Most popular way up and down the Rigi?

After arriving in Zurich we are driving to Kuessnacht am Rigi near Luzern. We want to wake up for our first full day in Switzerland and go up to the Riggi Kulm, before spending the afternoon on a scenic drive to our ultimate destination in the Berner Oberland. Is there a "best way" to the top of the Rigi? It looks on a map like you can drive part of the way from Kuessnacht but I'm not sure if the map is accurate or how close to the top that actually gets you, or if you can take a tram or something from that road. Weggis cable car? Or train from Vitznau or train from Arth Goldau? Whichever way we go up we'll need to go back down the same way as we'll have parked our rental vehicle and so we will need to start and stop at the same place. Does anyone have a favorite way up or a favorite way down? Is there a good easy family hike at the top that wouldn't take up too much of our day (we'll reserve our longer hikes for later in the week in the Grindelwald/Lauterbrunnen area).

Hi dchrisa66,

You can find the most popular routes here: myswissalps.com/rigi. With a car the Majestic Round Trip would not work unless you leave the car in Küssnacht. The modified Classic Round Trip would work: park in Vitznau and take the boat from Weggis to Vitznau on the way back. You can't drive up Mount Rigi.

Hi dchrisa66

The Rigi is car free.

Look at this thread, way down to the March 9 posts on this subject, for an easy scenic walk from Rigi Klm or Rigi Staffel to Rigi Staffel Höhe to Rigi Kaltbad..

www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/rough-itinerary-for-may-12-24-trip-to-switzerland/page/2

Also,

www.myswissalps.com/ri gi

Also-

www.wanderland.ch/en/w anderland.html and query for Rigi in the "Hiking in.." entry box.

and -

www.myswissalps.com/hi king/rigistaffelhohe-freibergen

The timetable can help you check out routes. Enter Rigi Kulm as your start point and Luzern ( or Küssnacht am Rigi) as your destination, and run through all the connections for a day. Expand each journey. You'll see the possible routes.

The timetable defaults to the fastest route, so you if you use Luzern as a test destination, or for that matter, possibly Küssnacht am Rigi, you can try a "via" to force routes through, for example, Weggis.

You certainly do not have to go and return by the same route. For example, you can go up from Vitznau (where you can park your car, or which you can access by bus or boat, and then come back down to Weggis, and take the bus along the lakeshore back to Vitznau ( or vice versa). There are also reasonable connections from Arth Goldau to Küssnacht am Rigi

You could leave your car at your vacation dwelling, too, and use public transport all the way and by various routes..

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

Slowpoke