By Bob Bestor

To the southeast, across the lake on a high, rounded hill, is the exclusive Bürgenstock enclave, with its five-star hotels and golf course. Nearer, on the peninsula straight east and hidden in the trees near the shoreline, is the estate of the Russian composer, Sergei Rachmaninoff. The view from his private beach is said to have inspired the famed Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini. On the opposite shore, German composer, Richard Wagner, lived for a time in a modest villa where he was moved to compose the charming Siegfried Idyll as a gift to his wife Cosima.

Though such beauty, history and culture attract masses of visitors, Lucerne manages to remain a bit above the fray. Though virtually every tour bus in Switzerland stops here, and one in four overnight visitors is an American, the town seems to have fewer than its share of the depressing pizza parlors, tee-shirt stores and souvenir shops that blemish so many of Europes leading destinations.

The independent Gemtlichkeit traveler will find Lucerne's sheer physical beauty outshines its cultural enticements. You can see most of it in two daysthree at the most. Excursions, of course, would extend that.

The center of visitor activity is in the old town on the north bank of the Reuss River, where the main attractions are the Altes Rathaus, the painted buildings on the Weinmarkt, a museum devoted to Picassos late works, the much photographed Kapellbrcke, and just sitting at an outdoor table along the river.

A short walk across the river is the large rail station, the lake port, and an impressive congress center designed by Jean Nouvel.

Two recommended sights not in this area are the magnificent Swiss Transportation Museum, for which you should allow half a day, and Tribschen, the Wagner house.

Though tacky souvenirs are not flaunted, expensive ones are. At the very center of the city is glittering Bucherer, where watches and jewelry with five-digit price tags are the norm. The store is worth a stroll through its several levels if only to rub shoulders with the clientele of oil sheiks, Asian package tourists, new-rich Eastern Europeans, and American dot.comers who sold before the crash.

Exploring the Region

Auto travelers should plan to park their vehicles and explore the city and the lake region by rail, boat, bus and cable car. The locally-available Tell Pass costs 146 Sfr. ($83) first-class, 131 Sfr. ($75) second-class, and is good for two days free travel and five days half-price travel throughout central Switzerland on all forms of public transport. The same pass for five days free and 10 days half-price travel costs 206 Sfr. first-class and 179 Sfr. second-class.

Train travelers with a Swiss Pass, Eurail or Europass will be covered for most journeys in the area.

Everywhere in Switzerland are cable car and funicular rides to mountain tops. At the top of each is a great view and a restaurant. Lucerne is no exception. Take nearby Pilatus, for example, which not only has restaurants but a pair of hotels, one with conference facilities. There is a lunchtime Swiss folkloric show on the mountain and the last train down at 9:20pm allows visitors to stay for a sunset buffet dinner.

In 1868, Queen Victoria (who reportedly traveled in Switzerland under an assumed name) went to the 7,000-foot summit on a mule, but the most comfortable way to get there now is via boat to the Pilatus-Kulm station where you board the worlds steepest railway. Or, the top can be reached via a series of cable cars from the Lucerne suburb of Kriens. It is best, however, to combine the two; go up one way come down the other. The boat/railway journey is a little over two hours from Lucerne and the cable car ride back down to Kriens takes 30 minutes. From there, its a five-minute walk to the bus station and another 15 minutes by bus into Lucerne. Of course you can always walk. From the Pilatus-Kulm rail station in Alpnachstad the climb up is about five and a half hours. The decent is just under four hours.

The stress-free way to see Lake Lucerne and environs is via lake boat. The Vierwaldstttersee (a.k.a. Lake Lucerne) is a substantial, irregularly-shaped body of water with many inlets, bays, and lakeside villages. A fleet of 20 passenger vessels crisscrosses it regularly to serve such ports of call as Weggis, Brgenstock, Vitznau, Brunnen, Rtli and Flelen. The ride is free with most rail passes or you can purchase an all-day ticket for $37 first class and $25 second class. In addition to the regular service, there are special lunch and dinner cruises.

A three-day Lucerne visit might include one day for the main in-town sights as described in the Michelin Green Guide for Switzerland; another for a trip to Pilatus, and the last a day on the lake, stopping where the spirit moves.