Switzerland travel series - Part 9 - Rigi
It had been more than a month since I've been to the mountains for the last time so you can imagine how excited I was on Sunday when the weather finally allowed us to go there again.
This time we decided to go to mountain massif Rigi with its highest point Rigi Kulm (1798 m).
Rigi is located at the heart of Switzerland and it is surrounded by three lakes - Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. You can admire the view of another ten small lakes from the summit as well.
There is a good reason why they call this mountain massif 'The queen of the mountains'. It is not only because its name comes from the Latin word 'Regina' which means 'a queen' but also because the Rigi offers the most spectaculars views of the Swiss Alps!
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We started our trip in Vitznau. It is a village at the foot of the Rigi from where you can either take a boat and explore the famous lake Lucerne or a mountain train that will take you right up into the amazing Alpine world. The railway from Vitznau to the Rigi was built in 1871 and it is the oldest rack railway in Europe!
You can also combine these two activities if you have enough time 😊 If you like you can walk to the Rigi as well but we opted for the train ride because of the snow.
We walked around for a few minutes before we purchased our tickets..
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We had to be fast as according to the forecast the weather was supposed to change in the afternoon..
And as we could already see some dark clouds approaching us we decided to purchase our train tickets and get to the summit as soon as possible. The price per person is CHF 45 when you go there in the afternoon. Morning tickets are more expensive.
This was not our first time here but we both forgot how long it takes to get to the Rigi Kulm by train. I think that it is not only the oldest rack railway in Europe but the slowest one as well 😊
It is nice to enjoy the views from the train when it's sunny but when the clouds start to become darker and darker you try to push the train up the hill with the power of your mind. Well, it obviously doesn't work like this..
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After 45 minutes in the train we finally reached the top of the Rigi.
There was a lot of snow and it was noticeably colder and windier than in Vitznau. There were some tourists in snickers showing their bare ankles. They were shivering and I was feeling sorry for them..
Lucky us, we had the right equipment for such weather conditions 😊
We had to make sure that we stay on the right trail as otherwise we would stand up to our knees in the snow. And yes, it happened many times..
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Let's enjoy some views now...
Winter-wonderland and the Lake Lauerz in the back...
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Lake Lucerne...
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I wouldn't go here... This is one of those places with deep snow 😊
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A cottage waiting for spring to become accessible...
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There were more of them...
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Lake Zug with Wildspitz (1580 m)...
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Lake Zug again...
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We found these two tiny snowmen on the way 😊 They were around 10 cm tall..
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I like this composition...
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The last view of the Lake Zug 😊
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There is a cultural and touristic partnership between the two mountains Emei Shan (Sichuan province, China) and the Rigi which was established in 2009. This stone symbolizes this precious partnership.
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On this sign you can check all the peaks visible from the Rigi. We couldn't see many of them because of the weather conditions but at optimal visibility you should be able to see around 620 peaks from here!
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When most of the peaks started to disappear behind heavy clouds we decided that it was the right time for a cup of tea in a nearby restaurant before boarding the train and heading back to Vitznau...
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These guys don't seem to mind the weather conditions as much as we do 😊
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I prefer sunny days but I realized that there is something dramatic about dark and heavy clouds which I like as well...
After a while it started to snow heavily and it was the best time to board the train and head back to the village. We had low visibility on the way down but we didn't mind as we were so tired from the cold that we fell asleep and woke up just on time to leave the train.
I hope you have enjoyed another day with me!
Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Martina
Howdy Martina! wow talk about views! Dang you can see forever up there, that was amazing and beautiful and stunning! Thank you for taking us on this tour of Rigi, it's extremely memorable.
So many nice words in one comment? You've overdone yourself dear cowboy :D
howdy Martina! oh, well maybe I didn't mean to make quite so many nice words all together, I maybe should go back and adjust them so you don't get an ego problem! lol. No, it was amazing!
It's true about enjoying sunny days and when there is snow I do prefer the sun with it, but I actually love a good grey day with rain. But, the grey and snow makes the world feel like a soft charcoal drawing, which can be lovely.
I am sorry for my late response! I have totally missed your comment :)
I agree with you! I actually enjoy all weather conditions as it just the way it should be :) Nature is powerful and we should admire her.. I should have mentioned that I was more talking about the photography ;)
Have a lovely week!
I love going to the Rocky Mountains here in Canada and it looks like those mountains in Switzerland are pretty fabulous! What a view! I'm sure it's even more fantastic in the summer when you can hike around more.
I noticed a lush green valley in the picture of Lake Zug with Wildspitz .
What would be the temperature there at this time of year?
Thanks for sharing! That is a very beautiful place!
I am sorry for coming back to you so late! I have almost missed your comment :(
The mountains in Switzerland are stunning! I love to visit them as much as I can. And I agree with you, it is great in summer too. There are so many hiking trails and you can easily spend there a few days walking around and enjoying the nature. Rigi has great facilities so you wouldn't get lost :)
The temperature nowadays is around -4 degrees Celsius. But this is not such a high altitude. If you go to around 4000 m then you get something around -20..
Thank you for stopping by and have a lovely week!
Away to the mountains, hooray!
