A storybook comes to life

Such is the Disneyesque look and feel of the Swiss lakeside city of Lucerne that one almost expects to encounter Beauty and the Beast’s Belle sauntering through its medieval streets with her nose stuck in a book, studiously avoiding the overbearing advances of the otherwise curiously attractive Gaston.

The presence of two Hogwartsian sheltered wooden bridges and three surviving towers from the town’s old fortification wall, not to mention stone houses with fresco facades, a hillside restaurant, the Chateau Gutsch, which lights up in blue in the evening, and the stunning backdrop of the towering Alps (from Mount Rigi to Mount Pilates) only adds to the storybook nature of the area.

Lucerne is an ideal city break location. It’s picturesque and easy to get to, and is navigable by foot (though there are also buses to get you around).