My First Solo Trip: Part One of the Swiss Adventure- The First night in Luzern

Switzerland was a destination I had wanted to visit ever since I had studied Frankenstein in my A Level English Literature class. Mary Shelley apparently wrote the novel over a cheeky weekend trip to Lake Geneva. Tripping on Opium she created a masterpiece... and I thought I would do the same! Haha kidding. So originally I had wanted to visit Geneva and explore this interesting and seemingly mythical area until I actually booked our flight...

Lake Luzern

The day Brexit's Article 50 came into play Ryanair held a sale, of course, and reduced air fares around Europe to as low as £2,99 each way. No, I am not kidding!! I spent ages procrastination over whether I should buy these super cheap fares as I didn't really have the time to be flying somewhere the following week (when the fares were for). Eventually, I came across £7,99 fares to Basel, Switzerland and yes I think it goes without saying, I booked them! Perrrrfect! Little did I know... Switzerland is pretty much on par with London expenses wise, if not worse.

One day I will return and stay at this super expensive hotel!

So here you find me sat, in my university library typing away as yes... I am back from Switzerland! I was right... although I paid £16 for my return flights, I definitely made up for it in spending money. I spent the entity of my trip in central Switzerland; Luzern and used it as a base to travel around the country. Oh and I must say thank goodness I had a Swiss Pass as oh my gosh, travel (and everything else) is 100% more expensive than London. However, this was probably the only set back of the entire journey as Switzerland is truly an amazing country and I do feel honored to have scraped the surface. I do hope to go back one day... not in the next year haha. Possibly the next two or three years so I can save up and really go all out and explore the beauty even further, delve deeper into the mountainous regions and actually ride the glacier express (I was going to but just didn't have enough time!) I kept a fairly detailed diary throughout the journey as well as a vlog (with some great footage!!) and as it was my first solo trip... there was of course some hiccups along the road but... all is well! So here you have it... my 4 day Swiss Adventure.

The cheese spread (I think) has my name haha!

My first day was mainly spent travelling. I landed in the North at the Euroairport in which a humorous sign lay before me. I had the option to proceed to Switzerland, or continue on to Germany or France as the airport sat on the border of all three!
After deciding to head to Switzerland as planned- although Germany and France were rather tempting, I proceeded through to buy my 4 day Swiss Pass. Online there is a lot of debate about whether the pass is in actual fact worth it and I did have a hard time trying to decide whether to buy it or not, so here is a link to a fellow post about WHY my SWISS PASS WAS worth the money I spent on it. If you want to skip the post, all I can say is if, at all anything, it saves you a lot of stress! Once purchased, I headed to the bus stop for the shuttle that would whizz me into the centre of Basel, right in front of the bahnhof (train station!). After snapping up some pictures and enjoying the surprisingly hot weather (29 degrees  Celcius people!!!) I hopped on the train to Luzern, where I would be based.

Basel Train Station

Luzern was just beautiful. My first impressions of the mini city; in love! I couldn't get over how beautiful it was. It really was beautiful. I understood the hype, instantly, about why this was the best place to stay whilst visiting Switzerland. I made my way to the hostel I was staying at; Lion Lodge Lucerne- a clean, friendly place with an extremely convenient location, being a mere 5 minute walk from the famous Lion monument- by bus, directly from the bahnhof and arrived 4 or 5 stops later. Check in was easy and quick and to my surprise I had the room to myself for the first night!

Lion Lodge Lucerne

Notes from my diary
So aside from the drama that is contracted into my life, I had a really lovely evening. After settling in at the hostel I headed out to get a feel of the little city. I have to admit, arriving here I really didn't expect it to be so big. It sounds silly yes, but it's true. I was expecting a little town like place with small quaint features and whilst this place has these things... it is most definitely a small city with oh so much to offer! Already I am in love. One thing I don't get is how on Earth people that move here make the decision of where exactly they will live. It is beyond me as there is so so much to see, so so much to do and just so so much natural beauty everywhere. Don't they just fall in love with it all?! I am also super happy I stayed in the hostel as it  is great. There are lots of friendly faces (travellers and staff), it is very clean and well the location is just perfect. So yes, I haven't really done much apart from wander around looking for food. I saw some of the 'classic sites' such as the famous bridge thingy that was covered in knats, so I didn't dare walk across. I took a lot of pictures and attempted at my vlogging, oh and eat a 14.10CHF Burger King meal! Oh my! 

The most famous bridge in Switzerland haha! 'Kapellbrucke' or 'Chapel Bridge'

My first day and night in Switzerland was not just about experiencing a new country, it was my first ever solo trip. Waking up the next morning was a reminder that I could do anything my heart desired. I just had to be confident in myself and stay positive...





Peace&Love,
Willow