Lucerne Walking & Boat Tour: The Best Swiss Experience
Recommended by 94% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Lucerne, Switzerland
- 3 hours (approx.)
- Group discounts
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Home to medieval architecture and spectacular lakeside scenery, Lucerne is widely considered the jewel in Switzerland’s crown. On this tour, explore Lucerne and its surroundings on foot, and see the best of the city in one day. With your guide to lead the way, hit top attractions including the Chapel Bridge and Museggmauer Weg, and gain insight into centuries of colorful Swiss history. Enjoy personal attention from your guide on this small-group tour.
- See the best of Lucerne in one day on foot
- Upgrade to a sightseeing boat tour
- Choose from different packages, including cheese tasting
- A small group ensures a personalized experience
What's Included
- Local guide
- One hour sightseeing cruise( optional and needs to be included when making the booking))
- Two hrs. walking city tour
- Food and drinks
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Personal expenses
- Travel Insurance
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Torbogen LuzernBahnhofpl., 6003 Luzern, Switzerland
Big Arch monument right outside Lucerne train station.
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Itinerary
1
Chapel Bridge
30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free
Luzern Altstadt (Pass By)
2
Lake Lucerne
1 hour • Admission Ticket Included
Museggmauer Weg (Pass By)
Musegg Towers (Pass By)
Spreuerbrücke (Pass By)
Lion Monument (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- May be operated by a multi-lingual guide
- Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Provide mains travellers number to contact them directly and send them the boat tickets
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 8 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Reviews
4.7
based on 437 reviews
Selma_O, May 2026
If you are Ok with walking, this is a very nice 2+1 hour excursion. You learn a bit of the city history & enjoy the scenic view at the same time. The last our is a non-guided relaxing boat tour, which is a nice touch after the 2 hour walk.
Response from Host, May 2026
Hi Selma. Thanks a lot for your comment. We are glad that you liked the Walking tour and the 1 hr Lake cruise! We wish you happy travels in the swiss alps!
Merrill_N, Apr 2026
This walking tour was a great option for our first afternoon in Lucerne. Our guide was very knowledgable, eager to share about his city and flexible because of the weather. There were only 7 of us. He was very accommodating to an older couple. From the picture associated with this tour, I had expected our boat ride on Lake Lucerne to be on a small, intimate boat with our guide. Instead, we were issued tickets for a larger tourist boat with no commentary. I found the advertisement of this tour to be misleading. Had we had more time in Lucerne, we would definitely have gone back to some of the shops that our guide had pointed out.
Response from Host, May 2026
Hi Merrill, thanks for your comment:) We wish you a great time in Switzerland! :)
Bryan_H, Apr 2026
We had an informative and comprehensive tour with Luis. He was great! We felt we were among friends instead of strangers. The time went by quickly. The boat trip is not narrated so if you have any questions about the lake portion make sure to ask your guide in advance.
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Hi Bryan. We really appreciate your review. We love showing to all our dear guests the best of Lucerne! We are glad that you enjoyed the Walking and boat tour:)
Kenalyn_C, Apr 2026
Luis was excellent. His contact before the tour made it easy to meet. His pace and expert knowledge made this a delightful experience. He gave us history, cultural information, and tips on how to manage our time in Luzern. He was awesome! I highly recommend this tour!
Response from Host, Apr 2026
Dear Kenalyn. Thanks a lot for your comment. We are glad you enjoyed the Walking and boat tour with us. Happy travels !:)
Todd_S, Apr 2026
Our guide, Isabella, was thoroughly knowledgeable about all things in old town Lucerne. From chocolate shops, to wine bars to food stops, she knew it all. And her historical knowledge was as thorough.
Anne_K, Apr 2026
The areas seen were beautiful and Rose was an exceptional guide. She as extremely knowledgeable, organized, friendly and exceptionally helpful!
Alice_K, Apr 2026
Perfect tour for an overview of Lucerne. My guide, Florence, was delightful! Exactly what I wanted for my first afternoon. I spent another three days in Lucerne on my own, and my overview tour gave me the "lay of the land" so I could wander about the city. Florence, a Lucerne resident, answered all my questions about the city and Switzerland. I highly recommend the experience to other travelers, especially solo travelers.
