The Rigi railway opened in 1871 and was the first mountain rack railway in Europe. The Pilatus line, opened in 1889, climbs a gradient of up to 48 percent and is still the steepest cogwheel railway in the world. Both were built to carry Victorian tourists up mountains that until then had been the preserve of people with ropes.
Neither of them starts in Lucerne. They start at lakeside villages — Vitznau and Weggis for the Rigi, Alpnachstad for Pilatus — reached by paddle steamer across Lake Lucerne, and that combination of boat then cogwheel then summit is the reason this corner of Switzerland became a destination in the first place.
The lake and its arms
Lake Lucerne is not a simple shape. It has four arms bending around headlands, which is why the German name means the lake of the four forest cantons, and why a boat is genuinely the sensible way to move around it.
Lucerne sits at the western tip: a medieval town with the Chapel Bridge, a covered wooden crossing dating to 1333 with painted panels under the roof, and the lion monument carved into a cliff face.
Weggis and Vitznau, on the northern shore twenty minutes by boat, are lakeside villages at the foot of the Rigi with a mild microclimate that grows figs and palms.
Bürgenstock is a ridge 500 metres above the water on a peninsula, reached by boat and then a funicular, with a resort complex on top and a cliff walk with an outdoor lift.
Engelberg, inland, is the ski and hiking valley below Titlis.
The seven below are grouped by that.
Lucerne
The medieval town at the western tip.
Mandarin Oriental Palace, Luzern occupies an 1870 building on the lakefront designed by the architect of the Paris Opera's interior, restored and reopened recently, with a spa and rooms facing the water and the mountains. It is the best hotel in the city.
Mandarin Oriental Palace, Luzern
Lucerne lakefront · 5★ · $$$$
An 1870 landmark restored, facing the water and the peaks
Check availabilityHotel Schweizerhof Luzern sits on the northern quay in a family-run property operating since 1845, with rooms over the lake and a corridor of historic guest ledgers that is worth the walk.
Hotel Schweizerhof Luzern
Lucerne quay · 5★ · $$$
Family-run since 1845 with historic guest ledgers on show
Check availabilityHotel Des Balances occupies a building on the Reuss river in the old town with painted facades, a good restaurant and the Chapel Bridge outside.
Hotel Des Balances
Lucerne old town · 4★ · $$$
Painted facades on the river beside the Chapel Bridge
Check availabilityThe northern shore
Weggis and Vitznau, at the foot of the Rigi.
Park Hotel Vitznau occupies a lakefront position at Vitznau with a spa, several restaurants, a private jetty and the Rigi railway station a short walk away. It is the most complete resort on the lake.
Park Hotel Vitznau
Weggis · 5★ · $$$$
Lakefront spa and jetty in a village mild enough for palms
Check availabilityPark Hotel Vitznau sits at Weggis on the water with a spa, a garden and a jetty, in a village with a microclimate mild enough for palms.
Bürgenstock
Five hundred metres above the lake, on the peninsula.
Bürgenstock Hotel & Alpine Spa occupies a ridge-top site reached by boat and funicular, with a spa cut into the cliff edge, several hotels and restaurants and a view down the length of the lake. The cliff walk with its outdoor lift is on the property.
Bürgenstock Hotel & Alpine Spa
Bürgenstock ridge · 5★ · $$$$
A cliff-edge spa 500 metres above the lake, reached by funicular
Check availabilityHotel Villa Honegg sits nearby on the same ridge in a smaller property with an infinity pool over the lake that has become one of the most photographed in Switzerland.
Hotel Villa Honegg
Ennetbürgen ridge · 5★ · $$$$
An infinity pool over the lake that Switzerland photographs constantly
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The apartment rentals and pensions around the lake villages are excluded on the standard.
What to do
Take a paddle steamer. The fleet on Lake Lucerne is the largest of its kind in the world and the boats are part of the public transport network, covered by the Swiss Travel Pass.
Go up the Rigi from Vitznau by cogwheel and down to Weggis by cable car, or the reverse. It takes half a day and the summit at 1,798 metres looks over the whole lake.
Do Pilatus on the Golden Round Trip: boat, the world's steepest cogwheel railway up, and cable cars and a gondola down the other side. The railway runs May to November depending on snow.
Walk the Chapel Bridge and the old town, and see the Lion Monument, a dying lion carved into rock in 1821 that Mark Twain called the saddest piece of stone in the world.
Ride the Gotthard Panorama Express, which combines a steamer with a mountain train through the pass.
Practical notes
Zurich airport is about an hour by direct train. Lucerne is on the main network and the boats leave from beside the station.
May to October is the season for the mountain railways, several of which close in winter. Summer is busy. Winter is quiet at lake level with skiing at Engelberg an hour away.
The Swiss Travel Pass covers the boats and most of the mountain railways at a discount, and it is usually worth the arithmetic.
Explore 4 & 5 Star Lucerne Hotels
Questions people actually ask
Which mountain, Rigi or Pilatus?
Rigi for the gentler ride and the wider lake view. Pilatus for the steepest cogwheel railway in the world and the more dramatic summit.
Do the railways run all year?
The Rigi does. The Pilatus cogwheel section runs roughly May to November depending on snow.
Lucerne or a lake village?
Lucerne for the old town and the connections. Vitznau or Weggis for the water, the quiet and the railway at the door.
How many nights?
Three. One for the town and two for the mountains and the boats.