Mt Pilatus and Lucerne Day Trip from Zurich With Lake Cruise
Description
For a full day of alpine summer splendor, make for the mountains on this guided roundtrip from Zurich to central Switzerland's Mount Pilatus. Your full-day guided tour includes a gondola and aerial cable car ride, the world's steepest cogwheel railway and a cruise on Lake Lucerne.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Start your tour at the Sihlquai Bus Station in Zurich. Set off for an exciting day traveling through picturesque landscapes and along the shores of Lake Lucerne to the enchanting city of Lucerne.
Once arriving in Lucerne, enjoy a brief orientation drive, where your guide points out the main attractions of this charming town like the Chapel Bridge, the Town Hall, the Jesuit Church and the Culture and Convention Centre (KKL). Enjoy the following time at leisure to stroll through Lucerne's beautiful Old Town.
Continuation to Kriens, where you take the panoramic gondola and aerial cable car to the top of Mount Pilatus at 7000 feet (2132 meters). Enjoy some time at leisure admiring breathtaking views over the surrounding mountains and lakes. Venture down the Dragon's Path and make the short hike to the summit before descending Mount Pilatus to Alpnachstad by cogwheel railway. At a gradient of 48% it is the world's steepest!
Your summer alpine adventure concludes with a picturesque boat ride across lovely Lake Lucerne to Lucerne.
After an enjoyable day, the guide will bring you back to Zürich.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness
- 19.10.-27.11.2026: Ascent and descent by cogwheel train, no boat ride but lunch voucher included
- 28.-29.11.2026: Ascent by cable car, descent by cogwheel train, no boat ride but lunch voucher included
Reviews(732)
The trip was perfect. We took a bus to Lucerne and had time to enjoy the lakefront and visit the historic part of town. Then we went to the mountain for the great views and a little something to eat on the beautiful patio. Afrer 2 hours on the mountain we took the cog train down to the lake and boarded the boat for a cruise back to Lucerne and our bus back to Zurich. Our guide Eyslia was wonderful and told us all about Switzerland and the area we visited. This was a great tour.
Wow, what an experience. First of all, our guide Bernie who was so energetic narrating the beauty of the swiss Alps mountains, stuck s knowledgeable person. We were lucky to have Bernie as our guide. Well organized your, definitely recommend this everyone. We had a great time and created wyvern memories. Special thanks to our driver who drove us very safely.
This was an amazing tour. Ersilia was a phenomenal tour guide. She has a great personality, very professional, and she ensured our safety was maintained. I can’t describe in words how beautiful Switzerland 🇨🇭 is. I highly recommend this tour especially with Ersilia. She will help bring the beauty of Switzerland to life.
It was a fun filled day with great tour guiding. Bus ride, Godolas, Train and boat ride all in the same day with optional hiking atop Mt. Pilatus. It was special and I would highly recommend!
What an absolutely amazing experience! Our tour guide, Roberto, was an absolute pleasure to have as a guide. We had a great fun time with more than enough to explore at a leisurely pace. Roberto was very informative, explained our itinerary perfectly and helped us every step of the way along tgis amazing adventure of a trip. Highly recommend, ask for Roberto if you can.
This was an amazing experience from start to the end. The views at the top of Mt Pilatus were superb and the weather was amazing. We were a bit apprehensive about the weather considering the heat dome sitting over Europe, but thankfully it was really pleasant on the day. Our tour guide, Rafael, was not only very knowledgeable about the geography and the route, but also inserted some humor and funny insights along the way to make the journey really enjoyable. The stopover at Lucerne was a bit short but good enough to do some quick sightseeing and grabbing a bite to eat.
Beautiful views! Excellent tour. Gondola, cogwheel and boat ride were fun ways to view the scenery. We were lucky enough to see a baby goat on the mountain and we loved the cattle.
The scene is exotic and exceptionally. It balanced the city tour, the mountain travel and cruise experience. However, there are several points to note. The tour has 44 participates, a super large group, with only one tour guide. The tour guide explained the arrangement in both English and Spanish. I don't know why they did not separate it into one English tour and one Spanish tour. Two guys are missing in the middle. Our bus departed and got back to the meeting point in the middle to the mountain which wastes twenty minutes. They are named as the best tour of the Swiss. However, I joined another tour offered by another company and approached their best counter for information, the reception just told me to not their tour, find the guide by my own. On the Mt Pilatus, tour guide wishes the squash all 44 participants into a cable car of capacity around 56. With lots of other tourists, the latter half of the group has to wait at the station for 15 minutes. Moreover, tour guide said to gather at 3:20pm, but he appeared at 3:30pm. Last but not least, their first stop is opposite side to Lucerne, roughly Weggis for a toilet break. It would be much much better to move the toilet break at Weggis to the city tour at Lucerne.
This was an amazing experience and well worth the price. Konrad was an excellent tour guide! He took the time to help everyone get the photos they wanted.
Absolutely wonderful! Lucerne was very nice. Gondola ride was comfortable and great views. Mt Pilates - breathtaking. Rail ride down unique. Then boat ride. Highly recommend!
