Lake Lucerne starts right in the city centre: within minutes you are looking at Pilatus, Rigi and the Bürgenstock. Here you can compare the cruises (one-hour catamaran, walking and boat tour, first-class lunch), what they cost, the SGV scheduled boats and the hour-by-hour weather and wind.
Budget option → · Lucerne, Switzerland
Weather at 2:00 PM. Boat trips start from 10:00.
| Tour | From | Duration | What you see | Languages | Cancellation | Departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our pickHybrid catamaranGetYourGuide | €30 | 1 h | Lucerne bay, Pilatus, Rigi, Bürgenstock | On-board commentary (language not stated) | Free up to 24 h before | Landungsbrücke 3 (near the station) |
| Sightseeing boatGetYourGuide | €97 | 2 h | Old town and lake | Guide EN and others; audio IT | Free up to 24 h before | Torbogen, Bahnhofplatz |
| Scheduled boat, first classGetYourGuide | €128 | 1 h 45 | Lake to Vitznau or Küssnacht | No guide | Free up to 24 h before | Bahnhofquai (in front of the station) |
Our pick: the one-hour catamaran cruise, from €30. It leaves from the pier by the station and in an hour takes you out to face Pilatus, Rigi and the Bürgenstock. It is the most reviewed (4.4 from 1,527) and you can cancel free up to 24 hours before. Children up to 5 go free.
1 h · 4.4 from 1,527 GetYourGuide reviews
2 h · 4.7 from 171 GetYourGuide reviews
1 h 45 · 4.3 from 421 GetYourGuide reviews
Indicative prices, checked on November 2, 2026: they may change: the final price is the one shown by the seller.
The SGV scheduled boats link Lucerne with the lakeside villages all year round.
The best months are June to August: highs of 23 to 25 degrees and the most sunshine.
| Month | Average high | Rainy days |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 4° | 10 |
| Feb | 6° | 9 |
| Mar | 11° | 11 |
| Apr | 15° | 11 |
| May | 19° | 13 |
| JunBest | 23° | 14 |
| JulBest | 25° | 13 |
| AugBest | 24° | 13 |
| Sep | 20° | 10 |
| Oct | 14° | 10 |
| Nov | 8° | 10 |
| Dec | 5° | 11 |
Lucerne 1991–2020 averages (NOAA, MeteoSwiss): mean daily maximum and days with at least 1 mm of rain. Source: table on Wikipedia (“Lucerne”).
Perfect day
Perfect day: partly cloudy, 13 to 14 °C, no rain, wind up to 6 km/h.
Fair
Fair: heavy rain, 11 to 15 °C, 3.7 mm, wind up to 9 km/h.
| Time | Sky | Temperature | Rain | Wind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 | Partly cloudy | 11° | – | 9 km/h |
| 11:00 | Partly cloudy | 13° | – | 4 km/h |
| 12:00 | Cloudy | 15° | – | 3 km/h |
| 13:00 | Cloudy | 15° | – | 5 km/h |
| 14:00 | Heavy rain | 15° | 1.6 mm | 6 km/h |
| 15:00 | Heavy rain | 14° | 1.6 mm | 5 km/h |
| 16:00 | Rain | 13° | 0.5 mm | 6 km/h |
The best days for a boat trip are Tuesday, November 10 and Thursday, November 19. The rating only looks at rain and wind during tour hours.
Today and tomorrow are accurate hour by hour; up to day seven the trend is reliable; the last days give a rough idea. Above 30 km/h the water gets choppy and small boats may postpone departures. Updated every hour.
Summer is the wettest season: from May to August it rains about 13 days a month.
All the piers are a short walk from Lucerne station, with direct trains from Zurich, Bern and Milan.
The one-hour catamaran cruise costs from €30, the walking tour with boat ride from €97, the first-class lunch cruise from €128. The scheduled boat to Weggis is CHF 23 one way.
Yes, SGV scheduled boats are free with the Swiss Travel Pass; with the Half Fare travelcard you pay half.
From the lakefront in front of the station: the catamaran from Landungsbrücke 3, the SGV boats from Bahnhofquai.
Yes, the scheduled boats run all year on the winter timetable, and there is a winter day pass for CHF 53.
Perfect day: partly cloudy, 13 to 14 °C, no rain, wind up to 6 km/h.
Saturday, November 14: Good: partly cloudy, 4 to 4 °C, no rain, wind up to 1 km/h. Sunday, November 15: Good: partly cloudy, 8 to 8 °C, no rain, wind up to 6 km/h.
Reliable forecasts go about 10 days ahead: here you get the next 10, hour by hour (with wind) for today and tomorrow and as a trend after that. To choose the month, see the climate month by month.
Forecasts come from MET Norway, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, calculated for the tour area’s coordinates and updated every hour during the day and every 3 hours at night. Tour prices and conditions are checked on the sellers’ pages, with the date.
One-hour catamaran cruise · from €30
Forecast by MET Norway, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, calculated for the tour area’s coordinates. Forecast: MET Norway (CC BY 4.0), updated every hour. Updated: November 2, 2026.