From Lucerne to Lugano via the beautiful Gotthard Pass

Continuing my trip in Switzerland, today's itinerary is to have a day trip to Lugano, a city near Switzerland's border with Italy. After that, we would be making our way to Zurich, the last city in our tour in West Europe region. In order to go from Lucerne to Lugano, we must pass through the Andermatt region. Little did I know that it's gonna be an amazing route.

The weather was quite bad when we left Lucerne. Thankfully, it cleared up a bit when we were passing through the beautiful Gotthard Pass. For a teaser of what's coming up on this mountain pass, we saw a beautiful white stream of river on the way up. 

The Gotthard Pass (or also known as St. Gotthard Pass) is a mountain pass in the Alps, connecting northern (i.e. those area near Italy) to southern Switzerland. When your vehicle has reached higher level of height, you will be able to see the beautiful scenery of the mountain road combined wiht the river. The water is white because it directly comes from the snow which melts from the top of the Alps.

The Gothard Pass is crossed by three major traffic tunnels, the Gotthard Rail Tunnel, the Gotthard Road Tunnel, and the Gotthard Base Tunnel. The construction of Gotthard Rail Tunnel was done in the 1800s and it was not an easy feat. The construction took nearly 200 lives of the construction workers. The Gotthard Road Tunnel was opened much later in 1980. The latest tunnel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel is currently still under construction and it is planned to open next year. 

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Even though there are not many cars spotted, we did experience a traffic jam here in the mountain. The jam is caused by a horde of flocks. I did not really know where the cows are going to up here in the mountain. XD

Another look at the Gotthard Pass from up here. It kinda gets pretty scary when you reached certain heights of the road because there are fogs and when the fogs come down you can't really see outside. Without an experienced driver, I don't think passing through the Gotthard Pass is safe. LOL. 

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Confiserie Bachmann, a patisserie in the city of Lucerne

After having a self-created walking tour around Lucerne, we were kinda hungry and started to look around for some food or snacks. So we went back to the city centre of Lucerne to see if there are nice things to try. 

We stopped our walk immediately when we saw a big ice cream statue. We didn't need to understand the language to tell that Bachmann is either a patisserie/ a cafe. Macarons? Ice cream? Okay, my dessert lover personality is officially curious now.

If the ice cream statue does not make you move, how about a stack of colorful macarons? The funny thing about this macarons statue is that a high school friend of mine also took picture with the macarons when he visited the city of Lucerne. He did a collage of it to show both our picture together at the same place. LOL. 

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Oh right, I have not told you what is this place, right? The ice cream and macarons statues are actually belonging to Confiserie Bachmann, a patisserie in the city of Lucerne. The patisserie is apparently a family business and it sells all kinds of desserts from chocolates, pralines, macarons, biscuits, cookies to of course, macarons. Confiserie Bachmann also sells savoury items such as sandwiches but we are more interested in its sweet delicacies. We bought a bag of Prussiens which is also known as "Coeur de France" (French heart). Like what the bag suggests, Prussiens will be lovely to enjoy together with a cup of coffee. 

Other than the Prussiens, we also bought a small box of assorted cookies. They look so nice I could not bear to tear it open. But at the same time, I can't wait to taste them. So yeah, I am in a sweet dilemma. XD

It is not difficult to spot Confiserie Bachmann in the city of Lucerne as it is located pretty central right at the middle of the city centre. The store has a very bright pink sign too so you will not miss it at all. 

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The Chapel Bridge and Water Tower of Lucerne, Switzerland

If you include a hiking up to the winter wonderland of the Swiss Alps in Titlis, you may consider to stay in the nearby city of Lucerne. Lucerne is basically acting as an gateway to central Switzerland. The city is sited on Lake Lucerne and it is surrounded with beautiful mountainous panorama. 

There are a lot of public transportation choices in Lucerne like trains and buses but it seems that the locals love to cycle here. 

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The highlights of the city of Lucerne are definitely the Chapel Bridge and Water Tower. The Chapel Bridge is a covered wooden footbridge spanning diagonally across the Reuss River. The bridge is decorated with pretty flowers at its side. It is a popular attraction with the tourists and rumour says that if you come and walk across to the other side of the river via Chapel Bridge with your loved one, your love will lasts for eternity. 

