The Stoos Funicular

The line opened in December 2017 and replaced an older funicular up the same wall of rock to Stoos, a small car free village on a shelf above the Muota valley. Its trick is mechanical: four cabins shaped like barrels hang in cradles and rotate as the gradient changes, so the floor stays level while the slope beneath reaches 110 per cent, the steepest of any funicular anywhere. The ride takes about four minutes. From the village, chairlifts continue to Fronalpstock and Klingenstock, and the ridge walk between the two runs along a narrow grass crest with Lake Lucerne a long way below on one side.

What you actually see

• The rotating cabins - drums that turn in their cradles to hold the floor level.
• The gradient - a slope reaching 110 per cent, cut straight up the rock face.
• Stoos village - a car free shelf of houses high above the valley.
• The ridge walk - the crest between Klingenstock and Fronalpstock above the lake.

When to go

The funicular runs all year. June to October is the season for the ridge walk, which wants dry ground and a head for exposure; winter turns Stoos into a small ski area. The first cabins of the morning are the emptiest, and because the ride is short the queues at least move quickly.

Honest expectations

The novelty lasts four minutes and the fare is not small: this is transport rather than an attraction in itself. Stoos is a modest village with limited facilities. The ridge walk above it is exposed, with steep drops and no shade, and unpleasant in wind. Cloud on the crest removes the entire reason for going up.

Nearby

Schwyz down in the valley, with Lake Lucerne and the Muotatal close by.