Lucerne with kids

Best things to do with kids

Museum · Lido

1.Swiss Museum of Transport

The Verkehrshaus covers Swiss rail, road, air, water and space travel with real locomotives, planes, cable cars and simulators, plus a planetarium, a large-format cinema and the Swiss Chocolate Adventure ride. It sits on the lakeshore about 25 minutes' walk east of the centre, with its own boat pier and S-Bahn stop.

Arrive by lake steamer from the station piers to turn the journey into part of the outing.

Time needed

Half a day

Cost

Expensive

• Kids
• Rainy day
• History

Nature · Pilatus

2.Mount Pilatus Golden Round Trip

The classic loop takes a boat from Lucerne to Alpnachstad, the cogwheel railway (with gradients of up to 48%) up to Pilatus Kulm at about 2,100 metres, then aerial cableways and gondolas down to Kriens and a city bus back. The summit has short trails to viewpoints over Lake Lucerne and the Alps.

The cogwheel railway runs only in the warmer half of the year; in winter, go up and down by cableway from Kriens.

Time needed

Full day

Cost

Expensive

Book ahead

Reserve cogwheel seats in summer, when midday departures from Alpnachstad fill up.

• Iconic
• Views
• Kids
• Outdoors
• Nature

Experience · Lake Lucerne

3.Lake Lucerne boat trip

The Lake Lucerne Navigation Company sails from the piers in front of the station, including five historic paddle steamers. Short round trips cover the city bay, while longer routes reach Weggis, Vitznau, Brunnen and Flüelen on the Lake Uri arm, where the shoreline turns into steep fjord-like cliffs.

Swiss Travel Pass and Half Fare Card holders travel free or at a discount on scheduled boats; check before buying a separate cruise ticket.

Time needed

1–5 hours

Cost

Mid-priced

• Iconic
• Couples
• Kids
• Views
• Outdoors

Museum · Löwenplatz

4.Glacier Garden

Next to the Lion Monument, the Gletschergarten preserves glacial potholes and fossils from the Ice Age and a time when the area had a subtropical coast. A small museum explains the geology, and the 19th-century mirror maze in Moorish style is a favourite with children.

Climb the garden's lookout tower for a view over the rooftops towards the lake.

Time needed

1–1.5 hours

Cost

Mid-priced

• Kids
• Nature
• History

Historic site · Old Town

5.Musegg Wall and towers

About 870 metres of the medieval city wall still run along the hill above the old town, with nine towers. Several can be climbed for free in the warmer months, including the Zyt Tower, whose clock is the oldest in the city and traditionally strikes a minute before the others. The views reach over the rooftops to the lake and Pilatus.

Enter at the eastern end near the Wacht Tower and walk west, finishing near the Spreuer Bridge.

Time needed

1 hour

Cost

Free

• Free
• Views
• History
• Active
• Kids

Museum · Old Town

6.Natur-Museum Luzern

The city's natural history museum near Kasernenplatz covers local animals, minerals and Alpine habitats, with hands-on displays and some live animals aimed at children. It is small enough for a rainy morning and sits just across the Spreuer Bridge.

Pair it with the neighbouring Historical Museum if older children want more.

Time needed

1–1.5 hours

Cost

Low cost

• Kids
• Rainy day
• Nature

Waterfront · Tribschen

7.Ufschötti and lake swimming

The Ufschötti is a free lakeside lawn with a shallow gravel shore between the KKL and Tribschen, where locals swim and barbecue on summer evenings. For more facilities, the Lido Luzern near the Museum of Transport is a paid lakeside bathing area with lawns and a sandy beach.

Lake water is usually warm enough for swimming from about late June to early September.

Time needed

2–3 hours

Cost

Free

• Free
• Outdoors
• Kids
• Active

Rainy-day ideas

• Swiss Museum of Transport — Arrive by lake steamer from the station piers to turn the journey into part of the outing.
• Natur-Museum Luzern — Pair it with the neighbouring Historical Museum if older children want more.

Where families should stay

Family travel tips

• Children under 16 travelling with a parent can ride Swiss public transport free with the Swiss Family Card; check the conditions for your pass.
• Pilatus has a summer rope park and toboggan run at Fräkmüntegg, on the cable-car route down to Kriens.
• Pack warm layers and sun cream for summit trips even in summer.
• Rigi Kaltbad has gentle, buggy-friendly paths and playgrounds.
• Tribschen and the lakeside apartments there give families space and access to free swimming.

Day trips for families

• Rigi (About 1.5 hours by boat and cogwheel railway) — The 'Queen of the Mountains' stands between Lake Lucerne and Lake Zug, with a broad summit at Rigi Kulm and gentle walking trails between Rigi Kaltbad and Rigi Staffel.
• Engelberg and Titlis (About 45 minutes by train, then cable cars) — Engelberg is a mountain village with a Benedictine monastery, and from it a series of cable cars, including the revolving Rotair, climbs to Titlis at about 3,000 metres, with glacier snow year round.
• Stanserhorn (About 40 minutes by train, funicular and cable car) — From the small town of Stans, a historic funicular and the CabriO, a cable car with an open-air upper deck, climb to a summit with a 360-degree view over ten lakes.
• Interlaken via the Brünig Pass (About 1 hour 50 minutes by train) — The panoramic train climbs over the Brünig Pass past Lake Sarnen and Lake Lungern to Interlaken, the gateway to the Jungfrau region.

When to go with children

The best months overall are May–June and September. July–August are the busiest, so book the big sights early. Weather by month.

Questions travellers ask