Guide · Tickets

Lake Lucerne cruise ticket price, passes and discounts

The Lake Lucerne cruise ticket price depends on three things: where you go, which class you sit in and which rail pass you already carry. Here are the published fares, what each pass covers, and how to pay the least for your day on the water.

Check availabilityfrom $38 · cancellation is free

Editorial team, lucerneboattrip.comUpdated October 19, 20266 minutes to read29 sources

Bookable here: the tour Lake Lucerne round trip by catamaran 4.5 (1,424 reviews) 1 hourFrom pier 3 at the KKLChildren up to 5 ride free from$38per person Check availabilityCancel for free up to 24 hrs ahead

Quick answer

01Short trip: Lucerne to Weggis is CHF 23.00 one way in 2nd class at full fare, on SGV's price list.¹
02Day pass: Unlimited boats for a day cost CHF 86.00 in 2nd class, or CHF 53.00 in winter.²
03Swiss Travel Pass: Free travel on SGV's scheduled boats, as are the GA and the Saver Day Pass.³
04Half Fare Card: Half price on scheduled boats, as with Interrail and Eurail.⁴
05Booked catamaran: Book this site's 1-hour catamaran loop from $38; you can still back out at no charge with 24 hours to spare.

How boat fares on the lake work

Most boats on Lake Lucerne are scheduled services of SGV, the Lake Lucerne Navigation Company, and they are priced like Swiss trains: by distance, by class and by one way or return. A ticket from Lucerne to a village is a public transport ticket, sold on every boat and at the Lucerne and Weggis stations, and from spring to autumn at Brunnen and Vitznau as well.⁵

That is different from a booked cruise. A round trip with a fixed departure, a meal or a reserved seat is a product with its own price, sold online and often with its own cancellation rules. This site's catamaran round trip, for example, is booked ahead, lasts 1 hour from pier 3 at the KKL and starts from $38.

Knowing which of the two you are buying saves money. A rail pass that makes line boats free does not pay for a meal on board, and a cheap online cruise is not a ticket to Flüelen. Look at where you want to go, then at the passes you hold, and only then at the cruises that add something a line ticket cannot. A few minutes with the price list before you leave the hotel is the cheapest part of the whole trip.

Paying for the boat

From choosing a pass to stepping aboard

Before the trip

Count your journeys

One return or several villages decides between a ticket and a day pass.²
At home

Check your pass

Swiss Travel Pass, GA and Saver Day Pass give free travel on line boats.³
In Lucerne

Buy or show

Tickets are on sale on every boat and at the Lucerne station.⁵
On board

Pick a deck

A pass holder pays the reduced price to move to 1st class.⁶
Booked cruise

Keep it flexible

This site's catamaran can be cancelled free up to 24 hours before.

Published fares from Lucerne

SGV publishes its fares, and the Lake Lucerne cruise ticket price for the popular villages is easy to read. On its price list for 2nd class at full fare, Lucerne to Weggis costs CHF 23.00 one way and CHF 43.00 return; in 1st class it is CHF 36.00 and CHF 67.00.¹ Lucerne to Vitznau, at the foot of the Rigi railway, is CHF 31.00 one way and CHF 53.00 return in 2nd class, and reduced fares are half.⁷

Further up the lake the fares rise with the distance. SGV gives CHF 46.00 one way to Brunnen and CHF 53.00 one way to Flüelen in 2nd class.⁸ If you plan to stop at more than one village, compare these with the day pass, which costs CHF 86.00 in 2nd class and CHF 134.00 in 1st, with a cheaper winter version at CHF 53.00 and CHF 82.00 from 1 November to 31 March.²

For families there is a children's day pass for ages 6 to 15 at CHF 12.00 in 2nd class.⁹ Dogs pay CHF 10.00 one way, small dogs up to 30 cm carried in a container and working dogs travel free, and a bicycle costs CHF 10.00 one way.¹⁰ ¹¹ ¹² All these fares come from SGV's list as read on 19 October 2026 and can change.¹

Published fares

One-way fares from Lucerne, 2nd class, in CHF

CHF

Full fares from SGV's price list, read 19 October 2026; the Half Fare Card halves each one.¹ ⁷ ⁸ ⁴

Passes on the boats

What each pass gives you on SGV's line boats

Pass	On scheduled boats	Note
Swiss Travel Pass	Free travel	Also the Flex version
GA travelcard	Free travel	Swiss residents' pass
Half Fare Card	50% off	Interrail and Eurail too
Lucerne Travel Pass	Free travel	2nd class, days in a row
Junior Card	Children free	Up to 16, with a parent

As SGV, Swiss Travel System, the Lucerne Travel Pass and SBB state it on their own pages.³ ¹³ ⁴ ¹⁴ ¹⁵

Three ways to pay

Single ticket, day pass or a rail pass

Simplest

Single ticket

One village and back

Weggis return: CHF 43.00
Vitznau return: CHF 53.00
Where: On board or at the station

Compare

Most flexible

SGV day pass

Hop between villages

2nd class: CHF 86.00
Winter: CHF 53.00
Children 6-15: CHF 12.00

Compare

Free on line boats

Swiss Travel Pass

Trains, buses and boats

3 days: CHF 254
Rigi: Included
Pilatus: Up to 50% off

Compare

Decision helper

Which ticket fits your trip?

