Hello lovelies, once again we spent a wonderful stay close to home – to be precise: 3 mountains in 3 days, a weekend in Lucerne*. How much we love the Lucerne–Lake Lucerne region we've already shared with you in previous blog posts here and here. And yet on every trip we discover something new and fall in love all over again with that magical mix of city, lake, and mountains. This time we wanted to get to know as many mountains as possible, so we picked a new one for each day, and it was just so lovely.
In our opinion, NOW is the best time to explore the region, because rarely do you have to share the summits with so few tourists from overseas. Another reason is the TELL-PASS, a ticket with which you can discover Central Switzerland by train, bus, boat, and numerous mountain railways. The offer is really attractive, especially for families, and you have the option to choose different durations. Back then, until the end of October, from 2 hotel nights (in selected hotels) in the canton of Lucerne there was also a 2-for-1 deal, meaning you only paid for one pass and the kids were even free on top (that promotion has since ended). I can only highly recommend it – it pays off even if you visit just one mountain and take a boat trip!
And now to our "3 mountains in 3 days, a weekend in Lucerne" tour. We started with a mountain we'd wanted to visit for a long time: the Titlis.
Titlis
You reach the Titlis from Engelberg. You can ride up to the Trübsee mid-station by gondola, but we also wanted to go high up onto the glacier at over 3,000 m. The TITLIS cable car – the world's first rotating cable car – takes you up to the summit station. Up there you can play in the snow all year round – the girls were thrilled! But that's not all: a glacier grotto and the Cliff Walk await you, among other things. We had a bit of bad luck with the weather, so we had no view – but it was incredibly impressive all the same, and we're glad we rode all the way to the top.
Of course we also stopped at the Trübsee mid-station, because it's a true children's paradise. At Trübsee Adventure the kids have a bike course, a bouncy pillow, trampolines, and a slackline at their disposal. Guaranteed fun for almost every age.
After a short hike you reach the Trübsee, which not only sits in an incredibly idyllic spot but also lets you take a boat trip on it (you pay for the boats via Twint). On the lake there's also the great Smuggler's playground, truly a child's dream with lots of things to play on, plus grilling spots and picnic areas.
All in all, I find a visit to the Titlis absolutely recommendable for families – even if you don't want to go all the way to the summit, the Trübsee station offers so many lovely options, hiking trails, and you can enjoy the view of the glacier too!
After our visit to the Titlis, we headed to Lucerne to move into our hotel for the next few days: Hotel des Balances.
Hotel des Balances
A hotel in Lucerne couldn't be better located – right in the old town with a dreamy view over the Reuss and onto the city's famous landmarks. The history-steeped hotel has lots of charm and first-class service. We had a cozy room with a sofa bed for the children and a separable area for the parents. The rooms aren't huge, but furnished with great attention to detail – and you don't spend much time in the hotel anyway. From the small, sweet balcony you look straight out onto the Chapel Bridge and get to enjoy the dreamy atmosphere every morning – so wonderful.
In good weather you can enjoy breakfast on the terrace, with the best view, naturally. I'd let them know in advance that I eat vegan, and every morning I was pampered with a vegan breakfast feast like I've rarely experienced in hotels. The sweet tiered stands were richly filled with cheese, spreads, antipasti, fruit, and pastries. There was also a menu with tofu "scrambled eggs," porridge, more sweet treats, and of course coffee with plant milk was no problem either. So my family and I felt completely at home.
As a base for our excursions, the Hotel des Balances was simply ideal, and you're best off arriving by train, because you certainly won't need the car (there is valet parking for a fee, though).
Stanserhorn
On our 2nd day, after a generous breakfast, we set off for the Stanserhorn. By train (which is included in the Tell-Pass) you ride from Lucerne main station to Stans, and after a short walk you reach the Stanserhorn mountain railway. Why did we choose this mountain? First, because we hadn't visited it yet, and second, because we absolutely wanted to ride the world's unique CabriO cable car. A cable car with an open deck, perfect for enjoying the ride up in the fresh air and taking plenty of photos.
