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Mount Titlis, Mount Rigi, or Mount Pilatus?
The three big day trips from Lucerne are Mount Rigi, Mount Titlis, and Mount Pilatus. Each are easily done in a day and accessible via public transportation. This makes it a tough decision deciding between the three!
What’s the difference?
I would consider Mount Rigi and Pilatus to be hiking destinations, with gorgeous views of Lake Lucerne and the surrounding landscapes. Titlis has more activities, as well as year-round snow, as it’s properly in the Alps.
Titlis: A destination with year-round snow and a wide variety of activities, including the world’s first rotating cable car, a glacier cave, a lake (on a mountain!), a chairlift and a glacier park. If you’re looking for optionality and choice, I’d recommend Titlis, but be sure to check the forecast first – being so high up, the weather can turn ugly fast!
Rigi: Known as the “Queen of the Mountains”, a trip to Rigi offers incredible views and beautiful hikes, as well as the greenest grass I’ve ever seen! With admittedly less activities than Titlis, if time in nature is your goal, I can’t recommend Rigi enough!
Pilatus: Closer to Lucerne, Pilatus I would recommend if you’re short on time, or if you don’t plan to explore much of the surrounding area. WIth great views from the top, it’s easily accessible from Lucerne.
When to go?
Shoulder season! We visited Lucerne in the fall, the second week of October. Honestly I thought it was a perfect time to go, the weather was crisp and none of the sites we visited seemed overrun with other tourists. I would recommend shoulder season to visit Switzerland, from April-May or September-October. At this time, there was no snow on RIgi and snow on Titlis.
How to get there?
All three are easily accessible from Lucerne via train.
Check out the SBB Online portal here to see which trains suit your schedule best.
The below map outlines where the three trips are in relation to Lucerne:
A brief description of the three options is below:
Mount Titlis:
The highest of the 3 mountains at 3000 meters, Titlis hosts an array of mountainous activities, including a Cliff Walk (the highest suspension bridge in Europe), the world’s first rotating cable car, Glacier Cave, Mountain Lake, and a Glacier Park in the summer months. If you’re after a wide range of experiences and activities to choose from, or like the ideas of a snow-topped mountain (even in summer), Titlis is a great option for you. I also think it would be great for families, due to the amount of different activities that are offered throughout the mountain.
Hiking on Mt. Rigi
Mount Rigi:
For stunning views of the surrounding mountains, an easy excuse to sneak in a famed boat rides on Lake Lucerne, the chance to ride up a cogwheel mountain train to the top, great hiking, and a potential spa break, Rigi is the choice for you. We got some incredible views at Rigi, the views were unmatched.
I think Rigi was my personal favorite, just for the views. It was also fun to get to use so many modes of transportation from Lucerne, and a great way to sneak an extra boat trip on Lake Lucerne onto your itinerary!
If you want to check out how we did Mount Rigi, check out the post below –
Check out this post for more information on Rigi.
Mount Pilatus:
This was the only option we didn’t try but is very popular with tourists. This day trip is a little bit closer to Lucerne and has a variety of options as well, with a ropes course, the longest toboggan run in Switzerland, a cogwheel railway, and a variety of hiking options.
For us, Rigi and Pilatus seemed to offer similar options in that both boasted incredible views, cogwheel trains, and the chance to boat on Lake Lucerne. For that reason, our first choice was Titlis, since it seemed the most unique and would be interesting to check out snowy mountains outside of the winter season. We loved both Titlis and Rigi, and by all accounts online, Pilatus also sounds great as well, so I don’t think you can really go wrong in your day trip options!
Views from the top of Mt. Rigi
If you want to save yourself the hassle of self-planning, check out these guided tours!
Which did we decide?
We had a long weekend in Lucerne, and managed to fit in day trips to both Titlis and Rigi! It’s hard to pick a clear winner between the two, as both were fabulous! Titlis I think likely has more to do if you’re travelling as a family, as there are a ton of activities on the mountain including the cliff walk, glacier cake, boating on Lake Trubsee, and numerous hiking trails. Rigi I think may have my heart though for the views alone – the surrounding landscape is gorgeous, with the greenest grass I’ve ever seen. I don’t think you can go wrong between the three!