Day One
We flew in to Zurich today and the new finger printing ID system held the line up, with it taking about 20 minutes to clear customs. It wasn’t bad, but we did the Self-Serve ID line, then jumped into a quicker line to see the customs agent.
After we cleared customs, I jumped on the SBB Mobile App to buy train tickets.
The IR 75 is the direct train to Lucerne. I recommend that you do not buy tickets until you’ve passed through customs so you can accurately plan for the train time you’ll need. This train runs on the hour at 15 minutes past.
We had tickets for 10:15 a.m. and the cost for second class was 40.60 CHF per person.
The only issue we experienced was that I bought our tickets before getting our luggage, and our luggage, along with that of several others, was delayed getting to baggage claims. They said one set had gotten left at the gate and it took a while to resolve.
We purchased tickets at 9:05 a.m. for the 10:15 a.m. train, but did not get our luggage off the racks until 10:02 a.m., so we had to run to the train terminal to make it in time. This seemed to be a one-off issue rather than the norm. The station for the train is right outside the baggage claim, across the taxi area in next building, making it a 3 -4 min walk.
Having our tickets purchased on app was the only way we were able to make the train, as there was no stopping necessary! We ran to the platform, and ultimately still had 5 minutes to spare.
The train ride was uneventful, but unfortunately did not feature a lot of views… Mainly a lot of industry around the tracks.
Announcements at each stop in English, as well as other languages, and had a sign of each stop name, so we had no issues. We found some luggage storage near our seats and held some luggage too once the train filled up.
We checked in at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel, which is a short walk from the train station, on flat streets. I highly recommend this hotel and this area, positioned right in old town and walkable to the river walk areas.
We had dinner at Pfistern Zunfthaus, sitting on a terrace right on the river edge. The views were stunning and a nice cool breeze from the water was lovely on a very warm July day.
I had the veal and Greg ordered the trout. We agreed we would give it about 3/5 stars. It was good, but not life-changing. However, the Lemon Tart that we had for dessert was incredible, paired with an Americano coffee that was perfect.
We took a stroll around old town, enjoyed some local brews at a side cafe, and wrapped up our first day!
Day Two
For Day 2 in Lucerne, we did a Viator tour in Lucerne, called the Golden Round Trip Pass to Mt. Pilatus.
We were picked up at meeting point near the train station to be taken to the Gondolas and ride up to Mt. Pilatus, called “The Dragon”. We stopped halfway for time to take in the views, seeing farmhouses with baskets of window flowers. At the last stop, we arrived at the summit and were given about two and a half hours to explore on our own and eat.
We hiked to one of the peak trails that overlooked the lakes and enjoyed views over the Swiss Alps’ peaks, with a great view of Mt. Titlis summit with the clear sky. Then we took the trail inside the mountain tunnels, built by the Swiss military during WWII, and walked around cliff trails to see the beautiful mountain flowers, watching the mountain goats climbing on the steep cliffsides.
There are two hotels at the summit area and we had lunch the oldest of the two, Pilatus Hotel-Kulm, where we had a wonderful light lunch and some local lagers. There are nice gift shops, as well.
We the met back with our group to take the historic Cogwheel Railway down the mountain, seeing beautiful views along the way and passing by herds of Swiss cows, hearing all their bells jangle as they grazed.
At the bottom of the mountain, we took the last hour of the tour by boat, sailing down Lake Lucerne to the city center area to depart the tour.
We loved this tour and highly recommend it. The cost was $253 USD per person and it was a total 5.5-hour guided tour.
For dinner, we had reservations at a local restaurant, The Old Swiss House, that was highly recommended by a friend. Reservations are definitely a must!
The Old Swiss House in Lucerne is a historic, family-run restaurant famous for its table side-prepared Wiener Schnitzel, served in a traditional, elegant setting with 17th-century decor. It’s known for high-quality European cuisine, an extensive wine cellar, and a classic Swiss dining experience, making it popular… and expensive.
After sharing a starter portion of their smoked salmon, I had the table-side schnitzel, which was wonderful, Greg had the veal with mushroom gravy which was very tender, we shared a nice bottle of local Swiss Pinot Gris, but decided to pass on dessert.
The restaurant was located near the Lion Monument, or in German “Löwendenkmal” or the Lion of Lucerne. It is a rock relief designed by Bertel Thorvaldsen and hewn in 1820-21 by Lukas Ahorn. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were killed in 1792 during the French Revolution, when revolutionaries stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. It is one of the most famous monuments in Switzerland, visited annually by about 1.4 million tourists.
After dinner, we took a stroll through Lucerne’s “Rodeo Drive”, window shopping all the luxury stores along the way through the historic old town on our way to the old bridges to cross back to our hotel, which was a wonderful way to wrap up our beautiful day.
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