DAY 1 (15th September 2022) – Lucerne (Mt. Rigi)
Our fellow adventurers BL and WN were already in Lucerne (or Luzern) by the time Wifey and me boarded the plane in Kuala Lumpur on 14th September 2022. After a two-and-a-half-hour transit in Doha, we were on our way to Zurich International Airport, touching down just after 7:00am local time. After clearing immigration, we found our way to the train station and zipped straight to Lucerne. As if right on cue, BL and WN were there to welcome us at the station.
Now We Know
One of the more convenient methods of travelling within Switzerland is using the Swiss Travel Pass (“STP”), which allows us unlimited rides on trains and buses within the selected timeframe, and access to many of the cable cars and funiculars. Many of the mountainous attractions in Switzerland are free to STP holders, and free entrance to some of the adjoining attractions. Do check them out and see if STP’s benefits suit your travel needs, especially if you intend to cover as many mountain sites as we did.
Kapellbrucke
After checking in at Holiday Inn Express, and dropping our bags off, it was time for adventure – and we wasted no time indeed! Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t kind to us for most parts of the day, hence the photos taken were a little moody and dull. We hopped onto a bus (just outside the hotel) and made our way to the Bahnhofquai (the boat harbour) to get our tickets for the boat ride across Lucerne Lake to a small village named Vitznau (Bro Ray: There is no way I can describe the shape of the Lake…. Maybe you can try – write your comments below!)
While waiting for our boat, we wandered to the nearby famous Kapellbrucke, or Chapel Bridge. You certainly cannot claim that you had been to Lucerne if you had not taken a photo with the famous Kapellbrucke in the background!
The Kapellbrucke was initially built in 1365 over the Reuss River to connect the new part of the city to the older part, and forms as part of the fortification of the city, particularly from intruders from the south (lakeside). It is the oldest surviving truss bridge in the world as well as the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe. But it was nearly completely destroyed in a fire on 18th August 1993. It has since been restored.
The Wasserturm, or water tower, is an octagonal-shaped tower built along the bridge and is literally “over the waters”. The otwer pre-adtes the bridge by nearly 30 years, and was originally used as a prison and place of torture! It now houses the municipal archive, but is not open to the public.
Mount Rigi via Vitznau
When it was time to board the ferry to Vitznau, we headed to the quayside, and then we were on board for the 45-min hop across the lake. The ferry was spacious and had an upper deck for better viewing of the coastline and its many buildings. The light drizzle prevented us from soaking up the view, but we still managed to take a few nice photos.
We disembarked at Vitznau, a village of less than 1500 inhabitants, and took a short walk to the cogwheel station. This train service from Vitznau to Mount Rigi was Europe’s first mountain train to be built (1871), to cater to the growing tourism industry in Europe. Mount Rigi is known as the Queen of the Mountains, towering over the three huge lakes below, Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. With the highest point (Rigi Kulm) at just 1797m above sea level, it’s easy to see why they chose this place to build the first mountain train before much more dangerous routes and steeper mountains were subsequently conquered.
Mt. Rigi
Once at the top, the panoramic view of the area was absolutely stunning. The three lakes below are visible and parts of the Alps can be seen in almost every other direction. And of course, the city of Lucerne at a slight distance in the horizon. There are paths leading to all sorts of places, but probably the most frequented are those that lead to the Mt. Emei rock and Lilly the resident cow statue.
One of the more fascinating features which can be found on this mountain is an 8-ton basalt rock which came from Mt. Emei in China, which in 2009, was named the sister mountain to Mount Rigi. Both mountains were said to share similar profiles, though Mt. Emei stands way taller at 3099m above sea level. The “rock exchange” was completed in the summer of 2015, when this rock was placed here, while Switzerland sent theirs to Mt. Emei the year before.
Our plans included coming up to Mount Rigi by cogwheel, and then go down by cable car. For the cable car ride, we had to take the cogwheel partway down to Rigi Kaltbad. I decided that the scenery is too good to miss out on, so, I walked the 3.1km trail route to Rigi Kaltbad, while the rest boarded the cogwheel. The path was pretty straightforward, with some sections being directly next to the cogwheel tracks, as it meanders through some small villages until we got to Rigi Kaltbad. From there, we boarded the cable car which brought us into the village of Weggis below.
Views from inside the cable car down to Weggis; the weather didn’t make for good lighting for photography purposes….
Weggis
Weggis is a small village on the coast of Lake Lucerne, which would be our final stop of the day before we headed back to Lucerne. We found a nice restaurant next to Viktoria Hotel at the intersection of Rigistrasse and Gotthardstrasse. It was the perfect place because right across from where we sat, we could observe the bus and wait for ours to take us back to Lucerne. The dinner was simple local fare, and both us gentlemen had some beer to go with our food.
Summary of Day 1
The map below says it all – ferry, cogwheel and cable car, before catching our 1-hour bus ride back to the city (Bro Ray: It is also possible to hop onto the ferry from Weggis back to Lucerne). I guess you could say that we put our Swiss Travel Pass to really good use. We didn’t have to pay anything extra the whole day through, even the entrance pass to Mt. Rigi was part of the package.
BL and WN had one day to work off any jetlag, while Wifey and I didn’t. But we still pressed on cause we are adventure travellers! We were feeling a little lethargic by evening, but that’s to be expected
