Central Switzerland

Central Switzerland as a base for your holidays

Central Switzerland is a great region for first time visitors to Switzerland. There are activities for anyone: Lucerne is a beautiful old town with museums, monuments and lots of shopping facilities. Zurich is less than an hour away if you want to do more city trips. Engelberg, at the foot of the Titlis, is another famous tourist resort in Central Switzerland.

There's plenty of alpine nature to enjoy, with lots of hiking trails to explore the region on foot. You can make scenic trips by train or cable car to mountain tops and enjoy the beautiful scenery from there. And of course there are boat trips on Lake Lucerne, again with great views all around.

We recommend the region for plane travelers too, either to begin or end their stay in Switzerland: the international airport of Zurich is just an hour by train from Luzern.

As you may expect, this area is located in the middle of Switzerland. This means you can travel to other parts of the country quite easily. That does not mean you can make day trips all over the country. Graubünden and the Valais for example are too far away for that. But day trips to Basel, Bern, Zurich and the Bernese Oberland can all be done from Lucerne.

The highest peaks in Central Switzerland are about 3600 m. Peaks of over 4000 m can be found further south, in the Bernese Oberland and the Valais for example. If you are interested in seeing the highest peaks of the Alps, you'd best continue to one of those regions after visiting Central Switzerland.

What not to miss in Central Switzerland

• The town of Lucerne is worth a visit. Even if you just have a few hours time, it's worth it. The attractive old town center can easily be visited on foot from the rail station.
• A trip with the cogwheel trains up the Rigi should be included too. It can be combined with a boat trip on Lake Lucerne, which is another thing not to miss.
• For a high-alpine experience, visit Mount Titlis.

Scenic train trips to other regions

• If you plan to visit the Bernese Oberland, Lake Geneva or the Valais, be sure to travel via sections of the GoldenPass line. It's more scenic than the main train line via Bern.
• If you make a day trip to Bern, travel via the scenic Emmen valley.
• For a trip to Ticino, consider the Gotthard Panorama Express.
• Travel to St. Gallen with the Voralpen-Express.