Beautiful Lucerne

I can finally understand why so many people love Lucerne!  Everything about Lucerne was exactly as I had read about and I loved every minute of it.

I arrived into the city in the early afternoon and after locking my bags up at the train station, I started walking around aimlessly, just enjoying the scenery and the beauty around me.  I eventually made my way to the Museggmauer, or Town Walls.  The Town Walls were built along the Northern side of the Old Town and include nine towers, each with its own unique architectural style.  The first tower I ascended was the Männliturm.  I had read that this one offered the best views of Lucerne and I was definitely not disappointed.

As you can expect, the stairs are steep and narrow, but thankfully, there weren’t too many people there during the late afternoon and I didn’t have to squeeze past too many people to climb up and down. 

Next, I proceeded to the Wachturm (Watch Tower), where I climbed half way up and then walked along the wall to the Zeitturm, otherwise known as the Clock Tower.  The views from the wall were also quite nice.

The Clock Tower had some interesting displays, including this unique clock.

The Chapel Bridge is likely the most iconic structure for Lucerne.  Built in 1333, it is amazing that a wooden bridge is able to withstand all the elements throughout these centuries.  Although, a fire did destroy part of the bridge in the early 90s, it has since been restored.

The bridge is raised and although the number of stairs isn’t very many, I did see a family struggle quite a bit, trying to help a man in a wheelchair go up onto the bridge.

By this time, the sun was ready to set and I spent a lovely time strolling along Lake Lucerne, watching the sun set.

The next day, I made my way to the famous Lion Monument.  It was about a 20 minute walk from the Chapel Bridge and is quite a busy attraction as busloads of tourists are taken there on a daily basis. 

Lucerne is such a lovely little city and offers easy access to many of the mountains in the area including Mt. Rigi, Mt. Pilatus, Mt. Titlis and Mt. Stanserhorn.  The train ride to Zurich is also only around an hour, which makes Lucerne a great base when in Switzerland.