Rigi



Rigi is a mountain in Switzerland, about 1 hour south of Lucerne.

Understand
Less tall and impressive than Pilatus and Titlis, Rigi tends to be overlooked by visitors to the region, but "the Queen of the Mountains" is quite popular among locals for hiking in the summer and low-key winter sports. As a bonus, when the valleys below are enveloped by steely grey skies, Rigi is high enough to rise above the clouds into the sunshine.

The two primary points of interest are Rigi Kaltbad (1433 m), home to a natural spring turned spa, and Rigi Kulm, the highest peak on the mountain at 1797 m. A secondary peak, Rigi Scheidegg (1656 m), rises to the east of these. In winter, all three have Alpine, cross-country and sledge trails.

Get in
Rigi rises up from the "Lucerne Riviera" on the eastern coast of Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstattersee), so the most scenic way to get in from or via Lucerne is by ferry, which run from Lucerne Bahnhofquai (right next to the train station) roughly hourly. There are two primary gateways:


 * Ferry to Vitznau (1 hour), then boarding the Rigi Railway up to Rigi Kaltbad (15 min) or Rigi Kulm. While the ferry ride from Lucerne is about 20 min longer, the Vitznau ferry and rail stations are immediately next to each other and schedules are synchronized, making this the easier option.
 * Ferry to Weggis (40 min), then walking about 15 min uphill to the Weggis-Rigi Kaltbad cable car (every 30 min).

Rigi Railways tickets are valid for both train and cable car, which makes going up by train and down by cable car a popular combo.

If coming in from Zurich, a faster but less scenic option is to take the train to Arth Goldau (37 min) and board the Rigi Railway to Rigi Kulm there. Change at Rigi Staffel for connections to Kaltbad.

Finally, from Küssnacht there is a cable car to Rigi Seebodenalp (1020m), which has a small ski resort but is not directly connected to any other facilities on the mountain.

Get around
Rigi Railways operates a spiderweb of rack railways and cable cars around the mountain. Opened in 1871, the Vitznau-Rigi railway was the first mountain rack railway in Europe, and climbing up to 1,752m, it's still the highest standard gauge railway in Europe as well. If you plan to do more than a simple round-trip, the day pass (Fr. 36) is probably your best option. Children under 15 travel free.

The former Rigi–Scheidegg Railway (6.7 km) is now a rail trail, which makes a great easy hiking trail in summer and a cross-country ski trail in winter.

See and do




Eat and Drink
Don't miss out on Rigi Gold, üses Bärgbier ("our mountain beer"), an unusually tasty lager brewed with local spring water.

Rigi Kaltbad





 * Alpina.
 * Rigi Kaltbad hotel.

Sleep

 * Rigi Kaltbad hotel