Rigi and Lake Lucerne: day tour from Zurich
Ten hours from Zurich up the Rigi and on to Lucerne: the coach takes you to Weggis, from where cable car and cogwheel railway carry you to the summit, the train runs down to Vitznau and the boat sails to Lucerne. The coach legs are escorted; on the mountain you make your own way with tickets and a plan.
- Type
- Day trip by coach, partly guided
- Duration
- around 10 hours
- Start
- Zurich, Sihlquai coach park by the main station, departure 9 am
- Season
- all year; in November and March the cogwheel railway replaces the cable car in both directions
- Operator
- Best of Switzerland Tours AG, Adliswil
- Language
- English
What to expect
The coach leaves Zurich at 9 am and crosses the Albis into Central Switzerland, then follows Lake Lucerne to Weggis. The cable car glides up to car-free Rigi Kaltbad in ten minutes, from where the cogwheel railway climbs to Rigi Kulm. The summit lies at 1,797 metres in the Schwyz municipality of Arth. After a stay with the circular path and mountain restaurants, the cogwheel railway runs down the other side to Vitznau, on the line where Europe's first mountain railway ran in 1871.
From Vitznau a scheduled boat takes the group to Lucerne in around an hour. There is time there for the old town with the Chapel Bridge and the Lion Monument before the coach returns to Zurich in the evening. The guide escorts the journey from Zurich to Weggis and from Lucerne back. On the Rigi and on the boat you travel with the tickets and a written itinerary.
Getting there and meeting point
The meeting point is the Sihlquai coach park on Limmatstrasse behind Zurich main station. From platform 18 follow the street to the end; the operator's desk is opposite the Starbucks. Check in a quarter of an hour before departure, with ID and booking confirmation.
Good to know
Children aged 6 to 16 pay half; younger children travel free and need a reservation. The coach has no ramp; wheelchairs and pushchairs travel folded in the luggage hold, and according to the operator the tour is not suitable for wheelchair users. Food and drink are not included and not allowed on the coach. From 16 to 27 November 2026 and from 1 March to 2 April 2027 the cogwheel railway from Vitznau replaces the cable car. The day is long and rather tiring for small children.
Tip: If you want more time on the Rigi, skip the walk around Lucerne and use the time at the top for the panorama trail between Rigi Kaltbad and Rigi Scheidegg, at least part of the way.
