Mount Pilatus with Kids: Fares, Pushchairs and Play

Mount Pilatus works well with children, as long as you pick the right side. The Kriens side has the gondola, the toboggan run, two rope parks and a playground, and a pushchair rides it without folding. This guide covers the fares, the pushchair, what there is to do at each stop, where to eat and the winter snow. If you would rather have a guide, compare Mount Pilatus guided tours as well.

Is Mount Pilatus good for children?

Yes, and not only for the view. The ride up is half the fun: a four-seat gondola over the forest, a big cableway cabin over the cliffs, and a red cogwheel railcar on the steepest track in the world. On the way you pass Krienseregg and Fräkmüntegg, the two middle stations where most of the children's activities are.

Plan it as a day of stops rather than a summit dash. You can break the journey at both middle stations on the way up or down, on the same ticket.

What does a child pay?

Children aged 6 to 15 pay half fare: CHF 42 for a return to the summit in 2026, and CHF 59.90 for the loop with the boat. With an SBB Junior Travelcard or a Children's Co-Travelcard they ride free, as long as an adult is with them.

The activities are priced on their own. The rope park, the Dragon Glider and the sledges cost extra, and the lift tickets are never included in them. The Mount Pilatus tickets page has the full fare list.

Which way up with a pushchair?

From Kriens. A pushchair rides every lift, but on the cogwheel railway you must fold it, and on busy days the railcars fill. The gondola and cableway from Kriens take it as it is, and bus 1 from Lucerne station gets you to Kriens in about 12 minutes.

• Allow for the walk from the Kriens bus stop to the gondola, about a kilometre uphill.
• The hiking trails are not suitable for pushchairs, so plan on the lifts and the stations.
• Coming by boat to Alpnachstad, an underground path takes you to the cogwheel.

What is there at Fräkmüntegg?

Most of what children want. The gondola reaches it in about 30 minutes from Kriens. The Fräkigaudi is the longest summer toboggan run in Switzerland, 1,350 metres, open from April to October in good weather. Next to it, the Pilatus Rope Park has 10 courses and 100 elements for children from 8 and 120 cm, for up to three hours.

Younger children have the Pilu Rope Park, designed for ages 4 and up, with a continuous safety rope. The Dragon Glider, a 500-metre ride that takes about two minutes, costs CHF 8 for adults and CHF 6 for children. The treetop path across twelve platforms is free and takes about 10 minutes.

What is there at Krienseregg?

The PILU-Land playground, right by the middle station, and Restaurant Krienseregg next to it, serving pasta and pinsa. There are fireplaces with firewood at Krienseregg and at Fräkmüntegg, so you can grill your own lunch.

Easy walks run all year from here: Krienseregg to Fräkmüntegg via Schönenboden, and the Dragon Moor path. Both suit children who like to walk; neither suits a pushchair.

Where are the dragons?

At the top. Dragon World, inside the summit buildings, is free, interactive and takes about 20 minutes. The Dragon Path is a circular trail through the rock, about 20 minutes, starting at the end of the Panorama Gallery; parts of it can be closed in winter.

Pick up the free booklet of legends at the hotel reception or at the Kriens valley station before you go up. The stories behind the dragons, and the one about Pontius Pilate, are in the dragons of Mount Pilatus.

Is the cogwheel ride scary?

It is steep: up to 48 per cent, which is why it is the steepest cogwheel railway in the world. But it is slow. The railcars climb at 15 km/h and come down at 9 km/h on the steepest stretches, and the ride takes 27 minutes up.

If yours are nervous, start with the gondola from Kriens: small four-person cabins close to the trees, and a middle station to stop at. The Dragon Ride cableway takes 3 minutes 39 seconds in a large cabin for 55.

How long do you need with small children?

Half a day for the summit and one middle station, a full day if you want the rope park or the toboggan. The gondola alone is 30 minutes to Fräkmüntegg, and the rope park allows up to three hours.

A simple plan: gondola to Fräkmüntegg, the toboggan and a snack, cableway to the summit, Dragon World and a short walk, then the same way down. That keeps you on one side and avoids folding the pushchair.

Where can a family eat?

At every stop. Fräkmüntegg has a self-service restaurant with Swiss food, Krienseregg pasta and pinsa, and the summit the Bellevue's self-service and Restaurant Pilatus-Kulm. There are no fireplaces on the summit, so a picnic grill has to happen lower down.

Restaurant Pilatus-Kulm serves from 11:30, daily until 24 October 2026 and Wednesday to Sunday in winter. Its terrace opens from 10:00 in good weather and takes no reservations, so with small children an early table outside is the simplest plan. Pack a warm layer too: by the MeteoSwiss measurements, the summit runs about ten degrees colder than Lucerne in summer.

What about winter with children?

Winter on Pilatus happens on the Kriens side. Once there is at least 20 cm of snow at Krienseregg, sledging runs from Fräkmüntegg down: a blue run of 4.8 km, rated easy, and a red run of 3 km, medium to difficult. A sledging day ticket costs CHF 35 for adults and CHF 17.50 for children aged 6 to 15.

You can hire a sledge at the Kriens valley station, CHF 13 for the day, and snowshoes with poles for CHF 20. The seasons for every activity are on the Mount Pilatus seasonal schedule.

What does each activity cost, and from what age?

Here is the family list in one place, with the railway's own ages and prices for 2026. The lift tickets up and down are extra for the summer activities.

Which tour suits families?

For most families, a ticket rather than a tour: you set the pace and stop where the children want to. The Kriens return by gondola and cableway costs $72 and keeps you on the pushchair-friendly side. The loop with the train instead of the boat frees you from the sailing times.

Older children who like to walk enjoy the summit hike with a barbecue lunch, $154 a person. And the private day from Zurich offers child seats in the car. Private days for families are on the Mount Pilatus private tour page.

Frequently asked questions

Where these facts come from

• Pilatus-Bahnen: ticket prices 2026, travelcards, groups and dogs
• Pilatus-Bahnen: travel preparation FAQ (reservations, boats and the round trips)
• Pilatus-Bahnen: the Pilatus Rope Park
• Pilatus-Bahnen: the Dragon Glider
• Pilatus-Bahnen: the Wipfelpfad treetop path
• Pilatus-Bahnen: the toboggan run at Fräkmüntegg
• Pilatus-Bahnen: Dragon World
• Pilatus-Bahnen: the Dragon Path
• Pilatus-Bahnen: sledging
• Pilatus-Bahnen: snowshoe hiking
• Pilatus-Bahnen: hiking
• Pilatus-Bahnen: restaurants
• Pilatus-Bahnen: Restaurant Pilatus-Kulm opening hours
• MeteoSwiss open data: monthly values, station Pilatus (PIL), 2,105 m
• MeteoSwiss open data: homogeneous monthly series, station Luzern (LUZ)

Tours that work with children

Kriens: Mt. Pilatus by Panoramic Gondola and Aerial Cableway

The cheapest way up: the panorama gondola and the cableway from Kriens to the summit and back, on the side that runs all year outside its overhaul.

From $72 per person

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Mt Pilatus Self-Guided Round Trip from Lucerne

Train, cogwheel, cableway, gondola and bus on one ticket from Lucerne, in either direction, with no boat to wait for and no guide.

From $116 per person

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Swiss BBQ & Hike Experience – with Mount Pilatus Ticket

An easy guided hike from the summit to the mountain's highest point, then a Swiss barbecue lunch, meat or vegetarian. The bus and cable car tickets are in the fare.

From $154 per person

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