One Day in Lucerne, Switzerland: Exploring A Beautiful Historic City

While we’ve always based ourselves in Basel when exploring Switzerland, the beautiful city of Lucerne is one of our favourite Swiss locations. It is only one hour away by train from Basel so we’ve taken several one day trips from Basel to Lucerne.

What to do with only one day in Lucerne

In 2018 Conde Nast Traveler recognized this incredible Swiss city and ranked it #3 on the Conde Nast Travelers 2018 Readers Choice Awards Top 20 Small Cities list.  As noted by Conde Nast Traveler,

“With its covered bridges, turreted buildings, and colorful Old Town, Lucerne is storybook Swiss. And it is always, always on this list of top cities.”

Lucerne is an incredible base for visiting the Swiss mountains of Pilatus, Rigi and Titlis. Titlis is still on our must do list so it’s a perfect reason for us to return! We’ll have posts on the perfect one day itinerary for both Pilatus and Rigi soon! That said, since so many people wonder what to do in Lucerne for a day, without leaving the city, we thought we’d first share with you our self guided walking tour of Lucerne.

There are so many wonderful places to visit in Lucerne it’s always hard to narrow down what to do in Lucerne for a day but this one day itinerary for Lucerne will give you a taste of everything and will hit the most popular things to see in Lucerne. Enjoy!

One Day in Lucerne: Exploring the Old Town, Town Ramparts, Lions and Glaciers

Lucerne is a beautiful city. Start your one day early in the morning and stroll its quaint streets while heading towards Muhlenplatz (Mill Square) which marks the entrance to the old town.  It is Lucerne’s largest historic square. Enjoy the fresco telling the story of the wine god Bacchus.

Weinmarkt

At top of Muhlenplatz head right on Kramgasse, then take your first left onto Weinmarktgasse leading to Weinmarkt.

In medieval times, Weinmarkt was a marketplace for wine. Notice the beautiful frescos on the outer walls of the buildings. The mural on green building is the Wedding Feast at Cana where Jesus turned water into wine. The beautiful fountain in the square is a copy of the original from the 1400s.

Kornmarkt and Rathaus

Continue your self guided walking tour of Lucerne and stroll to the Kornmarkt and Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall). The Kornmarkt was home to a corn market and grain exchange historically.

The Rathaus was built in 1602. You can climb up the Rathaus tower and see over the square which has a lovely market once or twice a week depending on the time of year. This would be a great addition to your one day itinerary in Lucerne if you are visiting on a market day.

Rosengart Haus

To the left of the Rathaus is Rosengart Haus The Rosengart family were friends of Picasso. They have an incredible collection of his works and provide an English explantation/commentary on entry. We really wanted to visit but just didn’t have a chance. Picasso collection. If you’re interested in some of Picasso’s works, stop in at Furrengasse 21 and enjoy.

Depending on whether you visited the Rosengart Haus, take either Furrengasse or Kapellgasse (one of Lucerne’s main shopping streets) towards Kapellplatz.

St. Peterskapelle (St. Peter’s Church)

Kapellplatz is a beautiful square and the location of St. Peterskapelle which is the oldest church in Lucerne. In center of the square is another beautiful fountain. There is a great view from here where you can see  Kapellbrucke (Chapel Bridge) and the water tower with Mount Pilatus hovering in background.

From Kapellplatz,  head towards one of Lucerne’s main
attractions: Kapellbrucke. If you’re ready for a break, there is a Dieci
Gelateria gelato stop just before the bridge on Rathausquai that’s absolutely
worth checking out!

Kapellbrücke (Chapel Bridge)

The Kapellbrücke is a wooden covered bridge that crosses the Reuss River. It was built around 1365 as part of the city’s defence. The water tower in the center was built about 30 years earlier. Over the years, the water tower has been used as a prison, a torture chamber and a municipal archive.

The Chapel Bridge is one of the top things to see in Lucerne and makes it on every itinerary and walking tour. It’s especially known for 122 interior paintings showing daily activities and dress of the people dating back to the 17^th century.

A large portion of the bridge and many of these incredible paintings were destroyed in a fire in 1993. Of 110 paintings in the bridge, only 25 could be saved. These can be found in the center of the bridge. The remaining paintings today are from a different part of the bridge and had been in storage at the time of the fire.  You can still see charred areas from the fire. (I can’t believe I don’t have any photos of these amazing paintings!)

You’ll need to look up to see these wonderful paintings as they’re found on the trusses of the bridge’s wooden roof!

I scoped out the background of several of these paintings before our visit. Here the background of a few!

You’ll see a legendary giant, an angel shining light on the location that Lucerne will be born, and stories of the history of Lucerne and the lives of Lucerne’s two patron saints.

