Lucerne, Switzerland was over a week into our 16-day tour around the Alps in Europe and when we wanted things to do, we wanted some rest.
Every human has a different activity to rest ratio. For me, I can keep going, seemingly without an outer limit, when it comes to travel. But not everyone has the same capacity for unstoppable adventure. Most people, including the three humans I was traveling with this past summer, need time to stop the stimulation and just exist in the familiar and calm.
In Lucerne, my people needed calm.
But we had left behind the perfection of our Airbnb in Interlaken (more coming on that soon), and found ourselves in a bare bones hotel, with no A/C and on the 3rd floor of an old building. We were HOT. However, the sweat encouraged us find a secret way to enjoy Lucerne that we didn’t find any other travel bloggers talking about.
Dozens of travel blogs talk about the Golden Circle, and how to do that adventure. See below for why we opted NOT to do that.
Instead of going up a mountain, we went down to the water. We swam. On a summer day mid-travel, this was glorious. Read below for our tips and why it was such a fantastic way to experience Lucerne.
Our Adventure in the Alps
What to know about visiting Lucerne, Switzerland
Lucerne is old – like, really old. And Lucerne is popular with tourists – like, really popular. This leads to large crowd sizes and higher prices in the summer.
Nestled on the bright blue Reuss River, which flows with force from stunning Lake Lucerne, all overshadowed by the towering Mt Pilatus, Lucerne has enviable geography. Add old medieval buildings butting up to the water, cobbled streets and wooden bridges with golden-flecked art from the 14th century, and this place could not be a more picture-perfect postcard of Switzerland. “Picturesque” is the word constantly used to describe Lucerne.
One stat I found (pre-COVID) said that nine million tourists descend upon Lucerne every year. Another site said that in July and August of 2023, 2.3 million visitors came to Lucerne. It is one of the top places visited in Switzerland (Zurich and the Matterhorn being more popular).
This is a modern, economically robust city layered over old medieval streets and buildings. There are taxis and everyone takes credit cards. It was easy to navigate and very clean.
Lucerne was founded in the 6th century, and monks started a monastery at the church (see below) around 750. In 1290, Lucerne became a good-sized, reputable city.
It is steeped in Catholic history. But it really came into its glory in the late 19th century when all the artists, writers and composers began to romanticize it for the world. Richard Wagner lived and worked in the area, Queen Victoria came and visited, Mark Twain visited twice and wrote about it, Swiss poet and Noble laureate Carl Spitteler moved here. The city became one of the first centers of modern-day tourism, according to history books.
There was a fire that destroyed some stuff (always in Europe) but it was late in time and relatively small. For the most part, Lucerne has remained relatively unscathed and unchanged through the centuries. That’s a lot of its appeal.
How to get to Lucerne
We were on a very long trip around the region, so we drove here. But this wasn’t our first choice. We tried hard to see if we could take the train in since parking in Lucerne is not fun. There are public parking garages, but they fill up and charge a lot of money. Nevertheless, driving in was what was available to us. But once we parked our rental in the parking garage downtown, we didn’t move it again until we checked out. Everything we wanted to see and do in Lucerne we could get to by foot (or, in the case of the hotel bar, funicular). So, we walked a lot.
There aren’t direct flights to Lucerne, but it does have a busy train depot. There are hourly trains from Zurich and that trip is about 45 minutes.
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Things to do in Lucerne, Switzerland
Table of Contents
Have cocktails at Hotel Gütsch
Looking over Lucerne, with bright, Gastby-esque letters shining at night, is Hotel Gütsch. While this hotel is a luxurious stay for higher-end budget travelers, it is worth a visit for a fancy cocktail at their bar.
The site has been a hotel since 1859, although much of it was destroyed by fire in 1888. When it was rebuilt in 1901, the architect modeled it after Neuschwanstein, even to the extent that it seems to defy laws of physics by rising out of a mountaintop. The hotel has had its share of famous guests (not us! ha!).
Mr. Family Trip and I headed up the funicular for a late afternoon/early evening cocktail. The drink was a hefty sum but artisan and creative. The views were phenomenal, the hotel bar beautifully decorated.Â
The Funicular Gütsch is free and only takes 1.5 minutes to haul passengers. It is also small, only taking up 6 people at a time! But it is very easy to walk to from downtown Lucerne and can be found on Google maps.
Visit the church
We stumbled upon the Church of St Leodegar in our aimless wanderings. But it is hard to miss. Its spires stick up above the skyline and a flight of steps takes you to its elevated entrance (closer to God). Inside is a delightful Renaissance moment.
There has been a church on this site since the 8th century (that’s in the 700’s). But what stands today as the Church of St. Leodegar was built between 1633- 1639 (because the older stuff had burnt).
We didn’t do an official tour, just moseyed. The organ was overwhelming. Originally built in 1840, it has been expanded quite a few times.
Today, the Lucerne website reads:
Overall, the organ weighs an incredible 30 tonnes. The 7,374 pipes are distributed across 111 registers.
It was fun to see. The grounds felt holy and sacred – this is very much an active church still today.
Walk the medieval walls and go up the towers
We went to the medieval walls and towers – which was free!Â
Officially these are called the Musegg Wall and Towers. The wall is interesting to walk – with views – and of the nine towers that exist, four are open for public visits. Visiting everything does require a certain level of mobility and stamina. It was a big walk up the hill to get to the wall (which we found easily using Google Maps) and to access the towers you have to climb steps.
