Lucerne: An Engaging Swiss City

Aug. 16 -- Lucerne, an engaging Swiss city with a striking alpine backdrop, has been a draw since the Romantic era, when travelers made it a stop on their "European Grand Tour."

Today, it offers you a pleasant way to spend a day or two, strolling the charming streets, wandering through the local museums, and sightseeing Lake Lucerne from a lazy boat cruise.

This week, Lucerne is gearing up for their annual music festival. Running from mid-August to mid-September, it's one of Switzerland's biggest music events (www.lucernefestival.ch). The festival will be held in the brand new conference center, which echoes Lucerne's watery beauty by…get this…routing manmade streams through the building. Benches keep distracted tourists from falling in.

Back in medieval times, Lucerne began as a fishing village. By the 13th century, traffic streaming between northern and southern Europe made Lucerne a bustling trading center. In the 14th century, locals built the landmark Chapel Bridge to span the Reuss River, the city's lifeblood. The bridge's purpose was both practical and pious: to provide a place to protect the town (it's lined with small, defensible windows) and to connect the Jesuit church and the Benedictine Monastery.

After sightseeing Lucerne's famous covered bridges in the morning, spend the afternoon picking and choosing the museums that interest you most: art buffs will visit the Rosengart and Picasso museums, while gearheads will have a ball at the Swiss Transport Museum.

Rosengart — and the Rosengart Collection — is the first and last name in Lucerne art. In the 1930s and 1940s, wealthy Siegfried Rosengart palled around with all-star modern artists, financing and collecting their works. This museum displays the fruits of his labor, with three floors of all the big names, including Monet, Renoir, Miró, Chagall, Cézanne, Matisse, and Picasso (www.rosengart.ch).