Things to do in Lucerne & Central Switzerland

Lucerne's Old Town is crossed by the Chapel Bridge, a 204 m covered wooden bridge with gable paintings of Lucerne and Swiss history beside the octagonal Water Tower, and crowned by the Musegg Wall, whose nine towers are floodlit at night. A short walk away, the Lion Monument by Bertel Thorvaldsen is carved into a rock face in memory of the Swiss Guards, and at the Lido the Swiss Museum of Transport, Switzerland's most-visited museum, shows original trains, cars, aircraft and ships alongside a planetarium and the Swiss Chocolate Adventure ride. Paddle steamers and motor vessels sail Lake Lucerne year-round and connect with the mountain railways: Mount Pilatus rises from Alpnachstad on what the operator calls the world's steepest cogwheel railway or from Kriens by panorama gondola and the Dragon Ride cableway, while Rigi, home to Europe's first mountain railway, is reached by cogwheel train from Vitznau or Goldau or by cable car from Weggis. From Engelberg, the revolving Rotair cable car climbs Titlis to the Cliff Walk suspension bridge, the Glacier Cave and the new TITLIS Tower with its Horizon Deck, and in the Christmas season Rudolf's Christmas Market sets up in a lakeside park.

Good to knowDuring the autumn maintenance period on Mount Pilatus the gondolas and cable car stop and only the cogwheel railway runs, and on Rigi some cable cars, hotels and the mineral bath pause for maintenance in November, so check the operators' notices first. Work on the new peak station at Titlis continues, so visitor routes may change. The Chapel Bridge is free and open at all times and least crowded early in the morning or late in the evening, but the Water Tower is not open inside.