Global Travel Planning

Discover Lucerne Switzerland: Top Five Things to Do [+ Hidden Gems and Insider Tips]

• Tracy Collins • Episode 61

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Lucerne captivates the imagination with its perfect blend of natural splendour and medieval charm. Nestled beside the crystalline waters of Lake Lucerne and surrounded by majestic Alpine peaks, this Swiss gem offers travellers an unforgettable experience that combines outdoor adventure with rich cultural heritage.

Join us as Carolyn from Holidays to Switzerland shares her passionate expertise about this enchanting destination. Having first fallen in love with Switzerland in 1988, Carolyn reveals her top five favourite experiences in Lucerne, starting with the iconic Chapel Bridge adorned with colourful flowers in summer and the surrounding Old Town with its beautifully frescoed buildings. She guides us through the essential lake cruise options, from short excursions to full-day journeys aboard everything from modern vessels to Belle Epoque paddle steamers.

We explore beyond the tourist centres to discover charming lakeside villages like Brunnen, where you can craft your own Swiss Army knife at the Victorinox factory, and uncover mountain adventures including the spectacular "Golden Round Trip" to Mount Pilatus via Europe's steepest cogwheel railway. For chocolate enthusiasts, Carolyn highlights boutique chocolatiers that offer artisanal tastings, showcasing Switzerland's expertise in chocolate beyond mass-market brands.

The conversation reveals hidden gems, such as the medieval Musegg Wall with its nine towers offering panoramic views. It offers practical advice about the best seasons to visit – from flower-filled summer days to the magical winter Light Festival, when historic buildings transform through artistic illuminations. Perhaps most valuable is Carolyn's insight about the most common traveller mistake: underestimating how much time Lucerne deserves within a Swiss itinerary.

Whether you're planning your first Swiss adventure or returning to explore more deeply, this episode provides the perfect blend of practical tips and inspirational insights to help you experience the very best of Lucerne. Listen now to discover why this lakeside city deserves a prominent place on your tr

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Speaker 1:

Lucerne. Switzerland has lakes, mountains and medieval charm, and in this episode, we're uncovering the very best of it. I'm joined by Carolyn from Holidays to Switzerland to share her top five favourite things to do in this stunning Swiss city, along with insider tips, hidden gems and her number one tip for first-time visitors. Hi and welcome to the Global Travel Planning Podcast. I'm your host, tracey Collins, who, with my expert guests, will take you on a weekly journey to destinations around the globe, providing travel inspiration, itinerary ideas, practical tips and more to help you plan your next travel adventure. Hi everyone, and welcome to episode 61 of the Global Travel Planner Podcast.

Speaker 1:

This week, I'm welcoming my friend, carolyn from Holidays to Switzerland, who's going to talk all things Swiss with you guys, and she was last on the podcast in episode 6. Can you believe that, carolyn? So we are 55 episodes on from that point. This time you're going to talk about one particular destination in Switzerland. Anyway, that's going to be interesting, as one of my favorite places in Switzerland, but let's start off by just introducing yourself, telling us all about what you do, about your website, about your podcast and about your love for Switzerland well.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, tracy, for inviting me back again. I really enjoyed our last chat. As you know, I could talk about Switzerland all day, so it's great to be back here and to talk about a favourite destination of both of ours. But yes, to give you and all your listeners a bit of a background about holidays to Switzerland, I first visited Switzerland back in 1988, a very long time ago and I fell in love the minute I entered this little village called Lauterbrunnen, and I've been fortunate to return there many, many times. But the short version of a very long story is that in 2019, I started a website called holidays2switzerlandcom where I shared, or share, all my tips and advice for visiting Switzerland the different transport, the different destinations and so forth. And when the pandemic hit and no one was travelling, I still wanted to keep talking about Switzerland, so I started a podcast also called the Holidays to Switzerland Podcast, and it comes out weekly with brand new episodes again with lots of travel tips and info and inspiration for visiting Switzerland.

