Hi friends, welcome to my Switzerland series! I’m very excited to relive these sunny, warm memories during this cold and gloomy winter. A few years ago, I got the idea in my head of paragliding in Switzerland to celebrate my 30th birthday. I would never describe myself as an incredibly adventurous person, but for some unknown reason it was a bucket list excursion for me. I struggled planning this trip because there were so many beautiful hikes, train rides, and cities on my list, but I haven’t figured out how to bend time to see and do it all. Jon and I prefer to stay put and see all of an area as opposed to moving around too much, so I planned for us to spend a day and a half in Lucerne, five days in Wengen, and a final full day in Zurich before flying back home. I put together my list of top hikes and sights and before we knew it, we were packing our suitcases and heading to the airport.
We flew out of JFK on a Wednesday night and landed around 10:30am in Zurich. We had an easy experience through customs and caught the train from the airport to Lucerne. Public transportation in Switzerland is impeccable, but you get what you pay for because it’s expensive, especially the mountain gondolas/cable cars. Luckily Switzerland offers travel passes to alleviate the cost, but I was quite overwhelmed trying to decide which pass to get. There are numerous options and after reading countless blogs and articles, the ultimate conclusion was that the best pass is dependent on your itinerary. That was not the quick and easy answer I was hoping for, so I made an excel and priced out our general itinerary with the different passes. We ended up buying the Half Fare card which got us half off all transportation in Switzerland and about 100CHF off the Berner Oberland Pass. We were spending most of our time in the Berner Oberland region, so the BO pass gave us free transportation on all the trains and cable cars in that area plus the flexibility of not needing to buy tickets in advance. Combined these passes cost just shy of $400 per person, but they saved us hundreds on transportation costs, so it’s definitely worth spending time researching the passes.
Jon and I stayed at Hotel Central Lucerne and the room was pretty basic, but it was clean, had a fan, nice lounge, and great location. It was almost 90 degrees when we arrived and most of Switzerland doesn’t have any air conditioning, so the fan was greatly appreciated.
After a brief rain shower and coffee quest, we set out to explore the charming old town of Lucerne. Our first stop was at the iconic Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke) over the Reuss River. This bridge dates back to 1332 when it was built as part of the city’s fortification and is considered Europe’s oldest covered bridge. In 1993 a devastating fire destroyed about two-thirds of the bridge, but thankfully it was rebuilt and fireproofed as much as possible. If you’re crossing the bridge, don’t forget to look up because there are about thirty little paintings that survived the fire and restoration. (The pictures below were taken over a few days)
The little tower was built before the bridge and was used as a treasury, prison, and torture chamber. It is not currently open to the public.
Jon and I walked the shore of Lake Lucerne and relaxed on one of the benches soaking in all the fresh air and views. Luckily this turned out to be the only overcast day on our trip.
We continued on towards the Lion Monument sculpted from 1820-1821 to commemorate the Swiss Guards killed during the French Revolution. The lion is impaled by a spear and covering a shield with the fleur-de-lis, a symbol of French royalty.
Afterwards we headed in search of the Musegg Wall, part of the old fortifications that are free to the public. Along the wall a few of the nine towers are open to climb and explore. The tower interiors are pretty bare, but they provide some nice views of the city.
Our final exploration of the day was the Jesuit Church on the banks of the Reuss River. This church was the first baroque style church in Switzerland and officially opened in 1677.
Lucerne sure is charming!
Jon and I ended the night with some delicious pizza from La Bestia. We both ordered the Calabrese and enjoyed it in the hotel lounge.
We crashed around 10 and slept a relatively peaceful nine hours despite the heat. We had a great first day in Switzerland and couldn’t wait for all the adventures and beautiful views ahead. Stay tuned for our stunning day atop Mount Titlis!
A beautiful first day Lyssy. So many memories from our 1984 visit to Lucerne. Thanks for sharing. Allan
Lucerne was a great city to start our trip, so glad this brought back some good memories 🙂
Your pictures are beautiful! I’m heading to Switzerland in August, so looking forward to reading your future posts about your trip! I can’t wait to explore Lucerne, that bridge looks so beautiful!
Thank you! We were there in August too, so excited for your trip! Lucerne is such a charming city and that bridge can’t be any more photogenic.
Lucerne is lovely. I remember when we visited we went to a Mass in that beautiful church. Thank for sharing the lovely photos.
I bet mass was so lovely in that church! So glad you enjoyed this and it brought back great memories 🙂
Beautiful pics as usual. Lucky little traveller!!
Thank you, I sure am!
