Our own little mini 24-hour Switzerland Road Trip. First Bern and Sumiswald, next Lucerne (or Luzern).

It was a difficult choice to decide how we will spend the last bit of time that we have with a vehicle at our disposal.
Do we:
A. Sleep in, take a leisurely drive through the country and straight back to the airport OR
B. Get up early and drive to a nearby city, such as Lucerne, before driving back to the airport

Both options have their appeal. Our instinct tends to lean toward the easier option, but my gut told me that we need to make the most of this time we have.

Waking at 6AM was a definite struggle, I feel like I just laid down a few hours ago. After a quick coffee my brain was less fuzzy. We didn’t have loads of food, just yogurt and some kiwi and cookies, which made a really tasty breakfast. I was working on packing while Jake cleaned everything up. Its kind of amazing how we messy we can be, even with a small amount of stuff that we had. By 730AM, we were out the door and back in our little blue car.

The rain has stopped and though it is a bit foggy, I think we are going to have a clear day, maybe even some sunshine. It sure was beautiful driving down the country roads, passing all the jangling bells of the cows in the pasture and the Swiss-style homes along the mainly empty roadways. It feels like going back in time a little bit and a nice respite from the business of the city. The thick clouds were very low casting a mist over the land with mountain peaks looming much closer than they were yesterday.

The roads of Switzerland are very well-kept. In fact everything seems to be of very high quality. The street signs are extraordinarily detailed, though sometimes the mass amount of information is too much to take in and navigation is tricky. Thanks to our trusty car GPS, (the only thing making this trip possible without any phone, which is sad), we didn’t struggle too badly.

Lucerne, the gateway to central Switzerland, sited on Lake Lucerne, is embedded within an impressive mountainous panorama. Thanks to its attractions and beautiful lakeside setting near mountains, it is sought after by many who venture through the area as a destination. Tradition and modernity stand side-by-side, as the town has earned a reputation for its innovative designs.

We caught sight of the city as we made a turn off the highway and onto a very steep and winding roadway, zigging and zagging, mostly downhill. Historic houses decorated with frescoes line the picturesque town squares, many of which we passed as we neared the old town. One important thing to note is that like Bern, the old town is a car-free zone. We found a parking garage near our first destination, The Lion Monument.

Its a little after 9AM and Jake and I want to get the car back by noon (padding our schedule by 1 hour), which means we would have to be on the road by no later than 1015AM. That leaves us with exactly one hour to do whatever we can in Lucerne.

Well, we are on a good track because destination numero uno is only 100 meters across the street. We walked at a brisk pace and passed a couple of small cute shops along the way. There was nothing to indicate a massive rock monument until we found ourselves staring it in the face. Wow, we’re here!

The Lion Monument or Löwendenkmal, or the Lion of Lucerne, is a rock relief was hewn out of stone on site by Lukas Ahorn. It commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution. It is probably the most famous Swiss monument in the world.

It is actually not as large as I imagined, but it is very impressive. We couldn’t get too close because there was construction crews just off to the side and the entire area was barricaded, but we could take some photos on the above overlook.

From here we walked downhill toward the lake, passing several more shops and really cool looking buildings, through back alleyways and lots of interesting architecture. It would be too easy to mill about all day in the shops but we have a mission. Along the route we spotted the twin needle towers of the Church of St. Leodegar, which was named after the city’s patron saint, sit on a small hill just above the lake front. Originally built in 735, the present structure was erected in 1633 in the late Renaissance style. The church is popularly called the Hofkirche.

I couldn’t resist a peak inside, and it was gorgeous. The view from this spot is also tremendous with the lake down below. The street was very crowded with vehicles, but the walking paths were nearly empty. And seeing that we have already spent 20 of our 60 precious minutes, I bolted down the steps toward the lake.

Lake Lucerne is a very popular staging ground for river boat cruises. We spotted several boats gliding peacefully on the calm, flat water, serene and peaceful. As we followed the tree-lined paths, Swans and ducks were meandering along the water’s edge, hoping for scraps of food from passersby.

Our next destination could be seen ahead…Chapel Bridge, Kapellbrücke. This landmark is considered to be Europe’s oldest (and longest at 669 feet) covered bridge, built in the 14th century and part of the city fortifications. Marking the side is the octagonal Water Tower, Wasserturm, a fortification from the 13th century. Inside the bridge are a series of paintings from the 17th century depicting events from Switzerland and Lucerne’s history.

We are in the pedestrian-only section of the old town and that makes it easy to move about quickly. There were tons of tourists along the bridge and walking paths already but we managed to sneak a few pictures without anyone. I was so captured by the vistas, and the huge mountains that are just across the way and all the gorgeous buildings lining the path on all sides.

If only we had more time…

Okay, so there is no way to actually get the full gamut of Lucerne in an hour, but we got a nice glimpse and feel like it was well worth the extra travel to see. With only 10 minutes left on our 1-hour clock, we quickly moseyed back to the car, taking note of some of the funny signs.

By 1015AM we pulled out of the parking garage (which only cost €4, a great deal!) and were back on the highway toward Basel. If we timed this right, we should arrive around noon. The only thing we need to do is find a gas station and fill up, otherwise the rental car place will charge us a lot of extra money to do it.

We thought it would be more cost-efficient to fill up on the France side of the border (which is a lot less expensive), so we plugged in a random address for a gas station in France, near to the drop off location. However upon arrival, we discovered that the place would not accept any of our credit cards. And there was no attendant to take cash. So now what? We skipped this and went to 3 others, feeling more and more frustrated that each one had the same problem. Jake called our credit card company to see if there was a stop on our cards, but they said that everything looked fine. It made no sense, but now we are passed 12PM and have to start thinking about an alternative.

Jake wanted to call an audible and just pay the extra fee. I caved and so we headed back to the convoluted airport parking to return the car and check out. The attendant inside told us that since we didn’t fill up they would have to charge us an extra €60-€80, which is insane (since we only used less than a quarter tank). He said that we still have some time and gave us an address of a nearby station to get gas (with cash).

Well Jake said he didn’t care but I’m a cheap-skate and thought it crazy to pay so much. Plus we still have an hour until our friend is picking us up, and 30 minutes before the car is “due” (good thing we padded the schedule). Reluctantly Jake went along and we lugged all our stuff back to the car, back out of the drive and on the crazy winding streets. We realized quickly that the address of the gas station the attendant recommended was one we had already tried, and so I suggested lets just go to the Basel side, and try that. Its only 5 minutes away, so he sucked it up and we stopped at the first place we found over the border.

Thank goodness this one took our card, and we only needed about €16 worth of gas, which is way better than €60-€80. Worth it for me, but I think Jake was just at his end since he had to do the driving and its stressful.

We made it back to the airport with about 10 minutes to spare on our 1PM return (which they take very seriously and will charge a lot extra if you are even a few minutes late).

WHEW, glad that’s over.

As we stood waiting for our friend to pick us up, I was thinking about these last 24 hours in Switzerland. It was so nice to be able to explore even just a taste of the country and even nicer to go back to our friends in France and a world where we don’t have to think, plan or organize anything for awhile!