Charming towns & hotels/inns on Lake Lucerne
 

I'm thinking that somewhere on the Lake would be a good stopping over point for one or two nights between Zurich and Grindelwald.

Is Weggis the best bet? Any recommendations on a charming place to stay?

And would someone please tell me is it Luzerne, Luzern, or Lucerne? All seem to be used.

Weggis is indeed a charming town. Vitznau is also nice but smaller.

Four languages are spoken in Switzerland and consequently, many towns have more than one spelling.

Luzern: German
Lucerna: Italian
Lucerne: French and English
Rumantsch is the fourth language.

Amazingly, our small country functions almost flawlessly, despite the four languages.

Wrenwood---it is "Luzern" in German and "Lucerne" in English. "Luzerne" is a county in Pennsylvania!

And the lake is not "Lake Lucerne" but rather Vierwaldstättersee.

Weggis is nice, but we absolutely loved staying in Rigi Kaltbad, up above there (arrive by cablecar from Weggis, or train from Vitznau). The views from up there are incredible.

We liked the place we stayed, but I have seen so many recommendations for the Bergsonne that next time iI would try there:

http://www.bergsonne.ch/

We stayed in Weggis, and I can highly recommend this hotel. It is family run, and the pool & sauna is right on the water.

http://www.gotthard-weggis.ch/01_seiten/startE.htm ((b))

I think anywhere you pick on the lake would be dreamy! It is absolutely beautiful. There are many little villages to stay in, and most are easily accessible from the ferries that ply the waters.

There are hotels that fit every budget. If you feel like a splurge (we've done this only once, lol!) you might check into these:

www.parkhotel-vitznau.ch
(be sure to watch the slide show on the home page, lots of beautiful views of the lake and the hotel features)

-or-

www.buergenstock-hotels.ch
Even if you don't stay here, the views are terrific as it's up high via a funicular. A great stop if you're out for a ride on the lake. There's even a great walk up to an "on the cliff" elevator which takes you higher.

Happy travels!

It is only a 2 hour drive between Zurich and Grindelwald. How much time are you spending in the Berner Oberland? Maybe this time would be better spent there.

Don't get me wrong, I love Luzern but I would probably spend my time IN Luzern. Still, there are so many lovely places in the Berner Oberland like Spiez or Brienz that are on a lake -- it's hard to decide!!

We will be in Grindelwald for 5 days starting Sept 20th.

One brother-in-law and his wife may be with us when we leave Darmstadt on the 17th. She loves lakes so if they were with us we thought to spend some time at Bodensee or Lake Luzern ( opps! Vierwaldstättersee!) before Grindelwald.

It's also possible they would fly into Zurich instead of Frankfurt as she is a former Delta employee so they fly standby, and won't know until they look at loads where or when they will be arriving.

And, we may pick up another sister-in-law at Zurich on the 19th, so we need to be close to Zurich, which made me start to think about Luzern rather than Bodensee.

Having been over to Europe a few times now, we have found the best thing for us has been to take an afternoon nap the first day in, so I thought while she was snoozing we could do something around the Lake before heading to Grindelwald on the 20th.

Obviously I have great in-laws! I'm one of the lucky ones!

I'm usually the one "researching" the best places to stay as I have more time at the computer in July and August. I'm still undecide between Weggis and Vitnau. Any other small villages on the Lake I should consider?

Has anyone stayed at Beau Rivage?

I think the Vierwaldstättersee is much more beautiful than Bodensee. The mountains, noises and vegetation is more special.

Weggis is larger and more accessible than Vitznau. A bit more to do too. You have to walk about ten - fifteen minutes up a hill to get to the cable car taking you up to Rigi Kaltbad.

Vitznau is smaller and very quaint. It's not as accessible since it's farther away from the main roads and train stations. Vitznau's Park Hotel is indeed unique and very beautiful. The Rigibahn's station is right at the bottom of the town.

It's a toss up. Both have bus and boat service. Good luck making your choice!

Thanks Schuler!

Do the paddlewheelers that go around the lake stop at both villages?

Hello wrenwood :)

Oh, those lake paddlewheelers! I love ((L)) sitting on the top deck at the front of the ship, breathing in the fresh clean air and gazing with open mouth at the beautiful scenery which surrounds me. There's just something about that lake that mesmerizes me each time.

