Teams, tales and tips – a guide to the local game
The lakeside resort of Lucerne is as picturesque a setting as you’ll find for a football match – even for Switzerland. The home of flagship club FC Luzern, the new-build swissporarena, may not be lakeside but is surrounded by snow-capped mountains and stands beside a classic old Swiss chalet restaurant.
An S-Bahn or city bus takes you there from Lucerne’s busy station in only a few minutes, to the site of the old Stadion Allmend that served the club from 1934. For the co-hosting of the Women’s Euros in 2025, the name is being revived to avoid promoting the stadium sponsors, a locally based eco-friendly construction company.
Overlooked for the 1954 World Cup and Euro 2008, Lucerne has recently been used a handful of times by the Swiss national football team. Railway hub Lucerne is set in the heart of Switzerland, a short train hop from Zürich, Berne and Basel, convenient for all.
As such, FCL have gained a fan base across a great swathe of central Switzerland, providing a lively atmosphere at the swissporarena without the overbearing zeal of supporters in Basel.
Founded at the Restaurant Seidenhof in 1901, FC Luzern have neither city rivals nor a cupboard groaning with silverware. Regular European competitors, including yet another unsuccessful adventure in 2023-24, Hibernian the victors, FCL have rarely progressed more than a round since 1960.
The club’s short period of glory came in the late 1980s and early 1990s under coach Friedel Rausch. A solitary title win in 1989 was followed by the cup win of 1992.
A top-flight proposition since 2006, FCL have lost more cup finals than they’ve won but, in Swiss terms, attract healthy crowds. Local rivalry, though, has been lacking since neighbours SC Kriens slipped down the Swiss league pyramid. In 2024-25, the Grün-Weiß came within a point of promotion to the second-tier Challenge League.
Were they to return, their Kleinfeld Stadium stands just by the southern fringe of Lucerne, and the area of Allmend where the swissporeana now stands.
For Euro 2025, Lucerne is laying on a free themed walk around its pretty historic centre – download the QR code from the tourist office housed within the impressive main train station. The fan zone occupies a prime site alongside on Europaplatz, with a live stage and a mini-pitch.
Getting Around
Arriving in town and local transport
The nearest airport to Lucerne is Zürich 67km (41.5 miles) away. One train an hour runs directly from Zürich Airport to Lucerne 1hr away, tickets SF30. Lucerne is given as ‘Luzern’ on local timetables.
For those going to and across Lucerne for the Women’s Euros in 2025, travel thr0ugh Switzerland and venue cities is free for match-ticket holders from midnight before the game and until 5am the following day. S-Bahn trains and buses run to the Allmend Stadion south of town.
Buses comprise Lucerne’s public transport. A single ticket is SF3, a day pass SF8. The stadium is in the same zone as Lucerne station. There’s also an S-Bahn regional train network that also serves the stadium, single tickets SF3.
For domestic fixtures, a valid match ticket allows free use of the bus or S-Bahn to and from the stadium for up to three hours before and after the game.
Ernst Hess taxis (+41 41 310 10 10) are based near the stadium.
Where to Drink
The best pubs and bars for football fans
Perhaps because of its location in the middle of Switzerland, possibly because of its particularly favourable tax rates, but whatever the reason, this city with one Swiss title to its name has a decent number of football-friendly bars. Eichhof is the local beer.
Pick of the bunch, a short walk from the lake, is the Anfield (Seehofstraße 7), pulling pints since long before the recent Liverpool title wins. Inside, there’s enough room to swing a corner in, with a special area at the back for serious darts action.
Everywhere you look there’s a screen and/or an image of an LFC hero, mid-afternoon opening hours stretched for earlier kick-off times. Two big screens operate for major games, as does a terrace set up on this quiet sidestreet. FCL also get a decorative look-in – the place is locally run, hence the quirky English on the website.
On the next street over towards the Old Town, Wagenbachgasse, the cosy Shamrock Irish Pub shows games but also schedules live music and quiz nights. It’s a more relaxing experience, with by an upper terrace overlooking the regular flow of tourists below.
The Lucerne branch of the Swiss Mr Pickwick Pub chain sticks to the standard, popular formula of its counterparts (TV football, Guinness, pub grub, mounted scarves) but here also offers an unsurpassable view of the water and Chapel Bridge from its terrace. It also offers rooms upstairs (see below Where to stay).
