Mount Pilatus Summer Day Trip from Lucerne

Lucerne, Switzerland

For a full day of summer splendor, make for the mountains on this guided roundtrip from Lucerne to central Switzerland's Mount Pilatus. Your full day guided tour includes a gondola and aerial cable car ride, descending the world's steepest cog-wheel railway and a cruise on Lake Lucerne.

Venture on a half day round trip from Lucerne to Mount Pilatus on this guided alpine summer tour. Escorted by your professional guide, take the aerial cable-car from Kriens 7000 feet (2132 meters) to the top of Mt.Pilatus. Enjoy unforgettable views over surrounding mountains and lakes with approximately an hour and a half at your leisure. Venture down the Dragon's Path and make the short hike to the summit before descending by cogwheel train to Alpnachstad. At a gradient of 48% it's the world's steepest!

Your summer alpine adventures conclude with a picturesque boat ride across lovely Lake Lucerne.

Please note, if you are traveling in late October, the aerial cable car could be canceled due to poor or unsafe weather conditions. If this is the case, you will travel up and down Mt. Pilatus by cogwheel train.

USD $121.20

Review by: brenst	November 2011
Mount Pilatus was great and well organised but all you need is to buy the tickets and you could do it yourself. Guide is hardly required

Review by: Javed	November 2011
Pilatus was good. Especially coming down by train at 45 degrees incline. The boat cruise was great. I wish our guide would have been enthusiastic.

Review by: Terry T	November 2011
This was a very enjoyable day trip and the guide was interesting and quite helpful. We highly recommend it to persons who have limited time in Switzerland and want to experience the Alps and a variety of forms of transportation in a short period of time.

Review by: Elaine B	October 2011
This small group tour was run very efficiently by our helpful and informative guide. There were many choices of walks and viewpoints when we arrived at the top. We had a clear sunny day and the views were breathtaking. Our cruise home across the lake was a good way to relax and see the Mountain from a different perspective.

Review by: Robert M	October 2011
It was very busy on the day of our visit. The views are spectacular from the top of the mountain. The funicular is quite an interesting experience on its own, the cog wheel train is also a great ride and the cruise was a very pleasant way to finish the tour. If you choose to do the Tobbaggan ride, be aware that it is expensive for a single trip and not as exciting as a theme park rollercoaster. It also took quite a long time as some riders hold up the process. This then limits your time at the top of the mountain. We found out too late that the walk through the rock gallery took you right around one of the peaks but still enjoyed this tour very much.

Review by: serena l	September 2011
It was an enjoyable trip.Love the scenary and the weather.

Review by: sfill	September 2011
Very well-organized. The tour guide was excellent. The only reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because it would have been nice to have more than 90 mins. to explore at the top of the mountain.

Review by: Amy S	September 2011
An excellent tour. I am so pleased with Viator.com. I've recommended it to so many people. This tour was well worth the money. We took a cogwheel train back with a special skip-the-line. Everybody was having to cut their trip short to stand in line and we were able to enjoy being on the top of the mountain until the last minute. Well worth it!

Review by: Leanne P	August 2011
View was fantastic. Trip was good value for money

Review by: Carson C	July 2011
Awesome tour guide, spectacular scenery, well organised.

Review by: Andrew G	June 2011
This is the best trip and I would thoroughly recommend this day trip to all

Review by: Mukta K	June 2011
great!!!

Review by: Bruce N	June 2011
Excellent experience to an absolutely beautiful part of Switzerland. The tour itself was relaxed and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon

Review by: Leigh C	June 2011
We were met by the tour guide on schedule. The tour guide seemed very unsure of herself, she did not speak English well, and it seemed as though she thought her responsibility was just to "be there". She did not offer any information, she did not do a narrative at all about what we were seeing, or what we were going to do. It would have been helpful if she had talked a bit about Lucerne and about Mt. Pilatus, but she didn't. At several points the driver had to tell her what she should be doing as she did not seem to know. She told people that they could leave their things on the bus when the bus let us out at the cable cars, but then we never saw the bus again. When people asked her questions, she seemed to struggle with answering and then people gave up. This was advertised as an English tour, and perhaps in the strictest sense it was, but I paid a good bit of money for 2 tickets and we were both quite disappointed with the quality of the tour. This is the first time I have booked and I would hesitate to book any future tours.

Review by: Siew How T	May 2011
Very disappointing. This is not a tour. This is simply a bus trip to the foot of Mt Pilatus as the 'tour guide' just dropped us off and provided us bus tickets to return to Lucerne. If you can find an alternative way there please do so.

Review by: George B	May 2011
This is a great trip. There is some construction at the top adjacent to the hotel, but it isn't much of a deterrent.

Review by: Humberto L	October 2010
Like a walk above the clouds. Mount Pilatus is fascinating. The tour and the guide were ok, nothing special.