Speaker 1:

I've noticed as well. You've had some videos as well on your podcast, so that's really cool. I saw Andy one of my favorite one of your guests on an episode the other day, so is that something new that you've decided to try out?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm sort of been just dabbling a bit with that with video. I don't love being on video. There are no well put it this way, it takes a lot of editing if you want to look great on video. But it's been a lot of fun and I've been interviewing some expert guests who are live on location in various places around Switzerland, who are giving us a tour and giving us lots of information, so that, yeah, they've been a whole lot of fun and there's quite a few more of those coming up as well well, I think they're brilliant.

Speaker 1:

They're a great way to be shown around a destination by an expert and while you're asking all your questions about the destination as well. So, yeah, I think they're a lot of fun and you know anybody. The first thing you think about when you think about switzerland is just the beauty of the country and it's just a wonderful way to showcase it. You can watch it and listen at the same time so yeah, definitely really cool yeah, that's one thing.

Speaker 2:

That's, uh, that you miss. When you listen to a podcast, although it's very convenient when you've just got your earphones in your ear, uh, you don't get to see all those beautiful images, and when you're talking about travel, that's really important. So, yeah, doing the video episodes is a good way to combine both.

Speaker 1:

No, I think they're really fun and it kind of leads us into the destination that we're talking about today, and talking about beautiful destinations in Switzerland because, as you say, the destination we're talking about is a favourite of both of us. I've visited I don't know how many times. My parents didn't live too far away from from this particular city, so I'll let you introduce it. I'll also let you describe where it is in Switzerland, which area of Switzerland it is and what is it about this particular destination that makes it so special.

Speaker 2:

Wow, we're going to be talking today about Lucerne. Yes, definitely one of my favourite places and, as you mentioned, one of yours. It's located in central Switzerland, but it's only about an hour either by car or train from Zurich. So many visitors to Switzerland fly into Zurich, so it's really, really convenient to to get to Lucerne and in fact you can catch a train straight from the airport. It'll go via the, the city, but then continue on to Lucerne, so it's very easy to get there.

Speaker 2:

What's so special about it? Well, there's so special about it. Well, there's so many things. I mean, it's built beside beautiful Lake Lucerne, which is super, super, you know, impressive. But it's also surrounded by all these mountain peaks and there's some mountains that you can easily do a day trip or half a day trip, even from Lucerne, so you can combine the city sort of visit with the mountains and the lake.

Speaker 2:

The city itself, it's just medieval charm. The Chapel Bridge is one of the most famous sites and you can't help but fall in love with that when you see it, this old, medieval wooden bridge. If you visit in summer, it's adorned with flowers all along the bridge, so it's just beautiful. The old town itself is very attractive, a lot of the buildings are covered in in frescoes on on the facades and they have those pretty oriole windows and it's, it's a city, but it's it's just like a town, you know, and it's um, you've got everything that you could possibly need there, but it's not a huge, big bustling city like you might find in in some other destinations or in other countries around the world. So it's got everything. I think, um, yeah, it's got nature. It's got everything. I think, yeah, it's got nature. It's got the attractive architecture, there's plenty of museums. I'm sure we'll talk more about some of the things to do in a moment, but yeah, it's got everything.

Speaker 1:

It really has. I'm going to agree with you on that, because you've got, you know, like I say, it's a city, but it doesn't feel like you're in a city. You've got that beautiful lake and you've got the backdrop of the mountain. So that's why I'm sure lots of famous people over the years have bought houses on Lake Lucerne. I'm not surprised. I'd be one of them if I was a billionaire.

Speaker 1:

I have to say, because there is a particular house on that lake that every time I sail past it I'd love to buy that house. If I ever become a billionaire, I'll be buying that particular house there. I don't, I don't know who it belongs to, but I'm sure somebody very, very wealthy anyway. Let's talk about your five favorite things to do or experiences and listen. So I think, uh, for the kind of ability to do this podcast within sort of 30-35 minutes, we're probably going to go into a bit more detail on a few of them rather than all five, because we could be here all week, I'm sure. But let's talk about what would be your five experiences that when you go, or things to see that you go right, these are the things that you really should do if you go to Lucerne.

