The Hirschmatt’s blend of little shops and boutiques, galleries, restaurants, cinemas, bars, clubs, hotels and apartments makes it a lively and colourful quarter.

Do you like opera, drama or dance? The Lucerne Theatre and Kleintheater, situated in this quarter, put on an impressive variety of programmes.

The Neubad is a music and dance venue. A creative use has been found for the former Biregg indoor swimming pool. The empty pool hosts concerts, plays and dance performances as well as film shows. The former cloakroom area is now home to artists and designers, who you can see at work. There’s also a cool bistro here.

The Chapel Bridge in Lucerne acts as a beacon for the entire region. Alongside it is a wealth of top-tier architecture. The railway station concourse (1990), for instance, is the work of Santiago Calatrava, while Herzog & de Meuron were responsible for the glazed extension of the Hotel Astoria. And Jean Nouvel designed the hotel called The Hotel.

This tour presents a well-balanced combination of past and present. It reveals the history and architecture of the quarter while showcasing its present incarnation. You start at the Lucerne Theatre, stroll along Hirschmattstrasse, cross Pilatusstrasse and head for the Vögeligärtli – a popular park and playground. You then follow Sempacherstrasse and Habsburgerstrasse to arrive at the Helvetiagärtli.

A map of the Neustadt and other useful information on the development of the Hirschmatt-Neustadt quarter may be found at www.neulu.ch (German only)