18 Best Sights in Luzern, Luzern and Central Switzerland

Constructed in 1666--77, this Baroque church with a symmetrical entrance is flanked by two onion-dome towers, added in 1893. Inside, its vast interior, restored to its original splendor, is a dramatic explosion of gilt, marble, and epic frescoes. Nearby is the Renaissance Regierungsgebäude (Government Building), seat of the cantonal government.

The oldest wooden bridge in Europe snakes diagonally across the Reuss. When it was constructed in the early 14th century, the bridge served as a rampart in case of attacks from the lake. Its shingle roof and grand stone water tower are to Luzern what the Matterhorn is to Zermatt, but considerably more vulnerable, as a 1993 fire proved. Almost 80% of this fragile monument was destroyed, including many of the 17th-century paintings inside. Nevertheless, a walk through this dark, creaky landmark will take you past polychrome copies of 110 gable panels, painted by Heinrich Wägmann in the 17th century and depicting Luzern and Swiss history; stories of St. Leodegar and St. Mauritius, Luzern's patron saints; and coats of arms of local patrician families.

Architect Jean Nouvel's stunning glass-and-steel building manages to stand out from---as well as to fuse with---its ancient milieu. The lakeside center's roof is an oversized, cantilevered, flat plane; shallow water channels thread inside, and immense glass plates mirror the surrounding views. The main draw is the concert hall, which opened in 1998. Although the lobbies are rich in blue, red, and stained wood, the hall itself is refreshingly pale, with brilliant acoustics. Among the annual music events is the renowned Lucerne Festival, which offers around 100 classical concerts every August and September. A museum focuses on rotating exhibits of new international artists.

Stretching for 800 meters (2,624 feet), Luzern’s Museggmauer is the longest continuous wall in the country. Built around 1400 after the Battle of Sempach between Switzerland and Austria, it features nine towers, five of which you can climb up—some stairs are very steep and narrow—for magnificent panoramas. The Zytturm contains Luzern’s oldest clock and its workings, dating from the 16th century. It’s allowed to strike the hour one minute before time—the so-called ‘privilege of first stroke.’

A father-and-daughter team amassed this amazing group of works by major late-19th- and 20th-century artists. Now housed in a former bank building, the collection reveals their intensely personal approach; the Rosengarts acquired according to their own tastes instead of investment potential. Here you can see Joan Miró's Dancer, Fernand Léger's Contraste de formes, and works by Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet, Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, and Marc Chagall. There's an especially rich selection of works by Pablo Picasso; the artist painted the daughter, Angela Rosengart, five times.

Almost a world's fair in itself, the complex of buildings and exhibitions—both indoors and out—includes live demonstrations, dioramas, and a 1:20,000 scale photo of Switzerland that you can walk on in special slippers. Every mode of transit is discussed, from stagecoaches and bicycles to jumbo jets and space capsules. The museum also houses a planetarium and an IMAX theater. It's easily reached by steamer, car, train, or Bus 6, 8, or 24. If you're driving, head east on Haldenstrasse at the waterfront and make a right on Lidostrasse. Signs point the way.

The clock in this watchtower is held up by two frescoed giants. It was made in Basel in 1535 and still keeps time, as visitors can bear witness in the viewing gallery onto the heavy stone weights and pendulum. The Zytturm houses a series of other regional, historic clocks, and is one of four towers along the city wall that are open to the public from April to November. It's a narrow, steep climb, but the views from the top, across the city to the Alps, make the effort worthwhile.

The panorama was the IMAX theater of the 19th century; its sweeping, wraparound paintings brought to life scenes of epic proportions. The Bourbaki is one of only 30 remaining in the world. Painted by Édouard Castres between 1876 and 1878 (he was aided by many uncredited artists, including Ferdinand Hodler), it depicts the 87,000-strong French Army of the East retreating into Switzerland at Verrières, a famous episode in the Franco-Prussian War. As you walk around the circle, the imagery seems to pop into three dimensions; in fact, with the help of a few strategically placed models, it does. There's a recorded commentary in English. A modern glass cube filled with stores, movie theaters, and a restaurant surrounds its conical wooden structure.

Since its construction in the 13th century, this church has been persistently remodeled. It still retains its 17th-century choir stalls and ornamental carved wooden pulpit, as well as frescoed flags depicting plunder from Lucern's military campaigns. The barefoot Franciscans once held a prominent social and cultural position in Luzern, which took a firm stance against the Reformation and today remains approximately 70% Roman Catholic.

This tourist attraction, excavated between 1872 and 1875, uses light effects to illuminate stones that have been dramatically pocked and polished by Ice Age glaciers. A private museum on the site, the Alpineum, contains impressive relief maps of Switzerland; there’s an elaborate 19th-century hall of mirrors that seems oddly out of place but is delightfully fun; and a striking modern excavation of the mountain interior tells the tale of millions of years of time. The highlight is the panoramic expansion, affording views across Luzern and Central Switzerland’s mountainscape.

Some of the most elegant nightlife in Luzern is found in the Grand Casino Luzern, an early-20th-century building on the lake's northern shore near the grand hotels. You can play boule (a type of roulette) in the Gambling Room; dance in the Club; watch the cabaret in the Casineum; or have a meal in Olivo, a Mediterranean restaurant with views of the mountains and the lake. In summer, sit outside under the palm trees at the loungelike Seecafe.

Housed in the late-Gothic armory dating from 1567, this stylish institution exhibits numerous city icons, including the original Gothic fountain that stood in the Weinmarkt. In the permanent exhibit, guests can use a handheld scanner to learn about the thousands of barcoded items on display.

This sanctuary of St. Leodegar was first part of a monastery founded in 735. Its Gothic structure was mostly destroyed by fire in 1633 and rebuilt in late-Renaissance style, so only the towers of its predecessor were preserved. The carved pulpit and choir stalls date from the 17th century, and the organ, dating from the same century, with 7,374 pipes, is one of Switzerland's finest. Outside, Italianate loggias shelter a cemetery for patrician families of Old Luzern.

The Swiss guards who died defending Louis XVI of France at the Tuileries in Paris in 1792 are commemorated here. Designed by Danish sculptor Berthel Thorwaldsen and carved out of a sheer sandstone face by Lucas Ahorn of Konstanz, this 19th-century wonder is a simple, stirring image of a dying lion. The Latin inscription translates "To the bravery and fidelity of the Swiss."

Unusually modern display techniques bring nature lessons to life here. The museum focuses on local natural history, with panoramas of early Luzern settlers and live animals for children to meet.

In 1606, the town council held its first meeting in this late-Renaissance-style building, constructed between 1602 and 1606. It still meets here today. The building, one of the prettiest in the city, rises up from the River Reuss, topping out in a weather-resistant Bernese farmhouse-style roof. In the attic, there's a dovecote with a viewing gallery that is open to groups on request. Rathausquai and its arcades also host a fantastic weekly market every Tuesday and Saturday.

This narrow covered bridge dates from 1408, when the city's flour mills used it to dump their waste into the river. Downstream of Kapellbrücke, the weathered wood structure's interior gables hold a series of eerie, well-preserved 17th-century paintings of the Dance of Death by Kaspar Meglinger. Medieval in style and inspiration, they chronicle the plague that devastated all of Europe in the 14th century.

What is now the loveliest of Luzern's several fountain squares was famous across Europe for the passion plays staged here in the 15th to 17th centuries. Its Gothic central fountain depicts St. Mauritius (patron saint of soldiers), and its surrounding buildings are flamboyantly frescoed in 16th-century style.