Zermatt

Day 7:  We left Lucerne, had a lunch break/stretch in Interlaken and headed for Zermatt! (Mike, my dad, and I stopped in Interlaken for a couple days on our last trip and really enjoyed it-we even went paragliding!) Due to timing, we didn’t get to spend a lot of time there this trip, but it is a lovely city if you ever plan on visiting Switzerland! 

Interlaken

Did you know you can transport your car on a special train in Switzerland through the Alpine tunnels?! There is a service called the car shuttle train which allows you to drive your car onto a train and ride through a mountain. We were all shocked!!  This is a convenient and efficient way to bypass high mountain passes and get to your destination quicker. 

The train ferry!!

Zermatt: I’ve never been to the city before, so I was excited to add a new destination to my list! Zermatt is a car -free town which means we had to get out at Tasch and take an electric vehicle taxi into the city. 

Zermatt is beautiful and we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening walking around the town.

View of Zermatt from our room

Zermatt

View of the Matterhorn from the church 

On the ceiling in the church

The Parish Church of St Mauritius

Hotel: The Pollux

Day 8: We took the Gornergrat railway to get some cool views of the Matterhorn. It climbs over 1,400 meters from Zermatt to the mountain summit. The Matterhorn, for those of you who don’t know, is famed for its iconic peak and Toblerone chocolate logo! 

We had a nice visit and got some great pictures! They have a few stops along the way where you can get out and hike. They also had an interactive museum called ZOOOM which we stopped in briefly. 

Day 9: We had to make our way to Geneva for our flight the following day. On our way to Geneva we stopped at Chillon Castle which was pretty cool! This castle is ranked among the best-preserved of medieval European castles. It is situated on the banks of Lake Geneva and is said to be the inspiration for Prince Eric’s castle in the Little Mermaid. 

I really loved that you could wander around in the castle at your own pace. There was so much to explore and we didn’t even get to probably half of it due to time constraints. They do sell audio tours for an additional charge which we did not do because of time. There was a place to eat right outside the castle which was also nice. 
Hotel in Geneva: InterCity Hotel which was very close to the airport. They offered a complimentary shuttle the next morning for our departure. 

Shout out to Pub Goudale located just around the corner from our hotel. The food was excellent and probably my favorite from the whole trip! 

Lucerne & Mt Pilatus

After Liechtenstein we had the afternoon to explore Lucerne. This marks my third time being in the city!

Lucerne has so much natural beauty and everything about it is lovely. It’s situated on the lake surrounded by the Alps … what more could you want?!

We stayed at hotel Des Alpes where we stayed before. Lucerne is such a great city to walk around- we were right next to the chapel bridge and church. 

The Chapel Bridge is pretty special. It is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe, as well as the world’s oldest surviving truss bridge. As you walk along the bridge, you’ll notice interior paintings dating back to the 17th century. 

The famous Jesuit Church got its claim to fame for being the first major baroque style church built in Switzerland north of the Alps.

Lucerne is also famous for the lion monument. I did not see the monument this time around, but I’ve seen it two other times before. It commemorates the Swiss guards that were killed in Paris during the French revolution. If you look at the statue, the lion has been pierced by a spear, which symbolizes their loyalty and sacrifice.

Day 6: we went to Mount Pilatus. Last time we were here we went to Mount Titlis. (I think I liked Mount Titlis better.) 

There are many ways to travel to and from Mount Pilatus. We took the Panorama gondola and then cable car. Mike and I stopped and did the summer toboggan on the way up.

Some views from the top:

We then took the world’s steepest cogwheel railway back down. (Reaches a maximum gradient of 48%)

We probably spent 4 hours in total - going up, stopping for the toboggan, walking around at the top, going back down… We were lucky to have such a nice day with clear views! It was still pretty warm even being up that high. I think Mount Titlis had prettier views and they had really good ice cream! LOL 

I think anyone visiting Lucerne should spend at least two days there- one exploring the city and one doing an excursion like Titlis or Pilatus.

Must do while in Lucerne: watch the sunset 

Next up: Zermatt!