Swiss Escape (A Globus Tour): Lucerne

Our next stay would be in Lucerne but on the way over, we made a brief stop in the city of Bern.

Exploring Bern

When we got to Bern, we stopped near the Bärengraben, or Bear Pit, to use the bathrooms and also to take some photos of the city from above. Our local tour guide also met us here and took us through the Rose Garden nearby for additional photo opportunities (of the city since it was too cold for roses).

After taking photos of the city, we got back on the bus with the local tour guide and drove into the city center where the local tour guide would take us on a quick walking tour. On the walking tour, the guide showed us a local church, the Einstein house and the clocktower. At the clocktower, we watched the clock show on the hour and then we were given free time for lunch.

For lunch, we went inside a Coop (grocery) with a large food court and ate some takeout items. They had a huge selection of food from Italian pasta to Indian rice bowls. After lunch, we walked around a bit and stumbled upon a Christmas market that was open.

Eventually, we got back on the bus and headed onwards to Lucerne. We had a brief stop at a Kambly (cookies) store where we stopped to use the bathrooms and gorge on cookie samples. And all along the journey to Lucerne, there were beautiful snowy landscapes.

Exploring Lucerne

When we arrived in Lucerne, our tour director decided to take us into the city first before checking into the hotel. She wanted to show us where things were so after we checked-in, we would have a better idea of things we could do and places we could go. During a short walking tour, she showed us the Lion Monument and pointed out some other areas of interest before we crossed the bridge and walked to our hotel.

The Hotel Astoria Lucerne

Pilatusstrasse 29, 6003 Luzern, Switzerland

For our two nights in Lucerne, we stayed at the Astoria. While the hotel was in a fantastic location in the heart of the city, this was actually my least favorite hotel of the trip. There are two sides to the hotel and the side we stayed in only had one small elevator. I think at most you could maybe fit six people in the elevator and it was the same elevator being used by the staff to service the rooms. What this meant was the elevator was constantly full of people or carts and it could take forever to make use of it. If it were just me, I would take the stairs but this was not feasible for my mother.

Also, the walls here were pretty thin. Our room faced the elevator and I could hear it moving up and down. You could also hear everything going on in the hallway. The room itself though was not too small, with a seating area, and the bathroom was very large. I do think this is the only room that did not have a mini fridge though. Breakfast at this hotel was served in one of the restaurants on the other side so you had to take the elevator down on our side then cross the lobby to either take the stairs or another elevator down.

After checking in and waiting on our luggage, it was about time for dinner. After doing some research, I decided on La Bestia, a pizza restaurant.

La Bestia – Pizza Pizza

Frankenstrasse 6A, 6003 Luzern, Switzerland

I admit that I am not the biggest fan of German, Swiss or French fare so I decided to look for an Italian restaurant and came across reviews of La Bestia. We arrived there not long after they opened so it was pretty empty and they were willing to seat us without a reservation. The staff were really great and the one assisting us had impeccable American English (apparently learned at Swiss boarding school).

We decided to just split one pizza and chose one of their more interesting options: Pizza del Mese – Polpo D’Inverno. The pizza had a pureed leek base with mozzerella, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, lemon zest, pomegranate and octopus. It was DELICIOUS. I admit when I ordered it, I was a little uncertain but I love octopus so I figured when on vacation, just try new things. I was SO glad I did. I loved the pureed leek base and the pops of pomegranate with lemon zest kept things fresh. The outside crust was crispy and I added some chili oil to give my slices a little kick. I love red-sauced pizza but this green sauce was a head turner. I coupled the pizza with some beer and had a great meal.

Afterwards, we walked a little further, down to the lake, and found a Christmas market that was mostly made up of food stalls that were serving different international cuisines. We were completely full though so were mostly just window browsing before heading back to the hotel for the night.

The next morning we were headed with most of our tour group up the mountain for an optional excursion to Mount Pilatus.

Ascending Mount Pilatus

Normally the tour would ascend the mountain via a cogwheel railway which is supposed to be one of the steepest. However, in the winter time, the cogwheel railway does not run and instead you take a series of gondolas. The initial gondola is smaller and fits about four people. Then at one station you get off and get on another much larger gondola which fit our whole group.

When we arrived at the station at the bottom of the mountain, our tour director went to grab our tickets and then passed those out along with a Mount Pilatus cap courtesy of Globus. She warned us to hold onto the tickets because we would need them when getting on and off the gondolas. We then got on the initial gondola with a couple from our group that had come from Charleston, South Carolina.

We eventually came to the end of the line for the smaller gondola and had to wait at that level for our tour director. Most of us were outside taking photos of the view from that altitude before taking the larger gondola as a group.

When we got to the top of the mountain, there was a building that included a café, a gift store, a viewing platform and I think a hotel. Our tour director gave us a each a voucher for a beverage and then gave us I think an hour or hour and a half of free time on the top of the mountain. My mother and I started by taking photos outside from the viewing platform and made a little bird friend.

Normally you can also climb further up but that day it was closed since they were still trying to shovel the path. We also ran into a group from China while we were up there. They were taking photos with a Chinese flag and also singing and dancing.

After we finished taking photos, we went back inside and browsed the gift shop before getting in line at the café to order beverages. I ordered a hot chocolate with my voucher and then paid for a beer as well. We found some seating along the windows and relaxed there until it was time to head back down.

On the way back down, I decided to take some time lapse videos while we were in the gondolas. You can see how the weather changed as we headed down. It was perfectly sunny and clear up top but not so much as we descended the mountain.

When we returned to Lucerne, we were not very hungry so we just grabbed a little bit of food from a grocery store and ate it in our hotel room. We later went back out to explore the city a bit more, finding another Christmas market and at night going back out to see what the city looked like with all the lights on.

Dinner this night was arranged by Globus and was at Restaurant Helvetia.

Restaurant Helvetia

Waldstätterstrasse 9 6003 Luzern Switzerland

The meal we had here was a course meal arranged by the tour company that was within walking distance of the hotel. We were provided one alcoholic drink or soft drink during the meal and then a coffee or tea after the meal. The meal consisted of three courses. The first course was a creamy green pea soup. It was okay. The entrée was a bratwurst with some creamy mashed potatoes, carrots and I think an onion jus. This was actually pretty good, especially the onion jus. We ended with a black forest cake for dessert. I personally do not really care for black forest cake but this one was pretty good, considering it is not a favorite of mine. I also had a beer to pair the meal but declined the coffee or tea at the end of the meal. Overall a decent meal. Not too bad for a tour organized meal but I probably could have found a much better meal on my own.