In Lucerne your guests come from the Americas and Asia: dishes in their language

In 2025 hotels in the canton of Lucerne recorded about 2.5 million nights, a record. The city accounts for 59% of them, and guests from abroad spend three nights in four there.²

In the city, 43% of foreign nights go to travellers from the Americas, 27% to guests from Asia and 26% to Europeans. Travellers from the Americas stay almost entirely in town: 87% of their nights in the canton are spent there.²

Across the canton, the United States account for 29% of foreign nights, ahead of Germany (12%), China (8%), India (5%) and the United Kingdom (4%).²

On 31 December 2025 Lucerne had 86,699 residents, the seventh-largest city in Switzerland.¹

The city logs 17.2 hotel nights per resident. Its hotel nights rose by 5% in 2025, and its hotels filled 70% of their rooms.²

Visitors come mostly from June to August, for the city and for nearby trips: Lake Lucerne, the Rigi, Pilatus.²

Fasnacht starts on Schmutziger Donnerstag, the Thursday before Lent, and ends on Ash Wednesday. At 5 am that Thursday, more than 50 Guuggenmusig bands play in the old town. In 2027 it opens on Thursday 4 February; parades pass that day and on Monday 8 February at 2 pm, and the Monster-Corso on Tuesday 9 February at 7.30 pm.⁴

The City already publishes the sign-up form for food stalls at Fasnacht 2027. It asks people to leave glass bottles at home, and closes the Schweizerhofquai, Seebrücke and Pilatusstrasse route from about 1 pm to 5 pm on parade days.⁴

The cantonal hospitality law even names the carnival in its title: the Act on hospitality, the trade in alcoholic drinks and Fasnacht.³

In Lucerne, a terrace (Boulevardrestaurant) takes several permits. The Lucerne police issue the operating licence and the City’s Stadtraum und Veranstaltungen department the permission to use public ground; planning permission comes on top for a first application or a large extension, even on private land. Ground sleeves for parasols need a further concession from the Tiefbauamt, the civil engineering office.³

For a new terrace the procedure takes up to six months, in two stages. First a free preliminary review with Stadtraum und Veranstaltungen (041 208 78 02); then planning permission, with a 1:500 cadastral plan and a 1:100 or 1:50 furniture plan, plus the use application filed on the City’s online portal.^3,5

The City puts it in its guide: in the warm months people like to take their espresso, a glass of wine or lunch outdoors. Charges for the space depend on a zone map annexed to the guide.³

For Lucerne and its surroundings the MICHELIN Guide lists 46 restaurants: 3 with two stars, 11 with one star, 8 Bib Gourmands and 24 selected addresses. Thirteen are in Lucerne itself, Colonnade with two stars among them.⁶

The guide’s filters flag vegetarian options at 41 of them and a vegetarian menu at 21. Ten accept China UnionPay cards, eight accept JCB.⁶

These addresses come from the guide’s 2025 edition, the latest out; the 2026 selection will be unveiled on 2 November 2026.^7,8