Some Help with Lucerne Please!!!

slipp,

One thought that occurred to me after reading your Itinerary, was that you could combine the boat ride and Mt. Pilatus on 27 May, thus freeing up more time on 28 May for sightseeing around Lucerne. The Museum of Transport is excellent and you may also want to see the famous Lion of Lucerne.

For the visit to Mt. Pilatus, take the boat from Lucerne to Alphnachstad (about an hour as I recall). Walk through the highway underpass to the Pilatusbahn station and buy a ticket for the Funicular, and ride that to the top. You'll probably end up being there about lunch time, so you could stop at one of the hotels for a fine hot meal (the Aberdeen has a nice cafeteria layout which has a variety of choices - the Pilatus Kulm tends to be more "formal"). When you've finished exploring Pilatus, take the cable car down the opposite side to Kriens and then the Bus back to Lucerne (short walk required from the cable car station). The trip is only about 10-15 minutes and you'll be dropped right at the Lucerne Hbf.

You mentioned "Fürigen" - are you referring to the decommissioned Swiss Army Bunker near Stansstad? If you limit your time at Pilatus, you should be able to visit that the same day as Pilatus. As I recall, the Fortress is only open weekends, but I wasn't able to find a schedule online.

Yes, combine the lake outing with Pilatus, absolutely. We do the same thing.

You will be fine budgeting about 1/2 day (+maybe lunch) for Pilatus. On the way down to Kriens (kree-INS) from Pilatus there is Fraekmuentegg, an outdoor adventure park. You can take a 'break' here or continue on down to Kriens and pick up the bus for the 15 min drive back to the Luzern train/bus station.

Great info, thank both of you.

Yes, I was referring to the army bunker! I was hoping after Pilatus to go and visit that in same day. Is that too aggressive?

Warmest Regards,

Steven

Steven,

Thanks for the clarification. The most recent information I can find on Festung Fürigen is.....

• Fortress of Fürigen:
• April to October, Saturday and Sunday 11am - 5pm
• Guided tours are possible on request at any time
• Every 1st Sunday of the month, a public tour takes place at 11am*

If you want to see both Pilatus and Fürigen on the same day, one option might be to travel in the reverse direction that I suggested earlier. Take the Bus to Kriens, walk (uphill) to the cable car station, see Pilatus and then take the Funicular down to Alpnachstad to connect with the boat. Travel by boat to Stansstad (about 21 minutes) and visit Fürigen. When you've seen the fort, travel by train back to Lucerne.

Visiting both sights in one day might be challenging, as the timing would have to be carefully worked out, and you wouldn't be able to spend too long at either one. If using the method described above, the last boat departure you'd be able to use to reach Stansstad is at 13:05, arriving 13:26, keeping in mind that the ride down the Funicular will take about 40 minutes. The summer schedule covering 25 May onward isn't posted yet, but this is the spring schedule which ends on 24 May - http://www.lakelucerne.ch/fileadmin/lakelucerne/content/Dokumente_Downloads_PDF/01_Fahrplan-Preise/01_Fahrplan/Saisonaler_Fahrplan/2017/2017_Fahrplan_Fruehling.pdf

I suppose seeing both sights is possible in one day but it will be a bit rushed.

Ken,

Thank you again. Have you been to Mt. Rigi? From the pictures I've seen it seems as Mt. Rigi would have more lush, green views where as Pilatus is more of a mountainous, rockly glacier Jungfrau look.

What are your thoughts if you've been?

I am thinking the easiest thing may be two separate into two days.

Hit either Mt. Rigi/Pilatus early one morning, be back in Lucerne for afternoon. And hit the Furgen soon as it opens, be back early afternoon.

Best,
Steven

I haven't been to Mt. Rigi yet so can't comment on that. I thought that Pilatus was "lush & green" enough for me, and not just rock. If you can only choose one, I'd lean towards the one with the easiest transportation options to allow you to also get to Furigen on the same day. If you have two days for touring, you'll have more flexibility.

I have been to both Rigi (more green ) and Pilatus ( more rocky)this summer.
I would ck weather and fog report first then go to the one that is clearer.
Both are diff, I assume u will not be hiking down but perhaps just taking a trail.
This is what we did however in both locations the fog came in about 30 min after we reached summit. There is a spa/mineral pools for day use midway up in case the weather/ fog comes in at Mt Rigi. It is quite reasonable , convenient and refreshing if interested.