Lucerne is the postcard Switzerland that actually delivers. The Chapel Bridge — a fourteenth-century covered wooden bridge decorated with painted panels — crosses the Reuss River at an angle, with a stone water tower that has served as prison, torture chamber, and treasury. It is the oldest covered bridge in Europe and the most photographed structure in Switzerland, and it earns both distinctions.
The old town behind it is a compact treasure of frescoed facades, cobblestone squares, and the Lion Monument — a dying lion carved into a cliff face that Mark Twain called the saddest piece of stone in the world. But Lucerne’s trump card is its setting. Mount Pilatus rises directly behind the city, reachable by the world’s steepest cogwheel railway. Mount Rigi, across the lake, offers sunrise panoramas that include the Bernese Alps, the Jura, and the Black Forest. Lake cruises on vintage paddle steamers connect the two, passing through scenery so relentlessly beautiful it begins to feel like showing off.
When to go: May to October for clear mountain views and lake boat season. February for carnival — Lucerne’s Fasnacht is raucous, costumed, and gloriously unSwiss.