Another Week in Beckenried

Zurich Arrival

Fraumunster Cloister Fresco, Zurich

Zurich airport was much busier on our arrival in 2023 as compared to 2022. The weather was rainy and chilly, but that didn’t stop us from doing a short city tour before heading to Beckenried. We used the SBB app to purchase a day pass to see Zurich. We first rode the train from the Zurich Airport to the Zurich main station where we stored our bags. Switzerland has lockers in most stations and the larger stations have credit card systems. You put your bags in an open locker. A ticket machine shows the locker # you are paying for. After tapping your credit card, the lock is triggered on the locker and a bar code paper ticket is printed for you to use to open the locker again later. Too easy.

Fraumunster Cloister

Fraumunster Cloister Fresco, Zurich

From the main station we made the short walk to the Landesmuseum boat dock and used the day pass on our SBB app to take a Limmat River cruise into the old town. We got off at the Storchen dock and then walked a couple of minutes to the Fraumunster Church. At one side of the exterior of the church is the Fraumunster Cloister with a gallery of frescoes that are open to the public at no charge each day. These were amazing. Plus they were conveniently sheltered from the rain.

Giacometti Murals

Giacometti Murals, Zurich

Next we walked along the Limmat River to the police station. The police station entrance controls access to the Giacometti Murals. Simply give the person at the front desk a picture ID and you are free to walk among the murals at no charge. The lighting is poor, but smart phones take amazing pictures here. Another great location on our quick day trip in Zurich! From the Giacometti Murals we made the short walk back to the main train station. After a bit to eat at the station, we grabbed our bags and hopped a train to Lucerne and Stans on our route to Beckenried.

Another Week in Beckenried – Nidwaldnerhof

Nidwaldnerhof Hotel Lakefront Dining

This visit to Beckenried marked our second time staying at the lakefront Nidwaldnerhof Hotel and Restaurant. We shared the holiday apartment at the hotel with friends this time around. The suite had 2 bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a large lake view living room and a wonderful balcony overlooking Lake Lucerne. The Nidwaldnerhof restaurant has a large glassed-in seating area and a huge lakefront patio for dining outdoors when weather permits. Although the meal plan at the Nidwaldnerhof is expensive, it is typically priced for Switzerland. We enjoyed starting each day with a buffet breakfast and returning at end of each sightseeing day to a 3 course meal.

Getting to Fronalpstock

Stoos Church

The heavy rain stopped on our first morning in Beckenried, but the weather was drizzly and cloudy. With the Gothard Base Tunnel closed due to an accident, travel time to sunny weather in Bellinzona was double, so we opted to visit Fronalpstock. The peak of Fronalpstock was just visible under the swirling clouds. We got our monies worth on our Tell Pass this day. First we took a boat ride to Vitznau, followed by a bus to Brunnen and then a bus to Morschach, Luftseilbahn.

The gondola at Morschach is lots of fun. No one monitors the base station. An audio announcement warns you it is time to board. You get in the gondola, the door closes and it takes you up. At the top you resolve your ticketing. We exchanged out Tell Pass for paper tickets that are good all day on the Morschach Gondola, the Fronalpstock double chairlifts and the Stoosbahn funicular.

Spaghetti at Fronalpstock

The drizzly weather and lack of crowds made for a pleasant visit. First we rode the extremely steep Stoosbahn funicular down to the valley floor and back up again. Then we rode up the Fronalpstock chair lifts, which were breezy, wet and chilly. Unfortunately the cloud cover lowered, so that there were absolutely no views down over Lake Lucerne at the summit. I didn’t feel hungry in the chilly weather until I bought a large bowl of spaghetti at the summit’s Gipfelrestaurant at. This meal was delicious.

Stoos, Fronalpstock

The descent on the Fronalpstock chairlifts was magical. Swirling cloud with glimpses of green meadows appearing through the rain. Lots of waterfalls had been created by the previous heavy rains. The view matched what I’d seen in videos of the fjords of Norway. We then retraced our route back down to Brunnen. Typical of the Swiss transportation system, we caught a steamboat back to Beckenried from Brunnen after waiting less than 5 minutes. We had a great time on a our day trip even though the weather didn’t cooperate.

Rigi Felsenweg First Attempt

Lake Lucerne from Vitznau Cog Train

On our second full day of Another Week in Beckenried, the cloud cover was dissolving and the forecast looked promising. We took the boat from Beckenried to Vitznau, but this time we boarded the cog train to Mt Rigi. Unfortunately as we ascended, the moisture from the previous rains began to form fog that soon blanketed the mountain. From Rigi Kulm we hiked down to Rigi Staffel and then took the path toward Rigi First. At the wood hut viewpoint along the way, we couldn’t see anything but clouds. We did enjoy a pleasant meadow full of cows and the pleasant sounds of cow bells though.

