Lucerne is Switzerland's most immediately beautiful city — a medieval covered wooden bridge, a flower-decked waterfront, and a backdrop of mountains and lake so precisely composed it looks like a film set. The Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke), built in 1333, is Europe's oldest covered wooden bridge. Mount Rigi and Mount Pilatus offer two of Switzerland's most accessible summit experiences by cogwheel railway and aerial gondola. Lucerne is also the ideal base for exploring the four-forest-states region, the birthplace of the Swiss Confederation.