Rigi Hike from the Gätterli Pass to Gersau, the Riviera of Central Switzerland

Tuesday September 1, 2026 -- Another beautiful day not to be wasted, because who knows how long this nice weather will last!

Living near Mount Rigi, we are aware that there are very many hiking trails all over that mountain which we have not yet walked along, and in particular there is a small bus which winds its way up the south side of the mountain from Gersau on Lake Lucerne to the base station of a cable-car called Gschwend-Burggeist (one we have yet to ride as well). I had long wanted to take that bus up the mountain and then walk back down, an easy hike of just two hours, but with nice views of the lake and the Nidwalden Alps.

So on the spur of the moment I caught a bus to Gersau and with the small bus winding up the hill, was at the starting point of my hike in less than an hour. First I walked up to the Gätterli Pass where we had been twice before, and from there headed all the way back down to lake level, through lovely forest and meadow paths, with wonderful views of the lake below, and enjoying the sounds of the cow bells. Back at the lake I had some time to sit on a bench and watch the cruise ship dock in Gersau, before I had to head there for the bus back home.

Interesting note, copied from this website: https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/destinations/gersau/  "The resort of Gersau in the canton of Schwyz is a self-contained area in a hollow on the sunny, sheltered southern slopes of the Rigi. Until the 19th century, Gersau could only be reached by water or over the Gätterli Pass from Lauerz. From the 15th century until 1817, the secluded Gersau was a separate republic, measuring just 24 square kilometres, until the village – against its will at the time – was incorporated into the canton of Schwyz."

I caught a bus at 9:10 in Küssnacht for the 40-minute bus ride along the lake to the ship station in Gersau, where I would change to a smaller bus that heads up Mount Rigi along a winding road in the direction of Rigi Burggeist. (Unfortunately, the bus ride was very noisy, as a large class of school children had boarded one stop after mine!)

This is the small bus that heads up the mountain. This time there were only five of us in the small bus, so it was a quiet ride, with lots of views down to the lake! I had never taken this bus before, so this was a new experience as well. 

View down to the lake as the small bus heads up the mountain. The furthest mountain at the back on the right is Mt.Stanserhorn, and in front of that is Mt. Buchserhorn. 

View down over the town of Gersau as the small bus heads up the mountain! On the south side of the lake are the Nidwalden Alps, most prominent the Niderbauen peak. 

There is an interesting fact about this pyramid-shaped mountain. It has two names: "Gersauerstock" and "Vitznauerstock", as the two communities (Gersau on this side, and Vitznau on the others side) cannot agree on who the peak belongs to!

This is a map of the bus route up the mountain from Gersau on the lake to the Burggeist cable-car station at Gschwend. 

This is the base station of the Burggeist cable-car, one which we have yet to try out. This is the end of the line for the bus, and the starting point of my hike at 10:15. From here I first headed uphill to the Gätterli Pass, a 30-minute walk, before heading down the mountain along the themed trail called "Rigi-Scheidegg-Weg". 

PART II: Two-hour hike back down to Gersau via Gätterli Pass

Heading down directly from the bus stop would have been too short a hike, so I headed up on the 30-minute stretch to the Gätterli Pass (where we had passed through twice before), and from there it took another 90 minutes to get down to the lakeshore, where I then caught the 13:31 bus back to Küssnacht via Vitznau. 

Even though it was an uphill hike to the Gätterli Pass, it was a nice and cool forest trail. 

Out of the forest and along the paved road, this is a stretch we did the first time we had walked down from Rigi Scheidegg via the Gätterli Pass headed west on the very last day of 2016! (Photos HERE)

As is so often the case for me, the only cloud far and wide was hiding the sun right where I was walking!

I got to the restaurant at the Gätterli Pass at 10:45, exactly 30 minutes after starting. I took a 10-minute break here until finally the sun emerged from behind the clouds. A final photo and I headed off on my hike down the mountain.

It is just over 90 minutes to walk back down to Gersau from here. (The second time we passed via the Gätterli Pass was July 2021 when we also started at Rigi Scheidegg and walked eastward to another cable-car station called Timpel at Urmiberg). 

There was a very nice combination of forest and meadow trails heading down the mountain. 

Panorama view down this hillside, including the Gersauer-/Vitznauerstock peak. 

Trying to get a person on my photos! (With my tripod when I find a good spot to set it up!)

Down below, I am being observed closely.... 

....and also as I turn a corner!

Another look at the Gersauer-/Vitznauerstock. 

Easy and comfortable walk down through the farms on this south-facing hillside.

Passing several farmhouses. 

