Saying goodbye to Interlaken wasn’t easy; its beauty had left such a lasting impact. Sometimes, it feels like good things should never end, right? A little more time there would have been wonderful. Still, there was so much more to look forward to. Like kids on an endless adventure, we hopped from one excitement to the next. 🙂 Our next stop was Lucerne — or Luzern, as it’s called in German.
There were trains every hour from Interlaken to Lucerne, so we had enough time to check out from the hotel, take a bus to the station and then take the train from Interlaken OST. But, before that, we tried to spend a few more hours walking past the streets in Interlaken, trying to soak in as much as possible.
The journey to Lucerne
The journey from Interlaken to Luzern was quite beautiful and breath-taking. It took us through valleys, lakes and mountains. We have never been so glued to the window of a train before. 😀
(Views from the train)
While the beautiful landscapes started to diminish as we neared Lucerne, the view was replaced by a more urban terrain. We could see more of churches and buildings surrounded by lakes and the Alps in the background. The total journey time was about 2 hours.
After getting down in Lucerne station, we boarded a bus which took us closer to our hotel.
We checked into the hotel and as usual we were eager to rush out of the four walls and explore the city. The city was quite busy with many tourists moving around in groups along with their organized tour operators. The different tour operators were holding flags of different colours and several people were following their group leaders.
Chapel Bridge
We grabbed a Panini Sandwich, and a Hazelnut roll on the way and headed out to the famous landmark called ‘Chapel bridge’. It was just a 10-minutes’ walk from the place where we stayed. A wooden bridge with a water tower in one end, the Chapel bridge has some beautiful paintings inside, along with a lovely array of flowers outside. It was built in 1333, and it is the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe. Walking over the bridge felt rustic and nostalgic, as if we’d stepped back in time — it was truly magical.
(Pictures of Chapel Bridge)
Upon reaching the other end of the bridge, we could see many open-air cafes and restaurants, most of them fully occupied. Though we were tempted to eat something, we were craving for a visual treat more than a hunger treat at that moment. 😀
After walking along the lake for some time, we took a ferry ride to a place called Weggis. The ride across the crystal-clear water, with hills rising in the background, gave us time to reflect and do some soul-searching. As the urban landscape faded and small clusters of houses appeared along the shore, we lost ourselves completely in the beauty surrounding us.
(Pics of Weggis)
Sitting on deck chairs in Weggis, having fruit yoghurt, we felt like the life had taken a pause.
Mount Pilatus
Since we had removed Mount Jungfrau and Mount Titlis from our itinerary, we decided to visit Mount Pilatus the next day. For me, it turned out to be a good decision. We got to do some hiking while enjoying a scenic round trip and got breathtaking views. Also, there wasn’t any snow there 😀
We had purchased a Golden Round Trip ticket for Mount Pilatus, which allowed us to use various modes of transport to reach the summit and descend. The complete round trip included a bus, cable car, gondola, cogwheel train, and boat. One could also do the route in reverse. The trip is designed to offer different perspectives and experiences of the mountain.
The journey upwards
- Leaving the hotel, we got into a bus headed towards Kriens. It was a 20-minutes ride through the city.
- From the Kriens bus stop, it was a 1 kilometre walk towards Schlossweg. (That’s the place for the cable-car)
- From Schlossweg, we got into a Cable car till Fräkmüntegg. It was a pleasant journey upwards, with only the 2 of us in one car.
- From Fräkmüntegg, there was a Gondola ride that we had to take to reach Mount Pilatus. It was our first experience on a Gondola and we were thrilled to see around and outside.
The ride took us above a valley that was smeared with green pastures and tall, sturdy trees standing so neatly and in an orderly manner.
Upon reaching Mt. Pilatus, we got to know that we could go on several treks to different peaks there, each giving a different view of the valley below. The highest peak, Pilatus Kulm is about 7000 feet above sea level and Tomlishorn peak is just a few feet shorter. Also, there was one trek that took us within the mountains and we could peep out of them. We did about 4 treks in total.
