Featured holiday Walking holiday at Lake Lucerne Lake Lucerne, Switzerland

This holiday can be arranged with flights from the UK to Switzerland or with rail travel from London to Switzerland. If travelling by air, your holiday starts with a flight to Zurich airport where you catch a direct train to Lucerne arriving around an hour later. If travelling from the UK by rail, you leave London on a morning Eurostar to Paris at around 8am. Take a local taxi from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon and catch the afternoon TGV-Lyria service to Basel. You arrive here mid-afternoon and change onto a direct service to Lucerne, arriving in the early evening. Check in to your room perhaps have dinner at your hotel or at one of the many restaurants in the city.

Your first self-guided walking day is a low-level route exploring the north-eastern shores of Lake Lucerne. You start the day by taking the train from Lucerne to Meggen railway station, just a short journey that should take around 12 minutes. Today’s route is a little over 15 kilometres but easy-going and should take around 4-5 hours in total. You might like to spend a little time exploring Meggen village before starting the walk, perhaps heading to the lakefront to see St Charles Hall and take your first pictures of the shimmering lake. You then head back up through the town and St Pius’ – an ultramodern church that is worth a look inside. The route then takes you on a gentle uphill through the beautiful Megger forest to reach the village of Adligenswill. The next stretch passes through pretty fields and meadows to bring you to the Kurhaus Sonnmatt, a traditional Art Nouveau-style building set amidst parkland. Your next stop is the Gerlisberg monastery and then you tackle a final uphill section, across the golf course, to arrive at the Dietschiberg. This small mountain is affectionately known as Rigi’s little sister and rewards you with a stunning view across Lucerne. This is a great spot for a picnic or a snack at the very least before descending past several grand manor houses and along Dietschibergstrasse. You pass the Dreilinden Park and arrive back into Lucerne shortly afterwards.

Your second walking day takes you up to the top of the Rigi mountain massif. Known affectionately as the Queen of the Mountains, this is the peak most regularly climbed by Swiss nationals and offers beautiful panoramic views over the three bodies of water which surround it: Lake Lucerne, Lake Zug and Lake Lauerz. The day starts by taking a 30-minute train journey from Lucerne to the station of Arth-Goldau. Here, you switch onto the historic Rigi Bahnen mountain railway to Rigi Kulm. This cogwheel railway has been operating since 1875 and takes visitors on a steep journey uphill through woods and tunnels, and past meadows and waterfalls to reach the summit of Rigi Kulm where your walk starts. The route is around 10.4 km on foot and should take around 3.5 hours to complete, although this will be longer if you stop for lunch on the way. From Rigi Kulm you follow the ridge line eastwards and then south-eastwards walking downhill on an easy path past Rigi Staffel to reach Rigi Kaltbad. This mountain resort sits on a sunny terrace which overlooks Lake Lucerne from a height of 1,433 metres. There are a couple of hotels here and the charming chapel of St Michael’s which makes for a good photo opportunity. The path is fairly flat as you continue along the ridge for the next 2 kilometres. The path loops around the small peaks of Würzestock and Dosse, staying level as it follows the old railway line. The last 2 kilometres then take you gently uphill to reach the end of the massif at Rigi Scheidegg. Take time here to absorb the beautiful view before catching the cable car down the hill heading northwest to Krabel. Here, you re-join the cogwheel railway to Arth-Goldau and return on the train to Lucerne.

We include two rest days within this walking holiday, although of course you can choose to swap the days around as you please. We suggest using one of these days to visit Mount Titlis, located nearby in the Uri Alps, and the highest of the surrounding summits at 3,238 metres. It takes around 80 minutes to reach Titlis from Lucerne and involves taking the train to Engelberg and then the first cable car up the mountain to Stand. The journey from Stand to Titlis is made with the Rotair revolving gondola which reveals the deep crevasses and ice boulders of the glacier far below you. The magnificent alpine panorama awaits you at the top as well as a glacier cave and the Cliff Walk – Europe’s highest suspension bridge. There are a variety of walks starting here including a gentle stroll around Lake Trüb as well as a zip line and glacier park for those looking for an extra thrill. Tomorrow is a long day and we recommend heading back to Lucerne in the afternoon and getting an early night in preparation.