Alongside, for a more local flavour, the traditional Rathaus Brauerei brews its own beer in the large copper vats inside, though most guests prefer to snag a terrace table to gaze out over the water. The name refers to the time when this building, dating back to the early 1600s, housed the Town Hall.
Bars dot the Old Town just behind, particularly along Eisengasse. There, the friendly Magdi is ‘where punks and bankers meet’, a local mainstay since 1803. Eichhof is sunk with abandon around the little bar area and handful of tables outside on the cobblestones, with inventive cocktails (Inmate, Melt Boy, Punk) a handy alternative.
A decent restaurant operates upstairs, with lunchtime deals. Alongside, Down Town has been catering to the rock fraternity for half a century or more.
On the station side of the water, beyond the hotels and where few tourists explore, the db public house is a house open to the public but there all comparisons end. If you fancy watching the game, however, it’s pleasingly free of crowds and the lunch menu (‘pie time’) is affordable for Switzerland.
Just off Pilatusstraße towards the river, join the lively locals at Tschuppi’s Wonder-BAR on Burgerstraße, for quite wonderful it is, too. Guitars covering the walls hints at the live music and DJ nights programmed, though nothing which would get in the way of televised sport, another cornerstone of this long-revered drinkery.
Midweek opening hours push past midnight, weekends it’s 2am but could go later – but if anything, Tschuppi’s is at its best early evening, when regulars fill the street terrace with animated banter, warming up from late afternoon onwards.
Diagonally opposite, the Raedwulf Pub (Thur-Sat only) operates as a whisky bar and emporium, a live venue and friendly bar. For those in Lucerne for the Women’s Euros, note that the pub closes on July 6 for annual leave, reopening July 24.
Where to stay
The best hotels for the stadium and city centre
The Lucerne Tourist Office has a hotel-booking service.
The only hotel near the stadium is the cosy Spatz, with its own restaurant. Prices might be cheaper with direct booking through the hotel’s own website.
In town, hotels cluster around the main station, the striking Radisson Blu nearest the lake and culture centre. business visitors can take advantage of the meeting rooms, and LUCE restaurant and wine bar.
On the other side of the station, Pilatusstraße is convenient for both the S-Bahn and No.20 bus to the stadium – and, during Euro 2025, for the fan zone. Closest to Luzern Hbf and most prominent is the spiffy Monopol, with Nespresso machines in guest rooms and fine views from its first-floor restaurant.
Behind, the Waldstätterhof fills a historic building with recently renovated lodgings. Further down Pilatusstraße, the three-star Central appeals to weekending visitors thanks to its bright rooms, neat apartments and stellar breakfasts showcasing regional products.
On the next corner, the Renaissance under the Marriott umbrella has transformed the century-old City Palais into contemporary accommodation with a Mexican restaurant if ever you need one.
At No.39, the Astoria offers a similar upscale stay and houses a top-quality Thai eatery. On the same bus 20 route, the Anker anchors a prominent corner with contemporary rooms and a rooftop jacuzzi.
Nearby, the Alpha appeals thanks to moderate prices and wonderfully helpful staff. Going for the cheaper stay means sharing a bathroom, but showers are new and your room might have a balcony.
Further towards the river and close to a couple of good bars, the Goldener Stern should please urban travellers happy with contactless check-in but preferring this kind of traditional building to sleep in.
Across the water it overlooks, with prime views of Chapel Bridge, the Hotel des Alpes is classier (and pricier) than its three-star status might indicate – although there’s no denying the history of the building, dating back to 1553 at least.
Alongside, the Hotel Pickwick is attached to the expat-friendly chain pub of the same name, with simpler, cheaper rooms, all with waterfront views and most with balconies. Behind, the adult-only Weisses Kreuz combines boutique modernity with historic tradition, the building first gaining its name in 1742.
Further along the waterfront sits one of the two grande dames of Lucerne hotels, the Schweizerhof, where prominent musicians stay during major festivals. BB King would have enjoyed his panoramic view of the lake, his gourmet breakfast, possibly enjoyed a drink on the sunset terrace but we don’t know if he used the gym and spa areas.
In the modern city centre, the Luzernerhof is a reliable, old-school, mid-range choice still close to the lake, similar in age and offer to the three-star, 42-room Hotel de la Paix further up. One street over, the ibis Styles Luzern City comprises 115 neat three-star rooms in the Accor chain.
Back nearer the water, Rebstock is a charming choice, embodying half a millennium and more of hospitality – this was where winemakers met in the 1400s. Some of the 29 individually decorated rooms have balconies.
