Travel SMART – Lucerne, Switzerland

In this “Travel SMART” series of articles we discuss real-world travel plans for exploring popular locations in a cost-effective manner. SMART evaluates the Staying options, Mobility, Attractions, ROI (Return-On-Investment) and Transport options for planning the trip. This article focuses on travel plan based from Lucerne, Switzerland.

Transport options – Lucerne, a charming Swiss city known for its preserved medieval architecture, is located amid snowcapped mountains on Lake Lucerne. The city is just an hour drive from Zurich Airport. It is also connected via train from Zurich. You can get train time, rates and purchase tickets online via the SBB or Omio app.

Staying options – The close proximity to both large city like Zurich and the mountains and lakes of Jungfrau Region makes this city an ideal base to explore the Swiss Alps. While, Lucerne has many major hotels and AirBnB stay options, it is also possible to get a wider variety of stay options that maybe cheaper on the outskirts of Zurich and connects by train or highway in about an hour. For example, we stayed at Hilton Garden Inn Limmattal, just outside of Zurich and drove to Lucerne to explore the city and nearby attractions.

Mobility – Lucerne is easily navigable by walking and via public transportation. For visitors passing through the city, a half-day trip can allow exploring several of the popular attractions in the city. The Swiss SBB transport app allows adding an online payment option and seamless transfer among train, bus, boat and trams around the city. Parking during peak season maybe difficult, but you can always park near the FC Luzern Futbol arena which typically have large parking areas. Then walk through the charming neighborhoods to various attractions in the city or catch a bus.

Attractions – The city boasts popular attractions such as the colorful Altstadt (Old Town), the 14-century rampart Museggmauer (Musegg Wall) and the covered Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge), built in 1333.

One trip idea is to rent a car from Zurich Airport and stay in Lucerne, taking multiple day trips to the nearby Alps region. It is also possible to explore the key mountain attractions on a day trip while staying overnight in Lucerne. The key areas we recommend to explore are as follows.

• Interlaken – A popular and charming Swiss town located between two lakes with breathtaking view of the Alps.
• Grindelwald – A charming mountainside resort town with connection to the 3 famous mountains and glaciers of Jungfrau region.
• Lauterbrunnen – A beautiful village on the other side of Eiger with amazing waterfalls. Also offers hiking trail to other scenic villages on the mountainside.

ROI (Return On Investment) – There are some important factors when evaluating Lucerne such as – the high valued Swiss Francs (CHF), hotels within the city center typically have higher rates than nearby larger cities like Zurich, and its proximity to some Europe’s top Alpine attractions. We found the following steps made our travel plan for Switzerland Visit using Lucerne as a key destination, gave us a high ROI!

• Use the SBB app with an added credit card online that avoids international fees.
• Save on meals by option for a hotel with free breakfast options.
• Save on Overall transport cost by using a combination of public transport using the SBB app (pass vs single trip ticket as applicable) and using a rental car when having 2 or more people to save on long distance train costs.
• Rent car from Germany, Austria or Northern Italy and drive into Zurich. The drive time shouldn’t be more than few hours.
• Drive from Lucerne to popular tourist destinations like Interlaken and Jungfrau region than taking the Swiss train pass, which can be very expensive and has longer travel times between destinations.
• If renting a car is not an option, take a commuter train from Zurich to Lucerne and a pre-purchased Guided tour to Interlaken or Jungfrau region which may still be cheaper and quicker than a rail pass.

Below map shows a drive route from Lucerne to Interlaken, Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen takes little over 3 hours. The trip can be done in one day but given the many attractions of these locations, a multi-day plan is recommended.

After all the hiking and exploring in the Swiss Alps, a rest day or two is highly recommended in Lucerne. Watch the video below for some visual treat of beautiful Lucerne, Switzerland!