Choose the line that sounds like you

I go to one village and back I want to stop in several places I travel across Switzerland I stay only in central Switzerland I just want an hour on the water

A return ticket

Lucerne to Vitznau is CHF 53.00 return in 2nd class.⁷

The SGV day pass

CHF 86.00 in 2nd class for unlimited boats that day.²

Swiss Travel Pass

Free travel on scheduled boats and the Rigi included.³ ¹⁶

Lucerne Travel Pass

Covers the paddle steamers, Pilatus and Titlis.¹⁷

The booked catamaran

1 hour from pier 3, from $38.

Validity: GA, Swiss Travelpass, Half-Fare Card, and Junior Card are valid. Gastronomy: Drinks machine available no food.

Lake Lucerne Navigation Company (SGV)Source 18

The Swiss Travel Pass on the boats

A Lake Lucerne cruise with a Swiss pass is the cheapest way onto the water, because the scheduled boats are covered. SGV lists free travel with the Swiss Travel Pass, the Swiss Travel Pass Flex and the Swiss Transfer Ticket, as well as with the GA travelcard and the Saver Day Pass.³ You simply show the pass when the conductor comes round; there is no seat reservation for a line boat.

The pass itself gives unlimited travel by train, bus and boat for 3, 4, 6, 8 or 15 consecutive days, and the Flex version spreads the same number of days across one month.¹⁹ ²⁰ For 2026 the adult pass costs CHF 254 in 2nd class or CHF 405 in 1st class for 3 days.²¹ It also includes the Rigi and gives up to 50% off many other mountains, Pilatus among them.¹⁶ ²²

SGV also accepts these passes on its catamaran cruise from pier 3: the GA, Swiss Travel Pass, Half-Fare Card and Junior Card are valid there.²³ ¹⁸ With a 2nd-class pass you can still sit upstairs: holders of a Half-Fare travelcard, a GA or a Swiss Travel Pass pay the reduced class-change price.⁶

Checklist

Tickets sorted before the pier

Passes

Swiss Travel Pass, GA or Half Fare Card at hand
Swiss Family Card for children 6 to 15²⁴
Lucerne Travel Pass days used in a row

On the day

Day pass if you visit more than one village
The pier for your boat: 1, 2 or 3
Booked cruise: free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Cost calculator

What a booked cruise costs your group

Type in the size of your party to compare the bookable cruises.

Catamaran loop1 hourfrom $38 Discovery cruise1 hourfrom $31 Lunch cruiseFirst classfrom $145

People 2

Total from$75

per guest from $38

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Sums multiply the cheapest adult fare GetYourGuide quotes for each Lucerne trip by your headcount, at the European Central Bank's rate; your basket at checkout is what counts.

Video

LAKE LUCERNE CRUISE | Swiss Travel Pass | A Day Tiket at Lake Lucerne Cruise

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Half Fare Card, children and families

A Lake Lucerne cruise with the Half Fare Card costs exactly half. SGV gives a 50% discount on scheduled boats with the Half Fare travelcard, the Interrail Pass and the Eurail Pass.⁴ Switzerland's travel system sells the Swiss Half Fare Card to international guests for one month, valid on trains, buses, boats and most mountain railways.²⁵

Children are well looked after. On SGV boats, children aged 6 to 16 travel at half price, and with a Junior Card children up to 16 travel free when a parent comes along.⁴ ¹³ Visitors from abroad can ask for the free Swiss Family Card, which lets children aged 6 to 15 travel free with a parent holding a Swiss Travel Pass, a Flex pass or the Half Fare Card.²⁴

On a booked cruise the child rules are the operator's own. This site's catamaran lets children up to 5 years old ride free. For a lunch cruise or a private boat, read the listing before you book, since a set menu or a fixed group price works differently from a line ticket.

The Lucerne Travel Pass and mountain tickets

If your stay is all about central Switzerland, look at the Lucerne Travel Pass. It costs CHF 240 for 3 days, CHF 265 for 4, CHF 290 for 5 and CHF 365 for 10 days, with a kids' pass for ages 6 to 16 at CHF 30.²⁶ Its days must be used in a row, and there is no extra discount on it for holders of a Half-Fare card, a GA or a Swiss Travel Pass.¹⁴

In return it covers almost the whole region by train, bus, boat and mountain railway, including Pilatus, Titlis, the Stanserhorn and the paddle steamers on the lake.¹⁷ SBB notes that it is a 2nd-class pass.¹⁵ On scheduled SGV boats it appears under the name Lucerne Travel Pass / Tell-Pass with free travel.¹³

Mountains are where the sums get large. The Golden Round Trip to Pilatus by boat costs CHF 119.80 for an adult with a 2nd-class boat in 2026, while a Swiss Travel Pass holder rides the boat and bus free and buys only a discounted ticket for the mountain.²⁷ ²⁸ Count the mountains in your plan before you choose a pass.

Line ticket, day pass or a booked cruise?

For a single return trip to Weggis or Vitznau, a normal ticket is simplest, and with a Swiss Travel Pass it costs nothing. For a day of hopping between villages, the day pass usually wins once you make more than one longer journey. For a short loop with no destination, a booked one-hour cruise from the city is often cheaper than a return to the nearest village. And on a wet day, a pass holder can still watch the shore slide past from a warm saloon on a line boat.

Booked cruises have their own advantages. This site's catamaran has free cancellation up to 24 hours before and you can reserve now and pay later. A competing one-hour discovery cruise from pier 7 starts from $31, and the first-class lunch cruise from $145.

Whatever you buy, keep the receipt or the pass at hand, and know your pier. SGV sends boats to Weggis, Vitznau, Brunnen and Flüelen from pier 1, to Alpnachstad from pier 2 and to Küssnacht and the Bürgenstock from pier 3.²⁹ A ticket is only as useful as the boat you manage to catch.

Your hour afloat