitude, a very easy walk - I have even seen baby carriages doing it - but the Mannlichen is one of the most celebrated viewpoints in Switzerland - over both the Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald valleys far below and also over Interlaken, lovingly wedged between the two lakes that bookend it.

All along the walk you get greats views of both valleys at times and if you walk towards Kl Scheidegg the Jungfrau Massif in all its glory is right in front of you most of the way.

At Kl Scheidegg you can hop trains to the Jungfraujoch or trains down to Grindelwald or Wengen/Lauterbrunnen - I also walked down from Kl Scheidegg once to Wengen and it was a longer but very easy walk with great views over the Lauterbrunnen Valley the whole way - a trail large enough for mountain bikes to be using it so easy for foot traffic.