What about reviews of the Hotel Pickwick. I've read that it is mostly for younger travelers (which I am one). I got a rate of CHF 125 per night, and the hotel itself looks nice. It's right on the river, and not too far from the train station... Any opinions?

Candyqueen:

I got the following info from the Switzerlandisyours website. If the Mr. Pickwick they refer to is the same Pickwick you're looking at, it's located above a pub.

Lucerne : Inexpensive hotels

Des Alpes
Comfortable rooms, some with balconies, in an old building with a picturesque waterfront setting and a good restaurant.
Rathausquai 5
Phone : ++41 041/410 58 25
Fax : ++41 041/410 74 51
Web . www.forum.ch/des-alpes

City
Very basic place a little west of the centre on a busy street (so ask for a back room), with poky rooms laid with lino that are nonetheless kept clean.
Baselstrasse 15
Phone : ++41 041/410 40 40
Fax : ++41 041/410 40 60

Derby
Plain, decent, generic ?garni? place in the Old Town, with compact, characterless rooms.
Falkengasse 4
Phone : 041/410 26 62
Fax : ++41 041/410 42 82

Löwengraben
Luzern?s Old Town prison from 1862 to 1998, now converted into a surprisingly classy, comfortable hotel. The staff frogmarch you down the long corridors to the spotlessly refurbished cells, some with en-suite shower and all with barred windows. Prime choice is the panelled Director?s Suite, the former prison governor?s office, with a double bed where the desk used to be.
Löwengraben 18
Phone : ++41 041/417 12 12
Fax : ++41 041/417 12 11
E-mail : [email protected]

Mr Pickwick
In spartan contrast to Des Alpes next door, an English-style pub with rooms above, sharing the excellent views but not the welcoming management style of its neighbour.
Rathausquai 6
Phone : ++41041/410 59 27
Fax : ++41 041/410 51 08

Schlüssel
By far the most characterful low-end accommodation in town, and the oldest hotel in Luzern to boot. Some rooms overlook the quiet square and the formal gardens of the eighteenth-century Segesser mansion.
Franziskanerplatz 12
Phone : ++41 041/210 10 61
Fax : ++41 041/210 10 21

Tourist
Clean, bright and very central, this has the atmosphere of a student dorm although the quality of the rooms (and the management) belies that. Some have suntrap balconies facing the river ? peaceful, since the bankside road is quiet.
St Karliquai 12
Phone : ++41 041/410 24 74
Fax : ++41 041/410 84 14
E-mail : [email protected]
Web : www.touristhotel.ch

I had looked into the Mr. Pickwick because of location/view and low price. It's 110 chf/nt cheaper than the Des Alpes at that time of year (though MrP does not include breakfast). In the end, I took the Des Alpes because of feedback from others and discussion in Rough Guide that MrP is more of a young, backpackers place.

If price/view combo is your major criterion, and you don't mind the possibility that it has a younger, more "active" crowd, then it could work. If price plus a more sedate crowd is your thing, you might look into the Alpha or Lowengraben.

Before I went to Interlaken a few years ago, we stopped in the small town of Bey. I believe we started in Lauserne(sp?) and took a bus to Bey. It was absolutely breathtaking! There is a beautiful hostel/chateaux overlooking the most marvelous scenery. I would only go here if you need some time to chill out. Nothing to do but hike, eat cheese and chocolate! Might be worth some more research if you are interested. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Do go with Luzern. I think Bern is an attractive little city (it reminds me a bit of Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany), but it really doesn't offer much for most travelers for more than a day. Luzern is even more beautiful, has amazing natural surroundings, and you can go to the top of mountains, take a cruise on the lake, and lots of other great things. You won't regret picking Luzern.

As far as Gimmelwald goes, it has some charm, but I would greatly prefer to stay in nearby Murren. You can still visit Gimmelwald.

Hi candyqueen. Thank goodness, Ingo, defends Bern, which I remember as a graceful old town with arcaded streets and a dandy collection of fountains. However, if you are traveling by train, there's no need to move there. It's a quick hour from Interlaken's west station. Easy trip, and you can probably combine it with a visit to Thun, if you're one of those "what's there to do there?" people. And while I'm on the subject, you can visit Lucerne as a daytrip from Interlaken Ost as well, if you love train rides through gorgeous scenery -- in this case, be sure to choose the train which travels via Brienze and Lungern through the Brunig pass rather than the ones that route you through Bern. This trip is about 2 hours, so you do have to like trains.

You can also visit Bern from Lac Leman, if you'll consider staying in Montreux or Lausanne instead of Geneva. By the way, Lausanne is also a lovely old town that very few people mention.

I guess my long-winded point is that I think you should divide your time between
your two places without scheduling another hotel in between. There are so many daytrip possibilities from Interlaken and Lac Leman (notice that I wish you could be tempted toward Montreux, Vevey, Rivaz, or Lausanne rather than Geneva), that you could stay seven nights in each. J.

Apologies for overuse of commas and adding an 'e' to Brienz -- typing faster than I'm thinking.

also one too many returns and a missing 's' on routes. Don't mock me; I'm a teacher. Or maybe I'm Monk. whatever. Switzerland is wonderful.

In September 2002 we spent two days at the HOTEL ALPINA in Murren. It is the area in Switzerland we most want to go back to. The hotel was about $85 at the time, but now costs more. Hotel was nothing fancy, but was clean with comfortable beds and a spectacular view from the balcony. The breakfast was substantial and there's a Co-op grocery store if you want to skip a couple of restaurant meals to splurge on a room with a view. http://www.muerren.ch/alpina/

We also spent two days at the HOTEL ZUM HIRSCHEN in Kussnacht am Rigi - a fifteen minute train ride out of Lucerne. We were close enough to enjoy the city, but far enough out to stick to our budget and enjoy the small town atmosphere. The town was pretty and most of the time we wanted to be there instead of Lucerne, but had the option. http://www.zurichhotels.biz/forview/...-hirschen.html

Good points, jw! The idea not to move to a different town is wonderful. I am getting old :)

Ingo

I'm with Ingo and jmw44. I loved Bern. Besides the good list from Ingo, I would add to Ingo's comments:

Tour of the Swiss Parliament. It's loosely based on the U.S. system. Our tour guide (in English) was terrific. You need to make a reservation for the tour and arrive early because security is very tight.

Alpine Museum. We enjoyed our "preview" of the Berner Oberland area through the displays and the history of alpine exploration and tourism.

View of the city from the Rose Garden. We were there in October, and it was a bit gray. Made for a wonderfully moody photo of the town. In the spring or summer, it would be spectacularly green and colorful.

The Clocktower is great. Tour was very informative and the seeing the mechanics from the inside was fascinating.

Did anyone mention the fountains all over town? It was fun to track them all down as we wandered around.

The historic core of Bern has World Heritage status and deserves it.

An aside with apologies to candyqueen: Ingo, I suppose you might not know who Monk is. There's a television series in the states in which the hero is an obsessive/compulsive ex-policeman. I'm obviously not an ex-policeman, but I think I'm becoming more obsessive by the day. In my classroom I like the tables just so, but I explain to the students that it is a matter of aesthetics rather than a psychological problem. (please, God.) J.