Mount Rigi & Lake Lucerne Round Trip

Europe's first mountain railway opened here in 1871, and it changed what a mountain was for. Before the Rigi line, summits were things you climbed. After it, they were places you visited. The mountain sits alone between two lakes, which is why the view works: nothing stands between Rigi Kulm and the horizon in any direction. On a clear day the panorama runs from the Black Forest to the Bernese Alps, with Lake Lucerne and Lake Zug below on either side. It drew the nineteenth century in numbers. Turner painted it repeatedly. Mark Twain climbed it for A Tramp Abroad and slept through the sunrise he had come for. Queen Victoria, Wagner and Mendelssohn all made the trip. The round trip uses the whole geography. A lake steamer takes you to Vitznau, the cogwheel climbs through meadow and forest to the summit, and the descent runs by rail to Rigi Kaltbad and then by cable car down to Weggis for the boat home. Rigi Kulm is 1,798 metres - high enough for the view, low enough that the walking is easy and the air gives nobody trouble. It suits guests who find the higher summits hard work.