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Mt Pilatus from Lucerne Including Boat Trip, Gondola, Cable Car
4.6
152 Ratings
Kriens
Discover Mt. Pilatus with a boat trip, cogwheel railway, and cable car. Enjoy breathtaking views of Lake Lucerne and the Swiss Alps.
Duration:
6 hours
Cancellation:
1 day
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Highlights
- Pilatus Luzern - Take bus no. 1 (direction Kriens/Obernau) from Lucerne’s train station. After an 11-min. bus ride to the station “Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus” and a short walk, you reach the valley station in Kriens. The Panorama Gondolas take you to the middle station Fräkmüntegg in 30 min. where you can try the rope park or the Dragon Glider (own expenses). Change to the aerial cableway “Dragon Ride” to the top (5 min.). From Pilatus Kulm, enjoy the panoramic views over Lake Lucerne and the Swiss Alps and either stay inside the panoramic gallery, relax on the terrace, climb one of the peaks or enjoy a local specialty in our restaurants (own expenses). The world’s steepest cogwheel railway brings you back down to Alpnachstad in 35 min. Next to the valley station you board the boat cruise on Lake Lucerne. After 1-1.5 hours you arrive in Lucerne, near the train station. The trip can also be done in the opposite direction, starting by boat from Lucerne. In any case check the timetable before your visit.
What's Included
- Panorama gondola between Kriens and Fräkmüntegg (or vice versa)
- Aerial cableway ‘Dragon Ride’ between Fräkmüntegg and Pilatus Kulm (or vice versa)
- Public bus between Lucerne main station and Kriens (or vice versa)
- Lake cruise (2nd class) between Alpnachstad and Lucerne (or vice versa) on Lake Lucerne
- Steepest cogwheel railway in the world between Pilatus Kulm and Alpnachstad (or vice versa)
What's Not Included
- Food and drinks
- Tour guide
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Additional activities (rope park, Dragon Glider, toboggan run, etc.)
- Other personal expenses
- Seat reservation for the cogwheel train
Additional Information
Visit Lake Lucerne and Mt. Pilatus on a half-day tour by boat, steepest cogwheel railway in the world, aerial cableway “Dragon Ride” and panorama gondola. Enjoy a mountain experience at 2132 meters above sea level Incredible view from Mount Pilatus over the Lake Lucerne and Swiss Alps Scenic cruise on Lake Lucerne World’s steepest cogwheel railway between Alpnachstad and Pilatus Kulm See the mountains and valleys from the panorama gondola and aerial cableway “Dragon Ride” between Kriens and Pilatus Kulm This is not a guided tour and there is no meeting point. Please check the timetable carefully, especially for the boat connections (2 - 5 boat departures per day). The Round Trip can be taken in both directions
- Check the timetable carefully, especially for the boat cruise (2-5 departures per day)
- This is an unguided individual tour
- Operates in almost all weather conditions, please dress appropriately
- Cableways are not in operation in case of storm
- Starting direction 1: Take the cruise ship at the railway station in Lucerne (Quai 2 in front of the train station)
- Starting direction 2: Take bus number 1 at the railway station in Lucerne to Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus
- Round trip can be taken in both directions
- Prior reservation mandatory for wheelchairs
- Strollers must be folded during transport
- To avoid long waiting times for the cogwheel train between Alpnachstad and Pilatus Kulm (or vice versa), we highly recommend to make a reservation under www.pilatus.ch/reservation
Location
Pilatus Luzern
Schlossweg 1
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.6
(152 Ratings)
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Darren_s
Jun 19, 2023
Amazing day trip from Lucerne - Great trip. Had a blast with the Golden Round Trip. The cruise is amazing plus they have a bar on board so you can sit back and enjoy the beautiful scenery with a glass of wine. Plus the cog railway was super fun. And finally on the way down taking the leap of faith on the Dragon Ride and going straght off the cliff of Mt. Pilatus then gondola ridr was a fantastic experience. We stopped half way down at Frakmuntegg were my daughter (13 yr old) spent a few hours on the ropes course which was super intense!! Absolutely a must do excursion if in the Lucerne area!!!
Review provided by Viator
Angela_g
Jun 8, 2023
From the boat ride to the... - From the boat ride to the trains and gondola, what an extraordinary journey! We had lunch on top at hotel. It was so good and hearty. We will do this trip again!
Review provided by Viator
Owen_m
Oct 5, 2022
Beautiful view of Alps. Variable times to start. - Excellent views and experience. The ferry boat accepts the voucher and does not require a ticket. Get the tickets after the boat ride at the train station. We didn’t leave until 1:38 pm ferry waiting for clear skies and it worked out great. There are ferry and cog rail schedules. The aerial tram runs every 15 minutes.
Review provided by Viator
Agata19091992
Sep 18, 2022
Do it! It is awesome. - Absolutely great trip. Just do it. It is lovely views and not so much walking. You can stop for nice restaurant and just enjoy your day. After cable cars, the boat trip is amazing.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Ira_b
Aug 29, 2022
It was far beyond all my... - It was far beyond all my expectations! And never felt pushed or ripped off. I’ve been in Europe 2 weeks and this experience was tops. Would do this again and highly recommend it.
Review provided by Viator
Samroberts
Aug 11, 2022
Less confusion than expected - worth the money!! - We had some confusion (as it seems others did) concerning actually getting our tickets, but it all turned out to be fine. We took the city bus to Kierns (free visitor bus pass came with our hotel) to arrive at the Pilatus office/departure point for the cable car at 8:30. We had no trouble at the desk getting our tickets with the voucher we had from trip advisor. We then took the cable car and then the gondola up to the top of Pilatus. We spent about 3 hours doing the shorter hikes and taking in the views. The hikes are really lovely, but they are steep. A lot of people had trekking poles and they certainly would’ve been helpful. Also be sure to have a sweater or two, even in the summer. It was gorgeous! We took the 1:55 cog train down. We could’ve jumped on the boat at that time but decided to chill a bit and get the next one. We thought there would be more to explore in Alpnach, but there really wasn’t. Would recommend packing your lunch and snacks for the day so you don’t have to spend money at the restaurants up top. Overall we really enjoyed the day and thought it was worth the money.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Seansy7640if
Aug 7, 2022
Awesome trip - We chose the counterclockwise route and found it to be easy and enjoyable, no need to redeem for tickets till you reach the gondola tickets window, just hop on the bus in Luzern to Kriens.
Clouds cleared out while we were on top and we could see Jungfrau, Monch and Eiger…
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Hayley_s
Oct 12, 2022
Views are worth the money! - Amazing experience, highly recommend. Directions could be clearer from Viator - you have an option of two different places to start. Not for someone who doesn’t like heights! I suggest you spend some time on the mountain and take part in all the fun activities and grab food at the restaurant up too at 7000 m!
Review provided by Viator
Dixie_j
Aug 29, 2023
Rainy Day on Mt. Pilatus. -
I wouldn’t recommend booking in advance for this trip. Our weather was horrible, and cancellation was not possible.
Everything else was wonderful but we couldn’t see more than a few feet from our window.
Review provided by Viator
Darren_g
Aug 22, 2022
Book direct - Tour was great, Swiss were fantastic however I will not book through Viator again as there were no instructions on how to activate ticket at the harbour if starting with the boat trip and other information was sketchy to say the least. Again I will reiterate, the Swiss we’re brilliant, in future I will book direct.
Review provided by Viator
