Rigi hiking day

Day trip to Rigi mountain

I had a friend visiting Zürich last weekend and of course we wanted to see some typical Swiss nature. After breakfast we took the train from Zürich HB to the station Arth-Goldau from where we headed up towards the top. It was such a beautiful place with everything we could wish for and a lot of hiking routes. We decided to go for an easy track with beautiful views which was a three hour hike.

View from the top

To get to the top you can pay for your laziness or shortage of time and take the cable car which we did. With an altitude of more than 1500 m we didn’t really prioritized hiking up the mountain. After watching the fantastic scenery we decided to have some food before starting our route. There were a few places serving drinks at the top but only one with food. We had some classic Swiss food which tasted very good. I had pasta with apple sauce and my friend had some cheese and potato thing.

The view path

Although it was above 30 degrees in the village of Arth-Goldau it was 20 something and comfy temperature on the top. on the top and along the route there were quite some alp houses and smaller hotels where you could stay if you went for an overnight hike. Next time I will for sure go for an overnight hike somewhere.

As you probably know I am not a huge fan of animals and the cows was a challenge to bypass. Deep breaths and we survived. It is charming though when they walk on the mountains with their bells. But after a bit the sound gets quite annoying. We got curious about the bells and googled it and from the beginning they were there so the farmer could keep track of them but unfortunately the cows get deaf due to the sound. No wonder, and that is probably also a relief, who could listen to ding-dong-ding 24-7?! The farmers really should consider GPS tracking.

We made some stops along the way for photo shoots and to look at the amazing view. Lakes all around. What I really love with Switzerland is all the amazing nature. Another activity idea that popped into my mind was to do a weekend bike tour around the two lakes.

After hike

When our route ended we were supposed to take a train back to the regular train but we had not checked the schedules and arrived two minutes after it left so went to the nearby hotel bar and had an after hike wine. Before going back to Zürich. We was really not lucky with the train back so got off at the wrong station and had to walk a bit to the main stop. But to be honest I’m not surprised. That is a typical me so I am used to adding those extra steps.