Lucerne Travel Guide: Things to Do, See & Day Trips

If Switzerland is a greatest hits album, Lucerne is the opening track. It has the medieval old town, the flower-covered Chapel Bridge (the most photographed bridge in Switzerland), the lion sculpture that Mark Twain called the most mournful piece of stone in the world, and behind all of it, the mountains.

The Kapellbrücke dates to 1333 and stretches across the Reuss River with a water tower alongside it. Walk it slowly. Then wander into the old town — the Weinmarkt square, the painted facades, the medieval walls with watch towers still intact.

Mount Pilatus is Lucerne’s mountain, and the ascent is genuinely dramatic. Take the world’s steepest cogwheel railway from Alpnachstad (only in summer), ride the gondola down the other side, and take the boat back across the lake. The full round trip is one of our favorite days anywhere in Switzerland.

The lake cruise is worth doing in any season — old paddle steamers and Belle Époque vessels, elegant and slow. In summer you can swim in the lake at the Lido; in winter the illuminated Christmas market in the old town is magical.