Day Trip to Lucerne and Mt. Rigi with a local from Zurich

Here is a detailed overview of our experience of this tour. When attempting to meet at the pickup location, the address given put into Apple Maps said it was miles away, but the link attached on the booking site gave a completely different direction & location. After finding the bus area, which one out of the 20 was ours? No clue, we had to go around asking random charters if it was ours. It did not help that the booking said a “air conditioned car” when it was in fact a tour bus. After boarding, we found out the tour was only guided on the bus & we were on our own the rest of the day. The guide did walk us up to the gondola to get up to Mt. Rigi, but after that it was sayonara until 5pm pickup. The view was beautiful, lots of trails, a few souvenir shops, & putt putt golf (for purchase). We took the cable car down to the area where you wait for the boat, but sat there for 2 hours waiting on the boat because our guide told us upon boarding the bus that no shops are open on Sunday’s. The boat ride was nice. Lucerne was a busy city with lots of shops. Thankfully we were sitting at the boat ramp where the other half of our bus disembarked, otherwise we never would have made it on the bus home. This is because it said something along the lines of bus station on our schedule print out that was given to us & the public bus station was right at the port. But that’s not where the tour bus was; rather it was a half mile away, so it was easily misunderstood. In addition, when booking online, it said food & drink were included, but they were not. The take away is: the communication on where to meet in both the beginning & end were extremely poor. The “guide” was only on the bus ride & spoke for a few minutes each way with a few facts, very minimal discussion, spent most of the ride speaking to the bus driver in another language. Finally, no food & drinks included would have been good to know as we could have better prepared to bring our own snacks/meal. For the overall price of this tour, it was not worth it in the least bit; we could have navigated ourselves without a timeline for much less. & since we hardly had a guide, we wouldn’t have missed out on unknown information or facts because we didn’t hear much from her! & do not take this trip on a Sunday as most shops are closed. This city & surrounding area are super easy to navigate, you definitely do not need to book an overpriced tour, just do an adventure yourself!

Switzerland beyond the usual tourist spots, this day trip is an absolute gem. I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever said “wow” so many times in one day. From the moment our local guide picked us up in Zurich, it felt like we were exploring with a friend who just happened to know every beautiful corner of the country. Friendly, knowledgeable, and incredibly passionate about Swiss culture, they added a personal touch that made the entire experience feel truly special

A perfect blend of local insight and natural beauty! The journey to Lucerne and Mt. Rigi was unforgettable, with stunning views at every turn. Having a local guide made the experience more personal and enriching. The entire day was relaxed, informative, and full of Swiss charm.