CARNIVAL TIME OFF THE SLOPES IN LUCERNE
SKIING is my religion. Mountains are my cathedrals. And one of the only reasons I’ll abstain from the slopes is when there’s a great city to explore nearby.
So allow me to introduce you to Engelberg and Lucerne.
Last week, just as many Swiss towns and cities were preparing to party away the winter with wild carnivals, I visited Engelberg. 45 minutes from Lucerne by train, this pretty ski village lies in the heart of Switzerland and offers the highest skiing in the region.
Engelberg is famous for many things – the revolving Titlis cable car which is the most profitable in the Swiss Alps, its monastery (the area was ruled by the church before becoming part of Switzerland), its use as a setting for Bollywood movies from the ’90s onwards and cosy hotels like the Spannort where general manager Stefan Brunqvist deserves an award for his great sense of humour and for trusting guests with an honesty bar.
Above all, Engelberg is a mecca for freeride skiers. It has challenging high alpine off-piste terrain including the ‘Big Five’ – Laub, Steinberg, Klein/gross Sulz, Steintäli and biggest of them all, Galtiberg, which offers skiers a coveted 2,000 metre vertical drop.
It also offers the Urner ‘haute route’ which takes skiers from Andermatt to Engleberg with a multi-day tour that I hope to complete later this season.
Switzerland boasts an incredible 48 4,000m peaks and some of the best views you’ll see anywhere in the Alps are at the top of the Titlis cable car (3,020m).
You’re so busy admiring the steep rock faces, deep crevasses and distant peaks that you barely even notice the cable car revolving 360m during your fiveminute journey.
I skied on a day when the mountains were wrapped in cloud so there were lots of stops for romantic images of misty peaks.
Straight after skiing, I hopped on a train to Lucerne, checked into the very grand Schweizerhof hotel and immersed myself in the magic of carnival time.
Lucerne is well-known for lake cruises, its historic wooden bridges and the Rosengart museum which houses a fine Picasso collection. Famously, the city remained Catholic during the Reformation and artists flocked there to create works of art in ornate churches.
Up until now though, Lucerne’s carnival has been a well-kept secret with few international visitors aware of its spectacular existence. Since the city only has a population of around 85,000, I expected it to be a small local affair- how wrong I was!
The centre of Lucerne – which seemed reserved when I visited previously – welcomes 20,000 visitors between February 8-13 and transforms into an open air party that kicks off at 5am the first morning with the ‘Big Bang’ and continues on and on...
Visitors go to great lengths to create elaborate costumes – you feel really odd if you’re not dressed up – there are numerous parades, impromptu theatre shows and late in the evening, carnival bands known as Guggen Musigen wander the streets.
It’s one of the most spectacular, surprising and fun events I’ve ever been to.
Next time I visit I’ll be booking accommodation well in advance and getting creative in the costume department!
For more info, go to luzern. com, myswitzerland.com, titlis. ch and engelberg.ch.