Trip Report –Central Switzerland – Lucerne & Locarno

We were in Switzerland in mid-September and I wanted to share information (mainly about the hotels we stayed at) that might help others with their planning. I know that I’ve enjoy reading and learning valuable information from other trip reports so hopefully I can do the same for someone.

We flew into Zurich, Switzerland and immediately went to the train station to purchase our train tickets for our journey to Luzern. Thanks to LuvItaly who shared with me that the train station was right at the airport we were able to buy our tickets for the next train that was leaving 10 minutes later. Now on this website, I had read where some travelers found some difficulty using their credit cards in some places. My husband and I always bring 2 credit cards each and we haven’t had any problems before in Europe but I was a little concerned after reading these postings. Most credit cards will charge anywhere from 1%-3% for every international transactions so I called each credit card company to find out about their fees. We also informed the credit companies the dates we were traveling so they would be aware of our trip. At the Zurich train station, the ticket seller informed me that my credit card would not work. I’m not sure why he was having trouble with my credit card, as I was able to use the same credit card on other purchases made later. The back up credit card we had went through fine. We didn’t have any further problems with any of our credit cards for the rest of our trip.

We arrived in Luzern on a rainy day but luckily the Hotel Des Alpes, 3 stars, www.desalpes-luzern.ch, (thanks to LuvItaly recommendation) was only a five minute walk across the river and easy to locate. We had a room facing the courtyard (pedestrian zone area) so it was pretty quiet. The bell tower would ring but I didn’t find it to be troublesome. The bathroom shower stall was the tiniest I’ve seen but they did have forceful hot water pressure, which made the shower nice. The room was rather small but it accommodated us fine.

The hotel has a nice breakfast room and quite the assortment for their buffet spread with a carafe of excellent coffee set at our table. I liked the fact that they had Halloween decorations set up and served orange dyed hardboiled eggs as one of their buffet items. On the third and fourth day of our visit, the weather turned sunny and we were able to enjoy our breakfast on the patio that has an amazing view of the Reuss River, Alpes, Chapel bridge (constructed in the 14th century), Franciscan Church (built l3th century, Gothic style) and Water Tower (Lucerne’s trademark and the most photographed monument in Switzerland).

I always scan the postcards to see what highlights are of the city. One of them was the Lion Monument that wasn’t too far to walk to from our hotel. A lion that is sculpted right out of natural rock. Nearby, was an old fort that has good views of the town.

We took a paddle streamer boat ride on Lake Luzern. You can admire the picturesque hillside homes and scenery around the lake and can get off at any of the stops that the boat makes. They have a nice walking path that goes around the lake.

On Tuesday and Saturdays, they have a farmers market right near our hotel, which is held along the Reuss River and was fun to stroll through.

One of the things that we wanted to do was to go to Mt. Pilatus that you could get there by boat and then take the world’s steepest cogwheel railway. We didn’t know that you needed to allow 5 hours and missed the last boat ride of the day. Sadly, it was on the last day that we were there.

Our next destination was Locarno. The Swiss trains are clean and right on schedule. We were able to put our huge suitcases in the luggage area that was in front of the car where we were sitting in. We were in first class cars on our entire trip even though the fare is much less for second-class seats. This is due because we travel with large suitcases (mainly for souvenirs) and find that first class cars are often not as crowded. On most trains, we were able to place our suitcases above our seats.

It was about a 4-hour ride and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. Your pictures won’t capture how green the scenery really is. We stayed at the Hotel Du Lac, 3 stars,www.du-lac-locarno.ch/ that was really closed to the train station. We had a nice view of the lake and our room had a small balcony. The breakfast buffet was very nice with the normal cereals, cold cuts, home made jams, croissants, breads, yogurts, fruits, juices, coffee and tea. They had a machine that you could drop whole oranges into a shoot and it squeezed fresh juice for you. We loved having fresh squeezed orange juice and was surprised that few people used the machine.

We took a boat ride across the lake to the Isles of Borromean. A group of four small islands in Lake Maggiore. We visited the Isola Madre, the largest of the four, noted for its gardens, which are maintained in an English style. Its palace is uninhabited.