Your photos are so beautiful and so is Lucerne. I just started writing a post about our time in Lucerne, too – it was short yet very memorable – so I was eager to read all about your experience. We only had a day to explore it, but that was enough to realise that it was filled with immense beauty, culture, and history. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day. Aiva 🙂 xx
Thank you! I think a day in Lucerne is the perfect amount of time to get a real feel for the city, but will still make you want to return and see more. It’s such a beautiful city with so much to offer. I’m looking forward to reading about your time in Lucerne 🙂
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I love that the bridge is decorated with flowers. It makes it even more picturesque. Love the views from Musegg Wall! Maggie
The bridge couldn’t be any more photogenic, it was hard to stop taking pictures. Musegg Wall was neat to walk and see the city from a different view.
Lucerne is my favorite city in Switzerland; I visited in 2016, albeit during the winter months. Still gorgeous and I especially loved the Chapel Bridge! Despite the price in the country, sometimes paying more for comfort and convenience will save you in the long run! Can’t wait to read more about your time in Switzerland 😊
Lucerne is so charming! I’d love to visit Switzerland in the winter, maybe I should remember how to ski before ha! I agree, it felt crazy typing that we had to pay almost $800 to save money, but that is Switzerland and I wish the subway was 10% as efficient as their transportation.
Glad you had such an enjoyable day in Lucerne. For us opera fans, Lucerne also has a fine theater and a Richard Wagner Museum.
https://operasandcycling.com/verdis-macbeth-in-luzern/
Hopefully one day I can make it back to Lucerne and catch a show in the theater. Looks like you had a great experience!
That sounds like a wonderful first day! The city is beautiful.
It was a great start to our trip!
Looks like a great place to visit. I love Switzerland but am shocked by the prices. Two salads and two soft drinks at a Subway type restaurant was €50 in Basel.
It was the perfect spot to start our trip. It is amazing how expensive things are, and I am used to pretty high prices in NYC.
Switzerland looks so beautiful, and I love how you can see the mountains in the distance off of Lake Lucerne! Also, all of the buildings there are gorgeous!!!
It’s such a beautiful country, it feels like traveling inside a paining! I always love seeing the mountains in the distance of a lake too 🙂
Lucerne is very picturesque and the bridge, in particular, is so pretty. It’s hard to believe the quaint tower was once a prison and a torture chamber, it looks so charming.
It is such a picturesque city, and that bridge sure steals the show! You’re right, the tower does look so quaint and innocent, although there sure isn’t much room in there.
I visited Lucerne almost 10 years ago (!) on a group trip and remember it so fondly- I loved that bridge and felt charmed by the city as well. So walkable, so clean, so beautiful. Looking forward to your entire Switzerland series! 😊💖
Aw I am glad this is bringing back great memories! It is such a charming city and great place to start our trip. It is amazing how clean Switzerland is, I’ve never used such clean bathrooms as the cable car stations haha
Getting your holiday off to a great
Start!
Lucerne was the perfect city to start our trip!
We have friends with a fb house overlooking the lake – heavenly
That is the dream!
It’s pretty spectacular
Yeyy Switzerland is here 🙂 Lucerne is so beautiful, your photos of the bridge are stunning. Can’t wait for more! x
It looks truly beautiful. We holidayed often in the Italian Lakes when our son was young but never really ventured into Switzerland, though one day trip did take us to Lugano.
Lucerne looks very picturesque. You can never go wrong with pizza. Whaat a fabulous start to your trip.
I miss Luzern! I used to live in Switzerland and remember lovely afternoons drinking coffee by the lakeside in this gorgeous city
Wow, what a beautiful city! I love the location right on the water as well as all the architecture. Also, good info on the travel pass! Sounds like it was definitely the way to go.
We were completely captivated by Lucerne when we were there three years ago. The charm and setting of the town almost overshadowed the Rhine River cruise that led up to it. We stayed in a beautiful hotel on the hillside looking down on the lake (opposite the ferry terminal). We took a walking tour of the town, including the Chapel Bridge and the Jesuit church (and never learned why they call it “Chapel”). The setting of the Lion Monument is almost like a quiet oasis in the middle of town – appropriate for its reason for being. Part of our city tour was by boat, across most of the lake, where the views of the town may be the best of all. Even though we want to see more of Switzerland, we’d go back to Lucerne in a heartbeat.
It is such a charming town! We would’ve like to take a boat tour, but with only a day and a half we had slim pickings of what was available. We thought it was the perfect place to start the trip and beat off jet lag.
You’ve made the right choice with Lucerne: it’s a charming little town without the big-city drawbacks, and it gives a good image of what Switzerland is all about. It’s been a long time since I walked across this wooden bridge.
We have been to Lucerne! It’s beautiful. Great pictures!
Lucern looks really picturesque and charming with a beautiful setting. Chapel Bridge is a fairytale structure. I am finally catching up with your Swiss trip. Glad to hear that this was the only overcast day on your travels through the country. Also, you may notice a follow notification from me, I have no idea how and when, but it seems that WordPress had forgotten that I’m subscribed to your blog.