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Best Summer Hikes in Lucerne

65 routes in Lucerne qualify, ranked below by how much walkers rate them. They average 6.1 km and 145 m (476 ft) of ascent, with the longest running to 29.4 km.

That is 16 percent of the 396 routes we map in Lucerne. They run noticeably longer than average for the area, 6.1 km against 2.7 km, so budget more daylight than a typical outing here.

High-season routes, most of which only come into condition once the snow has cleared from the upper sections. The mix is broad: 48 are rated easy and 10 are hard or harder, so there is something here whether you have two hours or a full day.

Trails

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Hard

Alpine Panorama Trail

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
29.0 km
/ 18.0 mi
Elevation gain
572 m
Typical duration
7 hr 19 min
  • Alpine meadow
  • Panoramic viewpoint
  • Waymarked route
New building of the train station of Littau, canton of Luzern, Switzerland
Moderate

Alpine Panorama Trail

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
12.5 km
/ 7.8 mi
Elevation gain
454 m
Typical duration
3 hr 17 min
  • Alpine meadow
  • Panoramic viewpoint
  • Waymarked route
Glaubenbielenpass at Giswil OW, Switzerland, with summit sign "Glaubenbielen Passhöhe 1611 m"
Hard

Trans Swiss Trail

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
18.4 km
/ 11.4 mi
Elevation gain
648 m
Typical duration
4 hr 54 min
  • Mountain
  • Waymarked route
Covered Wooden Bridge over the Kleine Emme River, Werthenstein, Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland
Moderate

Alpine Panorama Trail

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
10.2 km
/ 6.3 mi
Elevation gain
147 m
Typical duration
2 hr 21 min
  • Alpine meadow
  • Panoramic viewpoint
  • Waymarked route
Inschrift über dem Portal zur Wallfahrtskapelle St. Jost, Blatten (Gemeinde Malters, LU)
Hard

ViaJacobi

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
19.0 km
/ 11.8 mi
Elevation gain
483 m
Typical duration
4 hr 48 min
  • Waymarked route
Kronospan, Menznau
Moderate

ViaJacobi

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
13.8 km
/ 8.5 mi
Elevation gain
245 m
Typical duration
3 hr 14 min
  • Waymarked route
Kurzenhütten Road Bridge over the Waldemme River, Fluehli, Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland
Hard

Emmenuferweg - Etappe 2

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
18.6 km
/ 11.6 mi
Elevation gain
123 m
Typical duration
4 hr 10 min
  • Waymarked route
water-meadow landscape of the river "kleine Emme" in Switzerland, Entlebuch region
Moderate

Emmenuferweg - Etappe 3

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
16.0 km
/ 10.0 mi
Elevation gain
217 m
Typical duration
3 hr 42 min
  • Waymarked route
Malters von Schwarzenberg aus gesehen
Hard

Emmenuferweg - Etappe 4

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
19.1 km
/ 11.9 mi
Elevation gain
151 m
Typical duration
4 hr 20 min
  • Waymarked route
Hard

Via Gottardo

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
29.4 km
/ 18.3 mi
Elevation gain
347 m
Typical duration
7 hr 5 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Ängelberg - Berg

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.2 km
/ 0.7 mi
Elevation gain
26 m
Typical duration
17 min
  • Mountain
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Berg - Chätzigerhöchi

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.4 km
/ 0.9 mi
Elevation gain
30 m
Typical duration
20 min
  • Mountain
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Hämikon Berg - Müswangen

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
0.6 km
/ 0.4 mi
Elevation gain
14 m
Typical duration
9 min
  • Mountain
  • Waymarked route
Moderate

Rontaler Höhenweg

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
13.4 km
/ 8.3 mi
Elevation gain
294 m
Typical duration
3 hr 13 min
  • Waymarked route
Moderate

Seeuferweg Baldeggersee

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
14.4 km
/ 8.9 mi
Elevation gain
316 m
Typical duration
3 hr 28 min
  • Waymarked route
Hard

Waldstätterweg - Etappe 1

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
14.8 km
/ 9.2 mi
Elevation gain
740 m
Typical duration
4 hr 12 min
  • Waymarked route
Hard

Waldstätterweg - Etappe 2

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
18.7 km
/ 11.6 mi
Elevation gain
800 m
Typical duration
5 hr 12 min
  • Waymarked route
Hard

Waldstätterweg - Etappe 3

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
17.0 km
/ 10.6 mi
Elevation gain
420 m
Typical duration
4 hr 14 min
  • Waymarked route
Hard