Review by: Margaret N	September 2010
Once we found the meeting point, the tour ran smoothly, the day was crystal clear so how could I rate it anything but fantastic.The guide could have given a bit more history/commentary during our day. Though you could do this yourself with bus etc, it was worth the money for us to be shown the way.

Review by: Joni R	September 2010
This was great fun. We took the cable car up to the mountain and the cogwheel train down. It was not as scary as some reviews mentioned. Worth the trip 100%. The view from the top of the mountain is wonderful. This was a great trip.

Review by: Mark O	August 2010
Well worth every penny. Extremely pleasant travel experience.

Review by: Anonymous	August 2010
Excellent all round - have already recommended it to others.

Review by: Judith G, United States of America	July 2010
What a beautiful day for this trip last time was in a blizzard and saw nothingh!......our guide, Anna, was very personable & knowledgeable about everythng........the entire trip went smooth, enjoyed the hiking and all of the views..............all of the different modes of transportation,..........well worth the price!!

Review by: Ronald C, United States of America	July 2010
Great trip, everything as advertised. Really enjoyed being in the clouds. Just enough time at the top, had lunch, walked around the mountain. Guide took care of us and informed us of the schedule. I think going up on the cable and going down on the cog and returning on the boat is the best way to go.

Review by: Jonathan P	July 2010
We really enjoyed the trip. I agree with most of the comments - positive and negative. I think getting up the mountain by mid morning would be better - beat the cloud that comes in around mid day it looked clear in the morning. As other comments - the boat ride was a tad long. Our guide let us do the toboggan ride - we enjoyed that. Meet the bus beside McDonald's on Frankenstrasse opposite Tourist Information.

Review by: James G	July 2010
The tour was fun, the sights are beautiful and if you have the chance, take the tobogan run just for the fun of it

Review by: Florica V, Australia	June 2010
Well worth it. Even though we couldnt see much due to the fog the atmosphere & beauty of the place makes the experience necessary.

Review by: Anonymous	June 2010
The tour guide was late and hadn't done this tour for 12 months. We had to wait too long to get down from the mountain. However the view was fantastic and the lake cruise was not to be missed.

Review by: Dorothy G	May 2010
Due to the weather, we were not able to see anything at the top. Walkways were closed, there was construction and we could not walk over to look at the hotel. Of course the cog wheel train was not open yet either and we did not to do the Golden Round. The drop off after the tour was not what we thought it would be and we had to walk many blocks.

Review by: Warren B	May 2010
Your website did not indicate that the Lake Cruise would not take place. This was disappointing.

Review by: Judith G	October 2009
Have done this tour before, however, by the time we arrived at the top, it was a raging blizzard!! Could not go up on the gondola because of the windy conditions. But the train ride was awesome and the steamer trip back across the lake was beautiful......probably better luck at an earlier time of the year, this was mid October.

Review by: Anonymous, United Kingdom	September 2009
Excellent trip. Just try and do it when the weather is good. Low cloud will completely blank out the view.

Review by: Olga M, South Africa	September 2009
Our guide was fantastic! This day trip was the best day in our 3-week trip to Switzerland and Italy! Thanks!

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	August 2009
A fabulous trip! Staff were very friendly and helpful. Trip up on the gondolas was excellent, as were the views from the top, trip down on the train, and the cruise. Would certainly recommend this trip to anyone visiting Lucerne.

Review by: Geraldine D	August 2009
This was very enjoyable. After confirming our reservation, we were told to meet the bus at 9:30 a.m. No bus showed up at 9:30, so we had to wait until 12:30 p.m. When we got there, we were told that the cable car was not working and there was therefore no tobogganing, which was disappointing.

Review by: Kylie G	July 2009
Switzerland was so beautiful, and a trip up one of the mountains is a must. I definitely recommend going up Mt. Pilatus, but it would have been better if we had done it without being in a tour group. There was no tour commentary or any information given at all; it was basically only transportation to the bottom of the cable cars. We went up two sets of cable cars -- the first a small cabin for 4 people, the next a big one for 20 people -- had free time to look around up top, and then took the train down the mountain and straight onto the boat to come back. I was very angry at the tour guide for telling me there was not enough time to go on the toboggan ride, which is half way up the mountain, even though I had read from the reviews that you can go on it. We had nearly three hours up on the top of the mountain - plenty of time, if not too much time, but he wouldn't let me so I missed out for nothing!

Review by: Michael P	July 2009
Enjoyed the experience and it was well handled by the guide. It was not clear that we would be meeting up with people from Zurich, so we had to go in a mini bus to the base point Kriens but that did not detract from the trip. The Mountain and the scenery are quite spectacular and the cable car rides are excellent. Would definitely recommend it.

