Lucerne Travel Forum

how long does it take to get to Mt. Pilates by cable car(round trip)
Posted: Thu February 5, 2009 02:37 AM UTC

I will get to Lucerne(around noon) and get back to Zurich in the late afternoon or evening so I have a half day in Lucerne. Could you let me know how long it would take for the round trip from Lucern(main station) to Mt. Pilates. Thank you in advance.

yuminova

4 replies

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Re: how long does it take to get to Mt. Pilates by cable car(round trip)
Posted: Thu February 5, 2009 05:59 AM UTC

The answer to this question is on the sbb website.
Go to www.sbb.ch. (Switch the site to English if you want) and then plan a trip from "Luzern" to "Pilatus Kulm". You'll get schedules and times. You could even plan a Zürich - Pilatus Kulm and back trip here. And you can buy a ticket for this trip already in Zürich too. Transport in Switzerland is very well integrated.
Not that the Pilatus Railway is currently not running, but the cable car is.

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K_V_B

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Re: how long does it take to get to Mt. Pilates by cable car(round trip)
Posted: Fri February 6, 2009 03:42 AM UTC

I have been to Lucerne and Mt. Pilates. If you have only half a day I would recommend spending it in Lucerne rather than going up Mt. Pilates. It really is not that special - I have enjoyed other Swiss mountain tops far more. Lucerne is a charming city a worth a visit. If you do decide on Mt. Pilates, you can do a round trip where you start with the cable cars then take the cog railway down the back side and catch a lake steamer back into Lucerne.

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kathymof

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Re: how long does it take to get to Mt. Pilates by cable car(round trip)
Posted: Sun February 8, 2009 08:01 PM UTC

Thank you all the replies.

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yuminova

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Re: how long does it take to get to Mt. Pilates by cable car(round trip)
Posted: Tue February 10, 2009 10:30 PM UTC

Hi,

Firstly, just a note, it is Pilatus (not Pliates and without the Mt.) Just one word.

The train is closed until Spring. Normally it opens in mid May, but it may not happen on the advertised day. We got stuck like that once.

The cable-car journey is about 10 minutes by bus from the Luzern train station. The cable-car is two parts. First a six person cabin takes you for a minimum of 18 minutes to a station where you change on to the large cable-car. The second cable-car (the big one) takes 5 minutes.

So without stops, and assuming you had perfectly time connections the whole way (and no time on top of Pilatus) then you are looking at a minimum round-trip time of 70 minutes from Luzern - Pilatus - Luzern.

Add to this the 65 minute train journey to Zurich... and the time you spend on the mountain and with connections, and you should be able to get a good idea of your total travel time.

It is a fantastic spot. In my mind, much more entertaining than walking around a few shops.

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