Viking Rhine Getaway Lucerne extension

We're doing the Rhine Getaway at the end of the month and we've booked the Lucerne extension through Viking.

They have us in the Hotel Flora - which is different from their usual Radison Blu. It looks like it's in a good location near the Chapel Bridge and the train station.

Viking stops at the Lion Monument, then does a walking tour of the old city - not sure how long it takes. We want to do the Mt Pilatus Golden Round trip (weather permitting), and if there is time either the day we arrive or after Mt Pilatus we would also like to do the Swiss Museum of Transport - which is kind of in the opposite direction.

Can anyone comment on public transportation in Lucerne? I understand we have to take a bus back to Lucerne from the end of the Mt Pilatus loop. Can we get to the Transportation museum from there - either by bus or train? How hard is it to get the tickets? Is this something Viking or the Hotel might be able to arrange (getting the tickets for the train or bus)

From what I understand, we will have the afternoon of the day we arrive, plus the whole next day. We leave for the airport in Zurich on the 3rd day.

I'm a consummate planner, so I like to know what to expect before hand so I can also plan contingencies :D

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

Hi Kath, only two weeks until you leave. Add 100 days for us.

Hotel Flora was great, no complaints. Can't have a better location. Their breakfast wasn't great, but was good and filling.

Viking has a rep there at the hotel to help you. They also offered the Mt. Pilatus tour on the ship when we cruised. Not sure if they still do.

We walked to the Transportation Museum so I can't help you with the public transport question, but I think I remember seeing bus stops right by it. We stopped and looked at the public areas of the museum, but didn't pay to go in. We walked the wall that morning and then toured the Catholic Church after a concert. We then just continued walking around the lake until we ran into the museum. Nice pathway with benches spaced along the way, but may waste to much time walking. We enjoyed the walk though. Viking rep will be of assistance.

We never used the Viking rep like we should have. He probably would have helped make better use of our time. We really just enjoyed walking the old town and exploring the churches and the train station. There is a tunnel on the corner to cross under the street to the station. There are quite a few stores there including groceries. Two days is not enough time so set your priorities and enjoy what you can.

Have a fun trip.

Hi Kath, only two weeks until you leave. Add 100 days for us.

 

 

 

Hotel Flora was great, no complaints. Can't have a better location. Their breakfast wasn't great, but was good and filling.

 

 

 

Viking has a rep there at the hotel to help you. They also offered the Mt. Pilatus tour on the ship when we cruised. Not sure if they still do.

 

 

 

We walked to the Transportation Museum so I can't help you with the public transport question, but I think I remember seeing bus stops right by it. We stopped and looked at the public areas of the museum, but didn't pay to go in. We walked the wall that morning and then toured the Catholic Church after a concert. We then just continued walking around the lake until we ran into the museum. Nice pathway with benches spaced along the way, but may waste to much time walking. We enjoyed the walk though. Viking rep will be of assistance.

 

 

 

We never used the Viking rep like we should have. He probably would have helped make better use of our time. We really just enjoyed walking the old town and exploring the churches and the train station. There is a tunnel on the corner to cross under the street to the station. There are quite a few stores there including groceries. Two days is not enough time so set your priorities and enjoy what you can.

 

 

 

Have a fun trip.

Thanks! I remember when our cruise was way out. It's coming fast now.

Viking is offering Mt Rigi now, but we want to do Mt Pilatus because of the cog railway.

I looked into walking. It seems doable, but time consuming. I'm hoping the Viking rep can help us plan it out

Glad to hear about the hotel. I thought it looked like a good location

Thanks again

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Doing the same trip in June.....need info on Lucerne pre stay. Any info would be helpful. msime1234@yahoo.com

Doing the same trip in June.....need info on Lucerne pre stay. Any info would be helpful. msime1234@yahoo.com

We did Lucerne post - so I don't know what might be different. Viking took us from the ship to Lucerne with a stop at the Lion Monument. They dropped us at the Hotel Flora where they had us booked.

It was too early to check in, and they were starting the walking tour right away. I thought they could have given us a little time to catch our breath! I was wearing jeans because they were bulky in the suitcase and it was really hot.

Anyway - the walking tour was good. We saw a lot and the guide, Maria, was very helpful in pointing things out and giving tips. She recommended a couple of places to eat. We ate in Rebstock, a restaurant she recommended for their meatloaf. We both like meatloaf, so that was great. The food was good and so was the beer. Prices not too bad for Lucerne - which is expensive! Oh and they had great ice cream from a company called Mövenpick - not to be confused with the hotel of the same name in Amsterdam.