Waldstätterweg - Etappe 4

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
21.1 km
/ 13.1 mi
Elevation gain
1,000 m
Typical duration
6 hr 5 min
  • Waymarked route
Moderate

Waldstätterweg - Etappe 6

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
13.6 km
/ 8.5 mi
Elevation gain
300 m
Typical duration
3 hr 17 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Buchs - Burg

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.7 km
/ 1.1 mi
Elevation gain
38 m
Typical duration
25 min
  • Castle and ruins
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Burg - Liebergott

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.3 km
/ 0.8 mi
Elevation gain
28 m
Typical duration
18 min
  • Castle and ruins
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Inwil - Burg

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.1 km
/ 0.7 mi
Elevation gain
24 m
Typical duration
16 min
  • Castle and ruins
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Flüss - Etzenerlen

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.6 km
/ 1.0 mi
Elevation gain
36 m
Typical duration
24 min
  • River
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Flüss - Mittelarig

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.7 km
/ 1.1 mi
Elevation gain
37 m
Typical duration
24 min
  • River
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Huprächtigen - Flüss

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
0.6 km
/ 0.4 mi
Elevation gain
13 m
Typical duration
9 min
  • River
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Flühli - Wald

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
0.4 km
/ 0.3 mi
Elevation gain
9 m
Typical duration
6 min
  • Forest
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Morentaler Wald - Vogelsang

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.4 km
/ 0.9 mi
Elevation gain
31 m
Typical duration
20 min
  • Forest
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Äberdingen - Ärpolingen

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
2.6 km
/ 1.6 mi
Elevation gain
58 m
Typical duration
38 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Äbnet - Schlatt

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
3.6 km
/ 2.2 mi
Elevation gain
80 m
Typical duration
52 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Adelwil - Bärtiswil

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
5.3 km
/ 3.3 mi
Elevation gain
117 m
Typical duration
1 hr 17 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Adelwil - Neuenkirch

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
2.1 km
/ 1.3 mi
Elevation gain
45 m
Typical duration
30 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Adligenswil - Lätten

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.4 km
/ 0.8 mi
Elevation gain
30 m
Typical duration
20 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Adligenswil - Sonnmatt

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.9 km
/ 1.2 mi
Elevation gain
43 m
Typical duration
28 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Adligenswil - Stube

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.5 km
/ 0.9 mi
Elevation gain
32 m
Typical duration
21 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Adligenswil-Talacheri

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.1 km
/ 0.7 mi
Elevation gain
24 m
Typical duration
16 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Aesch - Hitzkirch

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
5.2 km
/ 3.2 mi
Elevation gain
113 m
Typical duration
1 hr 15 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Aesch - Honeriweid

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
1.8 km
/ 1.1 mi
Elevation gain
39 m
Typical duration
25 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Aesch - Mosen

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
2.5 km
/ 1.6 mi
Elevation gain
55 m
Typical duration
36 min
  • Waymarked route
Easy

Ägerten - Blatten

Lucerne · Switzerland

Distance
0.9 km
/ 0.6 mi
Elevation gain
21 m
Typical duration
14 min
  • Waymarked route

The shortlist, side by side

The ten highest scoring routes on this page, so you can compare effort before opening any of them.

Distance, ascent, walking time and difficulty for the top routes
RouteDistanceAscentTimeDifficultyBest season
Alpine Panorama TrailLucerne29.0 km572 m7 hr 19 minHardApril to October
Alpine Panorama TrailLucerne12.5 km454 m3 hr 17 minModerateApril to October
Trans Swiss TrailLucerne18.4 km648 m4 hr 54 minHardJune to October
Alpine Panorama TrailLucerne10.2 km147 m2 hr 21 minModerateApril to October
ViaJacobiLucerne19.0 km483 m4 hr 48 minHardApril to October
ViaJacobiLucerne13.8 km245 m3 hr 14 minModerateApril to October
Emmenuferweg - Etappe 2Lucerne18.6 km123 m4 hr 10 minHardApril to October
Emmenuferweg - Etappe 3Lucerne16.0 km217 m3 hr 42 minModerateApril to October
Emmenuferweg - Etappe 4Lucerne19.1 km151 m4 hr 20 minHardApril to October
Via GottardoLucerne29.4 km347 m7 hr 5 minHardApril to October

If you only have time for one, start with Alpine Panorama Trail, Alpine Panorama Trail, Trans Swiss Trail. Those are the routes people come back to. Every route on this page links through to a full guide with the map, elevation profile, seasonal advice and what to bring.

Frequently asked questions

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