Mount Pilatus Golden Round Trip from Lucerne
The classic Golden Round Trip: paddle steamer across Lake Lucerne, the steepest cogwheel railway in the world up to 2,132 m, and two cable cars back down to the city.
From
$138.18
per person
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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts
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Book ahead
This experience is popular — reserve early to secure your spot.
From
$138.18per person
Free cancellation
Cancel up to 1 day in advance for a full refund
Reserve now & pay later
Book your spot and complete payment at checkout.
Duration 6 hours
Check availability to see starting times
Meet on location
Children must be with an adult
Ages 6 and older
Where you'll go
Open in Google MapsHighlights
- The steepest cogwheel railway in the world at 48 per cent
- a loop that never repeats a leg
- Pilatus Kulm at 2,132 m with 73 peaks in view
- Lake Lucerne by boat
What to expect
The Pilatus cogwheel railway climbs at a gradient of 48 per cent. No rack railway anywhere is steeper, and when it opened in 1889 the engineers had to invent a new toothed system because the existing ones would have jumped the rack on that slope. The Golden Round Trip uses it as one leg of a loop that never repeats itself. You cross Lake Lucerne by boat to Alpnachstad, climb the mountain by cogwheel, and come down the far side by aerial cableway and panorama gondola into the suburb of Kriens. Pilatus was feared long before it was climbed. Medieval Lucerne banned people from going up, on the grounds that the lake near the summit held the restless ghost of Pontius Pilate and that disturbing it would bring storms down on the city. Dragons were reported here into the sixteenth century. Queen Victoria rode up on muleback in 1868, before the railway existed. At the top, two summits are walkable in a few minutes each, and the terrace looks over Lake Lucerne on one side and 73 Alpine peaks on the other. The cogwheel operates roughly May to November. In winter the loop is not possible and the mountain is reached by cable car from Kriens in both directions.
What you get
- Lake Lucerne cruise ticket
- Pilatus cogwheel railway
- aerial cableway and panorama gondola
- bus transfer Kriens to Lucerne
- escort guide
- Meals and drinks
- toboggan run and rope park at Frakmuntegg
- gratuities
Trip essentials
Pack this
- Warm jacket and layers for 2,132 m
- sunglasses and sunscreen
- shoes with grip for the summit rock paths
- a windproof layer for the boat deck
- water
Check before booking
- Able to walk unaided and manage the steps between summit terraces
- not advised for severe heart or respiratory conditions at 2,132 m
- able to board a lake vessel from a fixed pier
- children under 16 accompanied by an adult
Leave behind
- Drones from the cogwheel, the cableway or the summit
- leaving the marked ridge paths
- smoking or vaping in any cabin or on the enclosed boat deck
- using the toboggan run in wet conditions when the operator has closed it
Meeting point
Lucerne, Pier 1 beside the railway station, 09:00
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