Speaker 2:

Okay, well, number one I'm going to start with, I guess that the heart and soul of of Lucerne itself. So around the Old Town and the Chapel Bridge area, if you're arriving by train, you'll actually walk straight out of the station and you'll almost see the Chapel Bridge as soon as you come out of the station. So it's very, very close, it's very central. So I'd have to say, strolling around the Old Town, visiting the Chapel Bridge and the water tower which is beside it, has got to be the first thing that I'd recommend for anyone to do when they're there. Secondly is to go on a late cruise. Now, even if you're only in Lucerne for a short amount of time, even if you're only there for a day, you can do cruises from one hour up to about four hours. So there's really something for everyone. There's lunch cruises, there's dinner cruises, sunset cruises, and on all different kinds of vessels as well. So if you want to go on a Belle Epoque style paddle steamer, you can do that, or a luxury yacht, yeah, they have everything there. So there's something for everyone.

Speaker 2:

Number three I would say this is probably not something that everyone would immediately think of if they're going to Lucerne, but I would say, visit one of the smaller villages that's around the lake. Lucerne itself, as we've already mentioned, is a stunning city, but if you get away from there a little, you get quite a different aspect or a different feel on the whole lakeside, uh, vibe, I think. Lucerne, of course, is very busy with tourists, but if you hop off, uh, hop off one of the cruises you know, 15, 20 minutes away from lucerne, you're going to uh get a much different feel, a smaller town, quite a different ambience. So it's a really nice thing to do. Number four, of course, is a mountain excursion, and with so many mountains nearby to choose from, this can be a really hard one. Which one do I decide to visit? Uh, mount pilatus is much closer.

Speaker 1:

Um, I know that's a favorite of yours I was gonna say I'm wondering which one to get to because you know it'd be pilatus really.

Speaker 2:

But go on. Yeah well, mount pilatus is very easy to get to, as as they all are, I guess, but mount pilatus is what's known as lucerne's house mountain. It's the closest and when you're standing in the city center you can look up and see it right there. And you can get there by a couple of different ways. So, depending on what time of year you go, if you're traveling in summer, you can actually take europe's steepest cogwheel train to get up to the top. Year-round, you can take a cable car, and you can do a combination as well, of course, if you're traveling in summer. So that's a really nice way to do that.

Speaker 2:

Other popular mountain excursions from Lucerne are Mount Riggi. Of course you can cruise across the lake and then go up Mount Riggie on a cogwheel train as well. Mount Titlis, which is a bit further away above Engelberg, but one of my favorites actually, is Mount Stansohorn, and you can only visit this one from about, I'm going to say, mid-april till early November. You travel to Stans, which is about 15 minutes from Lucerne, and you go up to, you reach the summit of the mountain, firstly by this very historic funicular and then you change to a cable car, which is a double-decker cable car and the top level is open air so you can actually stand there on this balcony in the fresh air and go up to the top of stanza horn and it's far less popular or far less known to international tourists. So chances are when you go there it'll be much less busy than it is at some of those other three mountains that I that I mentioned well, I haven't done that one, and I used to live over there, so it just shows you.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, I'll have to. I'll have to try that one next time I go, carolyn, for sure, definitely. So I know we're going to talk in a bit more detail about about some of these in a second, and then your last, last choice my last tip is, of course, try some chocolate now.

Speaker 2:

If you're going to switzerland yes, you're going to try chocolate and you'll probably taste some of the you know more well-known brands. But there are some really quite boutiquey kind of chocolatiers in Lucerne. One is called Max Chocolatier, which is a very local little company. You can go in and do a tasting and buy some chocolates there. At the Swiss Museum of Transport they have what they call Swiss Chocolate Adventure, so you can go through and have a look at the production of chocolate and it's a more of an interactive kind of experience.

