Pray for good weather during your visit. Mount Pilatus and Lake Lucern are the biggest attractions, and they both require a nice day and clear skies to really enjoy. Unfortunately, it never cleared up while I was there, so I had to resort to shopping and the glacier museum...

At leat to this American, the shopping was outrageous. Lucern is by far te most expensive city I've ever been in, even compared to Paris, San Francisco, and New York City. Even the cheapest shoes cost more than $100 US, but a more typical pair is about $250--and I'm not talking about high-fashion, I'm talking about PayLess quality and service. You won't find a genuine Swiss watch for less than a couple thousand.

The glacier museum was as exciting as you might think. However, the hall of mirrors that's included with the ticket price is actually pretty cool and worth the trip.

The carving of a dying lion by Bertel Thorvaldsen's (the Lion Monument, or Löwendenkmal) is near the glacier museum. The lion is a memorial to the hundreds of Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution, when the mob stormed the Tuileries Palace in Paris. I had just come from Paris, though, where grander carvings decorated every street lamp. Don't bother with the stupid lion carving. Edit category information, subcategories