Your third walking itinerary takes you on an adventure through the Emmental Alps, located between Lucerne and Brienz. The route itself is around 15.3 km and should take about 5 hours, however an early start is required due to the longer travel times to the start and end points. The round trip from Lucerne and back is a true mountain adventure and will be one of the trip’s most memorable days. You leave Lucerne around 8am and take the train to Brienz. This 90-minute journey takes you along the beautiful Golden Pass railway line, passing four lakes on your journey through the valley to Lake Brienz. You have about an hour before your next train and we recommend having a refreshment in Brienz during this time. From Brienz you now take the world’s only steam-powered rack railway on a scenic journey through alpine meadows and lush forests to arrive at Brienzer Rothorn, 2,244 metres above sea level. The views from here are simply spectacular with the turquoise lake below, distant snow-capped peaks to the south and jagged ridgeline leading east and west. Your route leads you anti-clockwise around the curving ridge to bring you downhill to Sörenberg. From the train station you head eastwards, passing the summit of Brienzer Rothorn and along the shoulder of Arnihaagen where you can see Lake Eisee below on your left. The path undulates as you tick off the minor summits of Höch Gumme and Arnifirst, now making your way northwards as you start your gradual descent. The path is well-laid but the surrounding ground is steep and it is worth taking sections slowly and carefully, stopping to take pictures. Dropping down off the mountains and into the valley you will see the peaks of Mändli, Rossflue and Schafnase on your right and Stellenen and Juchli on your left before emerging out of the valley and continuing through fields and woods to reach the road at Glaubenbielen. You cross over the road and take a scenic path through meadows which leads you to Sörenberg. You will probably have time to look around here before catching a bus to Schüpfheim to connect onto a train to Lucerne. There are services hourly which depart at 5pm, 6pm and 7pm and you’ll arrive back in Lucerne about an hour later.

There are plenty of options for your second rest day which will probably start with a relaxed breakfast at your hotel, winding down from the adventures of the day before. Within Lucerne itself you will find several museums including the Swiss Museum of Transport, a glacier garden and the ever-popular Swiss Chocolate Adventure where you can learn about the provenance, manufacture and transport of chocolate as well as enjoying Lindt’s various creations. Those who prefer to get out of the city might instead choose to take a boat trip across Lake Lucerne, visiting the towns of Weggis, Vitznau, Brunnen and Flüelen. There are regular boat services which make it possible to hop-on and hop-off as you please throughout the course of the day or combine this with a train journey back to make a round trip.

Your penultimate day in Switzerland is spent high in the mountains, enjoying your final route. The day starts by taking the boat from Lucerne to Alpnachstad where you take a thrilling journey up the world’s steepest cogwheel railway to Pilatus Kulm. On a fine day, the views from here are breath-taking and you can look across Lake Lucerne to see the Rigi on the other side, where you started your adventures earlier in the week. The Pilatus massif is comprised of several peaks and we recommend the quick 10-minute walk to Mount Esel summit for a photo before starting your walk properly. The first part of your walk is a 3-kilometre round trip along the ridge which heads on a fairly flat path southwest to the Tomlishorn – the highest summit of the Pilatus massif. The views of the dramatic ridgeline from here are impressive with a steep-angled diagonal ramp of grass falling abruptly away over a rocky drop. On a clear day you can see Lake Sempach to the north, Lake Sarnen to the southwest and the snow-capped summits of the Alps far to the south. Once you have taken your fill of the view, retrace your steps back to Pilatus Kulm and start your descent. You lose about 200 metres of elevation via a series of steep zigzags which take you down into the green hills to the north of Pilatus Kulm. You pass the pretty building of Klimsenkapelle and follow the path downhill heading west and north now, skirting around the rocky slopes of the Klimsenhorn. The path leads you through pretty alpine meadows and huddled stands of trees, eventually arrives at Fräkmüntegg. There is another small chapel and a restaurant here where you might like to relax for a bit before taking the cable car to Kriens and catching the bus from here back to Lucerne, thus completing the Golden Round Trip. You arrive back in Lucerne mid-afternoon and spend the rest of the day exploring the city and relaxing at your hotel, perhaps toasting a successful trip in Lucerne at one of the city’s many restaurants and bars.

You enjoy a final breakfast at your hotel before starting your journey home. If flying back from Zurich airport you have plenty of time for a relaxed breakfast before returning to Zurich for your flight home. You may like to head there a bit early in order to do look around Zurich and do some last-minute shopping before your flight. If returning to the UK by rail we recommend leaving the hotel around 10.30am and retracing your steps via Basel and Paris. You arrive back in London around 7pm.