Lucerne & Mount Pilatus Golden Round Trip Day Tour from Zurich

Lucerne and its lakeside old town

Lucerne is the gateway to the Pilatus region and one of the most photographed cities in Switzerland. Before heading to the mountain, the coach brings you into the city, where the old town unfolds around painted squares such as the Kornmarkt, and the Musegg Wall with its nine towers still guards the northern edge of the centre.

The riverside is watched over by the covered wooden bridges and the Jesuit Church, the first large Baroque church in Switzerland. If you are planning a day trip from Zurich to Lucerne, combining the city with Pilatus is one of the most efficient ways to see both, and your guide shares tips on what to see if you return for a longer visit.

The Pilatus cogwheel railway

The Pilatus Railway opened in 1889 and is still the steepest cogwheel railway in the world, with a maximum gradient of 48 percent. Its red carriages climb from Alpnachstad on the lake shore to the summit in about 30 minutes, passing through tunnels, over rocky ledges and past alpine meadows where cows and ibex graze.

The track uses a special horizontal rack system invented for this line, so steep that ordinary cogwheels would jump the rail. The railway usually runs from late spring to autumn only, which is why the Golden Round Trip is a summer experience. Riding it is a highlight of any Mount Pilatus tour.

The summit of Mount Pilatus

Mount Pilatus rises to 2,128 metres on its highest point, the Tomlishorn, with the summit station just below. From the terraces and short trails around the historic Hotel Pilatus-Kulm, the view sweeps over Lake Lucerne, the Swiss Plateau and a long chain of Alpine peaks, with as many as 73 summits visible on a clear day.

Legends say dragons once lived in the mountain's caves, and a dragon path through the rock recalls those stories. Another tale claims the ghost of Pontius Pilate haunted a lake on the slopes, which gave the mountain its name. The best time to visit Mount Pilatus is on a clear morning, when the lake below shines in the sun.

The Dragon Ride, gondolas and Lake Lucerne

On the other side of the mountain, the Dragon Ride aerial cable car, opened in 2015, glides between the summit and Fräkmüntegg. From there, small panoramic gondolas descend over forests to Kriens on the edge of Lucerne. Depending on the day's schedule, the round trip may run in either direction.

On the default summer option, a one-hour cruise across Lake Lucerne links Alpnachstad with the city, gliding past steep green shores and lakeside villages. The lake boats stop in mid-October; in autumn the lunch-voucher option replaces the cruise, and from late October the ascent and descent use the cogwheel railway while the cable cars are serviced.