During one of our days out from Vitznau, we were returning around sunset, intent on having dinner at the hotel. Well, this particular paddlewheeler was serving dinner! It was their "sunset cruise". Oh, my, so delicious, and what a treat to have a window seat inside the full-service restaurant (not just a bar with sandwiches). True Swiss food (including my fave apple strudel!) An absolute highlight of our trip!

Enjoy. It's ALL great!

And then next up you've got Grindelwald? Another favorite of ours. Have a great trip!

Kopp, that sounds like a perfect way to spend the day and evening. Is there a website for the paddlewheelers? Will they still be running in mid-late September?

We are VERY excited about this vacation! after Grindelwald we do 4 days in Guarda. This board is invaluable, simply the best.

Here is the schedule for all the boats on the lake:

http://tinyurl.com/2lfgb5

I didn't check to see if it had an English translation. Hopefully it does.

If this is too confusing, just know that the people in the ticket booths are very helpful.

On this link, you can also see the various stops the boats make. (Get schedules by clicking your start and stop points.) Not all boats make the same stops, so you would need to check that out, if you had a particular place in mind to visit along the lake.

If you do get off at a stop for a visit, be sure to check the board for the time of the next boat to wherever you're going.

Isn't the photo of the boat on the lake just dreamy? It's no exaggeration either. It's that beautiful!

Yes, you can read that site in English--the choice is at the top. And click on "Gastronomie" then "Tavolage" to read about the dinners (choose "Sunset menu") Unfortunately, they only have menus through September 16---I don't know if that means that is the end of the season. Perhaps you will be there by then?

If the sunset cruise doesn't work , you could consider the "swinging restaurant" in the cablecar up from Weggis, on Saturday nights:

http://tinyurl.com/342cpo

It says July until ("bis") September, so again I'm not sure that it happens through the end of September. But it might be worth investigating.

I've been looking at staying in Lucerne, but I still think a smaller village is what we want. It sounds like there is so much to do in that area!

The website for the paddlewheelers is in English, but not finished, so no information in English.

What about Zug or Fluelen or any other smaller villages with lakeside hotels and great scenery?

Wrenwood,
We stayed in Weggis this summer after hearing about it on this forum. We chose the SeeHotel Gotthard and absolutely loved it! What a quaint town. Transportation by boat to Lucerne was so fun for our family!
Splurge and get a lake view room- it is so amazing. We were in room 320, I think- three balconies, very very spacious. Amazing breakfasts, and such delicious meals at the hotel. They have a lakeside terrace across the street from the hotel that is open when the weather is nice. So relaxing!
We also drove into Vitznau, it was smaller, but also quaint.
We weren't able to catch one of the concerts, but the town puts on an orchestra concert during the week at around 10:45 am right on the waterfront! We were already in Lucerne one day, it wasn't happening on the other day, and the third day, we were heading to Austria when we saw them setting up. They rolled the piano out of a cabinet.

You can probably tell Weggis would be my vote. We walked around the town quite a bit and loved walking along the waterfront. People were so friendly everywhere in Switzerland.

As to Grindelwald...We drove there one day and were not so impressed. It was so busy with tons of tourists. We preferred Lauterbrunnen and Wengen. I know you did not ask, but that's my 2 cents worth. I am certainly NOT an expert like schuler, budman, enzian and others here. Just a first timer with a first time impression.
You will love Switzerland!

Thanks odyssey4

SeeHotel Gotthard has been recommended by others and also gets some good reviews on Trip Advisor. I have emailed both Gotthard and Beau Rivage for rates. Did you walk by Beau Rivage to get any impressions?

I am hoping Grindelwald will be a little less busy the third week in September! It worked out best for us as a base as I found a nice apartment for us and in-laws. Besides, we won't really do much in the town and the apartment is on the outskirts, so I have my fingers crossed!

SeeHotel Gotthard is a great place. Beau Rivage is basically next door (across the street), actually on the water. They have a pool/sauna/jacuzzi that the two hotels share.

I wouldn't hesitate to stay there again. ((b))

Beau Rivage has no lake front rooms left, but SeeHotel Gotthard has a nice apartment we could book, so thinking seriously about that.

Hotel Central Am See in Weggis looks nice ( although the food is supposed to be pretty mediocre) anyone know anything about them? Trip Advisor only has 3 reviews, and can't find much here.

Do any of the villages have better views of the Lake and Alps than others? Will Zug, being further away and smaller be less dramatic?

We were in Grindelwald in the last week of September last year and it wasn't overly busy at all.
I also agree with Schuler about Bodensee - definitely the least scenic of the lakes in Switzerland.