Switzerland was an impulsive add-on to our trip, during the initial planning phase in August of 2023. I had not traveled to Switzerland since the 1990s. Since I didn't foot the bill for that particular trip, I was clueless as to how expensive it was.
On most lists I consulted, Switzerland is the most expensive country in the world. So although I was interested in revisiting this European playground for the rich and famous, I was reticent to do so with a party of five, on my dime (or Swiss Franc).
Before committing (which also meant purchasing return plane tickets out of Zurich, since this would be the last stop on our six-week trip), I decided to pop onto a few hotel websites to see if I could find anything in our budget. I quickly found the answer to my question, which was, absolutely not! I was shell-shocked at the prices.
As it turns out, we couldn't even afford to stay in the prison. That's right, in my search, I found an overpriced hotel (although less so than some), that looked eerily like a prison. I thought I was imagining it, so I showed the photos of the "property" to my kids and they concurred. I decided to dig a little deeper so I returned to the homepage and began to read more only to find out that this so-called hotel had indeed been a prison. You must check out their website (make sure to click on the tab across the top, "cells," which will show you your choice of sleeping quarters): https://www.barabas-luzern.ch
The rather brief hotel search left me discouraged (especially the prison option). However, before giving up, I decided to try Airbnb, as a last-ditch effort and I am glad I did! I found one listing that seemed to be an outlier. It looked nice, was in a good area, and was somewhat affordable (although higher than the average nightly price we usually pay when traveling). I quickly booked it, knowing that if someone else grabbed it, we would not be visiting Switzerland (ever). That left me with the task of trying to find an affordable return flight out of Zurich, which turned out to be much more elusive than the accommodations. However, I persisted and was eventually able to secure a well-priced flight home (or so I thought).
Switzerland was officially on our itinerary and we were excited for our visit!
So find a comfy chair, grab your favorite beverage (this is a monster post), and join us in Switzerland!
On our first full day, we dedicated the first half to visiting some of the most popular sights in the city center of Lucerne, including the iconic Chapel Bridge and Lion Monument, as well as Bourbaki Panorama and the Zytglogge, which in Bernese German means "time bell" (or clock tower). Although the city was quite full of tourists, as it was late July, we still found it to be lovely (walkable, clean, attractive, and great public transportation options of every kind). How can you not fall in love with a city perched on a huge glistening lake?
In the afternoon, we headed to the Swiss Museum of Transport, which is Switzerland's most visited museum. After spending six hours there, which was not nearly enough time, I can understand its popularity. It feels like we've visited every transport museum in Europe over the past three years of extensive travel there, but I think this was my absolute favorite one. It was a marvel! The kids had a great time I was equally enthralled with all it had to offer.
Below are a few (of the many) fun videos from our visit to the Swiss Museum of Transport:
No more gelato for us! After enjoying gelato nearly every day while traveling in Germany, we had to give up the habit once we arrived in Switzerland. Unlike the sublime gelato in Germany, which cost, on average, $1.50 for a single scoop on a cone, the rather mediocre-looking Swiss gelato was selling for $7.00 a scoop. Speaking of expensive food, instead of eating out while staying in Lucerne, we made pasta for dinner in our Airbnb most nights (even the grocery stores were exorbitant) and packed sandwiches every day for lunch.
On our second day, we ventured (by boat, cogwheel train, and gondola) to the Rigi (or Mount Rigi; also known as Queen of the Mountains). Rigi is a mountain massif of the Alps and is surrounded by three separate lakes: Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug, and Lake Lauerz. We purchased a family Swiss Travel Pass for the duration of our stay so all of our (luxurious) boat rides were covered, in addition to all the various forms of transportation up and down the mountain. Once we finally arrived at the top, we did a lot of hiking and enjoyed a picnic lunch while taking in the glorious alpine views, in all directions.
Our third day in Lucerne involved more (lots more) boat rides, the world's steepest cogwheel train, cable cars, gondolas, and a regular old bus, as we ventured to Pilatus (often referred to as Mount Pilatus). At various points on the mountain, there are a variety of different outdoor/adventure activities to enjoy including unlimited scenic hiking, ziplining, and even Switzerland's longest toboggan run, which I am proud to say, I rode on! After we finished our day on Pilatus and rode the bus back to Lucerne, we decided to take a few joy rides on some of the other boats that cruise around Lake Lucerne (there are plenty of routes to choose from) to enjoy some fresh lake air and beautiful views. Since all the boat rides were included with our Swiss Travel Pass, we could go around as many times as we wanted. After our joy rides, we stopped at the market and bought some more pasta for dinner, which we cooked at home in our Airbnb while enjoying the opening ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Paris!
This is a great video of the toboggan run. I didn't take a video since no cell phones were allowed (for safety reasons), although it seems this person must have ignored that rule.
We took another day trip on our fourth and final full day in Lucerne, we headed to Titlis (also known as Mount Titlis). The journey to Titlis is an adventure in itself! After taking a train from Lucerne, we started our journey up the mountain with the Titlis Xpress gondola to the middle station and then continued to the Titlis Rotair, the world’s first revolving cable car (allowing riders 360-degree views), all the way to the top, 10,600 feet. While on the summit there were many activities to keep us busy for the day. The kids had a blast riding intertubes in the snow. We braved the Cliff Walk, which is Europe's highest suspension bridge (I closed my eyes for most of it while Miles held my hand and led me across like a seeing-eye dog). We also rode the Ice Flyer Chair lift, which further pushed the limits of my fear of heights (I tried not to look down and took deep breaths for the duration). But the kids thought it was awesome and asked if we could go again. Lastly, we ventured into the ice cave. As you might recall from some of my previous blog posts from this trip, I do, in certain situations, experience paralyzing claustrophobia. Caves are one of those places. But I fought against my fears and ventured into the freezing (coffin) with the kids. They enjoyed it and I'll leave it at that.
After returning to Lucerne in the late afternoon, quite exhausted from having my fears and phobias triggered for much of the day, Catherine and I went out and did a little last-minute souvenir shopping in Lucerne. It's funny how shopping never triggers anything in me other than pure joy. In the evening, we cooked dinner at our Airbnb, watched the Olympics, and completed our final luggage packing of the trip (or so we thought) in preparation to fly home to Los Angeles the next day.
Remembering Fitzy...
This was Fitzy's 14th and final birthday celebration with us on October 29, 2023. We always had Halloween-themed parties for him and last year was no excpetion. We even specially ordered plates that had pugs dressed in Halloween costumes. As with all "lasts" we had no idea it was his, or ours with him.
As I watched this video again recently, I smiled, cried, and was reminded that we can never take the time we have left with someone we love, for granted.
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