Mountain excursions in Lucerne

Hi Dianne,

I went to Mount Pilatus. They offer the "Golden Round Trip", which involves taking a lake boat from Lucerne out to Alpnachstad, a cogwheel train from Alpnachstad up to the top of the mountain, a cable car and a gondola down to Kriens, and then public transit from Kriens back to the Lucerne train station.

If you want to, you can instead take the cogwheel train up and down Pilatus and then just take a train or another lake boat back from Alpnachstad to Lucerne. The problem with this is that you have to pay extra as it is not packaged together like the Golden Round Trip is. Instead, you'd be paying for a whole bunch of one-way tickets.

You said you wanted simple; just go with the Golden Round Trip. It is very simple.

I also went up Pilatus in May last year. However the round trip was not possible since the cogwheel railway was closed because the snow was still too deep. I went up and down by gondola. I imagine that the round trip will be possible in summer.

In order to go to Rigi Kulm, you will need to take the boat to Weggis. There is another small town that you can use, but I don't remember the name. If you go to Weggis, you will then need to walk or find some other type of transportation to the gondola. The gondola takes you part of the way up the mountain then you transfer to the train. If you haven't been in one of the gondola's in the alps, it is a fun experience. The train takes you up to the top. It isn't difficult and is a very beautiful trip - if it is clear. If it is cloudy, it is a waste because you will see nothing but clouds when you reach the top.
If you google Rigi Kulm, it will give you the information on the other little town from which you take a train the whole way to the top.

For Rigi Kulm you can ride a steamer to Vitznau and then ride the train all the way to the top.

For a bit of variety you can ride a different train down to Goldau on the oposite side of the mountain and have a lunch either in Goldau or take a bus to downtown Arth on the shore of Lake Zug.

Arth-Goldau is a major train junction in Switzerland (trains from the south go to the left to Lucerne or to the right to Zurich). There are lots of trains back to Lucerne - the station is across the street from the terminus of the cog railway down from Rigi Kulm.

You certainly can go the same way down as you went up but we like the variety of going down a different route. for Pilatus I highly recommend the train up and the tram down - it's easy to get back to central Lucerne from the base of the tram.

Thank you Peter. I like that suggestion. And thanks for everyone's responses. Each one is helpful. It is such fun to tap into the knowledge and experiences of fellow travelers.