Of the places I have been, Switzerland is one I am most excited to return to some day. I landed in Zurich on a Friday afternoon and left on Sunday morning. On Saturday I took a trip over to Lucerne, so my time in both cities was quite short. It's very difficult to explore a city in 24 hours, but definitely not impossible (and, honestly, if you're a budget traveler like me, you'll save quite a bit by only spending a couple days in Switzerland). Here's how I spent my time in Zurich and Lucerne!
Zurich
We got into Zurich around lunch time, and couldn't check into our hostel yet, so we headed straight to Hotel Adler's restaurant, Swiss Chuchi, for fondue. I can't even begin to explain how excited I was to simply experience fondue in Switzerland. This was definitely our "treat yourself" moment while in Zurich - we tried the Traditional Cheese Fondue, (which comes with a heaping bowl of bread), along with an order of vegetables for the fondue, and a glass of white wine to accompany the meal. Even if you're traveling on a budget, I highly suggest squeezing in a fondue meal!
Once we finished lunch, we made our way to our hostel to check in. We stayed at City Backpacker - Hostel Biber which is located right in the heart of the Old Town. Despite the average reviews the hostel has, I was really pleased with it. The room was one of the nicest I have stayed in, and the location really couldn't be beat! However, there are a few drawbacks to the hostel - it has a lot of stairs, there aren't individual/bedside outlets, and sheets/towels/etc. come at an extra cost.
After getting settled we headed back out to explore the city. We started off just wandering the streets of the Old Town, and made our way to different areas of the city. Just about everywhere you turn in Zurich, you will find a beautiful, colorful street to meander down. On our journey through the city we found the Zurich Opera House, Lake Zurich, tried our first piece of Swiss chocolate, and saw the Grossmünster Church. Though we didn't, you can climb to the top of one of the Grossmünster towers for an amazing view of the city.
We opted for a free view of the city across the river at Lindenhof Hill. There's a public square at the top of the hill where you can hang out, play a massive game of chess, and take in the beauty of the city.
After the hill, we took a look at St. Peter Church, which has the largest tower clock in Europe, then made our way to Bahnhofstrasse. This is one of the main streets in Zurich, and one of the most expensive shopping streets in the world. If you come into Zurich through its central train station, this is most likely the first street you'll encounter. We didn't do any shopping here, unless chocolate counts! We stopped at two chocolate shops on Banhofstrasse - Läderach and Confiserie Bachmann (both of these have many locations throughout Switzerland so they won't be hard to find). At Läderach we tried a couple chocolates, and at Bachmann we got a pastry. Head up to the top floor of Bachmann for their chocolate shop and a beautiful flowing chocolate wall!
It had started raining so we went back across the river and ducked into Franzos for a coffee. Franzos is a French style cafe with a super cute, cozy atmosphere and great service! The coffee was great and the pastries and food looked amazing. Once the rain came to an end we continued our trek through the city and explored more of the Old Town. We made our way to Predigerkirche, another one of the four main churches in the city (in addition to St. Peter, Grossmünster, and Fraumünster). After this it started getting dark, so we grabbed drink at a bar in Old Town, stopped for a street pretzel on the way back to our hostel, and called it a night.
Lucerne
Bright and early Saturday morning, we made our way to the Central Station in Zurich to catch our bus to Lucerne. It only takes about an hour by direct bus, and the tickets through Flixbus are quite cheap as well!
We started off the day with a bit of a travel mishap. Our plan was to first take a boat to Mt. Pilatus. It was my first time seeing real mountains (I've lived in Phoenix, Arizona and Madrid, and in my opinion neither of their mountains compare to those in Switzerland), and I was so excited to visit one of Lucerne's. However, there were no boats available to take us to Mt. Pilatus that day, making it pretty much impossible for us to get to the mountain. Definitely do your research beforehand - I don't believe the boat runs to Mt. Pilatus at all in the winter, so keep that in mind if it's one of your must-sees.
That was going to take up a good portion of our day, and without it we had 10 hours in Lucerne to fill (on a budget). So, we decided to do what we do best - wander the streets of the city. But first, breakfast. We ate at a cute place called Melissa's Kitchen. They offer a regular menu or a breakfast/brunch buffet. We just ordered off the regular menu - I got a delicious cappuccino and a bowl of muesli, yogurt, and fruit. My friend ordered their hot chocolate and, no exaggeration, it was the best hot chocolate I have ever tried in my life!
Then we set out to see the city. We spent most of our time in Lucerne's Old Town, where you can marvel at the incredible medieval architecture, and walking along the river. From there, we made our way to the Lion Monument, which is an incredibly moving sculpture of a dying lion made to honor the Swiss Guards whose lives were lost during the French Revolution. Along the way we came across the Church of St. Leodegar, which is located near some of my favorite buildings we saw in Lucerne - the kind you picture when you think 'Switzerland'.
On our way back towards Old Town, we stopped for a pastry and coffe at Heini. It was super busy inside, but they had nice outdoor seating (with blankets!) that we opted for instead. We finished our cake and then spent some time by Lake Lucerne to take in the beauty of the mountains. I probably could have sat there all day, watching the swans on the lake and admiring the mountain views.
Finally, we made it to one of the most popular attractions in Lucerne - Chapel Bridge. From here, you'll find some amazing views down the river and some of the prettiest buildings in Lucerne. Don't forget to look up while crossing the bridge; you'll find paintings that depict different events in Lucerne's history, some of which date back to the 17th century. I definitely suggest spending a majority of your time by the water and wandering around the Old Town - especially if you're visiting in the warmer months!
We had a bit more time before our bus took us back to Zurich, so we stopped for a late lunch at Cafe Gugelhupf. This place was so busy, and once we finished I could see why! The atmosphere is wonderful, the place is adorable, and the food is amazing. We started with only a cheese plate, and ended up ordering their hash browns with a fried egg on top (if adding a fried egg on something is an option, I will always choose it). We thought this was the perfect way to end our time in Lucerne, so from here we headed to the bus station (grabbed a couple chocolates for the road), and made our way back to Zurich.
Hope you found this information helpful! Enjoy the beauty of Switzerland!
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