My goodness those are some more spectacular views! I'm getting a bit chilly looking at all of that snow (that guy in the short sleeves must be cold, haha), but it is so lovely on those mountain tops. We haven't gotten any snow this year at all, though even if we did it would look nothing like that. ;) Crazy to see that one cottage pretty much covered in snow!
Hooray!! And this weekend is finally supposed to be sunny! :) I'm not gonna miss going there again :)
I was there a few years ago in summer as well and it was so different. We had beautiful weather, everything was green, there were many flowers on the way.. but it has its charm in winter as well :) I really like seeing those lakes contrasting the white mountains, it was quite cool :)
We also don't have any snow here (1.5 hours drive from the mountains). It's 11 degrees today which is very unusual for February and I'm afraid it will start snowing in April like it did last year.. not cool..
Thank you for stopping by Katie and have a great weekend!
Yay for some sunshine! Though boo for snow in April, haha. I know by then most everyone is ready for spring to be in full swing! I think we can usually start going to pick strawberries in April, and then it is only a short while before summer hits in full force. Ah well, I try to enjoy each season for what it is. A market trip is on tap as usual for my Saturday morning adventure, so I will indeed enjoy it! Have a wonderful weekend yourself! I hope the restaurant planning continues to go well. 🤗
Hahaha, boo for snow in April! I like this one :) It used to be like this here as well. We went to pick strawberries in late April or early May but last year we had a snow storm at the end of April and there was a lot of damage to farmers so everything was kind of postponed.. sad story..
Have fun at the farmer's market! I'm sure I'll see what you got on Monday :)
These days it's not going that well as I have a wisdom tooth pain so I try to avoid planning at all because it makes me angry.. Actually everything makes me angry these days :D
Oh boo! That stinks! Anything in the mouth is awful to deal with. I hope you can get some relief soon!
I wouldn't mind a slow train with such a beautiful scenery, also you get your money's worth as well ^_^
And a cup of tea, how very British!
The train was full with Asian tourists who were so loud! I've never been to Asia but I assume it must be such a loud part of the world if those people behave the same like they do here. They would be talking to someone who is on the other side of the carriage (so yelling at the end), or they would be skypeing all the time, opening windows to take photos and then not closing them, etc.. They are so different then European tourists :) I understand that they are on vacation so want to have fun but I really wonder if they are like this at home as well :) But this is not the point.. the point is that it was not so super pleasant in the train so I really wanted to get out :)
Hahaha, yeah, it was more of a necessity in this weather but I like how it sounds when you say: How very British :)
Thank you for stopping by, Pauline!
Looking at your travel blog always brings me pleasure. The beautiful photos and your description make me travel to other worlds, it was world of fantasy and castles before but now it's a world filled with snow and ice :D.
I guess you don't have much of both in Australia, do you? :) Are there actually any castles at all?
I'm glad that you can see places through my photos that you normally can't visit :) It's always nice to read your comments scrawls :)
Have a lovely afternoon!
Waved in your direction coming back on a flight from Paris 😁
Oahhh, these views are indeed spectacular. Been thinking about a motorcycle trip to Switzerland for quite some time and your pictures make it ever more appealing.
Although I also like the idea of taking that train. Wish you would have included a picture of it. Funny thing is, that "Zug" is also the German word for "train" ;-)
Hahaha, next time you need to tell me in advance so that I wave back :)
Now it's not the best time as there is a lot of snow in the Alps. The highways are clear but if you go a little bit up the mountains it might get tricky..
There is only two options to get there and it's either walking or taking the zugli (how we say it in the Swiss German) :) There is no road so you can't go out with a motorcycle.. You could park it in Vitznau or any other village on the way and then walk for example. It is an easy route.. the only problem now is the snow so it's dangerous to go hiking if you don't have the right equipment or if you suffer from hips issues like I do :)
I wish I took a photo too but there were too may tourists and I'm not very comfortable in such crowds.. But you can google it :)
Thank you for stopping by!
Wow! What fabulous photos! I can sit and look at them for hours, travelling in my mind! Blessings!
Thank you for your kind words! I'm happy that you liked them!
You're really a good photographer, I love seeing your photos, especially the first one, I'm thinking to draw it sometime in the future, and those snowman are really cute 😊
WOW!! That would be so nice of you to draw it!!! I would love to see it :) Hope you'll find time for it :)
Thank you for your kind words and for stopping by!
Yaaayyy... Train to the mountain 😨😲 that's amazing 😉 where's the train pictures @delishtreats.. it's not fair to tell a story about a train through the mountain for a tropical lady like me without the photo😆😅.. Just Kidding!
I wondering why people going to travel on winter just to see the white covered earth and survived from the cold weather, but reading your post and see the pictures... it's incredibly amazing scenes😍😍😍 you said 620 peaks 😱😱😱 I wonder how long it took for me if I want to really count on it. And she's the queen of the mountain with that lakes and peaks😘
Hahaha, that is a good point! I couldn't take a photo as there were too many tourists boarding the train. I hate such crowded places as I start to panic so I focus on breathing and leave the camera in my backpack :)
It's so beautiful in winter :) And so different to what you can see in summer. You even forget this cold :) You should try it one day..
Well, that's what is said. I'm sure it would take me ages to count it and I'm 100% certain that I would not spot all of them :D
Thank you for stopping by and for your kind comment Cici!