If you are new to Lucerne and haven’t experienced winter here, you might be in for a surprise. In Switzerland winter here does mean snow, sleet, ice on the roads and minus temperatures. So here are a few tips for you not to get caught out on the first days of wintery weather.
- Change to winter tyres. If you haven’t already done so then you might be caught out not being able to get an appointment with your favourite garage but luckily there are garages where you can drive up for a tyre change without any appointments. For example, Pneuhaus Frank have shops in Luzern, Emmenbrücke and Sursee. Also, be sure to keep the correct size snow chains in your car, sometimes even a small hill can become quite a challenge!
- Be sure to use windshield cleaner with an anti-freeze.
- Those gorgeous boots with smooth leather soles? Wear them indoors only or have some soles with a tread profile fitted onto them to avoid slipping on that black ice.
- If you have fragile plants, now is the time to bring them into the house or wrap them up with a fleece blanket (I do that with my fig tree). Tie the nice long grasses together, this gives wildlife a cosy home to hibernate.
- Who is in charge of cleaning the snow from the pathway in front of your home? If you are renting in a building block, then it’s the landlord’s or Hauswart’s job. However, if you are renting a single family home then you are responsible for clearing the path yourself, so stock up on salt/sand/gravel to throw down so as not to slip.
- If you’re renting or buying ski equipment, now is a great time to get around to this as the sellers have time and good tips to share and the selection is still really large.
- It is also a good time to look into deals for ski passes as resorts are keen to get you to commit to them.
- And just remember that when it all gets too grey and cold down here, the sun is usually shining a few hundred metres higher.
