Switzerland

Holidays by Destination Europe Switzerland Central Switzerland 

Central Switzerland

Zentralschweiz is the original heart of the Swiss Confederation, including Lucerne and its lake, and up to Lake Zurich in the north and Ticino in the south.

Lucerne in addition to medieval squares, frescoed buildings and the like, still has part of its city walls, including nine observation towers, plus a couple of medieval covered bridges, with entertaining pictures inside their roofs, including one of the William Tell apple scene.

Museums of possible interest include the Swiss Transport Museum with 60 locos, 40 old cars, 35 aircrafts, space capsules and a moon stone, mail coaches and the like. There is also an IMAX cinema.The Glacier Gardens include glacial potholes from Ice Age glaciers, remnants of its prehistory as a subtropical palm beach, plus the 1896 Hall of Mirrors restored in the ‘90s, combining the style of the Alhambra with 90 mirrors, and botanical gardens. There is also a good Picasso museum of items donated by friends of the artist.

The combination of a town like this plus the lake and its resorts is extremely attractive and makes the area a good option for families. The area is well served by transport including boats (inc restored paddle steamers) plying the lake plus for example to Mount Pilatus, reached by the world's steepest cogwheel railway, at a gradient reaching 48%. Hergiswil is home to a rejuvenated glass works open to the public. In Schwyz the Victorinox factory has a shop selling all the knives at factory prices. Uri is home to the medieval legend of William Tell with a monument in Altdorf, a Tell Museum in Burglen, though none of it too touristy.