How much does a Mount Pilatus ticket cost?

What you are actually paying for

People ask me for one number and there is no one number. The mountain is four separate legs and each has its own fare. From Alpnachstad it is the cogwheel railway, about 30 minutes up and 40 down. From Kriens it is the panorama gondola to Fräkmüntegg (about 30 minutes) and then the Dragon Ride cableway to Pilatus Kulm (about 4 minutes). A ticket can be one way, return by the same route, or a round trip that goes up one side and down the other. The round trip is the one most visitors want and it is what the guided tours are built on.

Then there is the valley transport. Bus 1 to Kriens, the S5 train to Alpnachstad and the boat from Lucerne are all separate from the mountain ticket, unless you buy a packaged round trip that bundles them. The Golden Round Trip costs more than the Silver for one reason only: the boat leg is added in place of the train. A guided tour costs more again because you are paying for a coach, a live guide and someone else handling the reservations.

Which passes cut the fare

This is where most of the confusion sits, so here it is plainly. Pilatus is not free with the Swiss Travel Pass. The pass gets you to the valley stations for nothing (train, bus and boat are covered) and then takes 50% off the cogwheel, cableway and gondola. The Half Fare Card, the GA Travelcard, Eurail and Interrail passes all give the same 50% on the mountain sections. The Lucerne Travel Pass, the regional visitor pass some hotels hand out, is the only pass that makes the mountain itself free. Municipal day passes and SBB saver offers are not accepted. I go through all of it, including the Rigi contrast, on the Swiss Travel Pass page.

One thing to know before you book: you cannot stack a rail-pass discount on top of a GetYourGuide ticket. The GetYourGuide products are full-fare packages. If you hold a Swiss Travel Pass and want the 50%, buy the mountain ticket at the valley station instead and use the pass for the valley transport. If you hold no pass, the packaged round trip is the simpler buy and includes a seat reservation for the cogwheel.

Children, dogs and groups

On the self-guided products sold through this site, children aged 0 to 5 travel free. With the SBB Junior or Children’s Co-Travelcard, children ride free alongside a paying parent on the mountain sections too. Dogs taller than 30 cm need their own ticket. Groups of ten or more get 30% off, but only when booking on site at the valley station, not online.

Why I do not print a figure

Because it would be wrong within a season. The operator prices the mountain differently in summer and winter, the guided tours change with the calendar (the boat is swapped for a lunch voucher from 19 October, the cableway is closed for revision 19 October to 27 November), and a stale number on a page like this is how people turn up with the wrong expectation. The widget below pulls the rate for the date you pick. It is the same rate you would see on GetYourGuide directly; the site earns a small commission and you pay nothing extra.

What the guided Golden Round Trip includes

Check the live rate for your date

Pick a date and the widget shows the current rate for the guided Golden Round Trip. The other five products are on the tickets and tours page in the header.

Frequently asked questions