Speaker 2:

And then, just out of Lucerne, about eight minutes by train, is the Aischbach Chocolate Factory, which is a really great experience as well. Again, a very small, local producer. You can do tastings. They have a like an interactive area exhibition, I guess you call it, that you walk through and you can make your own chocolate bar. And then, of course, there's a cafe in a shop and you can go home with you know as much chocolate as you want. So definitely, uh, yes, do taste some chocolate, but try some from a local producer, not just one of the big name companies oh, that sounds tasty as well.

Speaker 1:

I have to say, I do have a weakness for swiss chocolate, so that'd be definitely something that's always on my on my list to have swiss chocolate, to be honest. So let's do a deep dive into a couple of these. So I don't know which, which ones you've chosen, but, um, which, which of those do you want to do? A little bit more of a kind of uh, more of an itinerary idea, I guess, in terms, if you're going to plan this in this, in what should you expect and when should you do it? Obviously, some of these things are better at certain times of year as well, so, come on then. I can't wait to find out what are you going to do when we go to CERN.

Speaker 2:

Okay, well, firstly, let's go to Mount Pilatus, because I know you love it.

Speaker 2:

I'm really excited. It really is a great excursion. So if you can well, if you are going between usually early April and around the end of October, sometimes into November, you can take what's called the golden round trip. So, starting in Lucerne now, you can go. Do this in either direction, but I'm going to take you up the mountain by cable car and down by train.

Speaker 2:

So we'll start in Lucerne and you, from the station, take a bus which takes less than 10 minutes to get to a little, I guess, a suburb called Criennes. From there it's a short walk to the cable car station, where you hop on the first cable car, which takes you up to a place called, or an area of the mountain called, frackmuntig. And once you're there, you can either then just hop off and hop into the next cable car, but there's lots and lots of activities to do at Frackmuntig. So there's a toboggan run, there's rope park, there's a zip line, there's barbecue facilities and amazing views and, of course, lots and lots of hiking opportunities as well.

Speaker 2:

Once you've done everything you want to do at Frackmontig, you can then hop into the next cable car, which is called the Dragon Ride. This is a huge cable car that holds a lot of people probably about 70, I would say and you take the final. It's about 10 minutes for the final leg up to the top of Mount Pilatus. When you're at the summit, there's quite a few activities and things you can do as well or exhibitions to look at. The views from up there are just amazing, and I've been lucky enough actually to stay overnight at one of the hotels on the top of Pilatus and the sunset and the sunrise views are there yeah you'll never forget them.

Speaker 2:

They're just amazing. It's so, so good. Lots of hiking well, a few hiking trails you can do up there and the opportunity to see ibex. They have quite a smallish population of ibex that live on the mountains, so you often get the chance to see them. Once you're ready to leave Pilatus, you can take the Worlds I believe it is steepest cable car down the mountain, which is, yeah, an experience in itself, lots of fun. And you then arrive at a little town called Alpnachstad, which is right on the shores of Lake Lucerne. So then you can hop on a boat and cruise back to Lucerne itself. So, yeah, that's the golden round trip and it is brilliant.

Speaker 1:

Now, I've done that a couple of times, but I've done it the opposite way around. I started with the boat trip and ended with the bus trip back into Lucerne itself. But it's one of my favourite things to do when I go to Switzerland. I love that trip, I just think it's so lovely, and that cog railway you get some just fantastic views. Then, when you get up to the top of the mountain, the views are just stupendous. You just oh views. Then, when you get up to the top of the mountain, the views are just stupendous. You just oh. Honestly, you just you take your camera out, you're just shooting pictures left, right and center, because it's so gorgeous.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's right. And then and then the, the uh, the little gondola is. I like the little gondola when there's only a couple of you in the gondola on the last bit. That's really really pretty and you get some fantastic views. But yeah, it's a, it's a lovely trip, that it really is. Is there a way? Because it's quite expensive we're talking about Switzerland, so you know it's not a budget trip. Is there a way that you can, you know, get a ticket that might be a little bit cheaper if you're planning to do something like that, because I know you're an expert on kind of rail passes for Switzerland?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, sure. So yeah, you can just buy a ticket for that day trip if you want to. But a lot of people, when they go to Switzerland, they'll have what's called a Swiss travel pass or if they're traveling in multiple countries, they might have a Eurail pass or Interrail pass and with those you do get a discount off the cost of the, the cog railway and the, the cable car tickets. I know it's 50% discount with the Swiss travel pass. I think it might be 25% discount with the, the Eurail or Interrail pass. So yeah, you can definitely save some money if you've got one of those passes.

