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Which way is better to get to Mt. Rigi:
Luzern to Vitznau to Rigi Kulm to Arth-Goldau to Luzern OR
Arth-Goldau to Rigi Kulm to Vitznau to Luzern.
Is one way more scenic, less crowded or it makes no difference?
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Hi MacyClaire –
You missed the third option-
Luzern to Weggis – walk uphill to cableway station – ride to Rigi Kaltbad – catch the train to Rigi Kulm. Or the reverse, which s much easier.
Did you check this link?
http://www.myswissalps.com/ri gi
Each option has advantages and disadvantages.
And, all you did was propose the same routing going either one way or the opposite.
What is your objective on this particular trip?
Slowpoke
Hi Slowpoke,
I did not factor Weggis in because I read it is a steep walk and I am not sure how hard it will be on my old knees.
Yes, they are the same routing in reverse but as we are short on time, I was wondering which of those routes would be less crowded. Also wondering if the boat ride is more scenic as you are looking towards Rigi or if it really does not make a difference whether you are cruising towards or away from the mountain.
Hi Macy Claire. The overall time for your journey will depend very much on the exact scheduling of your connections between the various modes of travel. There is frequent service to/from Luzern on the train at Arth Goldau. The hourly boat to Luzern meets the cograil coming down from Rigi Kulm with an 8 minute connection once an hour.
The cograils down run once per hour.
Even with the 10-15 minute downhill steep walk on paved roads and sidewalks at the bottom, you probably get the same boat, if you choose the correct cable car (LSB) from Rigi Kaltbad. But, if you miss the boat there you have a long wait for the next one, and would consider the bus from Weggis Schiffstation to rail at Küssnacht am Rigi, thence train to Luzern.
You will need to consider a particular time of day since the services do not run very late. I di not know what time you hoped to travel.
On the timetable, for main line trains but not the cograils, if you expand a journey for details, you can see the expected passenger loads and high traffic trips, with more crowding. That does not work for the cograils.
The cograils and cable way down from Rigi Kulm and Rigi Kaltbad will have a fair number of hotel staff on them early in the morning and late in the day or, on the one late cable car fom Rigi Kaltbad ( no boat for that one). That will not be enough to prevent your traveling or getting near a window.
I don’t know which ones have more tourists.
I have looked through some of the options, and as far as i can see, all of the trips with good connections get you from Rigi Kulm to Luzern in between 1 hour 39 minutes to 1 hour 55 minutes.
To me, that difference is not important. If it is for you, look at the timetable very careful, inserting different “via” options, for the particular time of day that you wish to travel.
Since I consider the time differences to be of no concern for me, my preference would be to take the boat from Luzern to Vitznau, then the cograil up to Rigi Kulm.. Coming down, I’d repeat or (preferably) take the cable way from Rigi Kaltbad, if I could get a good connection to the boat at the Weggis Schiffstation after the short walk. If you have bad legs, the walk could be troublesome. Other wise, down hill , it is not much of a problem.
I would not go via Arth Goldau, which might be the slightly faster route because the scenery, in my opinion, is not as nice. If that does not matter, then it is certainly an option. There is only one train per hour up to the top from Arth Goldau. It takes 44 minutes. The cograil up from Vitznau takes 52 minutes.
Both cograils run on the same tracks from Rigi Kulm as far as Rigi Staffel, Below that, the route to Vitznau is much more scenic.
The boats to from Luzern/Vitznau allow you to look from various angles, not only in one direction, as you can move round the boat,so direction of travel is not critical. It is perhaps, nicer to approach than depart from Vitznau, but you’ll have plenty of views in either direction. However, some of the boats only have an open deck at the bow for second class, whereas in first class, with some, you have a forward view both from a cabin or a deck.,
If you have a first class ticket, you can also ride in the second class.. You can upgrade from second class on board for a modest cost.
If you can make the right connections, going up and down from Arth Goldau is probably the fastest, and the least scenic, in my opinion.
Coming down, if you make the right connections (possibly on the same boat) the route via Vitznau and the one via Weggis have a greater chance of a connection gap at the bottom, although they usually try to match the boat schedules. That may not always work at Weggis.
Thank you so much, Slowpoke, for that wealth of information. You are right, it is not worth worrying about such little time difference and I am leaning towards doing the Vitznau boat both ways.
Thank you, again!!!!!!
You are welcome.
That is the easiest option, and simplest connection for great scenery over the lake. And, you can grab a snack on the boat and watch the lake shore go by in comfort.
I’m sure that you will enjoy it, even if you do it twice. 😉
I stay at Rigi Kaltbad on almost every trip to Switzerland controlled only by whether or not my favorite inn there is open. It is the Hotel Bergsonne.
They have limited hours and take vacation breaks in off-season, which is often the time I am near there, so i don’t get there as often as i would like. They’ve been there quite a while, and i think they are cutting back a bit on their work hours.
So, since i usually have a car for that part of my trip, I park at the lower station of the Luftseilbahn ( the Talstation; “valley station”) and ride up on the cable car (die Luftseilbahn). They pick me up at the station, and I return by the same route.
More than once there has been a cloud deck at about 1000 meters, with brilian sun above, and it is fun to ride the cable car upward through that and then see the mountain peaks poking up out of the cloud layer.
I’ve attached a few images.
South of Vitznau, the lake changes its feeling. The mountains come down right to the water, mostly.
The pictures in this link will show you some of that part, with a panoramic map to orient you ( it faces to the South):
http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/the-swiss-path-and-southern-lake-lucerne
work down toward the end.
Slowpoke
Beautiful pictures. Thank you!!
You are welcome.
Switzerland makes it easy to take good pictures. 😉
Slowpoke
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