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Hey everyone,
I had the in-laws visiting from Germany this weekend so we thought we’d show them some Swiss scenery.
The weather cooperated on Saturday (October 7) and we decided on Mt. Pilatus.
Mt. Pilatus is quite expensive so it is a really good value if you have the Swiss Travel Pass as it gives you free travel (until the end of 2017). Our half fare travel cards (the resident equivalent of the Swiss Half Fare Card) made it more reasonable for my wife and I.
My wife’s parents drove here so we took their car to Alpnachstad. The parking lot is right next to the train station (Alpnachstad) and the boat dock (Alpnachstad See) for people who take the lake cruise to get here from Luzern/Lucerne.
All of these areas are within a 5 minute walk of the ticket booth (where you must buy a ticket or get a free ticket with your Swiss Travel Pass to use to get through the turnstiles).
We arrived about 40 minutes before departure and there were a few people in front of us. They sent up 4 cogwheel trains within a few minutes of each other and all look full.
**TIP: if you take a car or train here be sure to arrive before the boat as it holds 300 people. 🙂 The boat arrives 15 minutes prior to some departures.
The cogwheel was great and took about 40 minutes with a stop 1/2 way to let hikers out if they want and also to wait for opposing trains to come down sometimes.
The weather was amazing with lots of sun, a few clouds and it was about 2 degrees with a bit of snow for the kids to throw around.
As we drove we took the cogwheel back down to the car (although we could have taken the gondolas to Kriens and took a bus and train to get to Alpnachstad).
Attached are a few pictures. 🙂
Cheers!
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Great photos Lucas. You picked a good day for it.
Fabulous photos Lucas – unfortunately most of mine on our visit were a bit hazy to be good.
Maggie
Yes I have a lot of haze in my summer photos….a Swiss summer thing it seems.
Crisp fall days are the best for photos…I wouldn’t mind a few more clouds actually. Blue skies can get boring in photos!
Hi Lucas,
Hopefully in September next year we might get better results then!
I love good clouds and I actually take photos of cloud formations when I see interesting ones! – just clouds, nothing else! Over the years I have collected quite a few dramatic stormy sky photos, especially over the lakes. Must look out a few for you but they will need re-sizing before I can post them so not immediately!
Maggie
I’ve been starting to collect some dramatic sky pictures lately as well!
I sometimes then replace the skies in Photoshop to make the photos a bit more exciting (when there are hazy, boring skies). 🙂
I’ve only done it once or twice now (my skills aren’t perfect yet) but its fun.
I love the photo titled ‘mountainviews’
Thanks Adelaidean!
Hard to take a bad shot up there when the weather cooperates!
Enjoyed reading your trip report Lucas! Beautiful photos, too, and the snow really adds to the beauty.
When I went up to Pilatus last August, I wanted to go both ways by cogwheel train too, but didn’t notice they gave me a turnstile pass for a round trip i.e. up by cogwheel and down by cable car. However, when the barrier gate at the top wouldn’t let me through to board the cogwheel instead of the cable car for the trip down, the attendant quickly swapped my card for another one that said “Streckenwechsel” (i.e. route change for those who aren’t familiar with German). He had a fist full of these cards, so it must be something that happens frequently!
When I was back on the station at Alpnachstad, another tourist approached me and asked me how to get to Kriens. They, too, had arrived by car, but parked in Kriens and gone up in the cable car. They apparently didn’t realise that by coming down in the cogwheel they would end up so far away from where they had parked the car!
Alpenrose
Ah ouch! Well at least it isn’t too far to Kriens!
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