The ticket to book if you want the whole loop at your own pace. It is sold by Pilatus-Bahnen, the company that runs the mountain's railway and cableways, and it covers the bus, the gondolas, the cableway, the cogwheel railway and the boat in one fare. Nobody meets you and nobody explains the changes, so read the route before you go.
Pilatus-Bahnen runs every lift on the loop.
Start with the bus to Kriens or with the boat to Alpnachstad.
Stay as long as the day's timetable lets you.
Children under 6 travel without a ticket.
Guests rate the transport 4.7 out of 5.
A full refund up to 24 hours before you travel.
This is the Golden Round Trip as Pilatus-Bahnen sells it: bus 1 between Lucerne and Kriens, the panorama gondolas to Fräkmüntegg, the Dragon Ride cableway to the summit, the cogwheel railway down to Alpnachstad and the boat across Lake Lucerne. There is no coach, no group and no guide. Pilatus-Bahnen's own counter price for the same loop in 2026 is CHF 119.80 with the boat in second class.
Looking for a Mount Pilatus guided tours with nobody setting the pace? This is the one: the same lifts the guided days use, with the order and the timing left to you.
If you start by land, take bus 1, direction Obernau, from the stop in front of Lucerne station. After about 11 minutes, get off at Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus, and walk up to the gondola station. Guests put that walk at about a kilometre, uphill, and the signs are few: look up the route before you set off.
The gondolas take at least 18 minutes to Fräkmüntegg, and you can step off at Krienseregg or at Fräkmüntegg and get back on later. The Dragon Ride then takes 3 minutes 39 seconds to Pilatus Kulm.
The cogwheel railway is the one leg this ticket does not settle for you. A seat reservation is not in the fare, and Pilatus-Bahnen recommends one, above all at weekends in good weather and at lunchtime on weekdays. It is not obligatory, but without one there can be a wait at the summit or at Alpnachstad. A reservation cannot be cancelled; you can change its time up to 30 minutes before.
The railcars leave every 35 minutes. Going down takes 33 minutes, going up 27. Pick a seat that fits your boat, and book it once you know which way round you are going.
The boat is the leg with the fewest departures: two to five sailings a day, depending on the date. That is why travellers who have done the loop advise starting with it. Take the boat from pier 2 opposite the station to Alpnachstad, book a cogwheel seat that meets it, and come down by cableway and gondola. The walk back to bus 1 in Kriens is then downhill.
By the 2026 timetable the crossing takes from 47 minutes to about an hour and a half, depending on the sailing, and until 18 October the earliest sailing that runs every day leaves Lucerne at 09:38. The 1st-class seats are on the upper deck. At Alpnachstad an underground path takes you straight from the landing stage to the railway.
The Golden Round Trip needs three things at once: the boat, the cogwheel and the cableway. In 2026 the boat's last day is 18 October, and the gondolas and Dragon Ride close for their overhaul from 19 October to 27 November. Book this ticket for a date on or before 18 October. After that, a gondola and cableway ticket from Kriens takes you up the side that runs all winter once it reopens, and the full set of fares is on Mount Pilatus ticket prices.
You are staying in Lucerne, you are happy to read a timetable and change from bus to gondola to railway on your own, and you want to stay at the top as long as you like. It suits independent travellers, families who stop often and anyone who would rather not follow a group.
It is your first time and you want the changes handled: the guided half-day from Lucerne rides the same loop with a guide for $197 a person against $144. You want the train instead of the boat: the self-guided round trip by train costs $113. You only want the summit: the Kriens gondola and cableway return is $72.
There is no meeting point and no guide. You start at Lucerne railway station: bus 1 leaves from the stop in front of it, and the boat to Alpnachstad from pier 2 across the road. The ticket is on your phone, so charge it the night before and show it on the bus.
If you use a wheelchair, Pilatus-Bahnen asks you to register at least a day ahead by phone, except with a manual wheelchair via Kriens. Arriving by boat, plan to take a later cogwheel railcar than the first one that meets it.
★★★★★
The railway's loop ticket, boat included
We took the boat first because it runs less often, and that let us buy a timed cogwheel seat. The walk to the bus at the end is about 1 km, downhill if you come off the mountain.
Amanda · Australia · August 2026
★★★★★
The railway's loop ticket, boat included
Go by boat first and then take the cogwheel, so your seat reservation fits the ferry times. Finishing by cable car and bus is easier too.
suzane · United States · September 2026
★★★★★
The railway's loop ticket, boat included
Boat, cogwheel and gondola were all excellent. The stop for the bus back to Lucerne needs clearer directions.
John · Australia · September 2026
Pick your date, with free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Check availability