[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 27 June 2015]

3 November 2014, Monday

It’s day 10, and today, we’re bidding farewell to the countryside and heading to the city. Zermatt had been lovely and our apartment was the most comfortable and homely of all the Airbnb ones we’ve had so far, so we were really quite reluctant to leave. We caught the 9:15am train to Lucerne, arriving at 1:00pm. From the train station, we walked for 10 minutes to our accommodation of choice – Hotel des Alpes. I had tried searching for Airbnb apartments in Lucerne but there were not many choices available, so I ended up booking a hotel room instead.

Hotel des Alpes
Address: Furrengasse 3 Lucerne 6004
Tel: +41 41 417 2060
Website: www.desalpes-luzern.ch/en
Rate: CHF250/night for a Triple River View room, inclusive of taxes & continental buffet breakfast (approx. S$345)

It was our first hotel stay for the trip and it was nice to walk into a lobby and have a receptionist attend to us for a change. This being Switzerland, the service was impeccable as expected. The room was good – clean, spacious and comfortable. As promised, it had a river view and there was a balcony where we could lounge about and enjoy the view of Chapel Bridge right in front of us. The hotel and our room could not have been more strategically located, right smack in the middle of the city.

The only gripe was that the sun was bearing down on this blazing November day and even the thick curtains could not keep out the heat, so the room was rather warm. Nevertheless, we weren’t planning on staying inside the room for long, so after dropping our luggage, we headed out for some lunch and shopping, to see what Lucerne had to offer.

There are only two famous landmarks in Lucerne – Chapel Bridge (Kappellbrücke) and the Water Tower, and the Lion Monument. The Chapel Bridge was right in front of our hotel, so naturally we headed there first. It is a covered wooden footbridge spanning diagonally across the Reuss River. Built in 1333, it was badly damaged in a fire in 1993, and rebuilt in 1994. There is an octagonal tower attached to the bridge.

The water of the Ruess River is very clear and there are many beautiful white swans swimming near the river bank, where locals perch themselves on the steps, admiring the view and perhaps getting a spot of November sunshine. There are also several restaurants and cafes lining the riverbank, making it an ideal place to relax and chill out.

After a short walk around the river and bridge, we decided to give the Lion Monument a miss, and went in search of lunch. While wandering about the Old Town (the area between Schwanenplatz and Mühleplatz), we came across a restaurant called Chimney’s Steakhouse that looked promising, located at Hirschenplatz 2. There was a bar area but we chose to sit at the dining area downstairs. I ordered a chicken steak with a side dish of rosti. Mum ordered a similar dish but with spaghetti instead of rosti, and dad ordered pork steak. As we were seated next to the kitchen, we could see the chefs at work and smell the food as it was being prepared. When the food finally came, we were not disappointed. In fact, it was probably the best meal we had on our entire trip! The meal cost us CHF105 altogether (approx. S$150) but it was worth it.

After the satisfying meal, we explored the Old Town and did some shopping. Switzerland is famous for their luxury timepieces, and Lucerne is one of the best places to get one. Bucherer is the most well known and you will definitely see it because it is a behemoth – 6 storeys tall and located right at the entrance of Old Town. It is also the official dealer for Rolex, so if you’re looking for a Rolex, Bucherer is the place to go.

We visited a few watch shops but I was already thinking of getting a Tag Heuer, so when we spotted the Tag Heuer boutique, off we went. Dad had his eye on an Aquaracer 300m Calibre 5 with a silver watch face, and he kept persuading me to get it. It was very nice, but the price tag was hefty too – CHF2,200.

After much deliberation, I decided to get it, and we somehow persuaded mum to buy one for herself too. As dad would have been left out, the two of us combined and persuaded him to get one too! So the three of us ended up happy customers. I chose an Aquaracer with a blue watch face while dad took the silver face one. It was the single, costliest purchase I have ever made! But we managed to get a 7% discount from the shop staff, plus a 6% tax rebate for tourists, so the final price was CHF1,923 (approx. S$2,780), still expensive, but a worthy purchase. If I am not wrong, the retail price in Singapore is around S$3,200.

After that, with our pockets feeling considerably lighter, we didn’t do much else besides some window-shopping. Many of the shops were closed by 6pm, so we just bought some buns and pastries and headed back to our hotel to eat them, together with our 3-in-1 coffee from home. After the sun had set, the temperatures had also dropped drastically, so it wasn’t so warm in our room anymore. By this stage of the trip, our luggage was getting heavier and there was much more things to pack. It had been a short day in Lucerne, but an expensive one!