Maria also recommended The Rathaus Brauerei - which is near the Chapel Bridge and not far from the hotel. We ate there twice. We had lunch and a few beers after the walking tour. They have sandwiches on big pretzels - they were so good. We also stopped for a beer (their own brews were great!) and we split a pretzel. They are so much better than those big doughy pretzels you get at sporting events and fairs in the US.

We went back for dinner on our last night. My husband had some kind of beef dish and I had the Swiss Macaroni & cheese our guide had recommended the place for. It's called Älplermagronen and it's served with home made applesauce. I had ice cream for dessert here as well, but not the Mövenpick.

The BEST thing we did in Lucerne was the Mt Pilatus Golden Round Trip. We got the tickets in the Lucerne Tourism office. It's in the Train Station, but we had a bit of a hard time finding it. The signage isn't great. Look for the Burger King - yeah, Burger King :rolleyes:

The tickets aren't cheap 106 euros each - but it was an experience of a lifetime! Just check the weather, if the mountain is fogged in or clouded in, you will miss the spectacular view.

Most people do the boat ride first, then the cog railway to the top, then the cable car down. I read a review here that recommended doing it the other way - and that was good advice! The lines are shorter, and if you go fairly early in the day, there will be mist on the lake.

The ticket includes all the transport you need. They told us what bus/tram to take and where to catch it. On the bus there is an electronic sign - just get off at the stop for Mt Pilatus in Kreins. It took about 15-20 minutes.

Just a warning - it's a bit of a hike uphill to get to the cable car. You have to stop at the ticket booth to get the card you need to operate the toll gates. We didn't and wasted some time waiting in a line with a large group of school children, then realized we didn't have the cards everyone else had.

The first cable car (there are 2 segments) is a 4 person one. It slows down, but doesn't stop completely, so you have to hop on. There are 2 stops - one is for people who want to hike to the top - not us! Don't get off at that one. The next one is where you change for the larger cable car that goes all the way to the observation area on the mountain.

There's a place to eat there, and places to view the scenery - which was gorgeous!

The second cable car holds about 20 people. There are some seats looking forward and some looking back, but mostly it's standing. It only takes about 10 minutes - probably less.

If you have ANY height issues at all - don't look down on this segment. The first part was mostly like a ski lift kind of thing, but enclosed. The second part is MOUNTAIN! You go up a rock face that isn't too bad, but then the bottom drops out and there's nothing! I looked :D

The observation area at the top has a lot of things you can do. There are restaurants, and 2 hotels, a bar, a souvenir shop. There were people playing those long Alpen horns - which was cool.

The mountain has 3 peaks and there are trails and stairs you can take to visit each one. We did the lowest one, because my husband has height issues. I was proud of him for even going along. He really wanted to do the cog railway - he's a train buff.

We spent some time walking around. There were some clouds at first, but they cleared so we could see the Eiger off in the distance. The views are some of the most spectacular I have ever seen.

We, then, took the cog railway down. It's billed as the World's Steepest - and I think it lives up to it's reputation! Again - lots of spectacular views!

When we got to the bottom, there was a LONG line of people waiting to go up, so the review I read here was correct! We had no lines - except for getting mixed in with the school kids at the beginning.

There was a boat just ready to leave, we hopped on and had a lovely ride across Lake Lucerne back to the railway station. Just fabulous - it was one of the highlights of our trip.

I'm working on a review of our whole trip, but I started in Amsterdam and I'm still going!

If you are interested in my photos, you can find them here

The Lucerne ones are near the bottom because we did Amsterdam to Lucerne.

Enjoy your cruise!

We just got back from the Viking Rhine cruise.

The Lucerne extension was the high point of the whole trip!

Special thanks to Cynthia, our Viking rep at the hotel Radisson Blu. She was great, got us oriented, walked us around the town, told us how to ride the buses and trains-- made a big difference for us. When we arrived my wife wasn't feeling very good-- she interceded with hotel mgmt to get us into our room a little sooner.

As for Lucerne: the town, the hills surrounding it, the lake, Pilatus, Rigi-- what's not to love? We also took the scenic train to Interlaken which I highly recommend if the weather is clear. You can also go on to the Jungfrau by this route.

I would love to visit Switzerland again.