Touring in Lucerne

We stayed in Hotel Des Alpes on our RS Tour. It's a more upscale hotel, in the center of town, and right on the lake, viewing the Chapel Bridge. [Altho not noisy-more bustling, everything quieted down around 10:00pm.] Ask for a room not only with a view lakeside, but with a balcony, so you can just sit with a glass of wine and enjoy being there. The breakfast room is on the ground floor, and you can chose to eat outside, on the waterfront. I'd definitely return to this hotel. The hotel is a five minute walk from the train station.
Relaxing day trips include boat rides to either the Mt. Rigi or Mt. Pilatus stops, where you can use either the cogwheel trains or gondolas to reach the summit, and return via either mode.
I'm sure you will love this friendly, beautiful, safe city.

mcarey,

You might find it helpful to have a look at this - https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/switzerland/luzern . The RS Switzerland guidebook will have more detail and suggestions for reliable hotels, restaurants and sightseeing. You should be able to find a copy in your local library.

The old town area is easily walkable and as the previous reply mentioned, you could also take a short trip to Mt. Pilatus. One of the most scenic routes is the travel by boat to Alphnachstad and then take the Funicular up the mountain. For the return trip, travel down by cable cars to Kriens and then take the Bus back to Lucerne (the Bus ride is only about 15 minutes). You could do the trip in half a day, but you might want to enjoy a fine meal at one of the hotels at the top, and enjoy the magnificent views.

You could also visit the famous Lion of Lucerne or the excellent Museum of Transport (you could easily spend four hours there and not see everything).

As with travel anywhere in Switzerland, be sure to budget accordingly as it's an expensive place to travel.

Absolutely you should take a boat trip. The mountains surrounding the lake make a beautiful setting. There are simple out and around excursions, as well as the regularly scheduled ferry boat that makes a circuit of the lake. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

We also stayed at the Hotel des Alpes last time, and would stay again. Nothing is cheap in Switzerland. But this hotel is a short walk right across the busy intersection from the rail station, and you can walk most of the old town area easily from there. You can take one of the city buses right from there to the Lion Monument which is a focal point. Note that your hotel can and should provide you with a visitor pass that lets you use the bus for free during your stay.

We found an amazing AirBNB which was a full apartment about two blocks from the lake. Roughly 1/3 the cost of a hotel.

I will be in Lucerne in mid April and plan to spend at least 2 days enjoying the city & area. I plan to walk around the old town, visit the farmers market, take a boat ride and train to Mt Rigi, visit the lion monument, just see where my meandering takes me. I have been reading Rick Steves, Fodors, and Frommers to get a spectrum of ideas.

As mentioned above, try to get a copy of the RS Switzerland guide. It give a nice self-guided walking tour of Lucerne. It also gives good details for boat rides and mountain excursions.

We took a paddlewheel steamer from Lucerne to Weggis one morning, walked along the lakefront and then had a nice lunch in Weggis. We found the Mark Twain monument and agreed that it was a very serene place. Then we just took a paddleboat steamer back to Lucerne. It was our last full day in Switzerland and it was a beautiful day to be on the lake.