From a spot called Rotzingel I look up to the east to another Rigi peak called Hohflue, and a pass where there are more hiking trails which we haven't walked on yet!

Long sets of stairs make the hike more interesting. 

Now I've reached the outskirts of the town of Gersau at 12:50. 

I had a close look at this interesting rock: The information on the placard states that this is an original boulder from the north side of the Matterhorn, which they have brought here to display. The rock is allegedly 288 million years old!

(Near the lakeshore I later found another such stone, that one is from the Eiger North Face, this one about 145 million years old. There are apparently several other such stones scattered around the town). 

A detour through a residential district, heading to the town's church, of course!

A cute little house tucked in the shadow of a hillside.... 

This is the parish church of St.Marzellus, located next to the main road along the lakeshore. As is often the case, the church here has received many changes over the years: The first church was erected in at least 1179, and this final build is fromm 1807. 

Interior of the St.Marzellus Church in Gersau. 

Lots of light inside this church, and a very lovely organ. 

Details of the inside of the church. 

Final look at the building as I cross the road to sit on a bench next to the lakeshore. 

What my excursion looks like on Google Satellite Maps. First a small bus takes you up to Gschwend, where there is a cable-car up to Rigi Burggeist. Then I walked 30 minutes up to the Gätterli Pass, and then another 90 minutes back down to Gersau. 

PART III: Enjoying the Lakeside and the Bus Ride back Home

I sat on a lakeside bench for about 15 minutes before heading for the bus stop. I got to watch the passenger ship dock in Gersau.

An interesting "fountain" in the lake here! The water was a deep turquoise but the photo doesn't do it justice!

The ship docks in Gersau at 13:14.... 

...and then heads across the lake toward Beckenried on the south side of the lake. 

Heading to the bus stop (which is actually right at the boat dock) along the main street in Gersau. The bus leaves at 13:31.

The recognizable artwork in Gersau at the lake. 

A cool restaurant. 

The bus heads back toward Küssnacht along the lakeshore, which is a nice ride in itself (unless there are a lot of kids on the bus heading on a school outing, which was the case this day!)

The road along the north shore of Lake Lucerne. 

Out on the lake, another ship heads toward Weggis. The green hill you can see here is the eastward extension of Mt.Bürgenstock, which is known as "the Nose". 

This is the Hotel Vitznauerhof, in the town of Vitznau, where most of the tourists come by boat from Luzern to take the Cogwheel train up to Rigi Kaltbad. 

To the west is Mt. Bürgenstock and Mt. Pilatus whose summit is currently covered in clouds. 

And another ship heads eastward! It's busy on the lake this day. 

All the hikes we have done around Mount Rigi. 

Short Hike in the Rolling Hills of the Entlebuch near Escholzmatt

Sunday August 30, 2026 -- After the three-hour hike we did on Saturday, Urs didn't really want to do another long hike, so we had considered a simple two-hour walk along a riverbank somewhere. That plan then quickly changed to a "simple" two-hour walk in the lovely rolling hills of the Entlebuch / Napf region, because given the choice, we still rather pick the mountain walk. Plus this lovely region is only a 90-minute trip for us, less time than to get to the river walk I had originally considered.

We traveled to the town of Escholzmatt, where we have started and ended several previous hikes, and first followed a "Stations of the Cross" trail uphill to a little pilgrim church called St.Anna, and then continued back down to the Ilfis River through lovely cool woods and green meadows, back to the village of Wiggen, where we had also previously ended two hikes.

We were back home by 1:40 p.m. (a 90-minute trip) before the day became hot once again.

The lovely Entlebuch Region as we approach Escholzmatt at about 9:30 a.m. 

Having left home at 8:10, we were at the start of our day's excursion in Escholzmatt at 9:36. The walk we have planned is exactly two hours according to our map, so we expect to be done by noon. 

Walking down main street in Escholzmatt, with its attractive buildings, made especially pretty by all the red geraniums. 

Attractive fountain next to the town's church. 

The last time we were here (on a snow-free day in December 2025), we were pretty impressed by this building, even without the fabulous geraniums. It is the Gasthaus Löwen, and the oldest Gasthaus in Escholzmatt, having received its tavern license in 1671. 

St.Jakob Parish church in Escholzmatt. Built in 1892-1894 in the Neogothic style, this is a fairly new building. We didn't go in this time because we had a look at the interior on that December 2025 hike.  

Another view of the "Red Lion Inn" before we head up the hill behind the village. We had considered stopping here for lunch after our short little walk, but they are closed on Sundays. 

