Küssnacht

Küssnacht is a small town in the heart of Switzerland.

Understand

Küssnacht is the last town in canton Schwyz before the border of Lucerne. On the shores of Lake Lucerne and also at the foot of Mount Rigi, it makes a good starting point for hikes up the "queen of the mountains". It is most famous for the yearly Klausjagen, an ancient tradition that attracts around 20,000 visitors each year. The most notable thing about Küssnacht (and indeed the thing many educated German speakers will remember) is the role the "Hohle Gasse" plays in the legend of Wilhelm Tell and the Schiller play, with the line "Durch diese hohle Gasse muss er kommen" - He must come through this hohle Gasse still familiar to many Germans Austrians and Swiss

Get in

There are trains every half hour that connect Küssnacht with Lucerne, Goldau and St. Gallen. From Lucerne you have connections to almost every major city in Switzerland. Goldau offers trains to Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland and also has an hourly direct train to Milan

Get around

There are a couple bus lines in town but as the centre is pretty small you probably won't need them to get around. If you're arriving by train take Bus 2 or 22 to "Hauptplatz" as it is the town centre (takes less than 5 minutes).

See

• 1 Hohle Gasse, Artherstrasse 38 (Bus Nr. 22 takes you there in 5 minutes from the train station). According to the legend of Wilhelm Tell, the national hero shot the Austrian bailiff Gessler at the Hohle Gasse with his crossbow. The place became famous due to the drama that Friedrich Schiller, a famous German writer (residing in Weimar at the time), wrote about the story. The place has a nice multimedia show that explains the whole story and its importance for Switzerland. (updated Aug 2015)
• Heimatmuseum (Museum of local history), Unterdorf 15 (from the bus station "Hauptplatz" walk down to the lake and you'll pass by the museum), ☏ +41 41 850 33 30, info@heimatmuseum.ch. Tu-Sa 14:00–17:00 (only in summer). Gives you an overview of local history from ancient times until now and tells the stories of the traditional events in town such as Klausjagen. (updated Aug 2015)

Do

• Seebodenalp (Seeboden), Grepperstrasse 43 (take bus Nr. 2 to the "Seilbahn" stop which is the bottom station of the cable car), ☏ +41 41 850 19 33. Seeboden is an area halfway up Mount Rigi that has lots of meadows, a small lake and is the locals favourite recreation area in town, there are a couple shorter hiking trails that are not very steep and only take about an hour, take the small cable car up the hill and walk to one of the restaurants or grill your meat on one of the fireplaces there, It's also a good starting point to hike up Mount Rigi as there are multiple trails going up there and it takes only about 1.5 hours to get to the top instead of the 2.5 - 3 hours from the town centre. (updated Aug 2015)
• Klausjagen (Chlausjage). Usually on 5 Dec at 20:00. (When that's a Saturday or Sunday then it's held the Friday before). Today the Klaus procession of Küssnacht is one of the most impressive St. Nicholas tradition all over Europe. Every year flock around 20,000 spectators to Küssnacht at the lake Lucerne. The procession witz around 200 elaborated "Iffelen" followed by the St. Nicholas and the huge din of more than 1,000 "Klaus Chasers" is spelling the spectators. (updated Aug 2015)
• Lakefront. Küssnacht has beautiful lakefront which is ideal for swimming and hanging out, get your bathing suit out, buy a beer and enjoy. Good times can be had. Water temperature in summer range from around 20 to 22 degrees Celsius. (updated Aug 2015)

Eat

If you're on a budget there are a couple kebab stores in the centre of town that serve the usual stuff. Otherwise restaurants are, as always in Switzerland, pretty expensive.

• 1 Gasthaus Engel (Engel), Hauptplatz 1, ☏ +41 41 850 88 89, info@gasthausengel.ch. 11:00–00:00. A nice restaurant in a historical building in which the famous poet Goethe resided during his time in Switzerland, serves very good innovative food, on the more expensive side, outdoor seating available in summer. (updated Aug 2015)
• 2 Rössli, Unterdorfstrasse 5, ☏ +41 41 850 76 96, info@roessli-kuessnacht.ch. Tu-Sa 11:00–14:00, 17:00–00:00. Really nice restaurant with friendly staff that serves good Swiss cuisine. (updated Aug 2015)

Drink

• 1 Casa Vera, Oberdorf 1, ☏ +41 76 742 04 49. The most notorious spot to get wasted. Cash only. 
• 2 B70, Bahnhofstrasse 70 (The Bar is in the train station building), ☏ +41 78 691 15 83, b70@b70.ch. W-Sa 17:00–02:00. really small but cosy bar in the train station building, has the best variety of tap beers in town (updated Aug 2015)
• 3 Tells Pub, Hauptplatz 7, ☏ +41 41 850 63 33, tellspub@gmail.com. M-Sa 17:00-late (closed Su). dive bar describes it the best, only recommended if already drunk (updated Dec 2024)

Sleep

• 1 Seehof, Seeplatz 6, ☏ +41 41 850 10 12, seehof@remimag.ch. Most likely the most beautiful hotel in Küssnacht, directly at the lake Fr. 176-237. (updated Dec 2024)
• 2 Hotel Frohsinn, Zugerstrasse 5, ☏ +41 41 850 14 14, https://www.rest-frohsinn.ch/#FORMAT. (updated Dec 2024)

Go next

Check out the other towns along the Lake Lucerne such as Weggis and Vitznau.