mokka4

sorry, not Brienz (wrong lake/area)...

Map of towns:
http://www.lakelucerne.ch/de/fahrpla.../fahrplan.html

PalenQ

ttt

gs268

Thanks. Sounds good.

PalenQ

One of the nicest strolls in the whole area IME is the lakeside walking path from central Lucerne over to the Swiss Transport Museum - a suave walkway with nice plants passing posh hotels with supreme views over Lake Lucerne.

sr_milione_miglia

The Lion of Lucerne. commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris, France. Mark Twain praised the sculpture of a mortally-wounded lion as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world.

PalenQ

I enjoyed walking on Lucerne's old ramparts on the north side of the town center - neat views over Lucerne, to me one of the very loveliest set cities in the world! But it is also one of the most expensive cities in the world and to me rather boring in itself- a great base however from which to do so many sterling day trips - Zurich itself is worth a good look and only about 45 minutes away by train.

PalenQ

Day-3: Golden Pass Line to Interlaken and back>

The scenic route over the Brunig Pass is nicer than the quicker mainland route via Bern - especially when the tracks track right along idyllic Lake Brienz to Interlaken-Ost terminus but I'd take the quicker route back - via Bern for variety and quickness.

docdan

FYI - in German "Transport Museum" is "Verkehrshaus"
https://www.verkehrshaus.ch/en
I was unable to go inside but it looks pretty nice. I agree a walk from downtown to the museum along the lake is a great idea, then you can take a train or city bus back into town. Naturally, the Swiss Transport Museum has it's own train stop; trains are approx. every 1/2 hour.

If one is into Modern Art the Rosengart collection is worth a visit, which we enjoyed. Also, immediately next to the Main train station is a large "Kunstmuseum" and south of town is the Richard Wagner Museum. This is _IF_ you are into the art in these collections, if not, they are down the list of the usual things to see in Luzern.

PalenQ

I agree a walk from downtown to the museum along the lake is a great idea, then you can take a train or city bus back into town>

Or take a boat - therer is a dock for the Camping Ground and Transport Museum - nice to go by boat for a few euros.

aliced

Just back with not yet a chance to catch our breaths, but in Lucerne, please consider spending a few hours at the outstanding Transport Museum. Think it by far excels D.C.'s Air and Space Museum. Whether or not you're mechanically inclined, this array of rail, automotive, air (including ski lifts) and water transportation was fascinating. It was a gorgeous day so we hopped on the boat in front of the train station taking about 10 minutes, and later strolled back into town. Nice cafeteria selections for reasonably priced lunch (well, at least by Swiss standards). What was most interesting was the 'ride' underground on how the tunnels were constructed, since days later we were travelling through them. Unfortunately, Swiss Pass only covers half of admission cost at museum. Hotel Des Balances very nice, but request room at back at Weinmarkt as front walk very noisy. Have dinner directly across river next to Jesuit Church at Opus, a great wine bar for people watching, and a divine puff-pastry chicken pot pie and veggie curry pot thai, again reasonably priced. (They're actually offering Spam on the menu at the Rathaus Brauerie at 26 chf... can't make this stuff up!)

gs268

Hello Everyone,
Seems like we are doomed. Looks like it is going to rain in Lucerne next week all 4 days when we will be there. Is it still worth to take the Golden pass trail, visit Rhine falls and mount pilatus. Or should we just omit pilatus and do something else like visit Rigi?

aliced

Last week we thought we were doomed to rain 'tomorrow' which then turned into the next and the next... aside for rain only Sunday evening in Montreux, the weather held, every morning we were pleasantly surprised wherever we were. Good luck. I was much concerned about altitude sickness as had experienced it in our Rockies, but atop Jungfrau as well as Schilthorn, no lightheadness, nausea or headaches. Surprised your ob/gyn would even mention avoiding high altitude, these days women do not curtail much of doing anything while pregnant.

millie2112

if it is raining the whole area is pretty depressing.
Lucerne only needs about 3 hours, or maybe a bit more if you have lunch.
you can do a trip up lake lucerne & stop at a few of the small towns. But if it is raining everything looks unappealing.
Switzerland is very expensive.
I am going to controversial & say that I did not like switzerland.

PalenQ

Rain is always a problem in one of the wettest places in Europe - itineraries should always be left flexible if they involve hiking, going up mountain tops, etc. Pilatus has oft been shrouded in fog or clouds during my many visits to Lucerne - if it is a clear day hop on it - Mt Rigi would not be much in the rain either as it is the views from up there that is the magnet - I guess you could still enjoy a boat trip on the lake and sit in the covered portion - or day trip to Bern, a city with famous covered walkways and still fun in poor weather.

gs268

Thanks for all your feedback, I will take all of it into consideration. aliced, thanks for your inputs on the altitude, we will keep in mind on the feedback.

simpsonc510

I'm in Zurich right now. Arrived on Thursday. Each morning looked overcast, but two of our days turned out fine. This morning we have showers. We leave for Germany and will be back in Switzerland next weekend, including time in Lucerne. Hoping for a bit of sunshine.

lanejohann

we stumbled onto the old wall in lucerne...we were heading towards the railway station and then just asked someone what was of interest in the vicinity and were given directions to the wall...it is a nice opportunity for photographing the town

should be ok for a pregnant woman..im assuming she isnt too far along?

PalenQ

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eurapar...6257/lightbox/

Videos of Lucerne's town walls - a very different type of Lucerne - especially when views to the south - like being in the country all of a sudden.

gs268

Hello everyone,

We just returned from Houston from our vacation. The 4 days in Switzerland were delightful. Although it rained 2 if the 4 days and turned to out to be foggy on mount Rigi, it was still worth it. We spent the first day at Lucerne city walking around and visited the Lion monument. We Got an excellent room in the 4th floor overlooking the alps and the lake with a balcony. We visited the tourist information center each morning to look st the forecast for the day, the 2nd day we visited Pilatus and Riggi. Fortunately, my wife was alright and didn't face much difficulty. For Pilatus we took the train to AlpanstadCand the cogwheel and the cable care while returning. For Riggi,we took the boat and train up and returned via fable car and boat. The 3rd day, we visited Rhine falls and Zurich since it was raining in Lucerne. The 4th day we took the train to Interlaken, we took the Golden City Panoramic train. It was beautiful. We spent a few hours at Interlaken walking around the city, went to Harder Klum, we couldn't see the alps from there as it was foggy but were able to see the entire city and the lake. It turned out to be sunny that afternoon so, it was beautiful. The last morning was spent walking around Lucerne shopping. We shopped at Manor, Coop and a souvnir shop called Casagrande.

The info center people were really helpful and polite and helped us pick the cities. Thank you everyone for your time.