Take the overwhelming mountain experience and summer terrace at 2’132 meters above sea level! Welcome to Pilatus Kulm! I have been there on Swiss National Day (1 August) last weekend and I already miss that moment; enjoy the marvellous mountain view, hang out in the sun, have picnic on the terrace and just do silly things with friends. The Pilatus is a mountain massif overlooking Lucerne in Central Switzerland. There are several ways how to get on top of Pilatus. We took the train from Lucerne to Alpnachstad (17 min) and went up with the cogwheel railway to Mount Pilatus. These railways are the steepest in the world (commissioned in 1889 and a gradient of up to 48%). The travel time from Alpnachstad to the mountain is around 30 minutes. Due to the corona virus, face masks are mandatory on the railways and gondolas.

Arriving on the top, we took a walk (and lots of pictures) around the area and had picnic later on. I have never been to Pilatus (or at least I don’t remember), but I know that it is normally very very crowded with tourists. We could enjoy the day even more with less people on the mountain, thanks to this exceptional situation (the one and only advantage of COVID-19 I guess). After some more hiking adventures, we took the panorama gondolas down to Kriens before the black clouds were getting closer. The gondolas are leaving every 15 minutes (don’t forget to check the last transfer). From Kriens you can simply take the bus back to Lucerne (20 min).

I am happy that we took this opportunity, because I often forget how beautiful our nature and places actually are in Switzerland. I should definitely visit more of these attractions and spots – let’s get out there and explore, dream & discover!

Alpnachstad Valley Station (Cogwheel Railway)
PILATUS-BAHNEN AG
Brünigstrasse 2
6053 Alpnachstad
Tel. +41 (0)41 329 13 13

Kriens Valley Station (Gondolas)
PILATUS-BAHNEN AG
Schlossweg 1
6010 Kriens/Luzern
Tel. +41 (0)41 329 11 11

https://www.pilatus.ch/

Price
Kriens/Alpnachstad–Pilatus Kulm–Kriens/Alpnachstad: CHF 72 (Adults), CHF 36 (Children or half-fare card)
All prices can be found here:
https://www.pilatus.ch/en/booking/prices

Timetable
You can find the timetable here:
https://www.pilatus.ch/en/inform/timetable

Globi-Express
(this was not our train, but it is still on my bucket list)Alpnachstad
Here you can ride in the steepest cogwheel railway in the world!
You need a “time ticket” beside the ordinary ticket,
since the seats for the railway are limitedOur route:
Alpnachstad (cogwheel railway) – Pilatus Kulm – Kriens (gondola)Waiting for the railway Face masks are mandatory on public transportation
because of COVID-19 at the moment!Cows everywhere Moooh! Some more miles Check out the tourist shop on top of Pilatus The panorama gondolas will take you to Kriens and
back to Lucerne (you can see Lake Lucerne from this side) Lunch stop :) Picnic welcome!
Tables are available everywhere around the platform ♡ Hiking~ Lake Lucerne Can you see the dragon on the platform? Top of Pilatus *Papa-paparazzi*Time to go down Thank you for the great day, guys ♡♡♡!! It was National Day, so we could see some
pretty fireworks in the evening =)