Speaker 1:

Wonderful. And now I know you mentioned, or we talked about earlier, about some of those other excursions that you can do up the mountains, that riggy that you talked about earlier. Have you got articles about those Because we can link to those in the show notes? Because I know we've just talked about Pilatus, but it would be good also if anybody's listening and think, oh, I fancy one of the other ones. We can link to those articles in the show notes.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely, thank you. Yes, I've got articles on visiting Mount Riggie, titlus, pilatus and Stanza Horn, and also an article which compares the big three Pilatus, titlus and Rigi, because often you know, people might think, oh not sure which one and how are they different, rather than reading three full articles, that it sort of compares them all in the one article. So, yeah, I'll give you the links. That would be great if you could share those yeah, no, oh, that'll be really useful.

Speaker 1:

So what? What is the? What is the second uh option that we're going to jump into?

Speaker 2:

okay. So the second option is to visit one of those little lakeside towns, just to get a whole different perspective. I think of of lucerne and the lake lucerne area, of Lucerne and the Lake Lucerne area. One favourite of mine is a town called Brunnen, and this is. I haven't looked up the timetable but I think it's about a 40-minute, maybe 50-minute ride on the boat from Lucerne to Brunnen. Brunnen is actually a home to a Victorinix outlet or factory, so you can actually go there and make your own pocket knife Everyone's probably heard of this, the Swiss army knife. Victorinix are the the official makers of those. So you can can go into this shop and choose the size and the style that you want and actually make your own and personalise it. Now, you do have to book ahead to do that, but that's something quite fun to do In the town itself.

Speaker 2:

I mean, I wouldn't say there's a heap of other things there as in attractions. There's a heap of other things there, as in attractions. There's a another small mountain nearby so you can take a cable car up to it, but there's a beautiful lakeside promenade that you can just have a stroll along, buy an ice cream and as you wander along, or sit down and have a coffee and yeah it's, it's just really pretty. Another couple of other little towns that are also worth visiting.

Speaker 2:

Uh, gersau is one which has a very attractive church that's worth a look. Uh, it's on um, the other side of the lake, to brunnen, so it gives you a bit of a different perspective from you know the views that you see of the mountains. And Beckenreid is another one. I've actually stayed there a couple of times and and it's a really nice little village as well. So I think just by doing that, most of those were all of those towns you can actually reach by other forms of public transport as well. But it's nice to um, to take a boat from, from lucerne. Why not combine your, your cruise experience with with visiting one of those other little towns as well?

Speaker 1:

oh yeah, I just think you can't go to lucerne without going on that lake. You really can't. And then, in combining it with visiting one of the little towns is just the perfect way to do it.

Speaker 2:

And do you have a third that you want to, because you kind of that was quite a sneaky, because you fit it in the, the towns and the boat ride in that one very well done okay, well, I mean, like I said at the very start when I was giving you my number one tip, it's got to be just to wander around the old town and take in some of those beautiful buildings. I mean, you've got to walk across the Chapel Bridge, look up and see some of the medieval paintings. Now, unfortunately, although the original bridge is medieval, in 1992 it burnt down, which was just tragic, and it was had it had on it up inside the, the roof. It had all these paintings from medieval times. Fortunately, some of them were actually had been removed for restoration at the time. So they were the ones that they were able to save and they they've been put back onto the, the new bridge now.