The unique feature of the Chapel Bridge is the interior paintings displayed under its rooftop. These paintings dated back to the 17th century. It is a pity though that many of them were destroyed along with most of the centuries-old bridge in a 1993 fire.

From the Chapel Bridge, you can see the riverbanks of Reuss River. The riverbank is basically filled with a lot of cafes and restaurants. The setting is kinda similar to Boat Quay area in Singapore. 

If you see the Chapel Bridge, you will notice that there is a Water Tower in the middle of the bridge. The Water Tower is not named because of its function of storing water or anything. It was simply named as "Water Tower" because it is built on top of the water. Simplicity in the complex world. 

How to go to Lucerne:

If you are going to Switzerland by taking a flight, the nearest airport to Lucerne is in Zurich. From Zurich airport to Lucerne, you can take a direct train. The direct train from Zurich Airport to Lucerne will depart every hour. The total train ride is approximately 60 minutes. 

Alternatively, you can take train from Zurich Main Station. The total train ride to Lucerne from Zurich Main Station is approximately 45 minutes. 

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Walking Tour in Lucerne, Switzerland

After spending the 3/4 day having fun at Titlis, we drove back to the city of Lucerne. By the time we reached Lucerne, it was already around 4 to 5PM in the afternoon. We did not really sign up for the guided tour (because we don't really know the timing of the guided tour) but since the city is not that big, we decided to go for our own walking tour in Lucerne, Switzerland. Our personal walking tour started at the Lake Lucerne Basin. From here, you can take a panoramic picture of the city of Lucerne. 

From the Lake Lucerne Basis, we walked to the twin spire building which turns out to be the main cathedral for the city, Hof Church. Hof Church is the most important Renaissance church in Switzerland. The church also serves as Benedictine monastery too since the 8th century.

From the Hof Church, we continued our walk to the Oldtown area of Lucerne. The oldtown area are actually the settlement at the right and left side of the river where the Chapel Bridge is located. In our random walking tour, we saw a lovely building which turns out to be a music instrument shop called MusikHug. 

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There are many lovely restaurants and cafes in the old town of Lucerne. In the middle of the surrounding restaurants and cafes lies Fritschi Fountain. Fritschi Fountain was built in 1918. The fountain was built in the name of Brother Fritschi, which is a popular figure in the city of Lucerne. 

One thing that you should check out when you are in Switzerland is the clock shop. You don't have to look for a specialised one in particular. An ordinary souvenir shop sells clock too. In particular, you may want to check out their cuckoo clock because I don't think you can find something as cute as the cuckoo clock handmade in Switzerland. 

"Life teaches us to make good use of Time while Time teaches us the value of Life."

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147 feet under the Rock and the Ice at Titlis Glacier Cave

One of things that you can do once you reach the Titlis Rotair cableway mountain station is to go deep 147 feet under the rock and the ice at Titlis Glacier Cave. The entrance to the Glacier Cafe is free. You just have to follow the sign. 

In order to reach the Glacier Cave, you must walk through a long and straight tunnel. Make sure you are wearing thick layers because it is gonna be freezing cold down there. 

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Before we knew it, we were already 147 feet under rock and ice. It is good to put the sign here because otherwise, we would not know. By the way, did I see some scribbles on the sign? 

We were surrounded by the glittering ice walls. This is a totally new world for me because I was born in a tropical country. You can walk along the 150 meter long tunnel down the ice. You will be able to see a lot of colorful lights down under and the ice wall makes a pretty good reflection of the lights. Be mindful of your steps as it can get pretty slippery down there. 

There is light at the end of the tunnel and it is the light of the underground observation deck. The view from the observation deck is breathtaking. All year round winter wonderland at the Swiss Alps. 

If you are interested to book a trip to Titlis yourself (and not via group tour), you may be interested in booking yourself a package. There are some nearby hotels such as Hotel Cathrin (they have Christmas package), Hotel Bellevue Terminus or Hotel Terrace which include a trip to Titlis in its package. Most of these hotels are three stars hotels. You can check out the review and the rates of nearby hotels in Titlis here.

