Switzerland Guide
Zentralschweiz
The Rigi
The titanic chunk of the Rigi ( 
www.rigi.ch ), which rises to 1798m between the lakes of Luzern and Zug, has long been famous as a majestic viewpoint. By itself, it's actually rather scrubby, a steep-scarped grassy ridge with several summits, but it stands alone dividing the two lakes, and offers wonderful views south to the Alps.
There are several transport options up the mountain, testifying to the scramble in the late nineteenth century to capitalize on burgeoning tourism to Luzern. Rival companies started laying track from Vitznau on Lake Luzern, and Arth-Goldau just south of the Zugersee, competing for who would be first to reach the summit. The Vitznau line – with the bonus of its accessibility from Luzern by boat – won out, but Arth-Goldau benefits from being a major junction-point on the Zürich– Gotthard mainline train route. Red trains from Vitznau and blue ones from Goldau converge at Staffel near the summit for the final pull to Rigi-Kulm at the very top. A third route up the mountain, a cable car from picturesque Weggis, also on Lake Luzern, rises to connect with the Vitznau trains at an intermediate stop named Rigi-Kaltbad.
There are hiking routes all over the Rigi, most starting from Rigi-Kaltbad (1453m) or Rigi-Klösterli (1315m), the first accessible from both Weggis and Vitznau, the second a midway stop on the Arth-Goldau train line. Kaltbad is a peaceful traffic-free resort on a terrace of pastureland high above Weggis; there's a handful of hotels here, as well as relatively easy two- or three-hour hiking routes through the pine trees out to the Känzeli viewpoint, up onto the ridge at First, or to the Rotstock peak above Kaltbad (1659m). Red trains from Vitznau and blue ones from Arth-Goldau meet at Staffel for the final stretch to Rigi-Kulm, home of the Hotel Rigi-Kulm ( 
041 855 03 03, www.rigikulm.ch ; Price: Fr.150–250; closed Oct & Nov), a bald 1950s creation replacing earlier incarnations dating back more than a hundred years. It's a rather dull place in itself, but has the incomparable selling point of offering a superb sunrise over the Alps. The summit is a 200m stroll from the hotel, and gives bird's-eye views over Luzern and the Vierwaldstättersee on one side, and Zug and the Zugersee on the other.