Zurich winter break on the cheap

Blue264

dilby00 wrote: »

I guess my other concern though is if the weather isn't great, isn't the Swiss alps region likely to be more of a write off than a city? I'm worried about going there, it's foggy and rainy (like it's been lately) and you don't get the views etc.

It's rained twice in the last two weeks and we've had fog twice also where I live.

You can find the train info here... http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

For localised weather forecasts, local sites such as meteoblue and meteocentrale are the most accurate by far.

https://www.meteoblue.com/de/wetter/vorhersage/14-tage/luzern_schweiz_2659811

http://www.meteocentrale.ch/de/europa/schweiz/wetter-luzern/details/S066500/

Lucerne is at roughly the same altitude as where I live, so the mist begins low and rises from the lake as the day warms up. You only have to go up 200ft to be above the cloudline and in bright sunshine. Just as an example, I live by the lakeside in a village just outside Zurich, and it's currently cloudy but the views down the lake are clear. But if I walk up the road to the top of my village (a 10min walk) , it's sunny with views right across the to alps. In the next village up from us, they still have snow on the ground from Sunday night, even though I went for a 5mile hike on Sunday in just a t-shirt. It's that changable.

Being totally honest, this has been one of the driest winters in years. It rained yesterday for 3hrs but it's been dry since. As I said, we went up Mount Säntis on Saturday. I checked the webcam the day before and there was a blizzard up there, but on Saturday I caught the sun and should have used sunblock.

https://www.rigi.ch/en/Information/Webcams

http://www.pilatus.ch/en/webcams/

If you prefer a 3 day city break here, Zurich has a hell of a lot to offer. But if you want immediate access to the mountains and thermal baths, etc, Lucerne is the better option. You choice.

andrewf75

dilby00 wrote: »

Thanks Andrew - a valid point. If I base myself in a resort, will I still have good access to amenities, food, restaurants etc? (I've never done the ski resort thing before) and will we be considered strange for not skiing?

Loads of amenities and no you wouldn’t be considered strange for not skiing. And no-one would know you weren’t anyway!

dilby00

Thanks! Can anyone recommend a nice thermal spa that's outdoor with nice surroundings that's quite close to the areas we're talking about? All the ones I can find seem to be south west.