In middle of the bridge, the painting features the town’s patron saint, Mauritius, and on a few paintings you can see the black char as a reminder of the fire that almost totally destroyed the bridge.

At the end of the bridge, look for the swans. They were originally a gift from France’s King Louis XIV in appreciation for the protection his Swiss Guards gave him and his family.

Jesuitenkirche (Jesuit Church)

Next stop: the Jesuit Church. This beautiful church
with onion-like tops spires sits beside the Reuss river. It is the first
baroque church in Switzerland.  

If you’d like to visit, drop inside for a look. If not,
or after, continue along until you see a second covered bridge.

Spreuerbrücke (Spreuer Bridge)

This covered bridge is Spreuerbrücke. Like the Chapel Bridge, this wooden covered bridge also has paintings inside. Cross the Spreuerbrücke.

Under the roof of the Spreuerbrücke are 67 paintings representing the  Dance of Death. Death is depicted as a skeleton asking a variety of people to dance with him. He treats all the same and doesn’t care if they are male or female, young or old, rich or poor. This symbolic of the time when the plague swept through Europe.

The wide stretch at end of the bridge was to accommodate wagons delivering grain to Kornmarkt.

Next, head to Museggmauer, the city ramparts from the
1600s. It’s a bit of a walk and there are many stairs so those with difficulty
walking may wish to skip this step and head directly to the Bourbaki Panorama.

The Ramparts / Old City Wall

Otherwise known as Museggmauer, the Lucerne city wall a well preserved northern section of its’ medieval walls. The wall and four of the nine towers are open to the public from April to November .

We climbed a few of the towers. As mentioned earlier, not for those who have difficulty walking.

The walk along the wall is definitely worthwhile.

There are beautiful views of the town, river and the lake.

We spent at least an hour at the Musegg but you can spend more or less depending on the amount of time you have. Make sure to leave time for later spots on the walking guide though!

Bourbaki Panorama

Located at Lowenplatz 11, about 20 minutes from
Museggmauer, the Bourbaki Panorama is one of the world’s few surviving
panoramas. Panoramas such as this were a precursor to the cinema. The Bourbaki
Panorama is housed in the original building from 1889 which was a 19th-century
attraction. The Bourbaki Panorama is a giant mural wrapping around the walls of
a circular room. It shows the arrival of 87 000 French soldiers who fled to
Switzerland under General Bourbaki in the winter of 1871. It was the beginning
of Swiss neutrality.

Walk a short distance to the Lowendenkmal. You’ll pass
a few souvenir shops along the way if you’d like to look.

Löwendenkmal (Lion Monument)

The Löwendenkmal is really one of the most touching memorials I’ve ever seen. Our kids were totally drawn to it and we have to visit it each time we’re in Lucerne.

In 1792, during the French revolution, Swiss guards defended the Palais des Tuileries in Paris. It was stormed by revolutionaries and many died. Of those guards who survived, many were arrested and guillotined.

This magnificent lion was carved out of sandstone
cliff by Danish sculptor and unveiled in 1821 as memorial to the Swiss guards
who lost their lives trying to protect France’s King Louis XVI  and his queen, Marie Antoinette. Written in Latin
is “To the loyalty and bravery of the Swiss”. The names of the dead
and saved Swiss guards are also engraved along with the number of those who
died (760) and who survived (350).  

Gletschergarten (Glacier Garden)

We had visited Lucerne three times before visiting the
Gletschergarten. We should have visited earlier! This is such a cool place.

The Gletschergarten is located right next to the Lion
Monument so it’s easy to find. It tells the creation and development of the alps
over time. Lucerne was once a sub-tropical seashore until the ice age. The
glacier potholes visible in the Gletschergarten show how Lucerne was then
covered by thick ice. There is also a multimedia show and several dioramas of
the mountains. There’s even a mirror maze!

If you still have time, make sure to try some amazing Swiss fondue or rosti at one of the local restaurants! It’s a definite must if you only have one day in Lucerne.

If you’re visiting Lucerne for a longer time or would like to do other activities, on your one day in Lucerne, you can visit the Swiss Transport Museum (we spent a full day here!), Mount Pilatus or Mount Rigi. I’ll be creating a post for each of these soon!

There are wonderful options for day trips from Lucerne if, by chance, you have more than one day in Lucerne. Our first choice is a visit to Mount Pilatus. You could also visit the Hammetschwand Lift !

If you’re looking for another day trip from Lucerne, check out our top things to do in Basel, Switzerland and a day in Rheinfall, Schaffhausen and Stein am Rhein.

Pin It!!