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Every year in January, Lucerne hosts the LiLu, a bright festival of lights. Here, artists from all over the world create spectacular light shows, giving a new face to the city's buildings and main monuments. This is an opportunity to experience the city of light and its charm even during the cold winter months.
We love... the Lucerne Light Festival!
Situated on Lake Lucerne and surrounded by magnificent mountain scenery, Lucerne is a perfect synthesis of all that Switzerland has to offer its visitors and, also for this reason, is a must for those visiting the country for the first time. The small, hospitable and decidedly people-friendly town has a characteristic old and well-kept historic centre, an elegant lakeside promenade and numerous attractions not to be missed and is perfect all year round. In this article we have told you about the city and we have listed the must-see places for a first trip here. But even in winter, the city offers many opportunities for leisure and entertainment, through interesting culinary experiences and first-class events such as the traditional Christmas Markets, a crazy carnival and the LILU Light Festival Lucerne that amazes the city and its visitors in the first weeks of January. And it is this festival that we want to talk about today!
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The visit
Where to stay in Lucerne
For a short stay, our advice is to choose one of the many hotels in the old town or in the immediate vicinity, so that you can move around freely on foot. The historic centre is in fact entirely car-free and the town is small enough to get around on foot without too much effort. The city has many hotels of all categories. However, our suggestion is to stay near the old town, on the north bank of the river Reuss. Alternatively, a very lively and dynamic area of the city is Neustadt, which is built around the railway station and the south bank of the river Reuss.
For a lower budget solution, our advice is to stay outside the city centre in a location that is well connected by public transport. We suggest the Holiday Inn Express in Kriens, from which you can easily reach the city centre by bus or train.
The LiLu
Lucerne Light Festival
The Lucerne Light Festival was born in 2018 with the aim of making the city of Lucerne even more fascinating and attractive during the cold winter months. Several years have now passed since that first festival, held in January 2019, and this year for the fifth time the festival of lights is ready again to make Lucerne shine brighter than ever! After a reduced version of the event in 2023 due to the energy crisis, in 2024 the festival will shine again as bright as ever. Many light installations will be located in different parts of the city, and the program includes many events and concerts during which Swiss and international artists will perform surrounded by a world of lights and colours.
The Lucerne Light Festival 2024 takes place from January 11th to 21st inclusive. Therefore, for eleven days, it will be possible to admire the installations around the city every day from 18:00 to 22:00.
The light installations
For 2024, the Lucerne Light Festival offers many light installations, all freely accessible every day from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. The tour through the heart of the old town and parts of the Seepromenade – the lakeside promenade – is free of charge and can be walked autonomously in about two hours. Some installations are true stories projected onto the facades of some of the city’s main buildings to the rhythm of music. Other shows are interactive and involve the audience. Others, finally, are real shows! In short, there was something for everyone!
Alternatively, you can take part in a guided tour of the light installations and find out a lot about them and their creators. The guided tour takes place daily from 11th to 21st January 2024 at 18:15 and 19:15. It is only available in German and costs CHF 25 per person.
Tickets can be found at this link.
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The indoor shows
The Lucerne Light Festival also offers musical performances accompanied by magnificent light effects! This year’s major indoor show is titled “Eternity” and invites visitors to close their eyes for a while and reflect on the smallness of our world compared to the vastness of the universe. Like in 2023, the performance will take place at the Jesuit Church in Lucerne. The show is a product of the Zurich-based artist collective Projektil and lasts about 30 minutes. It is normally accompanied by organ concerts, but on some evenings there are special shows with well-known Swiss and international artists such as Parra per Cuva, Naomi Lareine, Kings Elliot, Jaël and Soft Loft.
These shows require the purchase of an entrance ticket. Tickets can be found at this link.
How to get there
Arriving by public transport
See the location in Google Maps. Lucerne is easily accessible by public transport. To find the best travel option for you, as always we recommend using the SBB website or the SBB App that you can also use to check the timetables and operating status of the lines and purchase tickets.
Arriving by car
See the location in Google Maps. Lucerne can also be reached by car. To find the best travel option for you, as always we suggest you use Google Maps. The city has many paid parking options. At this link (in German) you will find a map of the city’s car parks, their current availability and their websites.
Tips
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If you’re planning to visit the Lucerne Light Festival, why not take advantage of a weekend in the city? Lucerne has so much to offer even in winter, and the Light Festival makes the city even more fascinating and pleasant. In this article, you’ll find a suggested itinerary and the main highlights of a weekend in the city of light!
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Guests who decide to stay in one of the city’s hotels will receive the Visitor’s Card, which allows free use of buses and trains within zone 10 and a number of valuable discounts on cable cars, mountain railways, museums and excursions. The card also gives you access to “Free WiFi – Luzern.com” hotspots throughout the city. You can find all the information here.
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Are you planning a visit to Lucerne? Do you have questions or need additional tips? Leave a comment in the box below and we’ll get back to you as quickly as possible!
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