Day 16 – Arrival in Luzern

Posted on September 13, 2015 by Dave Hodson

The plan today was to drive from Locarno to Luzern across some scenic mountain passes. That plan didn’t work out so well, since there wasn’t much scenery to been seen through the thick clouds and heavy rains. It’s a bit of a disappointment that the only two days where we planned some nice mountain drives, were also the days with the worst weather of the trip. So, I won’t bother trying to post photos of the drive, and instead skip right to our arrival in Luzern, where the weather was better than it was in the south.

We arrived at our hotel mid-afternoon and got checked-in. We’re staying in a nice historic place up on a hill overlooking the town, called Château Gütsch. The downside is that it’s a bit of a hike to town and back, but on the upside, it’s a nice place with spectacular views.

They gave us the Queen Victoria suite, which was very over-the-top in its décor. It’s not everyone’s style, but we like it.

Yes, that is a bathtub in the bedroom. Of course, there is also a separate shower with about 3 shower heads and 8 body spray nozzles for a more modern touch.

But the best part about the room is the view.

Since the weather was still OK, we headed down to the lake to explore.

After exploring the waterfront, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and boarded a ship to take a 2.5 hour cruise around Lake Luzern.

Back in Luzern, we walked around the waterfront area before returning to the hotel.

Day 15 – Locarno and Lugano

Posted on September 12, 2015 by Dave Hodson

Today is our last full day in the Ticino region of Switzerland. We began our day with breakfast in our suite before heading down to Locarno. Here are some photos from our explorations.

We looked around the Piazza Grande, which is a popular spot for outdoor concerts.

Heading back to the waterfront, we did a typical touristic thing, by taking this “train” tour of the city.

With the skies still very grey, we decided to hop on a train to the nearby town of Lugano, which is another popular town in the Italian part of Switzerland. As luck would have it, the weather was a bit sunnier over there.

Lugano is a bit larger than Locarno, but has a lot of similarities. The architecture appears similar, they both have a nice waterfront (although on different lakes), and are surrounded by similar geography.

They were having an outdoor concert near the waterfront. Here’s a panoramic video of the area.

Lugano has a water jet similar (but much smaller) to that of Geneva.

After looking around Lugano for a couple of hours, we returned to the train station to head back to Locarno for dinner.

Day 14 – Exploring Locarno

Posted on September 11, 2015 by Dave Hodson

We had no specific plans today, so set out to look around the towns of Locarno and Ascona. Upon walking out of the hotel, I noticed this nice Rolls with Monaco plates parked right outside. That’s a bit nicer than the rental we got from Hertz!

Walking down the street to the funicular station, I took this photo of one of the cars heading down to Locarno.

At the funicular station, there is also a cable car you can take to go further up the mountain, which we will probably do at some point during our stay here, but for today, we will head down to explore the old town and the waterfront areas. The day was mostly overcast, but it wasn’t raining, and still pleasant for walking around.