Things to Do in Lucerne

Lucerne is 45 minutes from Zurich HB by direct train, an easy day trip or a base for a night or two. The Kapellbrücke, Europe's oldest covered wooden bridge, takes ten minutes to walk and is worth it mainly for the frescoes in the roof trusses, not the crowds photographing it. The Lion Monument, a wounded lion carved into a quarry wall for Swiss Guards killed in 1792, is smaller and more affecting than pictures suggest. The Swiss Museum of Transport (Verkehrshaus) is genuinely good for a half-day with kids, with a planetarium and Swiss rail history, for CHF 35. Old Town streets around Weinmarkt have frescoed facades worth a slow walk rather than a rushed one.