Day Trip to Lucerne and Mt. Rigi

In Switzerland, Sundays are traditionally the day for going on day trips. Also, we've been here a month now and had not yet made it outside Zürich. It was high time to fix that, and so in the Sunday spirit, the Geeks took a day trip to Lucerne and Mt. Rigi.

The itinerary:

1. Train from Zürich to Lucerne
2. Wander around central Lucerne for an hour while waiting for our schiff (boat)
3. Boat ride to Vitznau, about an hour down the lake
4. Cog railroad from Vitznau to Rigi Kulm at the top of Mt. Rigi
5. Down Mt. Rigi by an unusual method
6. Further down to Arth-Goldau and a fast train home to Zürich

It's definitely a full day trip; we left home about 8:30 and it was almost 20:00 by the time we were home. It was a blast -- thanks for the recommendation, John!

First stop: Lucerne's tourist information center. Armed with a map, we set off to wander a bit of the lakeshore and the old town, stopping off at the Löwendenkmal, a monument in the form of a lion carved into a rock hillside. The lion represents the bravery of Swiss mercenaries killed fighting to defend Louis XVI during the French revolution.

Some pictures from our random walk around central Lucerne:

Swans along the lakeshore


Chapel Bridge and Water Tower (Kapellbrücke und Wasserturm)

After about an hour, we hopped onto a boat for the 50-minute ride down the lake to Vitznau, where we transferred to the Rigi Bahn, a cog railway up the steep mountainside to the summit at Rigi Kulm. There, we had a quick lunch while admiring the view. OK, let's not mince words: the stunningly beautiful view. A small sample:

Part of The Stunning Alps from Mt. Rigi

We also arranged our "unusual method" to descend the mountain: sleds. Mt. Rigi has multiple schlittelweg, or sledding trails, including one that's four kilometers long, which we took down the mountain. Zürich Mama Geek had her own sled, while Little Geek Girl rode with me. Here's a picture of ZMG and LGG sitting on one sled while ZMG contemplates how she can get back down the mountain without exposure to "imminent death".

ZMG and LGG at Rigi Kulm, with The Stunning Alps behind

As it turned out, we had a blast. The sled track is smooth in parts, bumpy in many other parts - we definitely caught air multiple times - and, as promised by John, there were a couple places where we were completely out of control. Also, LGG was entertained by listening to ZMG chanting "I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die" as she flew down the mountain.

ZMG in action sledding down Mt. Rigi

Despite multiple crashes along the way down, LGG decided that we had to make another run, which we did with even more crashes this time. Twice was enough today, though, so we returned the sled at the mid-mountain stop and took another cog railway down the other side of the mountain to Arth-Goldau, where we picked up our fast train to home. All in all, a great day -- thanks, John! -- and LGG has decided we must go to Rigi again when Auntie Geek visits in March.