2 days in Switzerland: Berne or Luzerne?

Thorn Tree forumCountry forumsWestern EuropeSwitzerland
Enter custom title (optional)
This topic is locked
Last reply was
2.1k
…
Send as an e-mail
Send as an e-mail
davidjfaber
davidjfaber

I'm going to be spending a couple days at the end of a longer trip in Switzerland. I'm flying out of Zurich but decided that I don't really want to stay in Zurich because I'm going to have spent a lot of time in bigger cities and would rather hang out for a couple days in a smaller city. I've read that both Berne and Luzerne have direct trains to the Zurich airport so getting there in time for my flight should be a breeze. What I want from you, dear Thorn Tree dwellers, is recommendations as to which of these fine Swiss cities I should spend my two days on. I understand that each has something different to offer and depending on various factors one might enjoy one or the other. What I want to know is: in your experience which one was more fun? Which had the more interesting sights? Which one had the better night-life? Which one had the better hostels, and which hostels might those be? etc....

Thanks a bunch.

View last reply
Report
1
h5n1
h5n1

Go to Lucerne you have the town, the lake with old steamships and the mountains are closer than from Bern . fun eg nightlife I do not know although living only 35 min. away by car.

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
2
neckervd
neckervd
  1. Every Swiss town except Chur, Sion and Vevey-Monteux has at least one direct train to Zurich airport per hour.
  2. Lucerne has a lake with steamboats etc and some cableways and cog railways to very close mountains.
    Berne has better museums and a big medieval town center. The 4 lakes of Thun, Biel, Murten and Neuchatel (with boats too) are all about 30 km away.
Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
3
theklia
theklia

In Bern I stayed at the Bern Glocke hostel and I paid 31 CHF per night in dorm room and it is very near the station. The staff were very helpful, gave me a lot of information about the city. their website is www.bernbackpackers.com.

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report
4
lpkaren
lpkaren

Luzern for sure. We spent one day in Bern and one in Luzern - I want to go back to Luzern, and while Bern was interesting, we pretty much saw what we wanted in a day trip.

Copy and paste the url below to share the link.
Permalink to this post
Report

This topic has been locked by a moderator.

Pro tip
Lonely Planet
trusted partner