Advice needed: Skip Zurich/Lucerne?
 

Hello everyone!
My husband and I are taking our honeymoon in Europe and will be visiting London, Switzerland, and Italy (in that order) in August. We have devoted about 2.5/ 3 days to Switzerland, where our main focus will be on seeing the beautiful Alps. With that in mind, I would appreciate some advice.

Upon landing in Zurich at about 4 pm on a Monday, do you advise heading straight from the airport in Zurich to Wengen (where we would like to stay to see the Alps) , and staying there for the entire time to maximize time spent in the mountains, or do you think it's worthwhile to spend a bit of time in Zurich (Lake Zurich, the Old City, Bahnofstrasse, etc) and Lucerne (Mt Rigi, Titlis) before heading to Wengen? (e.g. touring Zurich the day we land, then staying the night (monday evening) in Lucerne, exploring Lucerne/Titlis the next day (Tuesday) then heading to Wengen Tuesday night through Thursday morning.)

We are leaving to Milan-Venice that Thursday morning (to take advantage of the scenic route to Italy, which takes around 8 hours), so in actuality it would only be two full days in Switzerland :( I know it's not much....
Is Lucerne/Zurich worthwhile to see, even if it means detracting from limited time spent in the Alps?

Would appreciate any advise, please!

With such a short time in Switzerland - and especially on a honeymoon - I would head straight for the mountains. I haven't visited Lucerne, but I have been to Zurich, and while it is a perfectly fine city in a pretty location - if ruinously expensive - it pales in comparison to the mountains.

drop zurich

Head straight away to Wengen - the rest pales in terms of having dreamy Swiss Alps.

Zurich to Interlaken-Ost- then mountain train to Lauterbrunnen and change to even tinier mountain train to Wengen. For lots on Swiss trains and the Jungfrau area transports check www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. If doing the very expensive Jungfraujoch trains get a Half-Fare Card which gives 50% off all trains and transport devices in Switzerland - well worth it.

With so little time, I also think going straight to Wengen makes sense.

Wow, thank you @thursdaysd, @bilboburgler, @PalenQ and @kja for your prompt responses!! Based on your answers, it seems like the Alps are much more worthwhile to see.

The only reason why I'm still hesitating is because I saw an amazing video of Mt. Titlis Glacier Caves...and it looked stunning. Are there any glaciers/caves like that in the Bernese Oberland region near Wengen?

Are there any glaciers/caves like that in the Bernese Oberland region near Wengen?>

Yes at the Jungfraujoch summit train station you have similar ice caves and at the Schilthorn too.

everything Titlis has the Jungfrau area has more of and lots more varied things too.

What if the weather doesn't co-operate? This year so far it's been sun and rain on and off. You would hate being stuck up in Wengen in the clouds and rain. Frankly, I'd book something in both Wengen and Lucerne that you're able to cancel one or two days before you fly over. And decide with the weather forecast in focus.

Ingo makes a salient point - check week forecasts before going as Wengen in the rain yes is well not so nice - but if a day of rain comes up it is not too far to day trip to Lucerne - via Interlaken-Ost via a scenic route up and over the Brunig Pass, part of the Golden Pass scenic train route - would take probably about 3 hours each way though from Wengen but if the weather is nice nothing is as gorgeous as the Jungfrau Region and Wengen.

Or maybe stay in Grindelwald - also a neat mountain town though more crowded and active but closer to Interlaken and Lucerne.

If you base in Wengen and encounter rainy weather, there are several options. The open air museum at Ballenberg can be done on a somewhat drippy day without the weather killing the experience. For an even rainier day, a daytrip to Bern (with its arcaded streets) is a good way to spend the time. Trumellbach Falls can also be done when it's cloudy or lightly raining (you get wet seeing the falls anyway).

One other suggestion: an arrival in Zurich, consider traveling to Wengen via Luzern--it adds about an hour to the trip, but it's a more scenic trip than going through Bern.

I would just stay in the mountains.

Zurich is primarily a business city and can easily be dropped.

Lucerne is a charming town well worth a visit - but with only 2 days you have to focus on one place.

What if the weather doesn't cooperate? Well, they ARE on their honeymoon.....:)

Lucerne is a very nice city. I've been there twice, once six years ago, and once two years ago. The number of tourists there had tripled since my first visit. Maybe Wengen is just as crowded, I don't know. Some of the train stations we passed near Interlaken were heaving with people. This was in June, 2014.

Every Alpine area in Switzerland of note attracts lots of people but Wengen is a whole lot smaller and less crowded than say Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen.

And the fact that Wengen is car-less whereas the other two are readhable by car, bus, etc makes them much more busier.

Murren too is car-less.

Honeymoon or not, I think ingo has (as always) raised a good point. But like bvlenci, I found the number of tourists in Lucerne when I visited last (June, 2013) overwhelming -- a stunning contrast to my first visit there, in 1989. It is lovely, though, and it offers a great deal that I treasured. Maybe you could look for an option just outside of Lucerne -- maybe Weggis? I'm no expert! -- as your back up? If you select carefully, with attention to the requirements for cancelling in advance, you might be able to make a final decision once the weather can be predicted with a bit more certainty....

It depends on what type of person you are. I don't like Luzern much but I wouldn't say no to a day in Zürich, although I'd much rather spend that day in Geneva or Lugano.

So, if I landed at 4 pm I'd rent a car, spend the night in Zürich, walk around Zürich for a few hours and then drive to the Jungfrau via Luzern. For me, a couple of hours in Luzern is enough.

If it's raining in the Jungfrau, try Zermatt. I prefer it to the Jungfrau, possibly because I sometimes I go skiing there.