At Rigi First we reached the beginning of the Rigi Felsenweg trail, but with all the views obscured by cloud, we decided to call it a day. We hiked back from Rigi First to Rigi Kaltbad where we then caught the gondola down to Weggis. At Weggis we caught a boat back to Beckenried. As we passed by Rigi Felsenweg on the boat, the cloud lifted just enough to expose the cliff walk that we had been hoping to enjoy. Even so, we wouldn’t have enjoyed any of the views that Rigi Felsenweg is know for because of the clouds. That experience would happen a few days later though.

Beckenried to Bellinzona

Piazza del Sole, Bellinzona

With the weather still being questionable around Lake Lucerne, we opted to head to Bellinzona for our day 3 excursion. Bellinzona is on the other side of the Alps and the forecast was for sunny skies and pleasant temperatures. The Gotthard Base Tunnel was still closed, so we were forced to take the longer route through the original Gotthard Tunnel. We used our Tell Pass to reach Altdorf and then purchased tickets using our half fare cards for the rest of the journey.

We finished off our visit to Bellinzona with lunch in an old town square. Bellinzona is in the Swiss canton of Ticino, so the language of choice had switched from Swiss German to Italian. We noticed a significant increase in the number of smokers in Bellinzona and also in the number of people who were dressed in style. Our excursion turned out to be a pleasant break from the inclement weather in Beckenried, but the next day the weather at Lake Lucerne would turn glorious.

Typical of the Swiss train system we only had 5 minutes in Altdorf. Our friends ticket purchase for Altdorf to Bellinzona required a text confirmation and their phones weren’t working properly. They rushed into the ticket office while we could see the train coming down the track in the distance. The train was 2 minutes late, which was just enough time for them to buy their tickets and hop aboard with us.

Bellinzona Walking Tour

Piazza Indipendenza, Bellinzona

The route through the Alps was beautiful and the weather was great in Bellinzona. We did our own walking tour of the town, starting with UNESCO heritage site of  Castel Grande. After the castle, we visited the Cathedral and the Piazza Indipendenza. In the old town you get many interesting views up toward the Montebello Castle. I’d seen online that the Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie looked very interesting, so I convinced our group to take a 10 minute walk in search of it. We were rewarded with an open door to very spectacular small church which we had all to ourselves.

Stanserhorn

The forecast was for perfect weather on day 4 of Another Week in Beckenried and thankfully it was a truly beautiful day. I like staying multiple days at destinations so that you can see the best sights on the best days.. We took a half hour bus ride to Stans right after breakfast. You walk a couple minutes from the Stans station to the Stanserhorn ticket booth. The ride is covered by a Tell Pass. The journey begins on their small wooden 1893 Kalti funicular, which connects you to the Stanserhorn Cabrio Gondola. Then it’s on to the star attraction – an open top gondola to the summit.

Alps from Stanserhorn

The Stanserhorn isn’t on the international tourist circuit as they get eclipsed by Mt Titlis and Mt Pilatus, but I think in many ways it’s a better choice. Not only are the views extensive, but the volume of people is greatly reduced. Our gondola operator gave a pleasing narrative on our ascent, but German was the only option to enjoy his words. I thoroughly enjoyed the laughter from the passengers even though I had no idea what was so funny.

I’ve been to the Stanserhorn summit twice now and this second trip was even more awesome then my first visit. I chose the early morning ascent as I suspected it would light up the peaks around the Jungfrau nicely and that’s exactly what happened. From the observation deck it was easy to spot the Eiger and Monch as well as the much closer view of the Engelberg Valley and Mt Titlis. You can walk a full circle of the restaurant for views back to Mt Pilatus and Lake Lucerne as well. Also enjoy a short hike to the nearby viewpoint where you get a 360 degree view of Lucerne and the Alps. This day already rated as amazing and it wasn’t even noon yet.

Mount Pilatus

Pilatus Cog Train Arriving

With the perfect weather holding, we continued on by train from Stans to Hergiswil and Alpnachstad where the Mount Pilatus cog train starts its climb. Unfortunately the large number of foreign tourists with reservations meant that we had to wait an hour to make our ascent. The Mount Pilatus cog train has been completely replaced with modern equipment but it’s still a noisy, impressive and somewhat scary ride to the top. Clouds had started to form over the peaks of the Alps making a picture perfect scene. Small amounts of cloud also formed around the Mount Pilatus peak giving it an occasional swirl of fog, but the overall views were bright and clear.

After spending some time hiking around at the top, we opted to continue down the Dragon Gondola to complete the famous circle tour. After the large Dragon Gondola, you take a 4 person gondola on a long overland route to the outskirts of Lucerne. Directions are clearly marked for the walk from the last gondola station to the bus stop which takes you back to the Lucerne train station. From there you can continue your journey by train or by boat on Lake Lucerne.

Rigi Felsenweg – 2nd Attempt

Rigi Felsenweg Cliff Edge

The excellent weather continued on day 5 of Another Week in Beckenried. I decided to make a second attempt at the Rigi Felsenweg, while our friends headed to the Engelberg Valley instead. I’d been to Engelberg twice before and decided to avoid all the crowds on a 3rd visit. We were all very happy with our choices that day.

