Lucerne is one of Switzerland’s busiest tourist towns and it should be on any itinerary for the country that is 4 days or longer. In my popular article about where to go in Switzerland I mention emphatically that if you only have two days I would go to the Interlaken area, and if you have 3 or more days you should also include Lucerne. Both are at the base of the Alps, but aside from that they couldn’t be any different.
You may have seen my article about Interlaken or Lucerne or even my article about where to stay in Interlaken. That article is actually somewhat complicated because there are so many different options that are all fantastic. In the case of where to stay in Lucerne it’s much simpler but also important to know before you randomly book a place.
Central Lucerne explained
One of the best things about Lucerne (locally spelled “Luzern”) is that all of the important and famous sights and transportation hubs are conveniently bunched together to where you can see all of the others if you are standing in front of one of them. The short version is that the Lucerne main train station is literally less than 100 meters from the Lucerne ferry terminal and cruise port. And both of those are maybe 200 meters from the famous Chapel Bridge and the center of the historic district.
When visiting Lucerne you’ll almost certainly arrive into the main train station and you’ll use that for visiting some of the nearby towns and mountaintop attractions as well, so being a short walk from the train station is ideal. Most of the rest of your sightseeing will be from the ferry port or just walking around the historic district. Since they are all so close together, it means that the closer you are to them the better the location of the hotel. In other words, if the question is where to stay in Lucerne, the answer is as near the main train station and Chapel Bridge as possible.
North of the Reuss River or south?
You’ll see on the map above that Lake Lucerne is to the east and the central and historic district of the city itself is on either side of the Reuss River, which empties out of the lake. The train station and ferry terminal are on the south side of the river, but the nicer and more interesting part of town is actually north of the river.
The famous Chapel Bridge brings pedestrians from one side to the other, and the views are excellent on either side. But the neighborhood south of the river is newer and has more office buildings, while the neighborhood just north of the river is mostly a high-end pedestrian shopping district that is also gorgeous and charming. In other words, the best area to stay in Lucerne is just north of the Reuss River. Fortunately, hotel prices on the north side are similar to the south, although the rooms will generally be smaller because
How long to stay in Lucerne?
Switzerland is unbelievably gorgeous but it’s also expensive. If you can afford to travel around Switzerland for 10 or more days I would highly encourage you to spend 3 days in Lucerne, which is enough to visit two of the famous mountaintop areas such as Mt Rigi, Mt Titlis, or Mt Pilatus. And you’ll also have enough time to take a lake cruise, which will probably be part of your journey to Mt Rigi.
But if you can only spare two nights then I still think it’s worth coming to Lucerne because you’ll have one full day for the lake cruise and probably going up and down Mt Rigi. And you’ll have two nights to enjoy the views and the shopping and a couple of the restaurants overlooking either the lake or the Reuss River and the Chapel Bridge. The list of things to do in Lucerne isn’t super long, but each thing is very worthwhile.
If you only have 3 or 4 total days for Switzerland I still think visiting Lucerne for one night is worthwhile, even if you won’t have time for more than maybe one major sight. At least you’ll get an idea of what the place looks like and you’ll be able to plan a longer stay next time because you WILL want to come back. If you are staying in Zurich and want to visit Lucerne just for the day, it’s probably still worth it, especially if you have the Swiss Travel Pass.
Driving and parking in Lucerne?
If you are from the US, Canada, or Australia, and especially if you haven’t explored Europe much, you might be wondering about driving and parking in Lucerne. In fact, I get questions all the time in my article about the Swiss Travel Pass about whether renting a car and driving around Switzerland is a good idea. In fact, driving around Switzerland CAN be a good strategy, especially for families and groups of 4 or more people.
In almost any other destination in Europe I tell people to forget about driving because it can be confusing, expensive, and parking is purposely also difficult and expensive. However, Switzerland’s scenic areas tend to be smaller towns or mountain retreats that often have decent parking available. The parking at the cable car stations and mountain rail stations does tend to be kind of expensive, but if there are 4 or 5 of you it can still be cheaper than train tickets.
Lucerne is actually quite dense in its core and you’d never want to drive around the city center to find a restaurant or shop, and there are many pedestrian-only streets as well so driving around town is a terrible idea. On the other hand, if you are driving a group from Interlaken or the Zermatt area, using your car to drive to some of the nearby mountains in the Lucerne area could work well.
In the section below I mention one pretty affordable hotel that offers free parking and is a long walk or short taxi ride to the train station and center of town. Also, some of the other hotels mentioned below offer valet parking for around €35 per day, including the ones right on the Reuss River. That is a pretty good deal for a pricey European city like Lucerne.
Recommended Lucerne hotels for different travelers
Below I’m recommending 4 different hotels that should each be ideal for at least some readers of this article. These are 4 of the best hotels to stay in Lucerne, Switzerland for different traveler types. If one of them you like isn’t available on your travel dates, at least you’ll know the exact location and then finding a nearby one that IS available should be pretty easy.
Best hotel with best view: Des Alpes Luzern
Bridge-view rooms starting around US$380 per night
Similar to the hotel mentioned just below, the Des Alpes Luzern Hotel directly faces the Chapel Bridge and many of its rooms not only face the bridge, but they also have a balony for even better views and photos. Reviews of this place are really great and it appears to be a bit nicer than the Pickwick mentioned below.
Unlike the Pickwick below, you can book the Des Alpes Luzern for one or two nights, which is helpful because so many people only stay in Lucerne for one or two nights. The
>>>Check rates at the Des Alpes Luzern
Cheaper hotel with great view: Hotel Pickwick and Pub
Bridge-view rooms starting around US$250 per night
This is the hotel I stayed in on my most recent trip to Lucerne and it was a phenomenal experience. The rooms are fairly basic and there’s a convivial pub on the ground floor, which might be a positive or negative depending on how much you enjoy pubs. But most of all the location is absolutely amazing with every room having a perfect view of the Chapel Bridge.
The room rates are surprisingly affordable considering the location, although they do require a 3-night minimum, which helps them keep their prices down as well. The reviews are great and I highly recommend it, especially if you can’t afford the slightly nicer hotel mentioned above.
>>>Check rates at the Hotel Pickwick and Pub
Cheaper hostel (former prison) just a short walk away: Barabas Hostel
Private double rooms starting around US$150 per night
Almost certainly the cheapest hotel option in the best possible location, the Barabas Hostel is a former prison with rooms that still look like prison cells although most have private ensuite bathrooms as well. The novelty of the prison cells seems to be popular as this place gets great reviews, and its location is amazing and convenient.
They have private double rooms and triple rooms as well as 6-bed dorm rooms that are even cheaper. They serve a pretty good breakfast for about US$15 per person as well. If I wanted to save money for the attractions and still stay in the best location, I would book here in a heartbeat.
>>>Check rates at the Barabas Hostel
Affordable hotel with free parking: Hotel Spatz
Double rooms starting around US$190 per night
If you will have a car and would like a well-located hotel that offers free parking then Hotel Spatz looks like your best option. It’s about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Chapel Bridge and the train station, so it is possible to walk into town if the weather is nice, but it’s also only a 5-minute bus ride.
The hotel gets very good reviews and the room rates are very reasonable for a city like this. If you have a larger budget you should consider the Des Alpes Hotel mentioned first as they do offer valet parking for around US$35 per day and the location is much better, but the rooms are at least double the price as well.