Somewhere for the Weekend: Lucerne

The Easter festival in this medieval Swiss city is a treat for music lovers. Or you could try the more low-brow pleasures of chocolate, cheese fondue and cold beer, says Tom Stephens

WHY GO NOW?

This year's Lucerne Ostern (Easter) Festival starts on Saturday and runs until 13 April. It should be in any classical music lover's calendar. The nine concerts are divided between the extraordinary concert hall at the Lucerne Culture and Convention Centre (KKL) and three of Lucerne's most beautiful churches.

The headliners this year are Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducting Haydn's The Creation, and Yo-Yo Ma accompanying pianist Kathryn Stott in a mixed bag of cello pieces. Both of these take place in the KKL, but one concert not to miss is Bach's St John Passion conducted by Ton Koopman in the stunning Jesuit Church, the oldest baroque church in Switzerland. Tickets cost SFr20-SFr200 (£9-£90) and are available, along with concert information, from www.lucernefestival.ch, 00 41 41 226 4480 – though at this stage only expensive seats are left.

DOWN PAYMENT

Lucerne has no airport. Zürich airport, however, is only an hour's scenic railway ride away by direct train. Swiss International Air Lines (0845 601 0956; www.swiss.com) has returns this weekend for £109.60 from Heathrow and £135.10 from Manchester; easyJet (0870 6000 000; www.easyjet.com) has returns from Luton for £170 and Gatwick from £140. Return train tickets from Zürich airport to Lucerne cost £51 and can be bought online at www.myswitzerland.com or, of course, at the airport station.

INSTANT BRIEFING

Lucerne is tucked neatly into the north-west corner of Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstättersee in German), amid lovely Alpine scenery. Once a small fishing village, it has become one of Switzerland's main tourist destinations, attracting five million visitors a year. The city has an unspoilt medieval town centre, with a warren of narrow alleys, cobbled squares and painted façades – many dating back to the 13th century. The main tourist office is by the west exit of the train station (Zentralstrasse 5; 00 41 41 227 1717; www.luzern.org). It opens 8.30am-6pm from Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm at weekends).

REST ASSURED

Switzerland's high quality of life comes at a price, with rates for top-end hotels such as the Schweizerhof (00 41 41 410 0410; www.schweizerhof-luzern.ch) getting on for £200 per night. The four-star Romantik Hotel Wilden Mann at Bahnhofstrasse 30 (00 41 41 210 1666; www.wilden-mann.ch) is a charming, old townhouse hotel, serving excellent food. Doubles from SFr260 (£120) including breakfast.

For something a bit different, try the fashionable three-star Jailhotel Löwengraben (Löwengraben 18; 00 41 41 417 1212; www.loewengraben.ch), which was a prison until five years ago. Doubles start at SFr180 (£83). If you want cutting-edge design, book into The Hotel (Sempacherstrasse 14; 00 41 41 226 8686; www.the-hotel.ch). Designed by Jean Nouvel (who also designed the KKL), this painfully hip "deluxe boutique hotel" has five stars but considers it vulgar to mention them. Lots of smooth surfaces, sharp edges and subtle lighting and, unforgettably, blown-up stills from erotic films on the ceiling of every bedroom. Doubles from SFr390 (£180).

MUST SEE

As you walk across the wooden Kapellbrücke (built in 1333) and Spreuerbrücke (1408) which span the rolling Reuss river, look up at pictorial scenes of Lucerne's history in the gables. Even if you don't go to any concerts, you should visit the £100m Lucerne Culture and Convention Centre (KKL) (Europaplatz 1; 00 41 41 226 7070; www.kkl-luzern.ch) and see the way that lake water flows through the foyer. Afterwards, have a drink in the first-floor bar and look at Lucerne through windows that frame the city.

The Rosengart Collection at Pilatusstrasse 10 (00 41 41 220 1660; www.rosengart.ch) houses more than 200 paintings, including about 50 Picassos. It opens 10am-6pm daily and entrance is SFr14 (£6.50) with concessions.

MUST BUY

To offload a lot of money very quickly, go shopping in Switzerland; for example at Bucherer, an upmarket department store on Schwanenplatz (00 41 41 410 2162; www.bucherer.ch) that stocks all the top brands of jewellery and watches. Casagrande at Grendelstrasse 6 (00 41 41 418 6060; www.casagrande.ch) has an impressive range of all the usual souvenirs (chocolate, watches, clocks, music boxes, mugs).

MUST EAT

You are rarely more than a few metres from a bar of chocolate in Switzerland. Conditorei Heini on Falkenplatz (00 41 41 412 2020; www.heini.ch) is a stylish place to sample traditional cakes. Serious chocoholics should visit Restaurant Fritschi on Sternenplatz 5 (00 41 41 410 1615) and dive into the Swiss chocolate fondue. Cheese fondues are also available, starting at SFr25 (£11.50). You could also try rösti (pronounced "rushdie"): fried potato shreds, and the national (side)dish of German-speaking Switzerland.

Opus at Bahnhofstrasse 16 (00 41 41 226 4141; www.restaurant-opus.ch) is a buzzing riverside restaurant/winebar with good modern European cuisine, but more notably a winelist boasting more than 700 wines.

For a Sunday lunch with a panoramic view of the lake, take the world's shortest funicular railway (60 seconds) from Haldenstrasse up to the elegant-but-relaxed Hotel Montana at Adligenswilerstrasse 22 (00 41 41 419 0000; www.hotel-montana.ch). Here, the à la carte menu costs a reasonable SFr48 (£22).

INTO THE NIGHT

A yodel a day keeps a lot of people away, but if authentic Swiss entertainment really is your thing, Restaurant Stadtkeller at Sternenplatz 3 (00 41 41 41 04 733), a 12th-century beer den, hosts a dinner folklore show at 8pm every evening, involving folk music, yodelling, alphorn-blowing and flag-throwing. Alternatively, the Hotel Montana (see above) has a classy bar with live (non-folk) music most nights of the week. For beer, there is only one place to go: the Rathaus Brauerei (Unter der Egg 2; 00 41 41 410 52 57; www.rathausbrauerei.ch), a riverside brewery/restaurant with its own shop. Down a glass of Rathaus Bockbier (6.5 per cent and SFr20/£9 a litre) and you'll be yodelling within seconds.