5 Best Sights in Luzern and Central Switzerland, Switzerland

To reach the mountain by cable car, get a bus from the train station in Luzern to the suburb of Kriens, where you catch a tiny, four-seat cable car that flies silently up to Fräkmüntegg (4,600 feet). From there, change to the sleek, multilevel 55-passenger cable car that sails through open air up the rock cliff to the summit station (5,560 feet). A 10-minute walk takes you to Esel, one of the central peaks that make up Pilatus. From a platform here, views unfold over the Alps and the sprawling, angular Lake Luzern. Once you reach the top, glorious views are everywhere. The flat main trail on the top leads in and out of the mountain, and comes replete with striking cavern windows that offer drop-dead-gorgeous vistas. The main view takes in Luzern, which looks like a toy village. The refurbished Hotel Pilatus-Kulm, once graced by Queen Victoria, features 27 rooms and three suites in Alpine-chic style. Meanwhile, it still feels like the 19th century in the restaurant, where the food is spiced up by the views just outside the elegant sash windows. There's also the simpler Hotel Bellevue in a more modern building; it has 20 rooms.

A super variation for the trip from Mt. Pilatus to Luzern involves riding one of the steepest cogwheel trains in the country—often down gradients inclined nearly 48%—through four tunnels that pierce sheer rock, to Alpnachstad. From there, take the train or the ferry, which leaves from the jetty across from the train station, back to Luzern. The trip to Mt. Pilatus costs SF72 regardless of whether you start in Kriens or Alpnachstad. To go on to Engelberg, get off the Luzern-bound train at Hergiswil, where you can cross the tracks and climb aboard the small, private Stans–Engelberg train that heads up the Engelbergertal (Engelberg Valley).

The best views of Titlis and the Engelberg mountain panorama are from the south-facing Brunni resort, reached by cable car then chairlift from Engelberg. It’s networked by pretty paths, including a barefoot route, and has facilities including several restaurants, a summer toboggan run, and a large playground.

Weggis has a cable car up to the top of the Rigi, and neighboring Vitznau has a cogwheel train. You can also approach Rigi via the cogwheel train from Arth-Goldau; the two lines were built by competing companies in the 1870s in a race to reach the top and capture the lion's share of the tourist business. The line rising out of the lakefront resort of Vitznau won, but the Arth-Goldau line gets plenty of business, as its base terminal lies on the mainstream St. Gotthard route. Rigi is one of the few mountains covered by the Swiss Travel Pass. Otherwise, a day card from Weggis, Vitznau, or Arth-Goldau is SF72. If you’re approaching from Weggis, follow signs for the Rigibahn, a station high above the resort (a 15-minute walk). From here you can ride a large cable car to Rigi-Kaltbad, a small resort on a spectacular plateau; walk across to the electric rack-and-pinion railway station and ride the steep tracks of the Vitznau–Rigi line to the summit of the mountain. Take an elevator to the Rigi Kulm hotel to enjoy the views indoors or walk to the crest (45 minutes) to see as far as the Black Forest in one direction and Mt. Säntis in the other.

Set 19 km (12 miles) south of Stans and towering over Engelberg, this is perhaps the most spectacular of the many rocky peaks that surround the Obermatt's long, wide bowl. Thanks to a sophisticated transportation system that benefits skiers, hikers, climbers, and sightseers alike, it's possible to ride a small cable car up to the tiny mountain lake (and famous ski area) called Trübsee (5,904 feet). From there, change and ascend to Stand to catch the famous Rotair cable car, which rotates to give 360-degree panoramas on its way up to the summit station on the Titlis. At the top is a multilevel structure that seems to conjure up Disney's Space Mountain: four rock-embedded, fortress-thick floors lead to stores, an ice grotto (serving drinks from a solid-ice bar), and a restaurant with views that take in the Jura Mountains, the Graubünden, and Bernese Alps.

A two-part journey on a nostalgic 1893 funicular and an ultramodern, open-top cable car takes you to the Stanserhorn (6,200 feet), and from its peak you can see the Titlis, the highest point in central Switzerland. A "convertible" version of the cable car lets you feel the wind in your hair.