Lucerne, Our First Trip in Switzerland

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Since we're going to fly out from Zurich, hence we decided to skip this city and will return again on the last two days of our trip in Switzerland. We began our journey by heading to Lucerne, the gateway to the heartland of Switzerland. 

HOW TO GET TO LUCERNE FROM ZURICH AIRPORT
From Zurich Airport or locally known as Zürich Flughafen, there are trains running every hour to Lucerne and the journey takes nearly an hour and 10 minutes. In case you have Swiss Travel Pass, you can use the pass for this route.  

I would highly recommend to take the direct train from Zürich Flughafen to Lucerne such as IR75 and IR13 instead of IC8 and IC5 because the latter are not direct trains and they require to change to another train (you can identify this with the small dot in middle of the line). You can check out the train timetable from SBB Mobile Apps.

LUCERNE'S ATTRACTIONS
Since the accommodation we booked in Lucerne are not ready yet for us to check-in, therefore we took this opportunity to explore and venture this small and lovely city first. Because majority of the attractions are just within reasonable walking distance, both of us don't even bother to take the city bus and just enjoyed exploring the city on foot. 

1) Old Town (Altstadt) of Lucerne
If there is one thing I love the most when comes to Europe, it will always have to be the city's old town. Full of charming squares, the medieval old town of Lucerne is claimed to be one of the prettiest old town in Switzerland and you get to spot numerous of colourful and beautiful painted murals on the buildings. This place is not just a perfect spot for phototaking, but you can do some shopping here too.  

How To Get To Old Town of Lucerne: Less than 7 minutes of walking from Lucerne Train Station

2) Chapel Bridge
Being the landmark of Lucerne, Chapel Bridge is said to be the oldest and earliest wooden covered footbridge of Europe and it was built in 14th century as a protection for the city. Despite the bridge was burned down in 1993, it was rebuilt immediately within few months. It's pretty fascinating walking over this covered footbridge as you get to see artworks and paintings depicting the history of Lucerne as well as 12th century city life. 

3) Musegg Wall (Old City Wall)
If you are looking for a spot for panoramic view of the entire city of Lucerne, then you should head to Musegg Wall (the old city wall). There are few towers remain open to the public and you can ascend for amazing view overlooking the old town and lake. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes as the climb up to the tower is quite challenging.  

How To Get To Musegg Wall: Approximately 17 minutes of walking from Lucerne Train Station

4) Lion Monument
Located on the north side of the Reuss River, this iconic Lion Monument is to commemorate the Swiss solders who lost their lives in the French Revolution. The American prominent writer Mark Twain praised the sculpture of a mortally-wounded lion as "the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world." 

How To Get To Lion Monument: Around 15 minutes of walking from Lucerne Train Station

5) Lake Lucerne
If you have the Swiss Travel Pass, why don't you utilise this pass by taking the incredible boat ride across Lake Lucerne as this is covered by the pass. You can even take this ride heading to Mount Rigi which I will blog more about this in the next few post. Trust me, you will thank me once you did so cause it's one of the amazing things we did in Lucerne. 

OUR ACCOMMODATION IN LUCERNE 
Since Lucerne is a great base to explore few of Swiss renowned mountains such as Mount Titlis and Mount Rigi, therefore we chosen to base and stay here for 3 nights. Normally I will choose to stay in the hostel for my past Europe trips but mainly due to the pandemic and because at that point of time the Malaysia government hasn't scrapped off the PCR test 48 hours before taking the flight back to Malaysia, both my husband and I agreed to avoid hostel at this moment. We set our budget RM300 per night per person and luckily, we managed to find the one that suit my preference - ideally good location and most importantly, there's a kitchen. 

Galaxy Serviced Apartments  
Date Stayed: 26 April - 29April 2020 (3 nights)
Room Rate: CHF349.50 for a studio apartment (paid directly to Booking.com) with additional of CHF4 city tax per person per night (paid upon check-in and you can pay either in cash or card). In total, we paid approx. to RM1,697 for 3 nights stay. During the check-in, a security deposit of CHF200 is reserved and will refund after check-out.  
We found and booked this accommodation directly from Booking.com

 Things I Like About This Accommodation:

• A kitchenette stocked with utensils, fridge, microwave, dishwasher and even coffee maker
• Lift within the property so we can save our energy, especially with our huge luggages
• Three supermarkets just nearby (Aldo, Coop and Migros)
• 12 minutes walk to Luzern Train Station

Things I Dislike About This Accommodation:

• Even the room is ready but they only allow us to check-in at 3pm, or else there is an extra charge of CHF30. However, they allow us to store our luggage inside the room before the check-in time
• If you are driving with car, sadly to announce this that there is no free parking provided and public parking is pretty expensive. 

Whether for a short trip or long overnight, Lucerne is definitely one of the cities you shouldn't miss when visiting Switzerland. 

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