Lucerne's biggest attraction is its enormous, intensely atmospheric lake. An ancient thoroughfare between north and south Switzerland, its main traffic today is in tourist boat trips - but don't let that put you off.
The ferries crisscrossing the lake are fittingly lovely, whether hundred-year-old paddle steamers or more modern versions, and the best thing is the view. Hemmed in on all sides by steep wooded hills, against a dramatic backdrop of imposing mountains, the lake's beauty has entranced many.
Wagner spent six years here in a waterfront villa writing operas, and, a lifetime later, Rachmaninoff built a holiday home nearby, where he spent many happy summers during the 1930s. With such a strong pedigree, it's only fitting that Lucerne now hosts one of the world's top music festivals. Wagner's lakeside villa at Tribschen is among the venues.
English-speaking visitors tend to call this vast waterway Lake Lucerne, but locals know it as the Vierwaldstättersee - literally, the lake of the four woodland cantons. Lucerne itself is actually tucked away on a narrow inlet in the northwest corner of the Vierwaldstättersee. From here it's three hours by boat to Flüelen, at the other end of the lake.
The cantons that give this lake its name were the founding fathers of the Swiss confederation, and about an hour by boat from Flüelen is the Rütli meadow, where their leaders met in 1291 to make a pact that marked the advent of the Swiss state.
A few miles from Flüelen (about half an hour by boat) is the Tellsplatte, the rock where William Tell fought it out with Hermann Gessler, the Austrian tyrant who made him shoot an apple from his son's head. With so much national heritage crammed into a single stretch of water it's no wonder the Vierwaldstättersee is commonly (and quite rightly) regarded as the cultural heart of Switzerland.
With so much to do around the lake, many tourists never venture far from the water, but if you want to escape the sightseers head inland to Stans, less than half an hour by train from Lucerne.
Most day trippers come here to board the vintage railway up to Stanserhorn, the summit which looms above the town, at an altitude of 1,900 metres. However there's plenty to see in Stans itself. With lots of handsome old buildings, including a magnificent baroque church, it has a historic stature quite out of keeping with its modest size.
Waiting for the train back to Lucerne, on a platform full of schoolchildren and commuters, it's hard to believe the Vierwaldstättersee is only a few miles away.
