This so-called glacier garden has 32 "potholes" that were worn into the sandstone bed of an Iron Age glacier, during the era when ice covered the surface of Lake Lucerne . Discovered and cleared of their debris in 1872, the holes measure up to 9m (30 ft.) wide and almost as deep. A museum at the site contains a famous 18th-century relief map of the Alps, prehistoric remains of plant and animal life, and a Swiss homeland museum. A 12-minute film is also shown to visitors.

The Fine Arts Museum includes many paintings by Swiss artists, dating from the 16th century to the present. Ferdinand Hodler (1835-1918) is among those represented, as well as Dufy and Utrillo. The museum also presents changing exhibits of modern-day Swiss and international art. For information about current exhibitions and events, consult the daily press or ask at the tourist office.

The museum, in spite of a kind of neutrality, is nonetheless impressive in its architecture, especially when windows open onto panoramic vistas of urban space. In addition to a vast area to display art dramatically, there is also an art library with special literature and a spectacular terrace with views of the lake and the cityscape. Notices of the nature of temporary exhibitions are posed at the tourist office.

This is the world's best replica of a 19th-century bloodbath that reinforced Switzerland's role as a neutral (nonaligned) power, and which provided the first testing ground for the then-fledging Red Cross. It commemorates an incident in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) when the defeated French forces of General Charles Bourbaki (1816-97) fled out of France into Switzerland to avoid annihilation by the Germans. In Switzerland, the starving, diseased, and disorganized French forces were disarmed by the Swiss army, then welcomed into homes throughout Switzerland for rest and recuperation from the brutal winter.

Wagner lived here from 1866 to 1872 and composed several works, including Die Meistersinger. Located about 3km (2 miles) from the city in the suburb of Tribschen, the museum contains some original scores and memorabilia, including letters and pictures. There's an exhibit of antique musical instruments in the summer.