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Feel on top of the world at the peak of Titlis

If you want to know how it feels to stand on top of the world, you should really go to the peak of Titlis in Switzerland. The rotating gondola, Titlis Rotair, will bring you up to the viewing deck at the summit of Titlis. If you are not sure you are really that high, well, all you have to do is believing the signage that they put for you. =P

Once you are used to the height, it is time to check out what can we do up here. Thankfully there are a lot of signs for us to see of activities available up here. There are Glacier Park and Ice Flyer ahead, well the board says 250 steps ahead. Not sure whose steps they are measuring but anyway...

After a few steps forward, the view that you will see is breathtaking indeed. You will see the spectacular panoramic view of snow-covered Alpine landscapes. This is the place to be if you want to see snow in the middle of summer. The snow here lasts eternally. 

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Once you have enough fun enjoying the view, it's time to play on the snow. You can have a snowball fight, make a snow angel or ride the Ice Flyer chair lift. The Ice Flyer chair lift will take you all the way up to the glacier park. From the top, you can experience snowtubing. What you need to do is to sit or lie on a rubber tyre and you will just spin and slide your way down the piste. Fun! 

If you'd rather enjoy the view of the mountain through and through, you can do a short walk from the Titlis Rotair cableways mountain station to the Stotzig Egg. The spectacular views of the nearby and distant peaks of the Central Swiss Alps will welcome you at the vantage point. 

The last cablecar down will go at 4.50pm from Titlis Rotair cableways mountain station. However, you are encouraged to check out the updated timins at Titlis Rotair's website as sometimes there are maintenance going on. 

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Going to the top of Mount Titlis by Titlis Rotair

Welcome to Mount Titlis in Engelberg, Switzerland! Titlis is basically the only publicly accessible glacier in central Switzerland. At the summit of Mount Titlis, there is only one season all year round. Yep, it is winter wonderland up there. If you are visiting Switzerland, it is recommended to go to the top of Mount Titlis by Titlis Rotair. 

Titlis Rotair offers a panoramic experience of riding a gondola. The gondola that you board below can only accommodate 4 people per car. However, when you reach the second station , you will need to board the rotating gondola. This rotating gondola rotates its way up towards the snow-covered summit of Mount Titlis. 

Off we go to the top. Let's say goodbye to the greenery for now. By the way if you are visiting Titlis Rotair in the summer, the rush hours are between 10am to 2pm. This is because a lot of tour buses visit Titlis at this hour.

The view from the gondola is really breathtaking. The summer's view of Switzerland is so beautiful. 

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The view changes dramatically when we have crossed over the 3,000 metres height above sea-level. There are no more greeneries here. This is probably where Queen Elsa from Frozen lets loose of her magical power. Everything here is covered in white snow. Thankfully when the view has changed into a winter wonderland, we have boarded the bigger rotating gondola so that everyone has their own share of the beautiful Alpine's view. 

Titlis Rotair's Ticketing Information

One way ticket - CHF 63

Return ticket - CHF 90

You can bring your dog up too if you would like to. There is only return ticket available because well, obviously you are not going to leave your cute dog up there in the summit, right? 

Doggie's return ticket - CHF 15

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Trip to Mount Titlis from Lucerne

Guten Morgen from Lucerne! The sun has risen and it is a new day to continue our day trip to Mount Titlis from Lucerne. Thank goodness we have a clear blue sky today. This will be very important for our activity in Mount Titlis later on. 

Passng by the beautiful Chapel Bridge along the way. The bridge looks quite majestic under the sunlight. This iconic landmark of Lucerne is the oldest wooden bridge in Switzerland dating back to the middle of the 14th century. 

There is a big post office located at the end of the road after the passing by the Chapel Bridge. The building looks somewhat cool to us. I suppose this kind of architecture is normal in Europe. 

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Oh right, I have not told you about our destination yet, haven't I? As I mentioned earlier, today we are going to see some snow at the top of Mount Titlis. Our tour has included Mount Titlis as part of its itinerary so we just needed to hop into our tour bus and made our way to Mount Titlis. Since we stayed at Lucerne, our journey to Mount Titlis only took us around 50 - 60 minutes. The view between Lucerne and Mount Titlis is very breathtaking and camera-worthy. 