After breakfast we took a boat to Vitznau again. The boat cruise was quite busy with locals on weekend outings. This time we caught a bus from Vitznau to the gondola station in Weggis where we had a couple minutes before we jammed into the busy gondola to Rigi Kaltbad. From there we began the hike to Rigi First and immediately left all the crowds behind. They were all continuing on the cog train up to Mt Rigi. The views over Lake Lucerne, Mt Pilatus, the Stanserhorn and Mt Titlis were amazing. So was the peace and quiet. This is what I love about the hikes around Lake Lucerne. The rest of the world is on organized tours and you can enjoy Switzerland by yourself!

Rigi Felsenweg Viewpoint

At Rigi First the trail over the Rigi Felsenweg trail is clearly marked. Reaching the cliff side walk was probably the highlight of this week in the Beckenried area. About 20 locals were at the viewpoint. I’d been nervous that the cliff side trail would be to steep for me, but it was the perfect width and the views were perfect too. Benches were set on the cliff walk and we sat for quite a while just enjoying this highlight of our Swiss vacation. Afterward we continued on toward Rigi Scheidegg.

Rigi Scheidegg

Mythen from Rigi Scheidegg

After the Rigi Felsenweg cliff side walk, the trail soon joins the abandoned railway line that used to run from Rigi Staffel to Rigi Scheidegg. The route for us began on the old railway bridge with views over the Alps and down to Lucerne. The trail then continues upwards with a nice view to Mt Rigi. After passing through an old railway tunnel, the trail climbs steeply to Rigi Scheidegg. In retrospect it might have been better to take the easier grade trail to Burgheist and then the switchback trail up to Rigi Scheidegg.

At Rigi Scheidegg there is a viewing tower. You can see Mt Rigi, Lake Zug, the Mythen and peaks around Fronalpstock, plus views along the Alps to Mt Titlis. The viewing tower is well worth the effort to reach Rigi Scheidegg. We were exhausted and overheated when we reached the Berggasthaus Rigi Scheidegg for lunch. The menu was a bit of a challenge because it involved endless varieties of cooked German sausage. Eventually we went for the sausage salad instead, which was one of the strangest salads we’d ever seen. Despite its unappetizing appearance, we devoured the whole thing.

Rigi Felsenweg old Train Trestle

Return from Rigi via Gersau

As with any outing in Switzerland, there were multiple options to return to Beckenried from Rigi Scheidegg. We passed on the Rigi Scheidegg gondola and caught the Rigi Burgeist gondola instead. This tiny gondola immediately took off with only one other passenger. The gondola took us to Gersau Gschwend, which is about halfway down to Lake Lucerne. Unfortunately I hadn’t checked the bus schedule and it was a 1.5 hour wait for the next bus with no seating and no shade.

We got impatient and hiked down the steep roadway for more than an hour to reach Gersau on Lake Lucerne. This hike was very hot and not easy on the knees, but we made the boat connection to Beckenried with minutes to spare. We would have missed that connection if we waited for the bus. Overall my wife was unimpressed with this day, but Rigi Felsenweg was definitely more than worth it for me.

Klewenalp to Musenalp

Hiking Trail from Klewenalp

On our last full day in Beckenried, our companions weren’t feeling well enough to leave the apartment. My wife and I decided to enjoy the Klewenalp gondola, which is only a 5 minute walk from the Nidwaldnerhof Hotel. The views at the top were as pleasant as the morning weather. You will notice a trend with me now, because I immediately convinced my wife we should walk part way along the 2 hour one way hike to Musenalp. As you can guess, I kept her going over steep trails, cliff side stair cases and pastures exposed to the heat of the day until we reached Musenalp.

Famous Musenalp Cheese Bread

Most of the people who filled the restaurant at Musenalp had come up two gondolas from the Engelberg Valley instead of the challenging hike we had made. For unknown reasons, no umbrellas were available to escape the noon day heat in the completely outdoor seating. I chose the famous Musenalp cheese melted on bread. Almost everyone there was having this dish. Eating it was like chewing flavorless bubble gum. The real challenge was swallowing it. The cheese stretches as you swallow, which makes you gag. A lot of effort is required to chew the cheese into small enough bites that you can swallow. Musealp cheese on bread is a very bizarre experience that I would never find worth repeating. We did see some gigantic food dishes being brought out for large groups and they looked much more promising than Musenalp cheese bread.

 Musenalp to Engelberg Valley

After our strange lunch in Musenalp, we caught the small 4 person cash-only gondola down to Niederrickenbach Dorf. After a short walk through the tiny village of Maria-Rickenbach, we caught the next gondola down to Niederrickenbach on the valley floor. This second gondola is covered by a Tell Pass. Then we rode the train to Stans and a bus back to our hotel in Beckenried. Again I enjoyed the day, but my partner found it too hot and unpleasant. Unfortunately for her, Appenzell was next on our itinerary and the September forecast was for cloudless skies and 30 C (85 F) heat for the next week. Temperatures like this are unheard of in fall in Switzerland. Last year in this same timeframe many areas had snow.