Hamilton & Chase Tours
Private tours in Lucerne, Switzerland

Private Lucerne Tours

Lucerne appears in 3 of our itineraries across Switzerland, ranging from 7–11 days. Every one is private, and every one can be reshaped around the time you want to spend here.

See the tours Build a custom trip

From our itineraries

What a day in Lucerne looks like.

Taken from the itineraries themselves — these are real days from trips we run, not a generic description of the city.

Day 2 · Essence of Switzerland

Lucerne: The Medieval Lakeside City

Lucerne is fifty minutes from Zurich by train and belongs to a completely different atmosphere: a medieval city on the western end of its lake, with the Alps reflected in the water and the Kapellbrücke — the Chapel Bridge, built in 1333 and the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe — its most photographed landmark. Your private driver delivers you to Lucerne. A private guide meets you for the old town: the Kapellbrücke and its 17th-century painted panels, the Water Tower beside it, the intact medieval city walls on the Musegg ridge above the old town with their nine towers still accessible by stairs. The Lion Monument — carved directly from the sandstone cliff face in 1820 to commemorate the Swiss Guards killed defending the Tuileries in 1792 — is the image that made Lucerne famous. Mark Twain called it the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world. The afternoon: the cable car or cogwheel railway to Mount Rigi or Pilatus, whose summits look down over the lake and the surrounding Alps. Return to Lucerne for the evening.

  • Kapellbrücke — the oldest covered bridge in Europe, built 1333
  • Musegg city walls and the nine accessible towers
  • Lion Monument — Thorvaldsen's 1820 sandstone carving

Day 2 · Best of Switzerland

Lucerne: The Medieval Lakeside

Lucerne is fifty minutes from Zurich by train and one of the most complete medieval cities in Switzerland. The Kapellbrücke — the Chapel Bridge, built in 1333 and the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe — crosses the Reuss at the point where it flows out of the lake, and its octagonal Water Tower beside it has stood since the 1200s. A private guide meets you for the old town: the bridge and its 17th-century painted panels, the Musegg city wall with nine accessible towers still standing on the ridge above the Altstadt, and the Lion Monument — the sandstone cliff carving of a dying lion by Thorvaldsen, commissioned in 1820 to commemorate the Swiss Guards killed in Paris in 1792. Mark Twain called it the most mournful and moving piece of stone in the world. The afternoon: the cable car or cogwheel railway to Mount Pilatus, whose ridgeline above the lake gives the most dramatic single view of the city and its surroundings.

  • Kapellbrücke — the oldest covered bridge in Europe
  • Musegg city walls with nine medieval towers
  • Lion Monument — Thorvaldsen's 1820 sandstone carving

Day 3 · Grand Tour of Switzerland

Lucerne: Medieval Lakeside

Lucerne is two hours from Bern by the mountain road or ninety minutes by train, and the arrival at the lakeside is one of the finer urban moments in Switzerland. The Kapellbrücke — the Chapel Bridge, built in 1333 across the Reuss at the point where it flows out of the lake — is the oldest covered wooden bridge in Europe and still carries pedestrians. A private guide for the old town: the bridge's 17th-century painted panels, the Water Tower, the Musegg city wall with nine towers accessible to the public, the covered market. The Lion Monument cut directly from the sandstone cliff face in 1820 by Thorvaldsen — a commission to commemorate the Swiss Guards killed at the Tuileries in 1792, carved in a niche in the rock as if the lion crept there to die. The afternoon: Mount Pilatus by the world's steepest cogwheel railway (48% gradient), whose summit ridge looks down over the lake and the pre-Alps in every direction.

  • Kapellbrücke — 1333, the oldest covered bridge in Europe
  • Musegg walls and nine accessible medieval towers
  • Lion Monument — Thorvaldsen's sandstone masterpiece

Itineraries

3 tours visit Lucerne.

Grand Tour of Switzerland — Private Package 11-day tour: Basel to Geneva — the complete circuit through all four languages and landscapes.
11 Days
From €4,190 per person

SWITZERLAND

Grand Tour of Switzerland

Private · Semi-Private · Self-Guided

Hover for Itinerary View Itinerary

SWITZERLAND

Grand Tour of Switzerland

Basel to Geneva — the complete circuit through all four languages and landscapes.

Cities You'll See

Basel · Bern · Lucerne · Grindelwald

Highlights

  • Fondation Beyeler and Kunstmuseum Basel — the finest art in Switzerland
  • Glacier Express and Bernina Express panorama trains
  • Engadin plateau — Nietzsche’s house, Segantini Museum, lakes at 1,800m

11 Days / 10 Nights

From €4,190

View Tour
Best of Switzerland — Private Package 9-day tour: All four languages — Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Zermatt, Italian Ticino, and Geneva.
9 Days
From €3,590 per person

SWITZERLAND

Best of Switzerland

Private · Semi-Private · Self-Guided

Hover for Itinerary View Itinerary

SWITZERLAND

Best of Switzerland

All four languages — Zurich, Bern, Lucerne, Zermatt, Italian Ticino, and Geneva.

Cities You'll See

Zurich · Lucerne · Bern · Grindelwald

Highlights

  • Rhine Falls — Europe’s largest waterfall by volume
  • Jungfraujoch and the Aletsch Glacier
  • Matterhorn Glacier Paradise at 3,883 metres

9 Days / 8 Nights

From €3,590

View Tour
Essence of Switzerland — Private Package 7-day tour: Zurich, the Jungfraujoch, Zermatt and the Matterhorn, and Geneva’s lakeside.
7 Days
From €2,890 per person

SWITZERLAND

Essence of Switzerland

Private · Semi-Private · Self-Guided

Hover for Itinerary View Itinerary

SWITZERLAND

Essence of Switzerland

Zurich, the Jungfraujoch, Zermatt and the Matterhorn, and Geneva’s lakeside.

Cities You'll See

Zurich · Lucerne · Grindelwald · Zermatt

Highlights

  • Jungfraujoch railway — 3,454 metres, tunnel through the Eiger
  • Aletsch Glacier — the longest in the Alps
  • Zermatt car-free village below the Matterhorn

7 Days / 6 Nights

From €2,890

View Tour

Elsewhere in Switzerland

Grindelwald Zermatt Zurich Geneva
Plan My Trip