Bern and Lucerne day trip recs

[Anonymous]

Any suggestions for day trips out of Bern and Lucerne? Understand both are small and can be covered in a day. Looking for ideas that can be done in a day since those two will be our base three days each. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I think Mt Pilatus is the big one from Lucerne.

[Anonymous]

Grindelwald to go on Jungfraujoch and explore beautiful Grindelwald and do some great hiking. Will you have kids with you? Ages?

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks! We will have two high school aged teens.

[Anonymous]

Definitely do Mt. Pilatus. If you're there in the summer and have a really warm day in Lucerne, go to Lido Beach. There's a fee to get in, but it wasn't much. You can rent chairs and buy beach towels so no need to plan anything in advance. There's a restaurant on the water, ice cream shop, SUP rentals, etc. It's so beautiful and a nice break from sightseeing.

[Anonymous]

Boat trips on Lake Lucerne are nice as well.

[Anonymous]

OP, these two locations are very close (less than 90 minutes apart). Switzerland is small and very well served by its transportation network (trains, buses, boats, funiculars, etc). You could easily choose one base in the Berner Oberland and do all your day trips from there. We chose Meiringen (smaller, cheaper, but very good amenities and transportation connections) and did Lucerne, Bern, Grindelwald, Murren, Gimmelwald, Brienz, from there. So if you'd like to settle in, it's quite possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, these two locations are very close (less than 90 minutes apart). Switzerland is small and very well served by its transportation network (trains, buses, boats, funiculars, etc). You could easily choose one base in the Berner Oberland and do all your day trips from there. We chose Meiringen (smaller, cheaper, but very good amenities and transportation connections) and did Lucerne, Bern, Grindelwald, Murren, Gimmelwald, Brienz, from there. So if you'd like to settle in, it's quite possible.

Np. Were you able to do all these as day trips? Where did you stay?

I saw pictures of Lauterbrunnen and Gimmelwald and it looks so amazing

[Anonymous]

Is Swiss travel pass or Half fare card better for staying in Berner Overland and possibly go to Montreaux, Zermatt

[Anonymous]

I was in the region last summer. Both Bern and Lucerne are small cities and can be easily visited as half day trips plus lunch to cover all the main sights. Both are pretty places. But I wouldn't use them as bases when you have the spectacular Berner Oberland nearby.

If you are open to some hiking, I'd suggest staying in a place like Murren or splitting your time between Murren and another town on the other side of the valley. Lots of hotels and cottages. Do lovely walks up to a mountain hut for lunch and back down. The Piz Gloria is a fantastic mountain peak and much cheaper than doing the famous Jungjaufrau train. There's gorgeous waterfalls in the valley floor.

Regarding Swiss trains, yes, incredibly linked and organized but also very expensive. Since I was doing mostly walking, I got the half fare card and used it for trains and lifts and funiculars every now and then. If relying more on trains within the Berner Oberland there is a separate all inclusive pass that is worth checking out.

If I were planning a trip I might do one night in Bern after landing in Switzerland (assuming landing at Zurich, train to Bern), next afternoon proceed to Murren for four nights, then Murren to Lucerne for 1-2 nights including swimming in the lake, then end of trip.

I loved the Berner Oberland so much that I'm going back this August to do more walks and we're staying in Murren again for a few nights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Mt Pilatus is the big one from Lucerne.

We were just there and went up Mt Pilatus, and it was completely clouded in. So that was a waste of $300, the cost of 4 tickets to go up to the top.

That said, if it had been a nice day, it would have been wonderful. There are also hiking trails on the mountain plus an alpine slide and zip lining, so lots to do.

We loved Lucerne.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Mt Pilatus is the big one from Lucerne.

We were just there and went up Mt Pilatus, and it was completely clouded in. So that was a waste of $300, the cost of 4 tickets to go up to the top.

That said, if it had been a nice day, it would have been wonderful. There are also hiking trails on the mountain plus an alpine slide and zip lining, so lots to do.

We loved Lucerne.

Curious why you didn't check their weather app before going up the mountain?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was in the region last summer. Both Bern and Lucerne are small cities and can be easily visited as half day trips plus lunch to cover all the main sights. Both are pretty places. But I wouldn't use them as bases when you have the spectacular Berner Oberland nearby.