Review by: Debra C	July 2009
This trip was absolutely fantastic. The views were incredible. The tour guide was so sweet and helpful and knowledgeable about the area's history and legends. The only reason I did not give this trip 4 stars was that working with Viator was a nightmare. I had to make over 10 international calls to try to get it all confirmed and get my questions answered. The customer service reps were rude and not very helpful, to say the least. Not to mention, some of my inquiries over email were not answered until I returned from Switzerland about a week later. The tour operator was very helpful.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	May 2009
The views were amazing, and the weather couldn't have been better for us. One thing I might consider is looking into purchasing tickets up and down the mountain by yourself as it was really quite simple, and while the guide was friendly and assisted in recommending times for our entire group, the tour was mostly on your own and experiencing what you wanted at your own pace.

Review by: Christopher S	January 2009
A bungle from start to finish, mostly due to the weather, but could have been handled by the tour operator much better. We knew rain was forecast the day we were to go up the mountain, so tried to change it to previous day but were given a flat "no" - no discussion or options looked into. So, we get the "tour bus," which is only a 15 minute ride if you're in Lucerne. It mainly brings people from Zurich to the base station for the gondola. The guide paid full fare at the bottom for the group, the gondolas got halfway up the mountain, but then we weren't allowed to swap to the cable car as it was too dangerous with the winds. Bad communication all around. Alternatives offered were not suitable for us, and we had to argue via emails to get a reasonable amount of our costs back. With better communication earlier on between the guides and Pilatus about the conditions, we could have gone round to the cable-train on the other side of the mountain and gotten to the top. We never got up there and were very disappointed to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Review by: Peter B, Australia	November 2008
The trip and the views are breathtaking. Fantastic.

Review by: Zandra D	October 2008
I feel that we could have been told about the surroundings and given some background about Mt Pilatus, or just told us anything about the surroundings. Instead we just taken by bus to where the carts begin and on top of the mountain told do what you want to do.

Review by: Kenneth W	October 2008
You directed us to the train station tourist info location. Personnel there were familiar with your tour but did not represent you. They told us that sometime the viator rep comes in and sometimes they do not enter the store. Other than this the tour bus and boat ride were just fine.

Review by: Shynu N, Ireland	August 2008
The trip was excellent! And Lucerne, one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. We loved the cable car and cog wheel train drive.

Review by: Louis D, United States of America	June 2008
Terrific little half day trip if the weather is good. Constant change of travel method--cable car, rack railway, boat--makes for a nice excursion. The boat ride is a bit long, 90 minutes, but we had nice weather, and there is a bar on board. The scenery is magnificent; not sure how I'd feel on a rainy or sight-obscured day however. The guide was like a nice mother hen. The only confusing part was that I called and asked if they meet you directly in the Tourist Info station at the train station and was told "yes" twice, when in reality, the bus is across the street. Luckily, the people at the TI know, and I was directed by them to the bus. Also, on the boat trip back, if you are staying in Lucerne, get off at the Hergiswil stop and go to the glass factory right at the dock, and then afterwards you can easily take the train back to Lucerne from the station located there, about a 15 minute ride.

Review by: Penny S, United States of America	June 2008
Money well spent! The bus picked us up at the tourist office and took us straight to where we needed to go up the mountain. Even in cloud cover, the view from Mt Pilatus was amazing and we had enough time at the top to take the walking paths and take in the view from all sides. The ride down the mountain was actually very peaceful and the scenery was awesome. And then the boat ride back to Lucerne was incredible! I would definitely recommend this to anyone! We loved it!

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	June 2008
This was by far the highlight of a three-week tour throughout Europe. We absolutely loved Switzerland, and Mount Pilatus was the clincher for us when we stayed at Lucerne. We did this trip in May, and there was snow on top of the mountain. On the day we went up, it was quite cold and cloudy, but even though we didn't have a clear view from the top, it was still breathtaking, and we will never forget it. After arrival at the bottom of the mountain by coach, the first leg begins by taking you up in cable cars that seat 4 people. We thought this was scary, but little did we know the most amazing part was ahead of us! After this part, we were transferred to a larger cable car which fitted about 20 people inside. As there was snow on the mountain, we had an awesome view as the cable car took us higher and higher to the top. At one point we came up towards a ridge, and all of a sudden we were over the top and the view dropped down to a huge valley covered in snow. We were so high up and it was really scary, but we will never ever forget feeling like we were on top of the world! Make sure at this point you look out for the church on top of the ridge on your right-hand side. When you get to the top, you're left to your own devices to explore. When it's time to leave, you depart the mountain by train on the other side, which is the steepest train in the world. It was amazing, and we were sad when this tour was over.

Review by: Judith W, Australia	October 2007
Don't miss this - what a day! I'll never forget it. The views were superb, and it was great fun going on the cable car, cog train and boat. There's lots to see and do at the top of the mountain.

Review by: Kirsty M, United Kingdom	September 2007
I had an excellent day. The guide was very knowledgeable and pleasant. The scenery was outstanding.

Review by: Gladys S, South Africa	September 2007
We found this tour amazing and absolutely loved every minute.

Review by: Riaz S, United States of America	August 2007
I highly recommend this tour for anyone who loves nature. This is a must-do tour!