Heading up the hill on the west side of the town, with a view to the St.Jakob church. 

This was not a long nor strenuous hike, just two hours and a little over 6 km. I mainly wanted to join the starts and ends of other hikes we have done to Wiggen, and to/from Escholzmatt, but walking along the road would not have been fun. We started at 9:40 in Escholzmatt, and got back to Wiggen at 11:58, so just over two hours with a long break at the St.Anna Chapel. 

St. Anna is a pilgrim church, so the trail through the forest up to the chapel was part of a "Stations of the Cross" trail, with such votiv shrines along the way. 

Views of the Entlebuch hills as we head up toward the St.Anna Chapel. 

It took us 30 minutes to reach the chapel, a climb of about 200 meters altitude. The placard had information about the Reformation Period in Switzerland. (I didn't read it). 

The "back" side of the chapel is the first we saw as we reached here. There was a super modern toilet here as well, which was a surprise (On the other side was a picnic area, so probably popular as a family excursion, and so the toilet is very practical!)

And the front side of the chapel. We did a quick look around inside before taking a break on a nearby view bench. There is not a lot of documentation about this chapel, but the date above the door reads 1613, which would be the build year. But it is assumed there was already an older chapel than this one at this site. 

There is currently a landscape photo exhibition, thus the two screens, but most impressive is naturally the fantastic wood-panel ceiling. 

The individual panels on the ceiling are family crests. In 1922 the chapel received a major restoration, and at that point is when the panels with the family crests were added. 

We had a 15-minute snack break on this bench in the shade, with a view of the rolling hills to the west. 

The view from our little bench across from the St.Anna Chapel. 

By 10:25 it was time to continue on our walk, with a final look back at the little chapel. 

Heading southwest now, I had hoped to see some of the Bernese Alps, but the elevation here isn't high enough. 

Looking behind us again at the little chapel hidden in the trees. 

A little detour to see what the best view is. That massif ahead of us is called Hohgant, and on the far right is the northern part of Mt.Niederhorn. On the other side of that is Lake Thun. (We are currently in Canton Luzern, and the mountains we see to the south form the border with Canton Bern). 

Another look behind us past a field of grazing cows, to the little hill where we can only just still see the chapel. 

In this part of the country we see more of the Simmental cow breed. 

We now head west again for a short stretch along one of the many paved roads up here, before we start on our descent to the south. The view back toward the east is definitely the prettiest!

We don't often come across totally caved-in houses such as this one.... What a shame. 

We now had a nice and cool descent on a forest road... 

...and along some nice soft meadow paths. 

Once in a while we pass attractive farm houses on the hillside. 

The final stretch is on a paved road down to the Ilfis River on the outskirts of Wiggen. 

The railway line of the BLS train runs here between Luzern and Bern. More specifically, the Kambly Cookie Factory is nearby, and we usually detour to there when we are in the area, but today was an exception. (Sundays are usually very busy at the shop there). 

Urs is always particularly taken by the farmhouses that have pear trees growing along their facades. This one has the branches of the tree stretched right along the windows, something you don't often see. 

Fortunately we were not in a rush to get to the bus stop in Wiggen (another 20 minutes along the river from the crossing here), as the barrier had just gone down, and we had to wait quite a while! (No train in sight, but we don't cross when the barrier is down). 

Here comes the BLS train on its way from Escholzmatt to the next stop in Trubschachen at the Kambly Cookie Factory!

Crossing the Ilfis River now for the last 20 minutes of our walk. 

Following the Ilfis River, and parallel also to the main vehicle road down the valley here. 

A nice footpath along the Ilfis River. Here we get the first view of the little village of Wiggin, where we will catch the bus which comes from the south from Kemmeriboden and Marbach, then heads to the train station in Escholzmatt. 

We reached Wiggen at just about noon, enough time to buy refreshments (or ice cream, in this case for Urs) at the little shop and snack bar here. The bus is expected at 12:08, and it was running late by 3 minutes. (We would have had time to go into the church, but I was sure I had been inside before on my February 2024 hike to here, but this does not seem to have been the case). 

And now the bus heads back to the train station in Escholzmatt. We were home again by 1:40 p.m., to relax for the afternoon!

What our hike looks like on Google Satellite Maps. It was a short hike (2 hours) starting in Escholzmatt and ending in Wiggen. 

All the hikes we have done in the region around Escholzmatt and Trubschachen. This is also called the Napfgebiet, outliers of the Napf mountain. The border between Canton Luzern and Canton Bern runs between Wiggen and Trubschachen. 

Location of Escholzmatt within Switzerland.