Swiss Big Five Mountain Railway Adventure

In the late morning we’ll make our way back to Strasbourg railway station where we’ll board a regional train through Alsace and across the border into Switzerland. In Basel we’ll change trains and continue into central Switzerland. There’s a final change of trains in Lucerne, arriving in Hergiswil in the late afternoon - our base for the next seven nights. We'll walk the short distance (about 450 metres) to our hotel.

We’ll travel by train from Hergiswil to Lucerne where we’ll board a boat to take us across the lake to Kehrsiten-Bürgenstock. A funicular then takes us up to Bürgenstock where we’ll walk (about 40 minutes to an hour) to the Hammetschwand Lift, the highest outdoor lift in Europe. Journey upwards (153 metres in one minute), and from the summit you’ll be able to gaze out over Lake Lucerne, the Rigi and Pilatus mountains, and the Bernese Alps. There’s time for lunch before our return journey.

Distance: 1 mile (1.7km)

We’ll travel by rail around the lake to Stans, where the first part of our Stanserhorn experience is the funicular railway dating from 1893. We’ll then hop on the world’s first cableway with an open-air upper deck from where you can take in the outstanding views. At the summit, there’s the Rondorama revolving restaurant, which makes one complete revolution every 43 minutes, soaking up 360-degree panoramic views of the Alps. Enjoy lunch before our return journey to Hergiswil.

Make the most of the hotel’s leisure facilities and lake surroundings or visit Lucerne with its famous wooden footbridge and Swiss Museum of Transport. You’ll be given a local transport pass you can use this to visit the sights in the local area.

Affectionately called the Queen of the Mountains, Rigi is Europe’s first mountain railway, which opened in 1871. After a train ride to Lucerne, we’ll take a boat and travel across Lake Lucerne to Vitznau. Here we’ll join the cogwheel railway that leaves the lake behind for a magnificent journey through the meadows to the summit of the Rigi. On a clear day you can see France and Germany. Enjoy the views and have some lunch before the return journey to Hergiswil.

We’ll travel from Hergiswil to Alpnachstad by boat for the start of our Pilatus Railway experience. In Alpnachstad we’ll board the steepest cogwheel railway in the world to reach the summit at 2,132 metres above sea level. Enjoy some free time to soak up the panorama of the Alpine Massif. Then we’ll travel by aerial cable car and panorama gondola to Kriens and return to Hergiswil from there, via Lucerne. 

We’ll travel by train away from the lake and into the mountains to Engelberg via Stans. In Engelberg we’ll hop on a cable car to Stand station where the world’s first revolving gondola to the summit awaits. The TITLIS Rotair sweeps you up to the summit at 3,020 metres above sea level. The TITLIS Cliff Walk at the summit is sure to get your adrenaline pumping, too.

We say farewell to Hergiwsil and Lake Lucerne and travel to Basel by train, changing in Lucerne en route. On arrival in Basel we’ll walk to our hotel, Hotel Schweizerhof, just across the road from the station. We arrive in Basel in the early afternoon so we’ll have time to wander and see the sights. The hotel provides each guest with a local BaselCard giving you complimentary travel on local public transport. This evening we enjoy dinner in a local restaurant.  

After breakfast we’ll board the high-speed TGV train for Paris. At Gare de Lyon, a coach will transfer us across Paris to Gare du Nord station. Sit back and relax on the Eurostar from Paris to St Pancras International railway station.