Visitors reach Rigi Kaltbad by rail or cable car. There are three realistic starting points: Weggis (cable car), Vitznau (cogwheel train) and Arth-Goldau (the other cogwheel line, which goes to the summit and does not stop at Kaltbad). All the Rigi Bahnen fares are on our prices page.
Compare the routes
Prices are adult fares from rigi.ch (prices from 1 June 2026), checked November 2026. The boat price is the “from” price on the MySwitzerland ticket page and aggregator listings; the official source is lakelucerne.ch.
From Weggis
Weggis is on the lake. The Luftseilbahn Weggis–Rigi Kaltbad lands next to Rigi Kaltbad’s station, where the Vitznau cogwheel train stops. According to Weggis Vitznau Tourismus the ride is about 10 minutes. From Lucerne you can reach Weggis by lake boat (it is a stop on the Lucerne to Vitznau route) or by bus along the lake.
From Vitznau
Vitznau is the starting point of the Vitznau–Rigi Bahn, which opened in 1871. The train stops at Rigi Kaltbad and Rigi Staffelhöhe before the summit. The Weggis-Vitznau tourism page also notes historic cars from 1871 to 1911 and steam locomotives built in 1923 and 1925. rigi.ch lists steam train rides with locomotive 16 from 24 May to 20 September 2026.
From Arth-Goldau
The Goldau–Rigi Kulm line starts at the SBB station Arth-Goldau. It does not stop at Rigi Kaltbad, so use it if the summit is your goal, then walk or ride across. rigi.ch quotes about 39 minutes from Goldau to Kulm. Lucerne to Arth-Goldau by train takes about 32 minutes, roughly hourly, according to a third-party aggregator; confirm on sbb.ch.
Timetables and closures
- Vitznau–Rigi Kulm: autumn/winter timetable 12 October to 12 December 2026, then winter/spring from 13 December 2026 (rigi.ch).
- Goldau–Rigi Kulm: autumn/winter from 19 October to 12 December 2026; closed for construction 5 to 23 April 2027 (rigi.ch).
- Weggis–Rigi Kaltbad: a full-year timetable from 13 December 2026 to 11 December 2027. Weggis-Vitznau tourism lists revision closures on 16 to 27 November 2026 (weekdays closed, weekends open).
Check the live timetable on rigi.ch before you leave. We could not read the PDF timetables this session, so we give journey times as quoted by the operators’ pages and tourism sites, not as a schedule.
Once you are up, see hiking from Rigi Kaltbad or the things to do. Coming from the lake? The Lucerne day trip guide puts the whole round trip in order.
Planning to stay overnight? Compare rooms in Weggis.
Frequently asked questions
How long does the cable car from Weggis to Rigi Kaltbad take?
About 10 minutes according to the Weggis-Vitznau tourism page. The upper station connects directly to the cogwheel railway to Rigi Kulm.
Can I go up from one side and come down the other?
Yes. A common round trip goes up by cogwheel train from Vitznau and down by cable car to Weggis, or the other way round. Check the prices page, because the combined Weggis, Kaltbad, Kulm ticket costs the same as Vitznau to Kulm.
Is the Weggis cable car ever closed?
Yes, for revision. The Weggis-Vitznau tourism page lists 16 to 27 November 2026 with no weekday service, but weekends open. Check rigi.ch for the current status.
Some links are affiliate links: if you book through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It funds the research behind this site.
