Hammetschwand Lift

Hello everyone. I want to tell you about Hammetschwand Lift. While preparing for the trip, I could not find detailed resources online describing how to visit this wonderful place.

Hammetschwand Lift was opened in 1905 and later modernized in 1991. The lift is 152 meters high and covers that distance in less than a minute, and all that time you can enjoy the views of Lake Lucerne through its glass walls. The upper station is 681 meters above the lake. There are no SwissPass discounts for the lift itself. In May 2013, the full round-trip fare was around 13 Swiss francs for an adult.

Opening times in 2013:

4 May - 14 June; 9:30 - 11:30 and 12:00 - 17:30.

15 June - 31 August; 9:30 - 11:30 and 12:00 - 18:00.

1 September - 13 October; 9:30 - 11:30 and 12:00 - 17:30.

So, getting to the lift is easy. Open the website that I described here.

Set `From` to the city you are leaving from.

Set `To` to `Obburgen, Abzw. Trogen`.

Set the date and time of the trip.

You will get a list of possible routes that include not only trains, but also walking and buses. Here is one example: travel to Luzern, transfer there to a local train on another platform, then ride about 17 minutes to Stansstad station, walk to the nearby bus station, and from there take bus route 321 to Obburgen, Abzw. Trogen. It runs rarely, so it is better to check the timetable in advance on http://sbb.ch. When we were there, the bus to Obburgen, Abzw. Trogen departed at 7:32, 8:32, 10:32, 12:32, 15:32, 16:32, 17:32 and 18:32. Back in the other direction: 8:03, 9:03, 11:03, 13:03, 16:03, 17:03 and 18:03.

The ride takes about 15-25 minutes. In Switzerland, many things close very early, so it is best to start your day as early as possible. This point on the map is the final stop of bus 321.

Once you reach Obburgen, Abzw. Trogen, you will see a sign like this:

It is not visible in the lower part of the photo, but it says that going left requires special hiking equipment, while going right does not require it, though the path is longer. We took the shorter route to the left. In reality the climb there is not very steep, and there is only one real ascent section.

Walk to this chapel, and from there go about 10 meters toward the lake.

After that you will see signs to the lift. You need to walk about one kilometer along a specially equipped horizontal path on the mountain slope. At that point you will not get lost because there is only one road.

At the end of the path you will hit a dead end.

Here is a photo with the prices from May 2013:

Here is the lift scheme:

This is how the lift looks from above:

There is also a cafe nearby and places where you can walk around.

There may be another way to get to the lift: sail across the lake to the village of Hinderberg, then take the funicular to the resort town of Burgenstock. But I do not know anything specific about that option, so I cannot say for sure that it really works. I only found a small mention of it online.

Next I will write about the trip to Mount Stanserhorn, because it is located nearby and both attractions can be visited in a single day.