Minibus Services Across Switzerland

Lucerne by Minibus: the Lake, Two Mountains and the Stop Rules

Lucerne puts the lake, the old town and two famous mountains within half an hour of each other. It also has the strictest rules in Switzerland for group vehicles in the centre, and the number of seats in your minibus decides which ones apply.

Why the seat count matters

Since 1 April 2025, any vehicle with more than nine seats needs a stop permit, booked online in advance and tied to the number plate, to use Schwanenplatz, Löwenplatz or Kasernenplatz. A 16-seat minibus counts. At Schwanenplatz people may only get off, so decide on the pick-up point before everyone steps out.

A smaller van, nine seats or fewer, is not allowed at these stops at all, even with a permit; the tourist office suggests public car parks or loading bays instead. Either way, the operator plans the stops, and the driver waits at a coach park afterwards.

Sprinter 19-seat minibus, side view
Sprinter 19-seat minibus, side view

The easy stop by the station

The Inseliquai, four minutes on foot from the station and the boat piers, has two bays for getting on and off with luggage, and no permit is needed. It makes a natural meeting point for a lake day. Nearby, the Landenberg area allows up to two hours' waiting between 06:00 and 22:00.

Flying in to Lucerne

Favourite stops around Lucerne

  • KKL Luzern and the Lucerne Festival — The KKL concert hall is the main venue of the Lucerne Festival. Published dates: Lucerne Festival Forward 20 to 22 November 2026, Spring 2027 19 to 21 March 2027, Pulse 2027 6 to 9 May 2027 and the summer festival 12 August to 12 September 2027. Coach stops for KKL guests: see coach notes (station area).
  • Rigi (Vitznau, Weggis, Arth-Goldau) — Cogwheel railways from Vitznau (50 m from the boat pier) and Arth-Goldau (Hochperron, end of platform 5), and the aerial cableway Weggis - Rigi Kaltbad (about 10 minutes' walk from the Weggis boat pier). Seat reservations are not compulsory but are recommended for groups of 10 or more. Vitznau: the coach parking is not directly at the cogwheel station; there are two covered car parks (Seestrasse, 100 m, and Altdorfbachweg, 250 m, from the valley station). Weggis: two open car parks, P1 directly beside the cable-car station and P2 a few metres towards the lake. Arth-Goldau: cars and coaches cannot drive up to the station; drop-off and pick-up at the Eichmatt car park (150 m from the valley station) and longer coach parking at car park A4 (at Goldau A4), whose barrier opens automatically for coaches.
  • Pilatus (Alpnachstad cogwheel railway and Kriens cable cars) — Valley stations: Kriens, Schlossweg 1 (gondola and aerial cableway; A2 exit Luzern Süd/Kriens; bus 1 from Luzern station to "Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus", then 5 minutes on foot) and Alpnachstad, Brünigstrasse 2 (cogwheel railway; A8 exit Alpnachstad; S5 train from Luzern in 17 minutes, or boat from Steg 2 in May to October). The world's steepest cogwheel railway runs from 11 May to 29 November 2026 and is closed in winter; seat reservations are recommended 24 hours ahead, and groups of 10 or more must register 24 hours in advance. There is parking at both valley stations, but Pilatus publishes no separate coach parking; the mountain itself is closed to road traffic. The boat pier at Alpnachstad is linked to the cogwheel station by an underpass.
  • Lake Lucerne boats (SGV, Vierwaldstättersee) — The SGV piers are directly in front of Luzern station: Steg 1 for Flüelen (Rigi and Klewenalp) and the long lake cruises, Steg 2 for Alpnachstad (Pilatus), Steg 3 (in front of the KKL) for the Bürgenstock shuttle boat, Steg 4 and 6 for private charters, Steg 5 for "Legends of Lake Lucerne" and Steg 7 (Schweizerhofquai) for the one-hour Saphir panorama-yacht cruise. Groups of 10 or more must book in advance (group form); a group booking does not include reserved seats unless combined with a restaurant booking, and group tickets are bought on the day at the ticket office or on board. On paddle-steamer cruises, restaurant bookings are only possible in 1st class, and groups of 10 or more choose one menu in advance. Trips can start or end at any pier around the lake. Coaches meeting a boat in Luzern use the Haltekante Inseliquai (4 minutes' walk to the boat station).
  • Verkehrshaus der Schweiz (Swiss Museum of Transport) — Lidostrasse 5. Open 365 days a year: 10:00 to 18:00 in summer time (29 March to 24 October 2026) and 10:00 to 17:00 in winter time (25 October 2026 to 27 March 2027). Group tickets for groups of 10 or more; guided tours for groups and companies on request. Station Luzern Verkehrshaus (S3 or Voralpen-Express, 8 minutes from Luzern station), buses 6, 8 and 24, or boat to the museum pier "Verkehrshaus-Lido". The museum publishes no coach parking; in front of it there are only 8 short-stay car spaces (2 hours). The nearest city coach park is Brüelmoos, which Luzern Tourismus lists as "Parkplätze Lido/Brüel" (13 spaces, open day and night, getting on and off allowed, reached via Haldenstrasse).
  • Museggmauer (Musegg Wall) — Medieval town wall, 870 m long and about 9 m high, with nine surviving towers; the longest town wall in Switzerland preserved in one piece. The wall walk, Männliturm, Zytturm, Wachtturm (lower part) and Schirmerturm are open daily 08:00 to 19:00 from 1 April to 1 November and can be walked freely; the wall is closed in winter. Guided group tours are bookable from 1 April to 1 November through Luzern Tourismus (at most 25 people per group); tower-clock tours in the Zytturm take at most 20 people. The Löwendenkmal can be combined via Museggstrasse.
  • Kapellbrücke and Wasserturm (Chapel Bridge and Water Tower) — The covered timber bridge links the Luzerner Theater on the south bank of the Reuss with St. Peterskapelle on the Rathausquai, passing the octagonal Wasserturm (built around 1290-1300). Most of the bridge burned on 18 August 1993 and it reopened on 14 April 1994. Luzern Tourismus offers all its old-town and theme tours as private group tours (old-town tours in German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Finnish, Russian, Chinese and Korean, subject to availability); private tours take place in all weathers and cannot be rebooked because of weather. Nearest coach set-down points: Schwanenplatz (getting off only) and Kasernenplatz (5 minutes' walk to the old town via the Spreuerbrücke).
  • Gletschergarten Luzern (Glacier Garden) — Denkmalstrasse 4, directly beside the Löwendenkmal. Open every day 10:00 to 18:00 (November to March 10:00 to 17:00); closed on 24 and 25 December 2026. Reduced group admission from 10 people, with optional guided tours or programmes (some formats for at most 20 people). No own parking. The garden states that coaches can set their guests down directly at Löwenplatz and then park at the city's coach parks.
  • Löwendenkmal (Lion Monument) — Monument to the Swiss Guards who died in Paris in 1792, carved after a design by Bertel Thorvaldsen and inaugurated in 1821, visited by around 1.4 million people a year; ten interpretation panels in German and English (French and Italian by QR code). About 15 minutes on foot from the station and the old town; city buses 1 and 19 stop at Löwenplatz. Coaches set down at the Löwenplatz stop (11 bays; booked stop permit required since 1 April 2025, getting on, getting off and luggage allowed, no parking).

