The Final Kilometres Cycling into Lucerne

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Moeilijkheid

Stage 8: The Final Kilometres into Lucerne

Eight days on the road, and here it is: the stage where the destination finally comes into view. Looking back on this day, it’s not the kilometres that stayed with me most, but a handful of moments that sum up the whole trip the skies, a tree, the water, and those five minutes of sitting still by the lake before the next question already crept in: how do I get home from here?

Fantastic skies over the Lucerne hill country

The morning begins at around 630 metres, in the rolling countryside around Menznau. Big, stacked cloud formations against a razor-sharp blue sky the kind of sky that makes you stop and look up every few kilometres. The road winds through fields and forest, with a new view over the hills to the south opening up at every turn.

The enormous tree

Not far after that comes one of those stops you never plan in advance, but can’t imagine the story without in hindsight. A massive old linden tree, its trunk so wide it shelters a proper rest area with picnic benches underneath. Bike against the trunk, panniers off for a moment, and a bit of shade and stillness before the day continues.

A little further on, an unpaved forest track carries me down through the broadleaf woods, with glimpses of the valley ahead already flashing between the trees.

Castles, church towers, and the turquoise Lake Hallwil

Around 10.00 a castle appears on a hill through the greenery, with a Swiss flag in the foreground that couldn’t have been better placed if I’d staged it myself.

But it was the lakes that really coloured this stage. Around Lake Hallwil, the route cuts straight through the vineyards on the slopes, with a ribbon of that unbelievable turquoise water flashing between the vines at every gap. You don’t expect that in Switzerland it looks more like an Italian or alpine glacial lake than a hill-country reservoir.

Along the way, a church tower with a striking dome and red clock faces comes into view a good spot to point the camera again before continuing the descent.

Mid-morning, just past the lake, a cow eyes me curiously over the fence at a farmhouse the kind of classic Swiss scene that slows the whole ride down to walking pace for a moment.

The descent into Lucerne

Then, after midday, the landscape changes. The last hills give way to the Lake Lucerne valley, and the road turns into one long, sweeping descent into the city. This is the moment where, as a longdistance cyclist, you feel that all those days of effort have actually led somewhere.

Around 13:45 I reach the lakeshore itself, with a view of the old town’s church spires and the mountains behind them swans and ducks paddling calmly along the quay as if nothing special is happening, while for me it’s the finish line of eight days of cycling.

Half an hour later I ride straight through the city centre, past the Wasserturm and the distinctive rooftops of the old town, city traffic suddenly around me again after days of quiet country roads.

Five minutes of sitting still

And then, very briefly: five minutes by the lake. Nothing more. Just enough to let it sink in that the goal had been reached, but not long enough to really dwell on it because my thoughts were already moving on to the way back. That might be the most honest part of this stage: no big celebratory moment, just a short breather caught between two questions “am I there?” and “how do I get home now?”

Waiting for the fighter jets

The day’s last highlight arrived uninvited. Near the air base just north of Lucerne, cyclists and drivers were suddenly asked to wait: a Swiss Air Force F/A-18 Hornet came in low for landing, right over the bike path. A spontaneous crowd of cyclists, walkers, and drivers stopped to watch phones up, everyone briefly silent for the sound of the approaching F/A 18.

An unexpected military intermezzo at the end of a day that started with a giant tree and ended with fighter jets overhead exactly the kind of day these trips are made for.

Stage 8 route highlights: