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Switzerland
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Lucerne
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Tours & Activities
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Independent Mount Rigi Tour from Lucerne Including Lake Lucerne Cruise
1 day
Instant confirmation
About this activity
Head to Pier 1 on Lake Lucerne at your chosen time and, with your provided timetables, you’ll be able to plan out your day according to your preferences. There are several departure times for the cogwheel train and cable car portions of your tour.
Board a boat at the pier and relax as you cruise along Lake Lucerne, one of Switzerland’s most stunning and unique lakes. Disembark in Vitznau and hop on the venerable Mount Rigi Railways cogwheel train for a ride up to Rigi Kulm. Known as the ‘Queen of the Mountains,’ Rigi Kulm is the highest peak in the Rigi mountain range at 5,899 feet (1,798 meters).
From the summit, soak up a marvelous 360-degree panorama of the Swiss Plateau with the Black Forest, the Vosges mountains, the Glarus Alps and the Bernese Alps beyond. On the half-day tour, you’ll have two hours of free time at the summit; full-day tour goers will enjoy five hours. Go sledding, rent snowshoes and hit a hiking trail, have lunch in one of the cozy restaurants or simply soak up the views — it's entirely up to you.
Re-board the cogwheel train and ride down to Rigi Kaltbad, a mountain resort that sits on a sunny terrace at 4,701 feet (1,433 meters) overlooking Lake Lucerne.
From here, board the aerial cable car and enjoy a breathtaking float downhill to Weggis on the northern shore of the lake. Wander this picturesque mountain town by foot before making your way to shore, where your boat awaits. Relax and savor the last views on the boat ride across Lake Lucerne back to the Lucerne pier. Your independent tour ends here in the evening.
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Board a boat at the pier and relax as you cruise along Lake Lucerne, one of Switzerland’s most stunning and unique lakes. Disembark in Vitznau and hop on the venerable Mount Rigi Railways cogwheel train for a ride up to Rigi Kulm. Known as the ‘Queen of the Mountains,’ Rigi Kulm is the highest peak in the Rigi mountain range at 5,899 feet (1,798 meters).
From the summit, soak up a marvelous 360-degree panorama of the Swiss Plateau with the Black Forest, the Vosges mountains, the Glarus Alps and the Bernese Alps beyond. On the half-day tour, you’ll have two hours of free time at the summit; full-day tour goers will enjoy five hours. Go sledding, rent snowshoes and hit a hiking trail, have lunch in one of the cozy restaurants or simply soak up the views — it's entirely up to you.
Re-board the cogwheel train and ride down to Rigi Kaltbad, a mountain resort that sits on a sunny terrace at 4,701 feet (1,433 meters) overlooking Lake Lucerne.
From here, board the aerial cable car and enjoy a breathtaking float downhill to Weggis on the northern shore of the lake. Wander this picturesque mountain town by foot before making your way to shore, where your boat awaits. Relax and savor the last views on the boat ride across Lake Lucerne back to the Lucerne pier. Your independent tour ends here in the evening.
Included
- Detailed timetables
- Round-trip Lake Lucerne cruise
- Round-trip cogwheel train
- Aerial cable car ride
Not included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Optional activities at own expense
- Food and drinks, unless specified
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Operates in all weather conditions; please dress appropriately
- Good walking shoes recommended
- Snacks and drinks are available for purchase on board
- Please note: children tickets (age 6-16) must be purchased on the day and will be available at a reduced rate
- Wheelchair accessible
- Stroller accessible
- Service animals allowed
- Near public transportation
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
- Due to revision work on the cable car Rigi is only accessible via cogwheel train from Vitznau until 26 April 2019
Features
Tourism
90%
Cultural
65%
Original
55%
Reviews
This was great, you basically can choose your own adventure, if you choose the whole day you can come back whenever so it just gives you great flexibility. The one word of caution is if you are traveling in off season some things may not be operating. In early April, the cable car on the way back was closed for almost all of april due to maintenance. We did not find this out from the operator but had to pay attention to the timetables as well as listen for the announcement it was closed. Viator was great about refunding a portion of it and we found our way back without much issue, but it's something to be aware of.
NOTE - this is merely an advanced ticket purchase, which is a bit less expensive than if you had done it yourself. Make sure to check the timetable for the train to Rigi Kulm the top from Rigi Kaltbad where the cable car takes you. Your voucher is your ticket, so no need to stand in line., If not careful, you will miss your train to the top and have to wait another hour for the next one, limiting your time at the top. Mt Rigi is great if you are into hiking and outdoorsy stuff like that. For people who don't hike, there isn't much to see. As is stated in the important information section, be sure to check the time the boat is leaving from Vitznau this is a different location than you are dropped at and you need to check the boat timetable. My boat left 15 minutes earlier than initially scheduled. Also, note the :cruise of Lake Lucerne is merely the boat going from dock to dock on its usual circuit of pick-ups/drop-offs.
This was such a great day. Started off with a cruise on Lake Lucerne. The weather was perfect. So many beautiful sites along the way to the base of Mt. Rigi. Rode the cogwheel car to the top of the mountain. It was absolutely breathtaking up there. We brought a picnic lunch and stopped in the little store they had up top and got a bottle of wine to enjoy with our picnic. Lots of grassy areas and benches to relax up there. Took lots of photos of the beautiful sites. Saw people paragliding from the top. Rode the cogwheel back down a few stops to where the tram was. Tram ride was great with the exception of them cramming too many people in at once. Luckily I was able to be on the outside in order to take pictures. Once you get to the bottom you have to walk a ways to get the boat back. We enjoyed all the different looking houses and we saw some goats in a field that had bells on. Was a magnificent day with my hubby. Would highly recommend it.
Beautiful views from the top! Very easy to navigate independently and I appreciated the freedom to leave when I pleased!
A little confusing at first since the ticket booth at the boat gate had no idea what we were talking about. We thought we needed vouchers for each leg of the trip. Go directly onto the boat and just board the other different transports. They recognize the one vouchers that you print on the website. It appears you can customize it any way you want. Full and half day tours were the same price. When we arrived early for our afternoon half day, the boat conductor let us board without questions....same for all the other rides. Even if it appears a little overcast the clouds go in and out and you always get a spectacular view. Wonderful boat ride and the train ride up was a great experience. The excursion was more than we ever expected!
When I received the booking confirmation for the full day tour option I was dismayed at not receiving the travel timetables for the different modes of transport remember this is not a 'guided tour', more of a round-trip travel booking. The point of wanting the timetable is so as to understand when the cogwheel train departs and the different stops it makes on its way up the mountain, and what times the cable car departs. The promised timetable was not, unfortunately, provided. Nor was it clear which ferry stop we had to get off at for the cogwheel train. HOWEVER, Swiss efficiency means that a print-out of our voucher was accepted on the ferry, train and cable car despite being managed by different operators. The day of the tour was unbelievably sunny and the sky was clear. The ferry ride about 30 minutes was great. I can't remember the correct stop for the cogwheel train, but just ask one of the ferry staff and they'll let you know. The train ride was simply breathtaking. We went right up to the top. Great respect for the hikers who were legging it up the mountain - many of them a ripe old age and their fitness made me feel suddenly self-conscious about all my extra middle-age weight!!! After an hour or two at the top we took the train back down a few stops to where the cable car is. You'll recognise it because its quite built up not like the other stops filled with quaint and often traditional styled cottages. If you're ever unsure, just ask the staff/conductor and they'll set you straight on which stop to get off at. Remember - take care which train you take down from the very top as there are 2 seperate routes down the mountain leading to 2 very different end destinations. We took the slow easy stroll down to the station just before the one at the top and from there you can better see where the train lines seperate. The cable car ride down was terrific but, and I cannot stress this enough, the cogwheel train up was absolutely breathtaking. Do your darndest to get a seat by the window if you're looking up towards the top of the mountain then choose the left side of the carriage. The picture opportunity is unsurpassed and again - the trip up is absolutely amazing. Not having a guide was no trouble at all as the different operators are all professional and well informed so can direct if you are unsure of anything. Highly recommend this.
Beautiful Lake Lucerne cruise on an old paddle boat was so fun and the crew was so nice! We loved seeing Mount Rigi. Great way to spend our day!!!