Hiking on Rigi - Switzerland

The weather being surprisingly nice and temperature enjoyable for end October, i decided to go for a 4 hours hike to the top of Rigi mountain, in the heart of Switzerland.

The hike starts at lake Luzern and ends up on top of the Rigi (named Rigi Kulm) at 1798m. The hike is about 4 hours and meanders through forest and field with stunning views over lake Luzern. Once the top is reached, you can enjoy a 360° view over central Switzerland.

Map source from map.geo.admin.ch

The hike starts at Weggis, from the cable car parking lot. the view from the parking gives already a clue about how the hike will be:

The trail goes through forest and the orange coloring due to Fall makes the hike really poetic

The trail is based on the original way that Mark Twain took when he visited Switzerland and decided to "climb" on top of the Rigi. Along the way, you can read some quotes from mark Twain based on his experience and feelings climbing on top:

The trail makes us go through a place called Felsentor. It is an impressive gate made of two huge rocks where another one gets stuck on top. Going through it could be seen as a kind of mystical experience.

The Rigi can also be reached by train and it is interesting to see that they kept the old material and that it stills work like a charm, bringing tourist directly on top (which kind of make the top crowded)

After 3 hours and a half of hiking, the top is finally to be seen:

And the top is finally reached after the 4 hours of hiking. Unfortunately, the weather changed a bit while hiking up and the sun disappeared, preventing me to get the full view other the Alps. But it is a good reason to come back

I made the way back using the cable car back to the parking lot.

If some of you hiked to Rigi as well, I'd be glad to read your experience with the Queen of the Mountains in comments.