Stanserhorn is a tall mountain peak near Lucerne, offering a spectacular view of lakes, alpine meadows, and mountains in every direction.
To reach the top at 1850 m, you ride a vintage open-air funicular train. Then a special cable car, where you can stand on the open-air roof while you ride up, a thrilling experience.
At the top, you’ll find a restaurant with a big outdoor terrace. There is also a nice picnic area with grill pits, a bit unusual on mountain peaks but very welcome.
There’s a short walking path around the peak, visiting different viewpoints. Our three year old happily walked on his own for about 30 mins, a good choice with small kids.
This mountain is free with the Swiss Travel Pass, Day Pass, and GA, making it a great value! Definitely book ahead your “boarding pass” for a reserved time slot as it’s quite popular with tourists.
Keep reading for all the info you need to plan this Stanserhorn outing.
Contents
| Location: | Lake Lucerne Region |
| Address: | Stansstaderstrasse 19, 6370 Stans |
| Car: | Parking: 46°57’30.8″N 8°21’49.2″E 15 mins from Luzern, 50 mins from Zurich |
| Train: | Stans train station + 5 min walk 20 mins from Luzern, 1hr20 from Zurich |
| Trail: | 1 km loop at top |
| Condition: | partial dirt/gravel, partial rocky alpine trail possible for all-terrain strollers |
| Skill: | easy |
| Services: | restaurant, theme trail, fire pits |
| Cost 2025: | Cable car round trip: Adult CHF 82 Free with Discount with Swiss travel cards. Reservations recommended. |
| Open: | late April thru October |
| More info: | www.stanserhorn.ch • forecast • webcam |
Stanserhorn overview
This map shows how to reach the Stanserhorn peak.
Suggested itinerary
Below is the Stanserhorn tourist map that you can pick up when you visit. To reach the top of Stans, you’ll ride a funicular, then a cable car. At the top, you’ll find a big restaurant and kiosk.
Trail map
There is a short 1 km loop at the top, with a marmot theme, as shown below.
See trail on Komoot
Longer hikes
If you want a challenge, you can hike up to Stanserhorn via Wirzweli on the Geoweg.
How to get to Stanserhorn
Stanserhorn is located south of Lucerne. From the town Stans, you reach the top with a funicular train, then cable car.
By car:
Take Highway A2 to exit Stans Nord, enter village and follow the signs to the Stanserhorn funicular, Stansstaderstrasse 19, 6370 Stans.
There are some parking spots next to the funicular. If these spots are full, there is a large overflow parking lot about a 5 minute walk away – Robert-Durrerstrasse, 6370 Stans.
By train:
Take a train to Stans. Then a 5 min walk to the Stanserhorn funicular station. Follow trail signs labeled Stanserhorn-Bahn.
Planning your day
Tickets
In most cases, you’ll need a round trip ticket from Stans to the Stanserhorn peak. This includes the funicular train and cable car.
You should book tickets in advance and get the “boarding pass” for a reserved time slot to reduce your wait time.
➡️ Buy tickets here.
In 2025, a round trip ticket costs CHF 82/adult. See current prices.
Discounts
Free with Swiss Travel Pass, Saver Day Pass, Lucerne Tell Pass, GA and other SBB Day Passes. But you should still book a Boarding Pass to get a reserved time slot for boarding.
Children 6-15 are half fare or free if you have a Junior Card or Swiss Family Card for them. Children under 6 ride free.
50% discount with SBB Half-fare card.
Discounted “Good Morning” ticket in April, May and November for rides before 9:30 am.
If you are coming from Zurich, book a tour that includes Stanserhorn and Lucerne city.
Opening times
The Stanserhorn mountain transport runs from early April through November.
The funicular and cable car run every 15 mins. The first ride up is 8:15. Last ride down 17:15.
On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings, the mountain transport runs late in the evenings, until 22:15. See current schedule.
Photo story
Ride to the top
This is the Stanserhorn funicular station. These long lines were around 11:00 on a weekday in early October. We hadn’t reserved a boarding pass, so we had to wait an hour after picking up our tickets.
Here is my ticket and boarding pass showing our reserved time to get on the funicular.
The vintage funicular train is open air.
Then you switch to the cable car and ride to the top. If you want to stand on top, you walk up a staircase inside the cable car.
When you ride back down, get in line about 15 mins before your departure time so you can grab the best spot on top.
Boarding time for descent
When you exit the cable car, make sure to pick up a descent boarding pass at this booth. The worker will offer you a few times but you can select a different time if it’s available. If you are just sightseeing, about 60-90 mins is plenty of time. If you are eating lunch, perhaps 2 hours.
Viewpoint
The cable car drops you at the restaurant terrace, which had this viewint platform. It’s more interesting to have your group stand on the platform and you take the pic
The views are great from the platform. But if you want to take a pic of your group, better to have them stand here and you take the pic
One of the many views from the top.
A few photo boards where there when we went.
Marmots are the mascot here, so there’s a little enclosure with lots of marmots to observe.
Circular walk around the peak
There is a circular walk around the peak that leads to different viewpoint. In the pic below, you can see the path leaving the restaurant.
Here you see the path leading up to the peak viewpoint. There are a few stairs at the top. This is popular launch point for paragliders and hang-gliders.
At the peak, there is a fenced in observation deck so you can safely enjoy the view.
Looking north toward Pilatus and Luzern.
From the peak, you can continue the circular walk around the peak.
The path is pretty easy, even for small children.
Great views on all sides of the mountain.
Cute Heidi hut along the path.
Restaurant
The restaurant has a self-service counter with typical Swiss mountain food – sausage, schnitzel, pasta, soup, etc. Their specialty is the classic Älplermagronen, cheesy macaroni topped with fried onions and a side of applesauce.
It has a large outdoor terrace facing the view, sit anywhere you like.
The indoor space has a circular platform in the middle that slowly rotates so the tables can enjoy the view from different perspectives throughout the meal. A full rotation takes 44 mins.
Open: Sun-Wed 11:16:30 • Thu-Sat 11:00 – 21:00
Website: www.stanserhorn.ch
They offer special dining experiences, including breakfast, candlelight dinner, and late nights on Thursdays.
Picnic
There are a couple picnic areas on the peak. This picnic spot with grills and wood is just below the peak viewpoint – see on map.
The “lower picnic spot” is the opposite direction, about a 5 min walk past the restaurant (see on map). It tends to be quieter here because not so many people know about this spot.
View from that picnic area.
I hope you enjoy the views!
See more Swiss mountain peaks to visit
6 responses
Hi Tanya. Do you think it’s possible to do this together Mt Pilatus Golden Round Trip (with toboggan) on the same day? Not looking to do any long walks/hikes for each.
Yes, if you get an early start, you could probably visit both. Perhaps go on a Friday when the Stanserhorn mountain transport is open later.
I liked the pictures and description of Stanshorn. Is there any way to hike Stanshorn without taking Funicular and open air gondola?
Yes, you can simply hike up and hike back down. It’s a lot of elevation gain but if you like hiking, you’ll enjoy it. There are a few different trails to choose as shown on the map in the post. In fall, I hiked the Geoweg from Wirzweli, but I haven’t posted about it yet. Will do soon.
Hi. I'm sorry it was closed for you. Even though it's nice and sunny in Zurich, it's not quite hiking season yet. In a recent post, I mentioned that most mountains are closed between the end of ski season (now) until the start of hiking season, which is usually late June at most mountains. I always recommend checking the mountain website for the opening days/times before you go. I hope you still had a nice day.
Hello! Tanya,
We are here now. However, it is closed for winter season utility May.
The schedule might be changed from the time you visited.