Speaker 2:

Um, so there's, yeah, there's that bit of. You know, there's the old history, but there's the new history as well. Um, so, definitely walk across that. Um, at one end of it you'll find the Jesuit church, which looks quite plain really from the outside, but when you go in you'll just be blown away. It's just pink marble and it's, oh, wow, all this gold. It's, yeah, very, very beautiful. So that's definitely worth a look across back into the, uh, the old town. Like I said before, the buildings have those beautiful facades and oriole windows. It's great to just wander around and find yourself in a little alley or a little square. Even if you don't know where you are, you know you really can't get lost. Um, so just stroll around and see what you can discover. There's lots of little boutiques, little artisan sort of workshops, yeah.

Speaker 1:

And you might come across the. I'm going to give it to the wrong name, probably, but the lion sculpture.

Speaker 2:

Oh, yes, yeah, the dying lion.

Speaker 1:

That's it in the wall, which is interesting to see as well.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's very moving that, yeah, a lion carved out of this huge bit of stone and yeah, it's, it's, it's very touching and there's usually go and look for that.

Speaker 1:

And then there's there's some really lovely cafes as well to go and have a uh, you know, a quiche and some salad which is what we always do and a drink, and yeah, there's, it's a. It's a lovely town to just to wander around in and you can have a stroll along the lake as well, and uh yeah, it really is.

Speaker 1:

And actually, when you're saying about the, uh, the chapel bridge, um, I think I visited it not long before actually, the fire which was it was devastating at the time. I remember when it happened, um, but it's, it's nice to see, the last time I was back there, that you know it's all's all been rebuilt and you can walk across it. And the last time I was there it was all the flowers were out in summer and there was swans on the lake and it's just a beautiful city to wander around as well, and it doesn't feel. Now I've visited many times and I've never felt that it was overcrowded. It didn't feel like some cities you go to in europe where you just can't get moved. Looking at you, paris, um, you know, and it's, it just doesn't feel comfortable. But I was feeling switzerland, I don't know. It's because you've got the lakes, you've got that openness, you've got the mountains.

Speaker 2:

It just feels uh, less busy, yeah, yeah, I mean it's um, it's really good, you know, um just relaxing. You've got the mountain backdrop, the lake and the river right there, the beautiful buildings, and and just watch, watch the world go by yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

And I was just going to say as well, and I think you probably mentioned at the start, is that if you get the train, the train actually, the train station is in the center of lucerne, so you get off the train, you're literally two minutes walk away from from getting on a boat. It's that close, so it's, it's very easy. I mean, the swiss public transport, anyway, is second turn on it's. It's fantastic. Everything's joined up. You know, you arrive by train and a boat's leaving at the proper time that you expect. It does not. You don't have to wait hours and hours. Everything's kind of like clockwork there you go Swiss, but it is, everything works like clockwork, so it's really good. Now, what about time of year to visit? Do you have a favorite time of year to go to Lisanne?

Speaker 2:

Look, I usually visit during the summer. Um, it's lovely I I enjoy the the. You know, the longer days uh, the warmer weather it's. It's, yeah, a great time to visit um winter. Just gone I was in lucerne and it was beautiful as well. It's nice to see um the roof of the chapel bridge. You know, had snow on it and, and it was just a very different atmosphere. We're actually lucky to be there during the week of um the light festival, so every January they have a light festival where lots of those um buildings like the Jesuit church and the water tower are illuminated with these amazing light installations. So it was really nice to wander around the the town at night and see that. And there's quite a lot going on in winter actually, with Christmas markets and other sort of festivals and things that they have as well. This year I'm actually going to be visiting in autumn or fall, so that'll be yeah. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that seeing, seeing how, how different um the vibe is and and, uh, how different the mountains look um in autumn.

