Like Staying on Top of the World, these Mountain Hotels Are

Many Swiss hotels, guest houses, and B&Bs may give you plenty of chance to stay in the hills, enjoying spectacular mountain views from below. But the enterprising Swiss have assembled some options in addition to the world: Hotels on some of the more available mountains, over surrounding mountain ranges and valleys where you can look down.

Beautiful Mountain Hotels in Switzerland

I stayed at two mountaintop hotels in Switzerland–the Rigi Kaltbad and Burgenstock Palace–both available by a rail pass. On other visits I’ve seen the splendor of Lucerne’s Mount Pilatus via surrounding hotels, and have learned worth the view of others. Below are some of the best-perched ones for mountain resort views.

Rigi Mountain

Outside Lucerne, Rigi is an accessible mountain famous with day-trippers. It boasts many hotels that are top-of-the-mountain. Hotel Rigi Kaltbad is a hotel designed so that rooms offer you a sprawling mountain view. The hotel contains a nutrient bath-spa complicated and a restaurant. Rigi is not a ski centre while the views are outstanding, like hang gliding into updrafts coming off the sheer cliff, but you can experience winter sports.

You are able to reach the Rigi summit from Lucerne by regular lake boat to Weggis, then a cable car or from lake boat to Vitznau, then the Rigi Bahnen mountain railroad; or hit it from different parts of Switzerland by rail to Arth-Goldau, another Rigi Bahnen branch. Rigi Bahnen and both cable car are coated by Swiss Travel Pass.

Burgenstock Mountain Hotels

More compact than Rigi, Burgenstock feels like more of a giant hill. However, the location on the crest just outside of Lucerne provides excellent views of its neighboring mountains and Lake Lucerne. It is reachable by lake ship to its own dock station, Kehrsiten-Bürgenstock, and then by a cable car right to the heart of the hotel. Adjacent is the old, classic Victorian Hotel, also condos, a center, and alternative amenities. Massive rooms are totally modern but keep the traditional elegance of European “Grand” resorts.

Mount Pilatus

Pilatus creates a bookend to Rigi. It’s equally accessible and. As with Rigi, it is not a centre, but it affords plenty of outdoor activities. It is accessible from suburban Lucerne by public transit and a cable car from Kriens to Frakmuntegg, and a different cable car to Pilatus. You can also have a railway train or pond ship into Alpnachstad a cog railway to the top. Here you will also find the two top mountain resorts which are the luxury-class: The Bellevue and the equally luxurious Pilatus Kulm. Both provide great views.

Gornergrat Ridge, Zermatt

The Swiss Travel Pass for railroad travel takes you up to the charming village of Zermatt, with dozens of mountain hotels to choose from. For most sightseers and rail enthusiasts, the most fascinating part of the trip starts at Zermatt: The Gornergrat cog railway from the center of Zermatt into a terminal Gornergrat station at just over 10,000 feet in elevation, with commanding 360-degree views which have the neighboring Matterhorn, and Swiss Travel Pass holders pay half price. Gornergrat is part of an extensive ski complex with a great deal of runs in the Zermatt area, in addition to the ability to ski right into a complex of runs and lifts in Italy’s Val d’Aosta.

The Gornergrat-Kulm Hotel is just a couple of steps from the top terminal. It claims to be the highest-altitude resort in Switzerland–if you are prone to altitude illness, be careful. It’s also a ski center, so peak rates occur in winter. On up the road, you pass the Riffelhaus 1853, another classic, upscale ski center.