The Stanserhorn offers an incredibly wonderful all-around view – onto the Titlis and company on one side and onto Lake Lucerne on the other. Be sure to take the short path up to the summit, where you'll be rewarded with the best view. A few short and, of course, longer hiking trails are available, depending on your mood. For the children, the marmot enclosure was of course a highlight, especially since we got to see an adorable marmot. There are also grilling options and a restaurant with a big selection. There's no playground on the Stanserhorn, so I think it's more exciting for slightly older children who already enjoy a bit of walking.
The CabriO cable car and the charming funicular from 1893 take you back down along the idyllic route. For the way back to Lucerne, though, this time we didn't want to go by train but by boat. Train, mountain railway, and boat – that's how you can make great use of the Tell-Pass, and it's guaranteed never to get boring. The boat departs from Stansstad, so you have to take the train one more stop. I just love the boat trip on Lake Lucerne, because the mountain panorama is simply unique time and again, and the ride is so cozy and relaxing.
And so another lovely day came to an end – with a walk across the Chapel Bridge, which couldn't be missed! We had dinner, by the way, at a pizzeria that was actually very well rated, but we found it only so-so, so I won't recommend it here.
Pilatus
The 3rd day took us up Lucerne's local mountain: the Pilatus. We'd visited it in the past, but hadn't explored everything by far, so this time we wanted to make up for that. We took the bus to Kriens and then, after a short walk, the gondola to the Fräkmüntegg station. Our first destination was a familiar one, namely the ropes course. We'd been there with the girls once before, 2 years ago. Back then they could "only" go into the Pilu children's park (which was already great). This time they got to climb the big course together with us, and we all had SO much fun (and mom was the most scared). They really did a great job, our little monkeys.
We can absolutely recommend the ropes course; new is the Dragon Glider – in a paraglider seat you glide along a course through the trees. Definitely fun, though for us it could even have gone a bit faster. It's surely great for smaller children too, since you can ride together with your parents.
New as well is a really lovely picnic area with a kiosk. And of course you can hike wonderfully, the summer toboggan run invites you to lots of fun, and there's a restaurant.
After the ropes course we wanted to go even higher, though, and rode the gondola up to the summit. We hadn't done that last time, and I have to say, we missed out on something. Once again a breathtaking panorama awaits you – I can simply never get enough of it. But there's also lots of exciting things to discover, like the Dragon Path, the Dragon World; you can watch the paragliders take off, and if you're lucky (like we were) you'll even spot ibex.
You should definitely take the short path up to the "Esel" summit, because the view from there is even greater (if that's even possible).
Of course you can eat in various spots too, and if you like there's even the option to stay overnight up top, because there's a hotel on the summit.
But we wanted to head back down, and in a different way than we'd come up. And that's possible on the Pilatus, with the world's steepest cog railway. The ride is nothing if you're in a hurry, because it goes very gently, but with an exciting view downward. We're glad we got to experience this once too – it's amazing what was achieved back then to build the railway.
From Alpnachstad you can then take the train or the boat back to Lucerne. We decided on the train, because we were hungry :-).
We let the day wind down by the lake and enjoyed a delicious vegan meal at the Restaurant Jialu, which we can definitely recommend.
And just like that, our 3 days in Lucerne were already over again. It was a wonderful trip, and once more we have to say how grateful we are to have all these beautiful places so close to us. It's simply great, as a family, to explore our home region more closely, and the Tell-Pass is definitely a fantastic opportunity. We're already planning more excursions in the region over the autumn break – there's still so much to discover!
Do you have a favorite mountain on Lake Lucerne? I'm curious which one and why! I hope our travel report 3 mountains in 3 days, a weekend in Lucerne has helped make the choice of your next destination easier, and that you'll soon visit one of the 3 mountains and the Lucerne region too. If you are after more ideas for the city itself, have a look at our weekend in Lucerne with kids. And if you would rather experience the Central Swiss mountains in winter, our snowy weekend in Melchsee-Frutt is for you.
Love, Verena
If you're on Pinterest, you can find me here and are welcome to pin this picture:
*We were invited by Lucerne Tourism for the weekend – the blog post reflects my own opinion, though.
