Mount Titlis vs Mount Pilatus?
Jan 21st, 2010 | 12:15 PM
#2
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 9,023
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Switzerland, not Spain
Mt Pilatus is an isolated even - a thrilling train and aerial cableway goes up to the summit but there is little to do
Mt Titlis is in Engleberg, one of Switzerland's primo Alpine resorts - up there with Zermatt, Grindelwald, etc. so going up Mt Titlis involves a whole different experience - there are lots of hiking paths - aerial cableways, etc. as well as the neat chalet-strewn Alpine resort town.
And to me Titlis is more awesome - more girdled in glaciers and a sea of ice than Pilatus - practically in suburban Lucerne.
Both are great - Pilatus is often shrouded in clouds IME -many times in Lucerne i have not even been able to see it.
Engleberg and Titlis are a whole day
Pilatus a few-hour thrill. To make a day of it however from Lucerne you can take a boat on lovely Lake Lucerne to Alpnachstad, from where one of the world's most thrilling mountain railways takes you to the Pilatus summit - then take aerial cable cars down from there to suburban Lucerne, at Krens i believe where city buses take you back to Lucerne's center.
You can also take a train from Lucerne to Alpnachstad.
Mt Pilatus is an isolated even - a thrilling train and aerial cableway goes up to the summit but there is little to do
Mt Titlis is in Engleberg, one of Switzerland's primo Alpine resorts - up there with Zermatt, Grindelwald, etc. so going up Mt Titlis involves a whole different experience - there are lots of hiking paths - aerial cableways, etc. as well as the neat chalet-strewn Alpine resort town.
And to me Titlis is more awesome - more girdled in glaciers and a sea of ice than Pilatus - practically in suburban Lucerne.
Both are great - Pilatus is often shrouded in clouds IME -many times in Lucerne i have not even been able to see it.
Engleberg and Titlis are a whole day
Pilatus a few-hour thrill. To make a day of it however from Lucerne you can take a boat on lovely Lake Lucerne to Alpnachstad, from where one of the world's most thrilling mountain railways takes you to the Pilatus summit - then take aerial cable cars down from there to suburban Lucerne, at Krens i believe where city buses take you back to Lucerne's center.
You can also take a train from Lucerne to Alpnachstad.
Jan 28th, 2010 | 12:00 PM
#5
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 9,023
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Engelberg, base city below Mt Titlis, is easy to reach by direct train from Lucerne - the Engleberg Bahn or whatever they call this narrow-gauge mountain train that first rolls along Lake Lucerne to where it splits off the mainline (that goes via the Brunig Pass to Interlaken) and starts its climb to Engelberg and the wonderful panorama of glaciers and ice-clad peaks unfolds.
Jan 28th, 2010 | 12:44 PM
#6
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 17,549
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The trip to Engleberg and Mt T. which I just did this past November is WELL worth it IMO.
The ride up includes a short rack (cog)-assisted section through the woods just below Engleberg.
From the railway station it is a short <10 minutes) walk to the first cable station.
That first segment is in individual cars which hold perhaps 5-6 people max. Half way up there is the first station where the cableway makes a somewhat dramatic left turn and continues upwards.
You change to a larger car at the second station.
At the third station you change again, this time to the so-called "rotair" car..of Italian design the floor of the car rotates 360 degrees as you ascend to the final station which sits just a little above 10,000 feet.
Service to from Luzern from Engleberg runs hourly and that in and of itself is scenic.
GO for it! I'm planning to do it again this coming August.
The ride up includes a short rack (cog)-assisted section through the woods just below Engleberg.
From the railway station it is a short <10 minutes) walk to the first cable station.
That first segment is in individual cars which hold perhaps 5-6 people max. Half way up there is the first station where the cableway makes a somewhat dramatic left turn and continues upwards.
You change to a larger car at the second station.
At the third station you change again, this time to the so-called "rotair" car..of Italian design the floor of the car rotates 360 degrees as you ascend to the final station which sits just a little above 10,000 feet.
Service to from Luzern from Engleberg runs hourly and that in and of itself is scenic.
GO for it! I'm planning to do it again this coming August.
