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I looking for a fun adventure in the Alps Nov 9-10 with my 21 year old son. We are both fit and enjoy hiking and biking but from what I read November may not be the best time for those activities. We are looking for something accessible to Zurich as we have flights home Sunday morning. Any ideas on things to do near Luzern, Pilatus or Rigi?
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Hi Ssitek –
Welcome to My Swiss Alps –
One of my most enjoyable trips to Switzerland was with my grandson when he graduated from high school. That was alot of fun. We spent a little bit of time in the Jungfrau Region, walked up to Hammetschwand (near Luzern) for lunch, tayed a night in Sugiez in the Three Lakes Region, and spent a night on the Rigi, at Rigi Kaltbad. I hope you enjoy your time exploring together.
Unfortunately, hiking in the Alps in November is limited to lower altitudes. If you rephrased your sentence, and took out the words “in the Alps” you could find some nice hikes at lower altitudes. The nicest trails – for example, in the Jungfrau Region, are mostly at or above around 2000 meters, and while there won’t be much snow for skiing, there can be enough to make hiking unsafe or make trails impassable. So, there are not many visitors, and the access via cableways to those hikes is mostly shut down for between season maintenance, and many but not all tourist facilities are closed. So, staying near Luzern makes good sense, both for proximity to Zürich and available sites.
If you want to check timing and schedules for any public transport in Switzerland, use the SBB timetable. The instruction page is worth a read:
http://www.myswissalps.com/ti metable
Here is something to look through for some ideas near Luzern:
http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/the-swiss-path-and-southern-lake-lucerne
And, indeed, as you note, you could go up on Pilatus or the Rigi.
The Rigi has some nice trails, and it is at low enough altitude to consider them.
http://www.myswissalps.com/ri gi
You could ride one of the cog-rail trains up to the top, walk down to Rigi Stafelhöhe and out to Chänzeli ( sometimes Känzeli) and back to Rigi Kaltbad. From there you could take the cograil back down to Vitznau or back up to to Kulm and down to Arth-Goldau. Unfortunately, the cableway down to Weggis will not be running. Nice views as you ride it.
That is not a long hike..only an hour or two, but if the weather is clear, you have some nice views.
Many of the other trails shown on that map will be open, but don’t have such nice views over the lake(s).
This link can give you some ideas.
http://www.myswissalps.com/ac tivities/naturalsites
Check any of the places listed, read through the various sections, and look under the “Route” tab to get available times and dates. Pilatus has its own page.
The cog-rail to Pilatus Kulm ( Kulm =peak or top, related to the English word culmination) from Alpnachstad runs until November 17th.. It is impressive.
See attached images.
There is not a lot of hiking available up there, but you can walk around, and there a few things to do there or at the stations on the cableway down to Kriens.
I’m not sure what your available times are on the 9th, but you can fit in some of those things if you have most of the day. If your flight is not too early on Sunday, you could stay overnight in Luzern. I do that , but only if I have extra leeway in my schedule. Even Swiss trains sometimes have delays, although Sunday won’t have rush-hour crowds. Better to be cautious.
Usually, I stay my last night in Zürich. Nice to walk around, even in November, although the stores are closed on Sunday, the restaurants are mostly open. Sunday night is slow for them, so a few are closed. In the morning there are anywhere between 5 and 10 trains per hour to the airport, taking 9 to 20 minutes. Check the timetable linked above. Don’t take the cheaper #10 tram…it takes 45 tedious minutes to get to the airport.
Sunset is at 4:59 PM.
Slowpoke
Thank you! This is the type of advice I need!!
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