Pilatus
Pilatus is a local ski area in Lucerne / Nidwalden with 3 lifts, between 513 m and 2'063 m. Nearby: Hergiswil, Kriens.
Rank Pilatus against every ski area near Lucerne for this weekend
This weekend
Measured snow and weekend forecast
Snow at the nearest SLF station
There is no SLF snow station within 15 km of Pilatus at a comparable elevation (within 500 m of the ski area's mid-mountain), so Skiboard shows no measured snow for this ski area.
Weekend forecast
- : Partly cloudy, 4°C, wind 5 km/h
- : Partly cloudy, 5°C, wind 5 km/h
Source: MeteoSwiss, local forecast for Eigenthal (971 m, 3.1 km from the ski area), with the temperature at the ski area's mid-mountain, averaged over 09:00–16:00. Fetched .
Written into this page when it was last built. The live ranking uses the newest values.
Your trip
Travel time from Swiss cities
| From | Car | Train |
|---|---|---|
| Lucerne | 14 min | 17 minKriens, Zentrum Pilatus · direct |
| Zug | 35 min | 46 minKriens, Pilatusbahn · 2 changes |
| Zürich | 56 min | 1h 09Kriens, Pilatusbahn · 2 changes |
| Zurich Airport | 1h 04 | 1h 30Kriens, Pilatusbahn · 3 changes |
| Bern | 1h 12 | 1h 28Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus · 1 change |
| Winterthur | 1h 15 | 1h 39Kriens, Pilatusbahn · 3 changes |
| Basel | 1h 31 | 1h 24Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus · 1 change |
| St. Gallen | 1h 47 | 2h 21Kriens, Pilatusbahn · 3 changes |
| Chur | 1h 49 | 2h 39Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus · 2 changes |
| Lausanne | 2h 28 | 2h 46Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus · 2 changes |
| Geneva | 3h 01 | 3h 29Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus · 4 changes |
| Geneva Airport | 3h 02 | 3h 39Kriens, Zentrum Pilatus · 4 changes |
Train: the timetable’s fastest connection leaving the city’s station between 06:30 and 09:30 on Sat 16 Jan 2027, to the valley station of the area’s lowest lift, with the walk from the last stop. Car: an estimate from coordinates, not live traffic. Check your trip on sbb.ch before you go.
Plan your trip
Practical links for the trip. They do not affect the ranking.
- Stay in Pilatus Booking.com · Saturday to Sunday, 7 Nov – 8 Nov · 2 adults
The mountain
Facts
- Lifts
- 3
- Top station
- 2'063 m
- Base
- 513 m
- Vertical
- 1'550 m
- Mountain restaurants
- 8
- Canton
- Lucerne / Nidwalden
Mountain restaurants in Pilatus
OpenStreetMap maps 8 places to eat or drink up the mountain in Pilatus, highest first.
- Pilatus Kulm Restaurant · about 2'130 m · Map
- Steinbockbar Bar · about 2'060 m · Map
- Panoramagrill Snack bar · about 2'060 m · Map
Show 5 more
- Restaurant Fräkmüntegg Restaurant · about 1'410 m · Map
- Krienseregg Restaurant · about 1'020 m · Map
- Berghaus Ricketschwändi Restaurant · about 1'000 m · Map
- Naturfreundehaus Krienseregg Restaurant · about 1'000 m · Map
- Schlimgrüebli Restaurant · about 940 m · Map
Opening times change with the season and the snow: check with the restaurant or the lift company before you go.
From OpenStreetMap, read 25 Oct 2026 (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL). A place missing or closed? Fix the map
About Pilatus
Ski areas near Pilatus
Pilatus in numbers
50'754 winter hotel nights · 8 % second homes
Hotels, homes and lifts in Hergiswil (NW) and Kriens, where the area’s lifts start: the federal statistics, and what the lift company publishes.
Hotels
In winter 2025/26 (November to April) the hotels of Kriens sold 50'754 overnight stays, -2.7 % on 2024/25. 55 % of their rooms were occupied, with up to 610 beds in 5 open hotels. In summer 2025 (May to October) they sold 85'291; over winter 2024/25 and that summer, 38 % of the nights were in winter.
Guests in winter 2025/26: 36 % of the nights were Swiss residents’, then Germany 10 %, United States 9 %, India 5 % and United Kingdom 3 %.
Winter hotel nights, season by season
| Winter | Overnight stays | Rooms occupied | Beds at peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | 50'754 | 55 % | 610 |
| 2024/25 | 52'186 | 60 % | 610 |
| 2023/24 | 50'283 | 59 % | 551 |
| 2022/23 | 52'804 | 62 % | 551 |
| 2021/22 | 31'933 | 38 % | 551 |
| 2020/21 | 8'087 | 18 % | 547 |
| 2019/20 | 27'250 | 45 % | 546 |
| 2018/19 | 18'447 | 59 % | 276 |
| 2017/18 | 19'390 | 55 % | 276 |
| 2016/17 | 20'288 | 49 % | 328 |
Homes
8 % of the 18'712 homes in Hergiswil (NW) and Kriens are second homes (housing inventory, October 2026). Below 20 %, the Second Homes Act does not restrict new ones.
Lifts
One installation with a federal licence (gondolas, cable cars, chairlifts and funiculars; drag lifts are licensed by the cantons). The newest licence: 2015 (Fräkmüntegg - Pilatus Kulm); half of them date from 2015 or earlier.
The 1 federally licensed installations
| Installation | Type | Licensed | Length | Rise | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fräkmüntegg - Pilatus Kulm | cable car | 2015 | – | – | – |
Commune figures count every hotel guest, not only skiers, and holiday flats are not in the hotel statistics. A licence year is when the installation’s current federal licence starts: usually the year it opened, sometimes a renewal.
Sources: Federal Statistical Office, hotel statistics (HESTA) · Federal Office for Spatial Development, housing inventory · Federal Office of Transport, cable cars with a federal licence
Catalog facts from OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap (ODbL). Where an SLF station is nearby, the app shows its measured snow, and the day-pass price is read from the operator’s own shop or tariff; for opening status, check the operator.
Skigebiet Pilatus · Domaine skiable Pilatus · Comprensorio sciistico Pilatus