Oh my goodness, I really love the mountainous view of the Swiss Alps. The route in the Swiss Alps offers one of the most beautiful trips possible. You must not fall asleep when you are travelling through the Swiss Alps route. Suddenly I remember the story of Heidi, girl of the Alps. #throwback

By the way, this is the view which I took when I visited the Swiss Alps in the summer. I am sure the view is also breathtaking in the winter times too. 

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Lucerne City at Night Time

I was so surprised to find out that the hotel which I stayed back then in 2011, NH Hotel, has now changed its name to Ibis Styles Lucerne. Some reviews over at Tripadvisor mentions that the hotel has changed names at least three times. Not sure what's wrong with the hotel management but anyway...

After having dinner at the hotel, we wander out to see Lucerne city at night time. Our hotel is within walking distance to the city centre area where you can see the world-famous sights in Lucerne, the Chapel Bridge and the octagonal Water Tower. The night lights on the bridge are reflected nicely on the lake. 

There are not much things to see around 8PM so our tour guide brought us to the train station to see what store still opens at this timing. As expected, the train station feels so void. It is really different pace from the Asian culture, whereby the train stations in Asia are still bustling mad at 8PM. Okay, to be honest, the business of Asian train stations last until the last train near midnight. So, this is new to me. Hahaha. 

Saw a funny advert about lottery. Why the advert mentions the word "lose" at the bottom? Wondering if this means to stop people from gambling because they can lose whatever they earn anytime. 

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Thankfully, there is one mini market which was still opened in the train station. When you are in Switzerland, you must buy a lot of chocolates. So many limited edition chocolate from Switzerland's famous chocolate brands like Lindt. Even the Ritter Sport looks different in Switzerland. I have never seen this flavor called Stracciatella before. Mind you, all these chocolates are bought in the normal train station mini market. 

Other than the chocolates, we also tried different kind of biscuits and cookies. All of them looks quite interesting and yummy. 

All the other stores apart from the mini market have closed so we wandered back to our hotel. One last picture of the Chapel Bridge before we wrapped up the day. 

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Welcome to Lucerne, Switzerland

After spending two days in Paris, it was time for us to bid farewell to this beautiful city. We continued our journey to the next country in our list, Switzerland. We did not go to the capital of Zurich. Instead we are going to a lake city of Lucerne. The weather was kinda gloomy that day during the drive from Paris to Lucerne but let's not feel under the weather. After all, this is a leisure trip. Can't wait to welcome you, the readers, to Lucerne, Switzerland. ^^

The distance from Paris to Lucerne is pretty far. It took us nearly 7 hours to reach Lucerne. After I don't know how many kilometres of dull view beside the highway, we knew that we have entered Switzerland when the scenery around us has turned into a scenery which we often see in the postcards. 

There are a lot of lakes along the road and all of them are amazingly beautiful and picturesque. Although I may not be able to stay here for good (quietness everyday will make me crazy), but I still daydream about living a life surrounded by nature like this sometimes. #idontknowwhatiwant

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We finally reached the city of Lucerne around dinner time. Thankfully it was summer time and hence the sun took its own sweet time to set. A lot of passerby are still around around 6pm walking around the city. Lucerne is the most populous city in the surrounding district. A lot of its citizens are speaking German here but they are able to speak in English too. After all, Lucerne is also a tourist popular destination in Switzerland. Oh right, welcome to Lucerne! 

While our bus driver is busy trying to locate our hotel in Lucerne, it is time to have another "view-from-my-bus-window" sightseeing. Okay, this part seems to be an office area in Lucerne. On second look, it was probably a mixture of office and flat houses. Not really sure here. 

A lively hotel called Hotel Monopol is spotted along the way. But this is not our hotel. You may want to consider staying in Hotel Monopol too if you prefer to be nearer to the city centre. And it has Starbucks right in front of the hotel.  

Are we gonna be able to find our hotel soon? I hope so because I am getting hungry *growl*.

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