16 reviews of Mt. Pilatus Summer Day Trip from Lucerne

Terrific little half day trip if the weather is good. Constant change of travel method--cable car, rack railway, boat--makes for a nice excursion. The boat ride is a bit long, 90 minutes, but we had nice weather, and there is a bar on board. The scenery is magnificent; not sure how I'd feel on a rainy or sight-obscured day however. The guide was like a nice mother hen. The only confusing part was that I called and asked if they meet you directly in the Tourist Info station at the train station and was told "yes" twice, when in reality, the bus is across the street. Luckily, the people at the TI know, and I was directed by them to the bus. Also, on the boat trip back, if you are staying in Lucerne, get off at the Hergiswil stop and go to the glass factory right at the dock, and then afterwards you can easily take the train back to Lucerne from the station located there, about a 15 minute ride.

This was by far the highlight of a three-week tour throughout Europe. We absolutely loved Switzerland, and Mount Pilatus was the clincher for us when we stayed at Lucerne. We did this trip in May, and there was snow on top of the mountain. On the day we went up, it was quite cold and cloudy, but even though we didn't have a clear view from the top, it was still breathtaking, and we will never forget it. After arrival at the bottom of the mountain by coach, the first leg begins by taking you up in cable cars that seat 4 people. We thought this was scary, but little did we know the most amazing part was ahead of us! After this part, we were transferred to a larger cable car which fitted about 20 people inside. As there was snow on the mountain, we had an awesome view as the cable car took us higher and higher to the top. At one point we came up towards a ridge, and all of a sudden we were over the top and the view dropped down to a huge valley covered in snow. We were so high up and it was really scary, but we will never ever forget feeling like we were on top of the world! Make sure at this point you look out for the church on top of the ridge on your right-hand side. When you get to the top, you're left to your own devices to explore. When it's time to leave, you depart the mountain by train on the other side, which is the steepest train in the world. It was amazing, and we were sad when this tour was over.

I had an excellent day. The guide was very knowledgeable and pleasant. The scenery was outstanding.

I highly recommend this tour for anyone who loves nature. This is a must-do tour!

Mount Pilatus is a must see if you are going to Lucerne. Getting to and going up Mount Pilatus is made much easier if you are with a guide and booking this ahead of time. Booking with Viator was well worth it, and it saves the hassle of finding the tours to book once you are on holiday.

The sites were wonderful; transportation was coordinated well. The "tour guide", however, was not very pleasant, was quite impatient and only initiated a conversation with my daughter and I five minutes before the trip ended. Normally I am a big tipper, but not this time; the woman did not seem to be in the mood to deal with tourists.

Unfortunately, when we arrived in Switzerland, the weather took a turn for the worse, so on the day of our tour, it was only about 2 degrees centigrade and snowing at the top of Mount Pilatus, so we couldn't see anything. There were no views whatsoever. It was pouring rain the entire ride up and snowing at the top, and we couldn't see beyond 10 feet, so the trip was kind of pointless, but the tour operator can't control Mother Nature. Had the weather cooperated, this would have been an amazing tour. Our guide was fantastic. She was very organized, friendly and knowledgeable about the area and shared lots of fun facts with us. She also spoke 4 languages, so she was able to accommodate everyone in our group. Weather permitting, I highly recommend this tour.