Winter Wonderland at Mt Rigi

Remember the joy when the first snow covered the earth and you just couldn’t wait to grab your sledges and run sledding to the hill nearby your house? I still remember all the fun and laughter I had while sledding when I was a child. Even though I am now grown up I still immensely enjoy this fun winter activity. Luckily, I live in Switzerland, a country where the winters are still still cold and snowy enough to allow me to practice this sport. Last year I’ve tried the sledding tracks in Grindelwald and a year before the tracks in Engelberg. This year, I went sledding to Rigi – a 1,789 meters high summit in Central Switzerland and it was great! There was enough of fresh snow, sun was out and my husband and I had a lot of fun swishing down the snowy terrain!

Sledding at Rigi was fun

“The Queen of the Mountains”, as Mount Rigi is sometimes nicknamed, is a popular destination to visit in all seasons. I have already been there in the summer, but never in winter. Somehow, I always considered Rigi more as a summer destination, ideal for hiking and other summer activities. I haven’t really thought about it as a place to go to do winter sports. For that reason, I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that there are five sledging trails of varying difficulties in total length of 10 kilometres at Rigi. Previous weekend all of those tracks were open and snow conditions were ideal: 40 cm of snow. Without hesitation, my hubby and I chose to go sledding to Rigi.

One of Rigi’s sledding trails

As usual, we travelled to Rigi by car. After 30 minutes drive from Luzern, we arrived to Weggis, little town by the Lake Luzern (Vierwaldstättersee) where the lower station of the gondola can be found. We bought our sledging day-passes and ascent to Rigi Kaltbad at 1453 meters altitude.

Waiting for a train at Rigi Kaltbad

At Rigi Kaltbad we’ve rented our sledges at Rigi Sport Kiosk by the railway station. Prepared for the sledging adventures, we’ve boarded the boarded the mountain train to the top of Rigi – Rigi Kulm at the altitude 1,798 meters above sea level. We’ve shared the coach with a group of Asian tourists who probably saw snow for the first time. They were super adorable when they were observing snow-covered landscape.

Winter wonderland

At Rigi Kulm, we walked to the highest point of the summit to admire the views from the top. Despite the light fog, they were as amazing as we remembered them from our previous trips.

Views from the top of Rigi

When we’ve found the start of the trail no. 1, we’ve hopped on the sledges and the fun began. The trail we sledged from Rigi Kulm to  Rigi Klösterli was ideal: it was long, had several interesting turns, descents and great views.

Sledding trail from Rigi Kulm to Rigi Klösterli

It took us about half an hour to sled down to Klösterli train station where we took the train back up to Rigi Kulm.

Sledding trail from Rigi Kulm to Rigi Klösterli

It was rather cold outside, so we’ve decided to warm ourselves at the restaurant of Rigi Kulm hotel. Of course we couldn’t resist ordering their delicious apple strudel with vanilla cream. As many times before, it was delicious.

Delicious apple strudel

By the time we left Rigi Kulm hotel, it started to snow. The snow-covered landscape turned even more beautiful when the snowflakes were falling on us. Real winter wonderland.

We’ve sledged down the sledding trail no. 2 to Rigi Staffel. Because we wanted to return to the valley the same way we arrived, we continued our way back in direction of Rigi Kaltbad. First, we walked the snowy walking trail to Rigi Staffelhöhe. There we’ve hopped on the sledges once again and sledge all the way down to the Rigi Kaltbad.

At Rigi Kaltbad we’ve returned our rented sledges. Tired, but happy that we’ve spent another amazing day at the snow, we’ve boarded the cable car and returned down to Weggis and from there back home to Luzern.

PRACTICAL INFORMATIONS:

HOW TO GET TO Rigi?

There are many options to get to the top of Rigi (Rigi Kulm):

• from Vitznau (GPS coordinates: 47°00’37.4″N 8°29’01.6″E) take the cogwheel train (Rigi Bahn) to Rigi Kulm
• from Weggis (GPS coordinates: 47°02’02.7″N 8°26’26.6″E) take the cable car to Rigi Kaltbad and then the train to Rigi Kulm
• from Goldau (GPS coordinates: 47°02’50.6″N 8°32’49.5″E) take the cogwheel train (Rigi Bahn) to Rigi Kulm

Tip:  If traveling by public transport, I suggest purchasing RailAway combined offer.

EXPENSES

• Discounted day sledging pass (Special Coop-Schlitteltage price): 25 CHF/person
• Sledge Rental: 10 CHF/person
• Two plates of Apple strudel with vanilla sauce at Hotel Rigi Kulm restaurant: 22 CHF

 

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