Lucerne Walk: Seven Stops and Timings
This loop covers about 3 kilometres of level ground and one short climb. Allow 2.5 to 3 hours with pauses, wear shoes with grip, and expect cobbles and wooden bridge boards that get slippery in rain.
Stop 1: Station to the KKL (start)
Leave the station on the lake side and reach the KKL Luzern in a couple of minutes. The concert building by Jean Nouvel has a wide roof that reaches out over the water. On clear days, the Pilatus and Rigi ridges show behind the lake.
Stop 2: Seebrücke and the Chapel Bridge
Cross the Seebrücke to Schwanenplatz, then turn into the Old Town and walk over the Chapel Bridge, a roofed timber footbridge about 204 metres long. The gable paintings above you are partly restored, partly new work, because the 1993 fire destroyed many of them. The Water Tower is not open to visitors.
Stop 3: Jesuit Church
On the south bank, the Jesuit Church of the 1660s and 1670s is a Baroque space that anyone can enter without paying. Because it is a church in use, opening hours vary.
Stop 4: Spreuer Bridge
A further few minutes downstream is the 1408 Spreuer Bridge. Its roof carries Meglinger’s Dance of Death series. The nearby needle dam of 1860 is a working structure, so enjoy it from the deck.
Stop 5: Squares
Weinmarkt, Hirschenplatz and Kornmarkt come next, and the Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus) stands at Kornmarkt. Cafes and shops fill the ground floors.
Stop 6: Musegg Wall
Head uphill to the ridge wall, which stretches about 870 metres and has nine towers. Climb any of the four open ones: Männliturm, Zytturm, Wachtturm or Schirmerturm. Access is free, from 08:00 to 19:00, between 1 April and 1 November. Guided tours of the wall are listed on the Luzern tourism site in season for about CHF 30.
Stop 7: Lion Monument (end)
Walk down to Denkmalstrasse. The monument is a memorial to the Swiss Guards killed in Paris on 10 August 1792, set into a former quarry wall. Stand quietly, and treat the spot as a place of remembrance. The adjacent Gletschergarten charges CHF 24 for adults and runs daily from 10:00 to 17:00 from March to November. See the Gletschergarten page .
Adjustments
- Winter: skip Stop 6, because the wall is closed, and linger at the squares.
- Rain: stay off the wet boards at the edge of the bridges and use the Jesuit Church as shelter.
- Tired legs: take a bus in zone 10, which is free for overnight guests with the Visitor Card.
Read more: Lucerne sightseeing and the 3-day itinerary .
Local guides run tours that you can compare on GetYourGuide .