We had to tackle some steep trails to reach the summit. While I was gasping for air at times, it was heartening to see so many senior citizens braving the trek with smiles on their faces. At the top, there were wooden chairs shaped like airplane seats — it was fun to sit there and quite literally feel on top of the world.
(Pics of Pilatus)
The view from the summit was enchanting, though very cold and windy. Wherever we looked, it was mesmerizing. Lake on one side, mountains on the other, and the air was so pure.
After spending about an hour in Pilatus, it was time for us to come down and proceed to the cogwheel boarding point for a ride down the mountain.
This cog-wheel train from Pilatus to Alpnachstad is the steepest rail in the world and has two coaches in it. We chose to sit in front, along with the driver, to get the best views of the descent. There was a clear sign on top saying “Do not talk to the driver”. But I am sure he must have got so much disturbed due to our frequent movement around for taking pictures and videos. 😀
The train moved at a slow pace with few tunnels in between, while also giving way to another train climbing up from the opposite direction. The journey to Alpnachstad was about 30 minutes, and that was totally worth our time. We could also notice a few trekkers walking alongside enroute.
(Pics of Cogwheel train)
We had covered Mount Pilatus in just about 4 hours, and had an entire half day available with us. So, we decided to go to Zurich. It was only a train journey from Alpnachstad to Luzern and another train to Zurich from there.
Zurich
Zurich was busy and slightly crowded compared to the rest of the places that we had seen in Switzerland. We had no planned itinerary over here. Just asked ChatGPT about what we could do in a few hours. The AI suggested to walk over to Bahnhofstrasse, which is a famous shopping street. It was just a walking distance from the Zurich HB station. The vibe was amazing and it was good to look around the shops and do some window-shopping. We took trams and buses from there to reach the Chinese Garden, which was located just near the Zurich Lake.
(Exploring Zurich)
Zurich lakefront was so beautiful and we could see a lot of people relaxing there in their own way.
After munching a Green Salad along with an African Mint milk tea from a nearby restaurant, our heads turned towards the lawn sprawled beside the lake with the green carpeted grass, inviting us to come and relax.
Though the day was super sunny and warm, a cool breeze from the lake made it pleasant. While we sat on the lawn, we felt as if we were reliving stories from our childhood English Textbooks. We understood what ‘recreation’ meant. It is not just about running behind things, but to sit, relax and spend some quality time with family and friends. 🙂
We forced ourselves to get up from there, and then proceeded towards Polyterrasse, which is just behind the Zurich University.
ChatGPT suggested that it offers some great views of the city. Though the views were good, we were more interested in seeing the students gathered around for some kind of activities. 🙂
It was so easy to move around from one city to the other in Switzerland, and we were surprised that we could experience Zurich in just a few hours, and got a feel of the city.
By the time we reached back Lucerne, most of the bistros and restaurants were closed, and we ended up eating dinner in an Indian restaurant named Kanchi. We ordered a North Indian Thali. The food there was amazing. Or, maybe it was because we were eating Indian food after almost a week. 😀
Glacier Garden
The next day in Lucerne, we visited the Lion Monument and Glacier Garden, which were close-by. The Glacier Garden is about 150 years old and displays glacial potholes from the last ice age. Also, there are fossils of palm leaves and shells. There was a tunnel that leads one into the rock where we could walk through the geological history. There are lights, animations and rock features which made the experience so interactive and immersive. Also, there was a mirror maze inside where we both were trying to find our way out like kids. 😀 There was also a winding staircase that led us to a garden with a lovely view outside.
Though we could spend only about 5 days in Switzerland, the memories from there are going to remain forever.
My whole idea of writing a series of blogs for this trip is for the sake of sharing the experience with others and for my own journal. I took help from my travel companion (husband) for this blog, and some of the wordings in this blog are his. 🙂 I know that i can’t do justice in describing the beauty that we experienced.
As a conclusion for this blog, I would just like to say that in our fast-paced lives filled with stress and action, a few days of pause in the midst of nature could be the best prescription for anyone.
From Lucerne, our next stop was Florence in Italy. Will see you soon in Florence with my next chapter. 🙂
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