If you are open to some hiking, I'd suggest staying in a place like Murren or splitting your time between Murren and another town on the other side of the valley. Lots of hotels and cottages. Do lovely walks up to a mountain hut for lunch and back down. The Piz Gloria is a fantastic mountain peak and much cheaper than doing the famous Jungjaufrau train. There's gorgeous waterfalls in the valley floor.

Regarding Swiss trains, yes, incredibly linked and organized but also very expensive. Since I was doing mostly walking, I got the half fare card and used it for trains and lifts and funiculars every now and then. If relying more on trains within the Berner Oberland there is a separate all inclusive pass that is worth checking out.

If I were planning a trip I might do one night in Bern after landing in Switzerland (assuming landing at Zurich, train to Bern), next afternoon proceed to Murren for four nights, then Murren to Lucerne for 1-2 nights including swimming in the lake, then end of trip.

I loved the Berner Oberland so much that I'm going back this August to do more walks and we're staying in Murren again for a few nights.

Is Murren more easily accessible to everthing compared to Grindelwald? I was reading something about where the daylight hits in the Lauterbrunnen Valley and why some areas may be better than others to stay at but now don't remember wat I read.

And where in Murren did you stay at?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, these two locations are very close (less than 90 minutes apart). Switzerland is small and very well served by its transportation network (trains, buses, boats, funiculars, etc). You could easily choose one base in the Berner Oberland and do all your day trips from there. We chose Meiringen (smaller, cheaper, but very good amenities and transportation connections) and did Lucerne, Bern, Grindelwald, Murren, Gimmelwald, Brienz, from there. So if you'd like to settle in, it's quite possible.

Np. Were you able to do all these as day trips? Where did you stay?

I saw pictures of Lauterbrunnen and Gimmelwald and it looks so amazing

Yes, we were staying in Meiringen for 8 nights, and I forgot a few others too like Thun & Spiez (both in a single day), Wengen (just a short stop though) and the Jungfraujoch. We chose Meiringen because it had good transportation connections to all the places I mentioned and lots of restaurants, bakeries, and both the Migros and Coop grocery stores (which have some prepared food selections too). The transportation is expensive but includes the other modes of transport like buses, boats, etc, and kids under 16 are free with their parents with the SwissPass. You can run the numbers, figure out if a different pass will work better for you. We used ours for all the day trips plus time in Zermatt and to return to Zurich for a few days at the end. By then, Zurich, which is as nice a city as you'll find, seemed so loud and bustling after our time in the mountains.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was in the region last summer. Both Bern and Lucerne are small cities and can be easily visited as half day trips plus lunch to cover all the main sights. Both are pretty places. But I wouldn't use them as bases when you have the spectacular Berner Oberland nearby.

If you are open to some hiking, I'd suggest staying in a place like Murren or splitting your time between Murren and another town on the other side of the valley. Lots of hotels and cottages. Do lovely walks up to a mountain hut for lunch and back down. The Piz Gloria is a fantastic mountain peak and much cheaper than doing the famous Jungjaufrau train. There's gorgeous waterfalls in the valley floor.

Regarding Swiss trains, yes, incredibly linked and organized but also very expensive. Since I was doing mostly walking, I got the half fare card and used it for trains and lifts and funiculars every now and then. If relying more on trains within the Berner Oberland there is a separate all inclusive pass that is worth checking out.

If I were planning a trip I might do one night in Bern after landing in Switzerland (assuming landing at Zurich, train to Bern), next afternoon proceed to Murren for four nights, then Murren to Lucerne for 1-2 nights including swimming in the lake, then end of trip.

I loved the Berner Oberland so much that I'm going back this August to do more walks and we're staying in Murren again for a few nights.

Is Murren more easily accessible to everthing compared to Grindelwald? I was reading something about where the daylight hits in the Lauterbrunnen Valley and why some areas may be better than others to stay at but now don't remember wat I read.

And where in Murren did you stay at?

I'm not the poster who stayed in Murren. It's an interesting place to get to though. You might want to read up on that. Some people don't like Lauterbrunnen; others love it as it has a unique location.