Trip 51

September 22, 2025

It’s been two years since we’ve been to Switzerland and when we come, we always try to spend at least a day here in Luzern, one of our favorite cities.

Leaving our own hotel, we took the train and met our son in the Zurich Hbf, who flew into Zurich early morning, and traveled on to Luzern. The train was pretty full of travelers like us. It’s a bit of a drizzly day here, but that does not diminish the beauty of the city by the lake, the Reuss River and the mountains (can’t see them today).

Nothing has changed in the rail station since we were last here, so it’s off to find our hotel and do a little sightseeing in the old town. The rain was spotty, never much while we were out, but heavier at times.

Further down the river is the other wooden bridge, the Spreuerbrücke.

The old town is full of buildings with elaborately painted facades and frescoes, a tradition known as Luftlmalerei. Some scenes are historical in nature, there’s one that has a family tree, celebrations of battles won (Dornach House: Located in Hirschenplatz, this Neo-Gothic building is decorated with Mannerist-style paintings ( Mannerism is basically a purposeful distortion or exaggeration of the human figure, associated with the Late Italian Renaissance and preceding the Baroque) and celebrates the Swiss victory at the Battle of Dornach. )

• Luftlmalerei is a tradition of painting building facades with murals. 
• Most of the painted facades in Lucerne date from the 19th and 20th centuries, but the practice was popular in earlier centuries as well. 
• These paintings are not just decorations but are considered living artworks that tell stories and contribute to the city’s artistic soul. 

Jutting out from some buildings are symbols of the trade or guild that once occupied the building.

The old town has a number of fountains

Our hotel room looks out to the river and across and up the mountain, is Chateau Gutsch.

It’s an all too short visit to Luzern as we move on to the Alps tomorrow.