If, at the beginning of 2019, anyone would have told me that I was going to be travelling to Switzerland, I would’ve straight-up laughed at them. I mean, me? C’mon! I hadn’t ever stepped out of this country; not even to Bhutan or Nepal (where you could just ride a bus to). So, if my Europe trip could be described with one single word, it would have to be ‘DREAM’. Well here’s all about my visit to Lucerne.
Also Read: A Brown Girl’s Diary Of Her First EuroTrip
The trip, where we visited four European countries was a dream come true. Even after a month, I don’t know how to feel. So if you’ve been following my cool ass Europe trip, you will know that I had some adventurous days in Paris. If not then, EXCUSE ME? Just kidding, read all about my escapades here.
But for now, let’s jump into the one country where I spent most of my trip at: Switzerland.
We spent 3 days in this beautiful little town called Lucerne. It’s a picturesque little city located right at the foot of the Alps in the Swiss-German speaking part of central Switzerland, where the city’s namesake lake reflects the snowy peaks—including Mount Pilatus and Mount Titlis.
To get here, we left our hotel in Paris at about 6.30 am to catch a train to Zurich. The train ride took almost five hours, and I am not going to lie, I slept for most of that journey. The only time I was awake was when the food cart came in and I had the most delicious chocolate chip cookie of my life (in my 25 years I have never had such soft, amazingly delicious, doughy yet still fully cooked, chocolate chip cookies anywhere before!).
Also, this is high praise from me, as I don’t usually like chocolate (yes I know). We finally reached Zurich at around 12 pm took some time to decide which train to take to Lucerne. Basically, we had to reach Lucerne by 2 pm, as that’s when our host was expecting us, so, we decided to quickly eat some fries and booked our tickets for 1 pm.
Our journey to Lucerne was one of the most beautiful train rides I have ever been on (not that I have experienced many but still). We were travelling along Zurich Lake, so from the windows, the views were simply spectacular. If you’re planning to travel across Europe definitely opt for the train over air travel, so that you too can expereince these sights!
Reaching Lucerne and getting distracted by the rain and bus drivers
We reached Lucerne by 1.30 pm and we started to look for the bus that we need to take to reach our Airbnb. But before that, our eyes were drawn to the giant Ferris Wheel that was on our right. Along with that, there were other swings as well—apparently, a fair was being organized and there were some food stalls and swings for everyone!
We kept our excitement in check and decided to look for our bus (and bus stop instead). While we spent almost 20 minutes figuring that out it began drizzling, and we could feel a nip in the air. Thankfully we were carrying jackets and umbrellas (I was so glad my sister had already warned us about the weather), and therefore we were well prepared. She had even packed the perfect snack for our bus ride – Roasted Chestnuts!
But I suppose happiness just wasn’t in our stars, because we were hit with some terrible racist slurs by the bus driver and that quite just killed our mood. All of us just quietly got down and took about 5 more minutes to reach our Airbnb.
Situated in Adligenswil, our Airbnb was perfect in every way possible. As the weather was cloudy, we were rewarded with a foggy evening but soon we made the best of it by swooning over our little studio. We were quite hungry and tired, and so we tried to wash down the bitterness (which we felt for that jackass bus-driver) with a cup of coffee, and a bowl of Maggi each.
We put on some music and sat on adorable our patio. Our host had thought of everything and has stocked this little studio of hers with everything we could possibly need (mind you with an instruction manual as well). While others went to get some groceries after snacking, I collapsed due to exhaustion.
Our first day in Lucerne and the adventures we had
On our first day at Lucerne, we decided to have a relaxed morning and decided to walk around exploring the city in the afternoon. So, with no concrete plan, we took the bus and did what we wanted to do the moment we got there. and, yes, we did take a ride on that Ferris wheel, and it sure gave us some amazing views of the city. This little town itself is just gorgeous: with its lake right in the middle of the Alps, it’s quite a view.
Our next stop was the old town and the old bridge: Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke). This charming little beauty is a covered wooden footbridge spanning the River Reuss diagonally and has a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century. Although two-thirds of its interior paintings were destroyed along with a larger part of the centuries-old bridge in a 1993 fire, the Kapellbrücke was reconstructed and again opened to the public on 14 April 1994.
It is known to be the oldest covered bridge in Europe and rightfully serves as the city’s symbol. We all took a stroll through the streets of the old towns which are filled shops on every corner, well-preserved buildings, wonderful statues, fountains and bridges, and mountains all around. The arrays of shops include chocolate shops, clothes stores, eateries, various restaurants, and bars.
As the sun was out, we just decided to wander along these peaceful streets while having mango gelato from one of the shops. We took a bus back home and thankfully were blessed with my sister’s yummy red sauce pasta. As all of us were quite excited about our Golden Triangle tour which was booked for the next day, we slept early.
Day Two: The Golden Triangle and Mount Pilatus
Visiting the Golden Triangle was a thrilling experience, to say the least. The half-day or whole-day excursion that includes a boat trip on Lake Lucerne and then, a ride up the world’s steepest cogwheel railway to the peak (altitude 2,132 meters or 7,000 feet) – is something that should not be missed. This ninety-minute boat ride was from central Lucerne to Alpnachstad. From Alpnachstad, we made our way to Pilatus Bahn. This thirty-minute journey to the Swiss alpine allowed us to soak our beautiful mountain surroundings. Instead of words, I think I would just show pictures. So, here they are:
So let me get into some details: My sister was fasting on this day (as it was Karwa Chauth) and therefore we were carrying fruits, yoghurt, and juice for her. While the rest of us decided that we’ll just buy anything from the place itself, right? Well, wrong! We decided to just have a portion of Pomme Frittes, thinking snacking is better than eating heavy ( because we had to take the cableway back).
But, as we a were eating and enjoying other people falling on their faces (there was ice almost everywhere, so anyone who wasn’t being careful, was basically just slipping), we were smacked on our faces by KARMA as our box of Pomme Frittes just slipped from our hands and landed on the floor. Yep. After we cleaned that up (while wishing for a quick death because of this embarrassment), I decided to climb a few steps and have a better look at the ALPS. This was my view:
While coming back, we first took an Aerial Cableway ride (also known as the Dragon ride) back to Fräkmüntegg, and then we took the panoramic gondola for the 30-minute ride to Kriens. The entire journey lets you soak in up the panoramic Swiss landscapes over the lake and Alps which are filled with gorgeous streams, steep rock faces, and fields of Alpine flowers. From Kriens, we took the bus back to Lucerne, where we picked up some dinner and as exhaustion caught up with us, we crashed quite early.
While our trip to this romantic Swiss getaway offered us the most picturesque sceneries, but your girl still didn’t find her Raj. Have you been to Lucerne? With or without your Raj? Do let us know about your romantic experiences below!
