The Swiss Museum of Transport

The Verkehrshaus is the most visited museum in Switzerland and it earns that by being enormous and hands-on rather than reverent. The halls are split by element: steam locomotives and the tunnelling of the Gotthard line in one, cars and cycles in another, then aviation, with aircraft hung overhead, and a hall of boats and old cable car cabins beyond that. Much of it can be touched, climbed into or operated by pushing something. There is also a planetarium, a large-screen cinema and a walk-through ride about chocolate making that children treat as the main event. It sits on the lake shore east of the centre and takes far longer than anyone plans.

What you actually see

• The rail hall - locomotives, rolling stock and the story of the Gotthard tunnels.
• The aviation hall - aircraft and helicopters hung at several levels above the floor.
• The planetarium and the large-screen cinema - both charged on top of the entry ticket.
• The chocolate ride - a walk-through account of cocoa and Swiss chocolate making.

When to go

Open daily year-round, and it is the standard wet-weather plan for the whole of central Switzerland, so a rainy summer afternoon is the worst possible time to arrive. Come at opening or in the final two hours. Planetarium and cinema shows run to a timetable posted at the entrance and sell out on busy days. Allow four hours at least.

Honest expectations

Entry is expensive and the planetarium, cinema and some attractions cost extra on top, so a family day here adds up quickly. In holidays and bad weather it is loud, crowded and thick with school groups. The layout across separate halls means backtracking, and adults without children may find the interactive style shallow in places.

Nearby

Lake steamers stop at the door and Lucerne's old town is ten minutes west along the shore.