What is Mount Rigi?
Nestled between Lake Lucerne and the impressive peaks of the Swiss Alps, Mount Rigi – known as “Queen of the Mountains” – offers incredible views, hikes, and a pretty fun spa! If you’re staying in Lucerne and looking for a memorable day trip packed with a cogwheel train, open hikes, and incredible views – Mount Rigi is a perfect addition to any Swiss Itinerary.
The Views on Lake Lucerne
How to get to Mount Rigi?
There are two main options to get to Mount Rigi from Lucerne.
We chose to take the boat across Lake Lucerne (I can never say no to adding an extra activity into a days itinerary!) The boat trip was beautiful! We bought boat tickets from the marina in Lucerne around 20 minutes before the boat we were aiming for.
A round trip boat ticket can also be purchased here if you want to buy in advance and ensure a spot:
From the boat, you will have an option to get off at Vitznau or Weggis.
We chose to get off at Vitznau and take the cogwheel train to the top to Rigi Kulm.
Alternatively, there is a cable car from Weggis to Rigi Kaltbad, where you can get on the cogwheel train.
All information around timetables can be found through this link.
This map from the Rigi tourism center is helpful to get a lay of the land - click into for more!
The most important thing around travelling to Rigi is checking the timetables! The boats can run infrequently at times, so make sure you don’t miss the last one.
Click here for the Lucerne Boats timetable
Generally, the boat and cogwheel timetables are synced up (so, after the boat arrives, the train takes off around 5-10 minutes after arrival.) This makes it easier to see, but make sure to check these schedules for the most up to date information before you go. The train from Vitznau runs about once a hour and takes around 40 minutes to ger to Rigi Kulm, the top.
The Mount Rigi Day Pass
Day passes are around 75 CHF, or $80 USD. These include transportation around the area, including al of the cogwheel railways and the cable car. There are hiking trails around the entire area, and you can hike instead of taking the railways, although they will take much longer. From Vitznau to Rigi Kulum, it’s around 13km uphill.
You can purchase the Day Pass after exiting the boat at Vitznau, or choose to book online using the below link to secure a spot:
Views from the top of RIgi!
Things to do on Rigi
1. Check out the views
Like any great mountain destination, number one on the list is the incredible views from the top!
After alighting from the cogwheel train at the Rigi Kulm stop, there is a short paved path up to the top to reach the highest viewpoint of the mountain. There is also the Rigi Kulm hotel there, which has a restaurant with some traditional Swiss cuisine.
From the top, the views in every direction are incredible. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!
2. Do a hike
There are a ton of hikes to do on Rigi – it’s a giant mountain, with a multitude of different ways up and down. Some people who come to the region ignore the trains and cable cars that get you up the mountain, and embark of a hike from the bottom to the top.
Even if this sounds a bit adventurous to you, there are tons of ways to get moving, if it’s walking around the peak to enjoy the view from different angles, or if it’s hiking from top to bottom. The paths are relatively easy to follow, and there are signs throughout the trails to keep you on the right directions.
Check this link out for the top five trails that Rigi Tourism recommends
3. Have a picnic
If there’s any place I’ve visited where I’ve felt compelled to bring along a picnic lunch, it’s this one. It must be the incredible views!
We packed a lunch and chose a spot in the middle of our hike to sit down and enjoy the views and the greenest grass we’ve ever seen.
4. Ride a cogwheel train or a cable car
Part of the attraction of Rigi is all of the activities that come along with it! Between the old cogwheel train and the cable car, there are a lot of ways to get involved with the various transport around the mountain.
Note that although the train up the mountain is advertised as an old steam train, in practice it’s a newer train (that likely gets you up the mountain faster and is more eco friendly!) They still bring out the old steam train on special occasions. Regardless, it’s a very enjoyable mode of transportation!
5. Check out the spa!
One of our favorite things that we did on Rigi was the spa at Mineralbad & Spa Rigi Kaltbad. We actually worked this into our hike – see below for our full itinerary.
The spa had the same incredible views as the rest of Rigi! We’ll never pass up a good spa day, so we were really happy that this was easy to get to and right off the main trail we took while walking around Rigi.
The entry to the spa was CHF 39 (or $43). There’s also a combo ticket linked below that you can buy which should save a few $$.
This was a really relaxing break in the middle of our day!
6. Try some skiing or sledding!
Unfortunately this wasn’t an option when we visited in October, but during the winder months there is an option to ski or sled. Your Rigi day pass includes sleds, and you can sled down and train back up!
Spa views!
How we did it:
Boat from Lucerne to Vitznau
First, we boarded the first boat in Lucerne for a scenic boat trip to Vitznau at around 8:15 am. We weren’t early for the boat, and weren’t able to get a seat, so be sure to arrive early if that’s important to you. It’s about a hour from Lucerne to Vitznau. We heard the train from Vitznau had better views than the others, but the whole area was so beautiful I wouldn’t be surprised if they were great either way.
Train from Vitznau to Rigi Kulm
After getting off at Vitznau, we were funnelled into a line for the cogwheel train. After purchasing our ticket, we boarded the train, and enjoyed lovely views up the mountain to Rigi Kulm.
Admire the Views
After the 40 minute ride up, we stopped to check out the hotel, then continued up the short paved path to the top of Rigi Kulm. We spent some time admiring the views and taking some photos.
The Classic Rigi Hike & a Picnic Lunch!
The views really don't get much better than this
Next, we hiked to a spot for a picnic lunch. Rigi has some fantastic hiking trails. We did the Classic Rigi Hike, which begins at Rigi Kulm, hikes down past some other train stops and some incredible views. We stopped about halfway through the hike for lunch. The Classic Rigi Hike was pretty well marked, and we didn’t feel like we were at risk of getting lost at all. It was also all downhill, which was nice and easy!
Spa Time!
The Classic Rigi hike ends at the Rigi Kaltbad mineral baths, so we spent two hours relaxing in the baths! They have a warm-water pool that overlooks the alpine mountains, a variety of spa rooms and whirlpools, and massages if you’d like to book them.
Rigi Kaltbad to Rigi Kulm
At around 3:30, we needed to start heading back up to the top of the mountain where we’d kept our luggage (we didn’t want to travel back to Lucerne before our flight that evening.) Luckily, our Rigi Day pass included another train ride back up to the peak!
Rigi Kulm to Arth-Goldau
From the summit, we said our goodbyes to The Queen of the Mountains and made our way back down on the train the Arth-Goldau, where we boarded a transitional train through SBB to transfer to Zurich in time for our evening flight