Lucerne in 5 days
A town of 82,000 at the end of Lake Lucerne, built around a covered wooden bridge from 1333 and a nine-towered city wall. Two mountains, Pilatus and the Rigi, are each an hour away by cog railway or paddle steamer.

The plan, day by day
Day 1
- Morning
Chapel Bridge and the Water Towerfree · about 30 minA 205-metre covered wooden bridge built across the Reuss around 1333, with seventeenth-century painted panels under its roof.
- Afternoon
Rosengart Collectionabout 1 h 30An art dealer's collection in a former bank: 125 works by Paul Klee, 32 paintings by Picasso, who painted her five times, and more.
Day 2
- Morning
Paddle steamer on the lakehalf a dayFive paddle steamers built between 1901 and 1928 still sail the lake, with their engines visible at work from a gallery inside.
- Late afternoon
Musegg Wallfree · about 1 h870 metres of fourteenth-century town wall and nine towers above the old town, four of which you can climb and link along the wall walk.
Day 3
- Morning
Lion Monumentfree · about 30 minA dying lion carved into a sandstone quarry face in 1820 and 1821, for the Swiss Guards killed defending the Tuileries in August 1792.
- Afternoon
Swiss Museum of Transporthalf a daySwitzerland's most visited museum, by the lake: steam locomotives, suspended aircraft, a space capsule, vintage cars and a walk-through rail tunnel.
Day 4
- Morning
Mount Pilatushalf a dayA 2,128-metre massif reached from Alpnachstad on the world's steepest cogwheel railway, with a maximum gradient of 48%, running since 1889.
Day 5
- Morning
The Rigihalf a dayThe Queen of the Mountains, 1,798 metres between three lakes, where Europe's first mountain cog railway opened from Vitznau in 1871.
Where to sleep in Lucerne
- Lucerne Youth Hostel · €48 a night
- Hotel Alpha · €105 a night
- Bellpark Hostel · €45 a night
- Hotel Continental Park · €160 a night
- Hotel Waldstätterhof · €170 a night
- Hotel Baslertor · €150 a night
- Hotel des Balances · €350 a night
- Mandarin Oriental Palace, Luzern · €600 a night
- Grand Hotel National · €400 a night
Plan this trip
Hotel prices per room per night, checked when written. Some links are affiliate links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.