Today I went to a cafeteria for breakfast and talking with my friends, many agreed that Switzerland is a beautiful country to visit. I kept thinking about that and one city in particular: Lucerne. It will be Lucerne is the most touristic city in Switzerland? Today I propose to know and introduce this charming Swiss city has so many wonders and tourist attractions.
Lucerne is in the center of the country, in the German-speaking area, and is the capital of the canton of the same name. It is an important city in the region, a cultural, political and communications center. Around 80 thousand people live in the city itself, but if we add the surroundings, with other smaller cities and towns, the number reaches 250 thousand inhabitants. It is on the shores of a beautiful lake and you can see the Alps around it so it has everything to be a beautiful postcard.
How to get to Lucerne
It is easy and well connected since it is touristy and is considered the gateway to the central area of the country. The Swiss rail system is very good so the best option is to get there by train. It is located an hour from Bern and half an hour from Zurich, for example, and there are regular trains to these and other cities in the country all day, every day. You can also get there by boat, remember that it is on the shores of a lake, so boats and cruises come and go all the time. Are you thinking of buses? No, forget it, here what pays is the train and the views it provides are great. Of course, to get around the city there are very good buses and trolleybuses.
Things to do in Lucerne
Lucerne has museums and art galleries, historical sites and monuments, and also offers the possibility of doing mountain and water sports, walks in the surroundings or excursions by bicycle. There are many historical bridges that are worth visiting: the Kapellbrücke It is one of the best with its 204 meters long, all made of wood, originally built in the 90th century. It is the oldest covered bridge on the continent and although the current construction dates from the XNUMXs, since it caught fire, it is still wonderful. Next to it is the Water Tower, a XNUMXth-century fortification, and together they make up the classic Lucerne postcard.
Is the Church of San Leodegar, with its towers, on a hill overlooking the side, from the seventeenth century, the Lion Monument or Löwendenkmal, which commemorates a group of Swiss Guards killed during the French Revolution in Paris and the Spreuer Bridge that crosses the Reuss, from 1408 and with a chapel from 1568. Among the museums is the Swiss Museum of Transport, on the Lido beach, with cars, trains, airplanes and motorcycles of all times, La Medieval Wall or Musegg Wall, with its various towers that luckily one can climb, the Clock Tower with the mechanism on display, the Lucerne Museum of Art, Richard Wagner Museum and the cultural center KKL It has many concert halls and is a wonderful building to behold.
All these tourist sites can be found marked on a map of the city that you can get at the local tourist office, in the historic center. There are several walks or tourist tours that you can undertake on foot and it all starts here, in the oldest part of Lucerne: there is a tour about the medieval history of the city, another with the history of the facades of some buildings, another dedicated to the fountains and even some dedicated to the local carnival. On foot you can explore the old town and also take some nature walks around.
Excursions and walks in and from Lucerne
Go up to mount Pilatus To contemplate Lucerne is highly recommended. There are ten possible paths through the forest and they have between six and eleven stations or stops. They vary in degree of difficulty so they are designed for all types of tourists. You go up a very steep cableway that leaves from Kriens or on foot, if you dare to walk, which includes about four hours of walking. Or you can also combine a bit of walking and a cableway. In summer and spring, paragliding is practiced from the top of the hill and the Pilatus Funicular Park operates around it, offering many outdoor activities.
There is also the Hammetchwand Elevator. It is a path through a heart-stopping cliff located on Mount Bürgenstock that leaves Lake Lucerne at the feet of the tourist. With the elevator you are in one minute at the highest point of the city, at 1132 meters above sea level. You can also go on a tour of Trochenmatt, the north side of the Pilatus.
Festivals and celebrations in Lucerne
Before choosing, if you can, the time of year in which you want to go, you should know what events, festivals or celebrations take place. The Carnival It is undoubtedly the most popular festival in Lucerne, an annual carnival that takes place after Lent. There are parades in the streets, with musicians playing wind instruments and dressed in masks. From Friday to Sunday the streets of Lucerne are literally filled with disguised people and a lot of noise. The streets and the bars!
There is also the Lucerne Festival, composed of classical music concerts, at Easter, summer and November. If you go in April you can attend the Comics, Internationalize Comics Festival, and if you go in July to Blue Balls Festival, of international music and with a stage on the shore of the lake. The Summer Night Festival o Luzernfest covers all the shores of the lake and has fireworks that attract people from all over the country. That is in August. And finally, for blues lovers in November the Lucerne Blues Festival takes place at the Grand Casino.
As you can see, it seems to me that this travel magazine is right and after all Lucerne is the most touristic city in Switzerland. The truth is that it offers a lot and variety of activities and tourist attractions so if you were thinking about visit switzerland… Don't leave Lucerne off the road!