The other island we visited is Isola Bella, where tons of soil was brought in to build up ten terraces for the garden. Amazing to learn about since the gardens were built back in the 17th century. Despite the day being hazy the gardens were beautiful to see.

Another day trip was to see the small town of Ascona that you could either walk or take a boat over to see. We decided to walk there since it was a sunny and warm day but got a bit lost and it took double the time to find the town’s center but it was worth it. The town’s main piazza is lined with hotels and cafes that really capture the view of the lake. We had a nice relaxing lunch and enjoyed the warm sun. We loved this small picturesque town. We took a hydrofoil boat back to Locarno.

The next country that we visited was Italy (Venice and Tuscany area) and France (French Riviera), which I will post separately under each country if you are interested in reading more about our trip.

Hi PortobelloB,

Great report, will help me tremendously with my planning.

I would love to read your trips to Italy and France, as I know most fellow Fodorites feel the same way.

Next time, post it all under one heading...

Hi Portobello,

We were in Ascona the second week in October. It's my third time going there. I love the town but I love the area around it just as much.

Exploring the valleys and the hills..
Eating risotto, veal and pizza...
Drinking cafe in a mediteranean-like atmosphere.

We went to Locarno for dinner and actually walked into the town's hostel to pick up luggage that some friends had forgotten. It's a nice hostel, very clean and with decent breakfasts.

We stayed at Hapimag, located on the Ascona Delta and a 20 min. walk to Ascona town.

I've never walked to Locarno before. It's quite confusing and the pathway goes along a busy road. Too bad they haven't built a pedestrian bridge at the tip of the delta connecting the Locarno and Ascona. Glad you did it though!

Thanks for posting.

MCNY - If you click on my name (next to Author it will bring up my other trip reports.

I was searching for my Italy and France reports and I guess it's not as easy to find under each country. I just happened to read someone else post and they mentioned clicking on the name.

I'll follow your advice and include my next trip under one report.

Schuler - How nice that you have discovered this little gem of a town. I wished we had more time there.

The hotel staff told us there were two ways of walking to Ascona - walking along the busy road or following the lake which is more scenic. Of course, we took the scenic walk but there wasn't too many signs providing directions so we walked around the lake as far as we could before ending up on the busy road to Ascona. Luckily it wasn't too far before we got into the center of town.

Thank you both for your nice feedback.

Enjoyed reading your report. We wanted to stay at the Des Alpes last year but they were full on the days we wanted. Also, for Mt Pilatus, you could have taken the train instead of the boat to the cogwheel railway, its just a 20 min trip instead of a 90 min boat ride (from what i remember).

Hi Portobello,
Thanks for the trip report, we are tossing up between Lugano and Locarno at the moment so it was good to read your comments.
Schuler, was it the Youth Hostel that you went into in Locarno? I am curious as we have been looking at that or a B&B that we found on the bnb.ch website.

I took a look at the B&B website. There is a nice B&B offered in the heart of Locarno. It looks very charming. I personally would rather have a B&B rather than a hostel although either should offer clean reasonable accommodations.

Thanks for posting this informative report.

As to that credit card "not working" when you first arrived...this happened to us on a trip to the UK several years ago when we used a CC at the very end of a three-week trip to pay for a hotel.

The desk clerk said it wouldn't go through and I was steamed because after all this time suddenly it isn't working and I knew we weren't above the credit limit; we used a backup.

When we returned home I called the CC folks. It seems the hotel desk <b>clerk</b> had input the wrong expiration date.

Lesson learned: always ask them to input it one more time.

Glad you had no further problems with yours.

Schuler,
Was it the B&amp;B above the Kontiki bookshop that you looked at?
That is the one we are considering.

Yes, it was.

Thanks for the report. Having stayed at and enjoyed both the Des Alpes and du Lac, it brought back nice memories.

Where did you go for meals? In Luzern, we enjoyed the Des Alpes, Cafe Hug, Old Swiss House and Fritzi's. In Locarno, we like Al Pozz and Cafe Del Poppulo. Were you able to go to any of these?

We did go to the Fritschi's for dinner and enjoyed our meal especially the cheese fondue. I loved the colorful murals on the exterior of the restaurant!

Thanks for all the further information that people posted. It will certainly help others with their planning.

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