Michael_M, Apr 2026
Excellent tour. Our guide, Laszlo was very friendly and provided excellent information and took us to very scenic views. I highly recommend scheduling this tour.
John_P, Apr 2026
Good tour. Small city so this tour covers the major sights. Then you go on a 1 hour round trip boat ride on Lake Lucerne. The boat ride is nice but with no guide you have to interpert and google yourself. Still overall a good tour.
William_S, Mar 2026
Luis was outstanding tour guide and gave us great tips and knowledge about everything we saw. I’m glad I signed up for that tour gain a lot of knowledge from Luis.
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Dear William, thanks a lot for your comment! I wish you a great time in Switzerland !:)
Sara_R, Mar 2026
Luis was phenomenal. It was easily one of our favorite tours. He also gave us excellent recommendations for other activities (which we did, and they were awesome!).
Response from Host, Mar 2026
Dear Sara, thanks a lot for your visit! We are glad that you enjoyed our Walking and Boat tour.
tiffany_k, Mar 2026
Great overview of the city with some key highlights! Sarah was friendly and knowledgeable. She gave us some recommendations for other things to do during our stay as well!!!
Timothy_B, Mar 2026
Isabelle provided interesting insights and history about Lucerne. We walked through areas that we would have not identified important facts, if it wasn’t for Isabelle. The boat tour was beautiful.
Bryan_R, Feb 2026
Not only great introduction to Lucerne but also very good background/information on overall Switzerland.
Steven_L, Feb 2026
This was a great tour, Luís was so engaging and knowledgeable, we saw so much of the city. We added the one hour boat cruise which was beautiful, but cold!!
Sharon_T, Jan 2026
Luis is a lovely, energetic, passionate tour guide who knows so many people and random tidbits about Lucerne that make the tour come alive with a personal feeling. He was ready with pictures of historical references to places we visited, and we left knowing so much more about Lucerne than we would have with a self-guided tour.
I do wish the Viator tour description had been a little more specific, as I would have booked and planned differently. I booked the tour+cheese/wine+boat option, which turned out to be 2 hours of a walking tour around Old Town Lucerne ending in a cheese and wine tasting at Opus, a local restaurant. During the cheese and wine tour we learned about local Lucerne wines and wine production conditions, and it helped us make better choices of wine at future meals in town. At the end of the cheese/wine time, Luis emailed us tickets for the boat ride with Vier Waldstattersee roundtrip from Lucerne (piers are next to train station) to Burgenstock which was approximately 1 hour and gives you the option to stop and ride the gondola up to the top of the mountain before returning to Lucerne.
With that in mind, I would recommend that future travelers not book the boat option, as the upcharge for the tickets exceeds the ease of getting your own tickets at the pier, and the tour guide is not riding with you anyways. However, if you really want to do the cheese and wine tasting, for which the cheese/wine+boat is the only option, then I would choose to do the boat tour portion the next day to have a longer day to explore from Burgenstock as well. We ended up being tired after our 2 hrs of walking and missed our boat tour times, then purchased our own boat tickets the next day and hiked around the mountain -- which was a lovely experience. Note that the weather in winter can be foggy and unpredictable, so leave some room for choosing a good weather day for the boat ride portion! Also note that some boat rides have a restaurant option, which can be nice if you want to go during a meal time.
I feel that the price is a little high for the average guest considering that you can book a regular city guide, splurge on a nice cheese plate, then get tickets for a boat ride for yourself. For us, we were happy with the booking because we had a coupon from Capital One Shopping that made it half price, and we were the only ones on the tour which made it basically a private tour where we got to make stops and ask our specific questions about learn about our great tour guide's life in Lucerne.
Response from Host, Feb 2026
Thanks for your comment! You decided to take the boat on a different date and bought it separately in a different route. We wish you a great time in Switzerland and thanks a lot for your visit! :)
Simon_S, Jan 2026
Isabella was a great guide she was very informative and easy to chat to , myself and my girlfriend had a wonderful experience it was snowing on the day which added to the vibe of such a beautiful place , we're thankful to Isabella for taking a lovely photo of us ( even with the freezing temperatures ! ) after the tour we got on a boat in lake Lucerne which provided even more breathtaking scenery , I would highly recommend this tour
Kathy_P, Jan 2026
Luis took us on an informative and fun walking tour of Lucerne. It was our first day in this charming city. Luis told us the history of the city and he gave great tips on restaurants, coffee, chocolate etc. My husband was especially happy with the hot chocolate suggestion and beer place! Thank you Luis!!
