The mountains: which one to go up

Every Swiss resort sells a lift to a viewpoint, the tickets are expensive, and the marketing does not distinguish between them. This page does.

The one rule

Only go up in clear weather. Everything else on this page is secondary.

A mountain ticket is among the most expensive things you can buy in Switzerland, the summits make their own cloud, and in poor visibility you pay a great deal to stand in a white room. Every operator runs a live summit webcam; look at it the evening before and again at breakfast, and be willing to swap a mountain day for a city day at short notice.

Mornings are clearer than afternoons far more often than not.

The big four

Jungfraujoch — 3,454 m

The highest railway station in Europe, with the Aletsch glacier below it. The most expensive, the most famous, and the longest journey. Full page: Jungfraujoch.

Go if: you want the definitive high-alpine experience and the weather is certain.

Gornergrat — 3,089 m

Above Zermatt, and the best mountain view in Switzerland — the Matterhorn head-on, the Gorner glacier below, and 29 peaks over 4,000 m around the horizon. A rack railway from the village centre, 33 minutes.

Go if: you are choosing one mountain in the country. This is the one.

Titlis — 3,020 m

Above Engelberg, the closest glacier to Zurich, with a rotating cable car, an ice cave and a cliff-face suspension bridge. Two hours from Zurich, and the easiest of the four to do in a day.

Go if: you have one day and want a glacier.

Schilthorn — 2,970 m

Above Mürren, with a revolving restaurant that was the villain’s lair in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau stand in a row opposite, which is the classic composition.

Go if: you are staying in Lauterbrunnen and want the three peaks from the front.

The two near Lucerne

Pilatus (2,128 m) is reached by the steepest rack railway in the world, at 48%, and the “golden round trip” combines boat, railway and cable car. The railway runs roughly May to November.

Rigi (1,798 m) is gentler, open all year, and was the first mountain railway in Europe in 1871. Reached by boat and cog railway, with thermal baths on the way up.

Both look down on Lake Lucerne from opposite sides. Pilatus is more dramatic; Rigi is easier and works in winter.

The cheap ones that give the same view

This is the part the brochures leave out. Several modest mountains give you the same peaks from a similar angle for a fraction of the price:

• Schynige Platte, above Interlaken — an old rack railway to an alpine garden, with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in front of you. Perhaps a third of the Jungfraujoch price.
• Männlichen, above Wengen — the same three peaks, a gondola, and a famously easy panorama walk to Kleine Scheidegg.
• First, above Grindelwald — a gondola, a cliff walk, and the Eiger north face directly above.
• Harder Kulm, above Interlaken — eight minutes by funicular, both lakes below, and the cheapest viewpoint in the region.
• Uetliberg, above Zurich — a suburban train on a normal city ticket, and the whole lake with the Alps behind it.

If the weather is uncertain or the budget is finite, these are the honest answer.

What to take

Warm clothes whatever the month — it is below freezing at 3,000 m in August. Sunglasses, because sun on snow is blinding. Water. And move slowly at the top: you have gone from valley level to three kilometres in under two hours, and breathlessness is normal.

Passes and prices

Mountain railways are mostly discounted rather than included by a Swiss Travel Pass, typically by 25–50%. Regional passes — Jungfrau, Tell-Pass, Berner Oberland — often cover them fully and are better value if you are staying in one area. See tickets and passes.