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An hour south of Basel and Zurich is beautiful LUZERN (Lucerne in French), offering captivating mountain views, lake cruises and a picturesque medieval quarter. The giant Mount Pilatus rears up behind the town, which is split by the River Reuss, flowing rapidly out of the northwestern end of the oddly shaped Vierwaldstattersee ("Lake of the Four Forest Cantons" or plain Lake Luzern). In the Middle Ages, the communities dotted around the lake guarded the northern approaches to the Gotthard Pass, the main route between northern and southern Europe. When Habsburg overlords tried to encroach on their privileges, the communities formed an alliance in 1291 at the lakeside Rutli Meadow which was to prove the beginning of the Swiss Confederation. Luzern, as the principal market town for the region, was drawn into the bond shortly after. About this time in Altdorf, just around the lake, William Tell shot the apple from his son's head; the Tell legend lies at the core of Swiss national identity, and the semi-mystical Vierwaldstattersee is the spiritual as well as the geographical centre of the country. Luzern was (and is) the main town of the region, and evidence of its medieval prosperity is manifest in the frescoed facades of its charming Old Town and the two surviving covered wooden bridges spanning the river, both formerly part of the city's fortifications and both boasting unique triangular paintings fixed to their roof-beams. In 1993, fire almost destroyed the fourteenth-century Kapellbrucke , a dog-leg angled around the squat mid-river Wasserturm ; it was reconstructed with facsimiles of the roof-paintings (although a few charred originals remain) - check out no. 31's William Tell. The Spreuerbrucke downstream is also worth a look for its macabre "Dance of Death" paintings. The north bank is home to a compact cluster of medieval houses, with Muhlenplatz, Weinmarkt, Hirschenplatz and Kornmarkt forming an ensemble of cobbled, fountained squares ringed by colourful facades. Next to the Renaissance town hall on Kornmarkt is the Picasso Museum in Am Rhyn-Haus, Furrengasse 21, containing a small fine-art collection supplemented by hundreds of intimate photographs of the artist's later years (daily: April-Oct 10am-6pm; Nov-March 11am-1pm & 2-4pm; Sfr6). A few minutes west along riverside St Karliquai brings you to the Nolliturm , a fortified gate marking the southwestern extent of a lengthy stretch of the surviving fourteenth-century town walls. Pass through the gate and head right up the hill to gain access to the battlements (Easter-Sept daily 8am-7pm) and their impressive views. Northeast of the Old Town is Lowenplatz, overlooked by a circular building holding the Bourbaki Panorama , a 10x110m painting depicting the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, newly revamped with audio effects (daily 9am-6pm; Sfr6; www.panorama-luzern.ch ). Just north of the square is the moving Lowendenkmal (Lion Memorial), a dying beast hewn out of a cliff-face to commemorate the seven hundred Swiss mercenaries killed by French revolutionaries in 1792 for defending Louis XVI. Adjacent is the Gletschergarten (daily 9/10am-5/6pm; Nov-Feb closed Mon; Sfr9; www.gletschergarten.ch ), a set of geological potholes demonstrating Luzern's prehistoric subglacial existence which are completely upstaged by a nightmarish century-old Mirror Maze in the same complex. A big reason to visit Luzern is the Verkehrshaus , 2km east of the centre at Lidostrasse 5 (daily 9/10am-5/6pm; Sfr21, discounts with rail passes; www.verkehrshaus.org ) - take bus #6 or #8 from the station, or have a pleasant walk along the lakeside. The museum, inadequately translated as the "Transport Museum", is a vast complex that could keep you amused all day. It's packed with loads of hands-on technology including videophones and fully equipped TV and radio studios, various original space capsules, railway locomotives (including a walk-through account of the digging of the Gotthard tunnel beneath the Alps, dramatized with slides and soundtrack), aeroplanes, cable cars and more. An incongruous highlight is an excellent museum housing the whimsical and attractive works of the little-known Swiss artist Hans Erni . Adjoining the complex is an IMAX cinema , with shows throughout the day (Sfr16; joint admission with museum Sfr31; www.imax.ch ). The newest attraction is a tethered helium balloon known as the Hiflyer , which can lift thirty people up to a height of about 150m (daily 11am-5pm; Sfr20; www.hiflyer.ch ).
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