Pete_K, Dec 2025
Luis was very knowledgable and a great guide! I strongly recommend him. The boat trip wasn't anything too special though. We would have rather just spent another hour with Luis.
Carrie_F, Dec 2025
It was informative, fun, and interesting! My brother and I enjoyed learning some of the history of this area. We also enjoyed the many meaningful sites our guide shared with us.
cory_L, Dec 2025
Pablo was excellent! He was very informative, enthusiastic and will to answer every question. Great way to introduced to Luzern.
Cathy_P, Nov 2025
Easy walking. Friendly guide. It'd be helpful if guide used a microphone device & we had a headset to listen.
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Dear Cathy we do provide headsets but for bigger groups. Since your party was just of 4 people, then we do not provide them. Your guide Laszlo speaks clear english and loud enough :) but we will take this into consideration for future tours. Happy travels!! :)
Joseph_B, Nov 2025
Isabella is a great guide. Very personable and made sure we received the best tour possible. Informative on land and great seeing from the lake as well.
Response from Host, Nov 2025
Hi Joseph thanks a lot for your visit and we hope to see you again in Lucerne in the near future!
Karl_B, Oct 2025
Luis was a great tour guide and showed us all the important points in Lucerne. He is very knowledgeable about the history.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hi Karl. I am really glad that you and your wife enjoyed the walking and boat tour with us! Thanks for your visit!:)
Andrew_A, Oct 2025
This was the best walking tour we did during our time in Switzerland. Laszlo was an incredible guide — he was super knowledgeable and personable. We only had one day in Lucerne, so this tour was the perfect overview of the city and helped us identify what we wanted to do with the rest of our day.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hi Andrew. Thanks a lot for your comment about our Lucerne walking tour and Lake cruise. We are very thankful for your visit! :)
Lenore_R, Oct 2025
Misleading trip. Title said boat ride and walking tour. However when we got there we found it was only a walking tour. We missed the small print. Felt very misled.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Dear Lenore. I have already showed you in many ways that you didn't pay for the boat! It is not about misleading but to be honest and not expect free services nor products in exchange for positive reviews! I have already told this to the other members in your group who wrote already a comment with the same kind of lies! We provided what you paid for, again nothing free in exchange for positive reviews!
Cynthia_M, Oct 2025
The time and sequencing of our walk, boat ride was changed the morning of the event. Communications were good, but it was difficult for us to change and so we missed the boat and had to catch it later. The walk was very interesting. Enjoyed seeing the old town of Lucerne. Our guide was very informative and answered all of our questions. I think they may not have been feeling well that day and so they were a real trooper just pushing through.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Hi Cynthia. You had trouble with your luggages remember? and that the real reason why you missed the 11 am boat but then you took it later and you said it was your fault, remember?? Funny how people lie about things, why can't be just honest when witting a review! We wish you happy travels! Thanks for your visit!
Doreen_W, Oct 2025
They misrepresented this tour. We thought we were getting a 3 hour tour included with the boat. Instead we received a 2 hour walking tour. Our guide was very nice but difficult to understand. Will definitely think hard before booking with Viator again
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Dear Doreen and Lenore. No misrepresentation of any kind but a lack of knowledge and respect toward our tour guide and tour services! If you don’t book a service or product then do not expect to get it for free!
Please read carefully next time what you booked in your tour ! We are thankful for your visit !
Ivone_K, Oct 2025
I really enjoyed the tour. The boat ride was very pleasant and the walking tour showed the best spots.
Response from Host, Oct 2025
Last minute booking! Dear Austin we informed you with enough time about the time change and you agreed remember ? We have all our correspondence to prove it . We always try to accommodate as much as possible all our guest requests but sometimes it’s too hard to please everyone. We really appreciate your booking with us !
Matthew_H, Oct 2025
Luis was very knowledgeable about the city. I recommend you get him if possible. He also took us on the bike tour which was really interesting.
From $116.87
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