Things to Do on Mount Rigi

The Rigi, nicknamed the "Queen of the Mountains", is reached by Europe's oldest cogwheel railway, running since 1871, from either Vitznau or Arth-Goldau. The Vitznau route pairs naturally with a Lake Lucerne boat trip; Arth-Goldau is the faster rail link if you're coming straight from Zurich, about 75 minutes total. A return by cogwheel train costs around CHF 76 from Vitznau, and the summit at Rigi Kulm gives a genuine 360-degree panorama over the lake and, on a clear day, as far as the Bernese Alps. Rigi Kaltbad has an alpine thermal bath built into the rock with the same view, a reasonable way to spend an afternoon if you'd rather not just walk back down. The whole mountain is walkable in stages between stations if you want to do part of it on foot.