There are specific hours that this is open, and it closes in the winter. This website had the most up-to-date and thorough information.
Given that these walls were built in the 13th century and still soar above the city with lookouts and birds’ eye views, it was worth the visit.
Walk the waterfront
(a note about doing the "circle")
Look: the most popular thing to do in Lucerne is the Golden Circle or the Silver Circle. We didn’t do either. We planned to do the Silver Circle and hike up Mt Pilatus. That was our original itinerary in Lucerne.
But the excursion was jampacked with tourists. It was also really expensive to do for a family of four, discounts included. It takes all day and it was incredibly hot when we were in Lucerne. Further, Mt Pilatus was in a cloud.Â
So we made a last minute call and skipped it. Regrets? Not really. We did quite a few gondolas-to-hikes during our trip (see this one and this one and there are more coming). So that itch was scratched. Lucerne called to us differently.
We wanted to get in that sparkling mountain water in a bad way. We let Lucerne lead the way on our adventure.
If you want more about the Golden Circle, this article is great. There is also information out there about hiking Mt Pilatus, if you are interested in that.
We did, however, really enjoy walking the waterfront. There is a promenade, with swans swimming and diving nearby, expansive views, gorgeous flowers blooming, and buildings in a lot of architectural styles from the ages (but not the utilitarian box style so popular in Liechtenstein).
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Enjoy Chapel Bridge (or Kapellbrücke)
One thing I did not know prior to going to Lucerne: there are TWO old wooden bridges with art that go over the Reuss River. One of them is the famous Chapel Bridge. The other one is just as gorgeous but not as famous (so sad!).
But the famous Kapellbrücke crosses the river on a diagonal. It was originally built in 1365 and, given the fact that the banks of Lucerne have grown, the bridge is actually shorter now than it was when constructed. The paintings date back to the mid 17th century but many were destroyed in a fire in 1993. (You can still see the charred wood.) The bridge has been restored, and it still counts as the oldest surviving truss bridge in the world.
See Lucerne at night
Lucerne is absolutely otherworldly at night. Street performers play on the old bridge. Lights twinkle on the river. The crowds slow down. My stroll through Lucerne at one was one of the most memorable things on our entire trip (and we did paragliding!). I didn’t have a destination or a goal – just rambled through an old European city that sang through the ages.
Meander the streets (shop?)
But, of course, you should also walk through the town during the day! There are tucked-away alleys and hidden side streets. There are little surprises everywhere and everything felt safe and clean. There are hidden treasures – like a lion sculpture built into a wall and an old medieval clock tower – that you can try to seek out a la a scavenger hunt. But we found all those things just by happenstance simply by letting our feet take us where we wanted on a whim.
The Altstadt (or old town) is a great place to do high-end shopping. I don’t shop – I am not a big spender unless it comes to travel experience – but if you want a swanky watch, Swiss army knife (official), delicious Swiss chocolate, or anything else of value, this is the place to do it.
Enjoy a cold beer at Rathaus Brewery
After a hot summer day of scaling medieval walls and walking the lake, we were ready for a cold beverage and a moment to sit down.
Lucerne’s riverfront has plenty of outdoor dining options, but we were particularly taken with Rathaus Brewery. The beer is brewed on site using water from Mount Pilatus and the oldest network of wells in the city.
Although delicious and very fun, the brewery is a baby, having been founded in 1998. We were able to grab a table in the shade, under the arcade which was built in 1602, to people watch and see the city go by.
Visit a park and swim in the Lake!
And this is our TOP SECRET tip: get in the water! Go to a park! If you are visiting Lucerne in the summer, this is by-far the best thing to do. This was where we tipped from travel into vacation and it was soothing.
We found UfschÓ§tti public park on Google maps, where there is free access to a beach where folks can swim in Lake Lucerne.
Ufschӧtti was a one mile, easy walk from our hotel in downtown Lucerne (passing by the train station and the bulwark where the heaps of tourists were being shuttled onto ferries to start their circles).
Lucerne has a lovely park culture that reminded me of my visit to Annecy, France. Vendors sold ice cream and cold wine. There were tables and umbrellas set up. The gardens and grounds in the park well-maintained, with the occasional sculpture thrown in for aesthetic delight.
UfschÓ§tti public beach was free. We packed up sandwiches at the Coop (again – the Coop fueled much of our trip through Europe) and picnicked on the banks of the lake. we swam in the water – which was clean and cool – and enjoyed seeing how people who live in Lucerne spend a summer day. We could see the city in the distance.
We brought towels from our hotel room with us and had a barebones beach-day. But it was a gorgeous experience and certainly a different side of Lucerne, Switzerland.
How long should you stay in Lucerne?
We spent two nights in Lucerne, Switzerland in August and felt that was enough. It had started to rain when we checked out of our hotel. We ate breakfast at a local cafe and were ready to go. Without a comfortable room to hang out in, without a kitchen to store and prepare food, we were fairly uncomfortable and slightly bored. After our beautiful quintessential Swiss chalet and our perfect days in Interlaken and Grindelwald (which are coming to this website soon, so stay tuned) this was a different pace and one that felt jarring.
Yet I could see Lucerne being a place people come to truly vacation in a Swiss summer style. Getting an Airbnb or a house – enjoying the leisurely nights on the fast river – taking advantage of outdoor activities like river surfing –Â enjoying the public parks – Lucerne is a place that has housed vacationers and those seeking to relax for, quite literally, hundreds of years.
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