Speaker 1:

But um, summer is definitely a great time to visit too yeah, definitely it can't be if there's warm days and sunny skies and you know the brightness of all the lightness and the warmth. Yeah, I've just haven't just spent winter in Europe. I don't think I'll be hurrying back. I have to say I just find it I mean it was magical, uh that you can't be in some ways, you can't be in northern hemisphere winter, because the the, yes, the cold, but just the Christmas atmosphere and the lights and just the whole. It's just brilliant Christmas markets, um, but I don't know, I think I've got soft and mild age and I like the warmth, but, yeah, very special time to go though, for sure.

Speaker 1:

Now, is there any other hidden gems or honourable mentions that you'd like to kind of sneak in there about Lucerne?

Speaker 2:

Well, there is one. I guess it's a hidden gem and I have to admit that I'd been to Lucerne quite a few times before I'd actually been to this thing. It's called the Musegg Wall, so it's actually the old fortifications of Lucerne and if you're at the Chapel Bridge you probably don't really notice it because it's kind of hidden a bit behind the buildings in the Old Town. But it's not very far. It's probably only a five to ten minute walk from the Chapel Bridge through the Old Town and you come up and you're up on a bit of a hill, but the medieval fortifications are still there and there's nine towers. Four of those towers you can actually still climb up and when you do you just get the most amazing views over lucerne and the lake, with the mountains in the distance. So it's, yeah, definitely worth worthwhile hunting, hunting out the moose egg wall and going up one of the towers to to get those views and probably staying more than a few hours in Lucerne as well.

Speaker 1:

because I was going to ask, because this will probably lead to the next question, which is kind of you know, because you help a lot of people plan their travels to Switzerland, is there kind of a I hate the term mistake, but is there something that you see travellers kind of do when they visit in Lucerne, that you kind of go?

Speaker 2:

oh, probably best of all you did, yeah, well you, you did steal, steal my thunder there, tracy sorry I was.

Speaker 2:

I was going to say don't underestimate, you know the time that you need in in lucerne. I know when people go to switzerland they want to try and pack in as much as they possibly can. They want to see all the places, and so many people will only allow a day, or sometimes even less, in Lucerne. They say, oh, we'll just stop in Lucerne on our way from Zurich to the next place. But honestly, like you could spend three or four days in Lucerne and and still not see everything or do everything that you want to do.

Speaker 1:

So don't skimp on on the time that that you allow for lucerne, if you can possibly help it yeah, no, I agree 100, and I've been there quite a number of times and it's, uh, it's definitely worth more than a couple of hours in your itinerary, which is I've seen people do in the past. But and I guess that leaves me the question I always end my episodes with, which would be what is your number one tip that you would share with anyone planning to visit Lucerne for the first time?

Speaker 2:

I would say, once you get there, have a look around you and then just go and wander, just go and get lost down those little back alleys. See where it takes you, because even though I've just said, go and get lost, you can't actually get lost. You'll always find your way back to the river, to the lake, to the chapel bridge, the main hub there of the city. But some of the things that you'll find when you're off wandering down those little alleyways, yeah, yeah, they're the sort of things that that stick with you, I think yeah, absolutely 100.

Speaker 1:

Well, thanks so much, uh for coming on the podcast again, carolyn, and talking all things swiss. This time, the focus on lucerne. Um, it's been great to chat about it because it's it's such a beautiful city and um, definitely 100. If you visit in switzerland, you should be adding that in your itinerary. That's my recommendation, and I will put links to your podcast and to your website and to some of the specific articles as well that we've discussed in the show notes for this episode, which will be at globaltravelplanningcom. Forward slash episode 61. But, carolyn, it's been great, as always, to chat all things Swiss.

Speaker 2:

Thanks again for having me, tracey, it's been wonderful chatting to you and, as always, happy global travel planning.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for joining us on this episode of the Global Travel Planning Podcast. For more details and links to everything we discussed today, check out the show notes at globaltravelplanningcom. Remember, if you enjoyed the show, please consider leaving us a review on your favorite podcast app, because your feedback helps us reach more travel enthusiasts, just like you. Anyway, that leaves me to say, as always, happy global travel planning, thank you.