Good pickup points

  • Weggis and Vitznau (Lake Lucerne, Rigi)
  • Kriens (Pilatus valley station)
  • Allmend / Messe / Horw
  • Lido / Verkehrshaus / Brüelmoos
  • Tribschen / Alpenquai
  • Kasernenplatz / Basel- und Bernstrasse (Spreuerbrücke side)
  • Neustadt / Hirschmatt (Frankenstrasse, Winkelriedstrasse, Pilatusstrasse)
  • Bahnhof / KKL / Inseli
  • Löwenplatz / Wesemlin (Löwendenkmal)
  • Schwanenplatz / Schweizerhofquai / Haldenstrasse (lakefront)
  • Altstadt (old town, Weinmarkt / Kornmarkt / Hertensteinstrasse)

Arriving by boat

Pilatus and Rigi: up one way, down another

A favourite with small groups: take the boat from the pier in front of the station to Alpnachstad, ride the cogwheel railway up Pilatus, and come down by cable car to Kriens, where your driver is waiting. The boat runs from May to October and the cogwheel line until late November; groups of ten or more register 24 hours ahead.

Rigi works the same way. Go up by cogwheel train from Vitznau and down by cable car to Weggis, where a car park sits right beside the station. Vitznau is about 45 minutes by road if you would rather drive both ways.

In town and a little further

The Lion Monument and the Glacier Garden are side by side near Löwenplatz. The Musegg wall is open to walk from April to the start of November, and the Swiss Museum of Transport opens every day of the year, with the Brüelmoos coach park close by.

Engelberg, for Titlis, is about 50 minutes, the Stoos funicular near Schwyz about 50 and Ballenberg about an hour. Interlaken is about 1.5 hours over the Brünig, which stays open in winter.

Questions travellers ask

How far is Zurich Airport?

About 67 km from Schwanenplatz, roughly an hour in light traffic, so many groups head straight to Lucerne after landing.

Can we eat on a paddle steamer?

Yes, but restaurant bookings on paddle-steamer cruises are for first class only, and parties of ten or more choose one menu ahead. Any group of that size books the boat in advance.

Does Fasnacht affect our plans?

In 2027 the main lakeside road closes on the afternoons of 4 and 8 February and on the evening of 9 February. Plan stops away from Schweizerhofquai on those days.

Other trips we arrange

Other vehicles with a driver

Build your Lucerne itinerary

Tell us the dates, how many seats you need, where you are staying and which mountain or boat trip appeals. A licensed partner operator provides the vehicle and driver and plans the stops.

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