Lucerne

Lucerne sits where the Reuss River flows out of Lake Lucerne into the Swiss Plateau, with the Pilatus massif to the southwest and the Rigi mountain to the east. It is Switzerland’s most visited city for a reason that becomes immediately clear on arrival: the old town is built directly on the water, the Alps rise behind it, and the whole arrangement — medieval towers, covered bridge, lake, mountains — is visible from a single viewpoint on the lakeside promenade. The Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), built in 1333 and crossing the Reuss on a diagonal, is the oldest surviving wooden covered bridge in Europe. The painted panels mounted in the interior rafters depict scenes from Swiss history and local patron saints.

The Lion Monument (Löwendenkmal) in the Glacier Garden to the north of the old town is a rock-carved relief of a dying lion, commissioned in 1820 to memorialise the Swiss Guards massacred in Paris during the French Revolution. Mark Twain called it the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world — which is perhaps the most useful single piece of advance information about it. The Glacier Garden next to it preserves glacial potholes formed 20,000 years ago when the Alps were covered by ice, and the adjacent Mirror Maze has been confusing visitors since 1896.

Mount Pilatus is the city’s most significant day excursion — the cable car from Kriens ascends to 2,128 metres with a panorama of 73 Alpine peaks on a clear day, and a network of ridge paths connects the summit areas. Lake cruises operate year-round from the boat terminal opposite the main station, with the full circuit of the lake taking approximately three hours. Lucerne is a natural base for the Bernese Oberland — Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald are all reachable within 90 minutes. Halal dining options are available in the old town and around the main station area.