Lucerne is argued to be among the most beautiful cities in Europe, and very confidently given the title of the most beautiful city of Switzerland. It certainly lives up to the expectations and with such flourishing popularity, it is surprisingly not crowded at all.
Visiting the city is very easy both by road and rail as it is pretty well-connected. However, if and when you visit, make sure you are staying for a couple of days to enjoy everything the city has to offer. After roughly 6 hours in the city, I wished I had more time to stay...
Altstadt means old town. The city is divided into old town and new town by the iconic Reuss River. Plenty of bridges to cross the river including the famous Chapel Bridge, and a little further is the iconic 15th century covered bridge - Spreuerbrücke, looking over the iconic medieval Needle Dam.
Either side has a lot to offer, both free and paid attractions. The city is very walkable, which instantly puts it on my likeable list. So just like I did, you could always walk through either part of the city and enjoy almost everything it has to offer.
The old town has my name written all over it. The medieval architecture, the beautifully painted facades of the buildings with different themes, and the old markets that have distant reminders lingering around make it an absolute gold mine for sightseeing. Its location makes it incredible, not only does the Reuss River pass through it, the city itself has a lovely view of the mountains and is at the edge of Lucerne Lake. That's where I spent like an hour just walking at the edge of the lake and looking at birds and the mountains which still feel like a painting.
We drove in through the new town so it was an easy decision for me to spend my time in the old town. We parked exactly at the mouth of the chapel bridge and after figuring out how the parking machine worked, it was time for our favourite activity - exploration! The tower you saw in the first picture, standing tall in the river and connected to the chapel bridge is the water tower but it doesn't hold any water. What it holds is... a whole lot of I don't know because it is not open to the public. The tower has been used for all sorts of things throughout the years - including being a torture chamber and prison. Astoundingly dark history for such a beautiful landmark.
The Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge) is one of, if not the, oldest surviving truss bridge in the world. It is very excellently preserved in that sense and doesn't feel old or rusty. The covered wooden bridge is named after the St. Peter's Bridge which comes right after the bridge.
The bridge cuts the river diagonally and you can walk over the Reuss river freely while enjoying the marvellous views of the city. The beautiful snow capped mountains, or at least the peaks of a few. You can catch a glimpse of the river running to meet with the lake. The best view is of the medieval buildings of the old town and the tourist filled restaurants and bars at the edge of the river.
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As beautiful as the views from the bridge are, there is an incredible view inside the bridge. Over our heads, there were paintings done on the inside of the canopy. These paintings tell tales of much older and tougher times. Not all of them are beautiful to look at, but the stories are more than beautiful.
These paintings are present in the Chapel Bridge and in the Spreuerbrücke with a much darker theme. The chapel bridge was created as part of the fortification of the city. It then was used for different things as I mentioned before, but it also once faced a very bad fire. After all of that, it still stands to tell the tales of time, and I find that poetic.
After the bridge, it is time to actually get into the city and look at the famous squares. It almost feels like there's a theme attached to everything in the city. The squares certainly are divided by themes or it feels like it. But don't think that sightseeing is the only thing to do in this beautiful city. There are tonnes of shopping centres, restaurants, tips to the mountains, landmark bars, cruises and whatnot. In fact, a huge part of this old town is exclusively filled with everything Swiss. From Swiss chocolate, swiss knives, swiss timepieces, swiss traditional clothes, and swiss handmade jewellery.
The glacier garden and the Rosengart museum are a must-visit. The world-famous dying lion monument is also in Lucerne and also not crowded. The cruises of lake Lucerne and the best dark lager are also worthy making the must-visit list, but to be completely transparent, you have to come to the city for at least a whole day or two to truly tick away all the boxes.
The painted squares are a stone's throw away from the river. In fact, the city is so walkable that before you realize it, you'd have walked through the painted squares, the bridges, and back to the starting point before realizing it.
The old town buildings are a marvel to look at. The narrow cobblestone aisles, and the wide open squares, the beautiful painted building facades, all make it worthy of a very slow and attentive stroll.
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The old fish market, Weinmarkt, is by far the most detailed and decorated square. There is little resemblance to the fish market that used to be here years ago. You can walk to and through Hirschenplatz before you even know it and I had to go back to it just to take a better look. It has a more ornamental touch to it, almost overbearing traditional remarks on the facades, while the others are far more contemporary. In total, there are 5 squares, and my favourite was the Kappellplatz. Not only was it the first one I found, but it also was the first sip of non-bottled water I had since coming to Lucerne.
The design of the Kappellplatz fountain has certainly been given a modern facelift, however, it has always been the colourful fountain you see now. t stands solitarily centre a large cobblestone square amidst the beautiful medieval buildings, and next to the church. Hirschenplatz square is almost the same size but much more overwhelming. There are quite a few places to shop before entering or after exiting the Kappellplatz with Bucherer taking up the biggest space.
The theme of fire is exclusive to Sternenplatz. So when you stumble across that theme, you know where you are. I think there are a very select few who know why the Fritschi building is so popular. Ah pop culture, always can rely on it to condense the vastest subcultures to a single building. But I had to look at it with my own eyes. There is only one more building to the south with the same theme. I guess that makes it even smaller than Hirschenplatz because the designs are immediately visible as soon as you look away from Fritschi.
The last thing I did was take in the beautiful view of the lake and surrounding mountains. Walking on the edge of the beautiful lake, on one side the busy road, and on the other side a serene view. After walking through the city, this walk on the lake Lucerne was a perfect end to the trip. Although there is a lot I wanted to do that time didn't allow for, I thoroughly enjoyed all that I could visit.
After a brisk walk, as the shops started closing down, the lake started getting busier. I guess both tourists and locals wind down here. The view is breathtaking. I watched the sky turn all shades of blue, the mountains mark the edge of my view, and the birds on the lake come and haggle tourists for snacks. There is a no-feeding policy in place, and I am glad people followed it. Turns out the rest of my group had taken a bus tour since time was so short, I think I had the better outcome.
Isn't walking through this beautiful city and exploring it on my own pace much better than sitting in a bus and listening to prerecorded audio on a bus?
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