Picture postcard

You can drive around Switzerland’s Lake Lucerne in three hours, but why would you? That would be like taking in the Sistine Chapel at a glance, or wolfing down a Michelin-star meal in 10 minutes. Take a week and you won’t be disappointed. Lake Lucerne is a blue splatter between cow-chewed meadows and looming cliffs behind which are rearing snow peaks. You’ll want to spend three hours in your car but many more out of it, surrounded by pine-scented forests, burbling streams and alpine scenes.

Good news – there are plenty of walking paths around Lake Lucerne to stretch your car legs. Follow jaunty yellow walking signs anywhere in Switzerland and you’re seldom far from lovely landscapes, but the Swiss Path is one of the best. The path, created for the 700th anniversary of Switzerland’s founding, hugs Lake Lucerne’s southern shoreline to dramatic effect, crossing the most rugged bits via footbridges and tunnels.

Start exploring in Rütli. In 1291 representatives of the first three cantons got together here and signed a pact that created what would become Switzerland. Admittedly, Rütli is merely a meadow, but few countries have so specific a birthplace, let alone one so majestic – Rütli gazes across the water to a wall of Alps. Get tramping, because this section of Swiss Path is spectacular. If you make it as far as farming village Bauen you’ll find old wooden houses leaning against each other and fronted by wanton gardens full of flowers and Mediterranean trees.

By car, make your next stop Altdorf, which in the Middle Ages grew wealthy on trade across the nearby St Gotthard Pass to Italy. Houses are painted with historical scenes and hung with elaborate shop signs – a twist of bread for the bakery, a mortar and pestle for the pharmacy. At the base of an old tower you’ll find a statue of William Tell, crossbow over his shoulder, son by his side. This is purportedly where Tell shot an apple off his son’s head at the command of an arrogant Hapsburg overlord, sparking an independence movement – though there’s actually no historical evidence that the world’s most famous Swiss ever existed.

From Altdorf, the road hugs the water as steep cliffs close in on precariously positioned villages. Soon you’ll come across the tiny Tell Chapel hidden among the trees, painted with scenes from William Tell’s life. Then make a detour away from the lake to Schwyz, which sits high above Lake Lucerne among cherry orchards backed by snow peaks.

Schwyz, having seen off the Hapsburgs, became famous for its mercenaries and gave its name and flag to Switzerland. Its big, bold townhouses are exuberant with frescoes depicting significant Swiss battles, while painted cherubs swoop over the town hall’s windows.

Stop by the Forum of Swiss History which runs through Switzerland’s story using innovative multimedia presentations. Meanwhile the Museum of Swiss Charters displays Switzerland’s founding documents, including the original Oath of Alliance signed at Rütli, ornately decorated with seals featuring bulls, bears, knights and castles.

Back on Lake Lucerne, follow the road to Gersau, once the world’s smallest republic, which only (reluctantly) surrendered its independence in 1817. The town still has a workshop that produces the crossbows famously associated with William Tell. Further on at Vitznau you can see more evidence of Switzerland’s fighting spirit at Mühleflüh Artillery Fortress. A tour of the decommissioned, 20th-century underground fort takes you through subterranean barracks, officers’ quarters, kitchens, a telephone exchange and artillery batteries hidden under fake rocks.

Towering nearby is Mt Rigi, the best of the region’s spectacular summits because it provides not just a viewpoint but a 50-kilometre ridge of rolling meadows dotted with hotels and restaurants. Accessible since 1871 on the oldest alpine railway in Europe, the mountain is only 1797 metres high but produces one of the Alps’ most fabulous outlooks over several lakes and a 200-kilometre curve of snow peaks. Count on spending an entire day hiking the trails and gazing on scenery fit for heaven.

Railway buffs should also make the ascent on the rack railway to Mt Pilatus, almost directly across the lake from Mt Rigi. It’s the steepest such railway in the world: a hair-raising and wildly scenic ride up a vertical rock face to a sometimes ice-encased viewpoint.

Between the two, at the northern end of Lake Lucerne, is the town that gives the lake its name. Lucerne sits astride the Reuss River and looks down the lake at an extravagance of alpine peaks. In 1332, it became the first city to join the alliance of alpine cantons, immeasurably adding to Switzerland’s cause. The old town is crammed with painted guild houses, baroque churches and ornamental fountains. Lucerne’s famous symbol is the dog-leg and flower-draped Chapel Bridge, with its painted panels outlining Lucerne’s history; one shows William Tell with crossbow at the ready.

Finish off your holiday in style with a couple of days at ultra-chic Bürgenstock Resort which has Switzerland’s largest spa, an infinity pool that has you floating between sky and lake and 70 kilometres of surrounding hiking paths. The lobby is a James Bond fantasy whose huge windows provide a parachutist’s view of the landscape. Views from guestrooms will alone rejuvenate the soul – Lake Lucerne at its blue magnificent best.