The Best of Central Switzerland: A Visit to Stanserhorn and the Canton of Nidwalden’s Capital City, Stans

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The Canton of Nidwalden

When we travel, we usually base ourselves somewhere and make day trips from there. We could probably cover more ground if we just bounced around every day, but, in my opinion, the stress of dragging big bags around everywhere just isn’t worth it…

Here in Switzerland, with its exceptionally efficient public transit network, you can visit almost the entire country if you just find a central enough location and get yourself an all-access train pass like the General Abonnement (GA) for residents or the Swiss Travel Pass for visitors.

The central cantons of Uri, Schwyz, Lucerne, Obwalden and Nidwalden are the country’s birthplace overflowing with tradition and serve as an exceptional base for exploration, explaining the large number of visitors the region receives every year.

Of those visitors most will likely be staying in Lucerne, the region’s largest city. That is not without good reason, Lucerne is a great town with interesting historic sites, great views, and a stunning waterfront but it tends to be oppressively packed with tourists, especially in the height of summer and, sometimes, you just want to get away from it all.

To us, relaxed and traditional Stans, just 15 minutes from Lucerne by train, has always seemed like the perfect alternative. It’s a quiet town with an unbelievably high density of good places to eat, and its iconic Stanserhorn, easily competes with more popular peaks in the region like Rigi and Pilatus.

After taking several days of our last vacation to soak in the fantastic Mediterranean vibes of Locarno and the excellent history of Bellinzona’s castles, we made our way back through the Alps to spend a little time in Stans and see how it really stacks up. We were floored and we think you will be as well.

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Our Journey to Stans

From Ticino, we hopped on a fast train from Bellinzona through Switzerland’s modern marvel, the Gotthard Base Tunnel. At 57 km’s long the tunnel is Switzerland, and the world’s, longest but the train zips through at such high speeds that you barely even notice how intensely long the journey really is.

We lucked out with our timing. For over a year the Gotthard base tunnel was closed for repairs and only re-opened in September 2024. In August of the previous year, a faulty wheel on an Italian freight car failed, partially derailing the train. Unknowingly, the cars were dragged through the tunnel for nearly 8 km’s destroying over 20,000 concrete sleepers in the rail bed and a lane change gate. In the end, the incident and its subsequent repairs cost the Swiss over 100 million CHF.

After a short layover at Altdorf, home to Switzerland’s legendary (potentially fictional, but no less compelling) folk hero Wilhelm Tell in the remote Canton of Uri, we finally caught a PostAuto Bus bound for Stans and the Canton of Nidwalden.

While we could have taken the train all the way to Lucerne then on to Stans, the hour-long bus ride cut down on our connections and we thought it might offer a scenic alternative to the trip on the far side of Vierwaldstaatersee.

I am not sure that I would go out of my way to recommend the bus. It’s an option if you are heading that direction, but passing through the exceptionally long (c. 9 km or 6 mile) Seelisberg tunnel was not really fun and, after a while, the lurching of the bus made me a bit queasy. Yuck. If I was to do this route again, I would probably just catch the train through Lucerne.

The one (possibly fringe) benefit to taking the bus was the chance to pass by Nidwalden’s largest employer and Switzerland’s only aircraft manufacturer, Pilatus Aircraft. Pilatus’ PC-7, PC-9 and PC-21 turbo-prop trainer aircraft are used by militaries around the world to train their fighter pilots and their lines of commercial aircraft are ubiquitous at private airports around the world.

Altdorf, the home of Wilhelm Tell

The Historic Stanserhorn-Bahn Meets Modern Switzerland

After settling into our hotel, and more or less recovering from my bus induced motion sickness, we set out for, Stans’ top attraction, the 1897 m (c. 6200 ft) peak, Stanserhorn. Stanserhorn towers some 1450 m above Stans and, while it’s not the tallest nor steepest mountain in the region, its upper slopes offer absolutely commanding views.

Looking out over Nidwalden from Stanserhorn

While we are usually all for beating feet up the mountain, the convenience of the historic Stanserhorn-Bahn, with its regular mountain top service and attractive price tag (a whole 0 CHF with a GA or Swiss Travel Pass) called to us like a siren.

The late 19th Century saw a boom in rail construction across Switzerland and entrepreneurs popped up all over to meet the demands of a growing tourism market.

Following the success of nearby mountain funiculars at Rigi (1871) and Pilatus (1889), plans were quickly made to develop more of steep mountain peaks around Vierwaldstättersee. So entered the three-part funicular of the Stanserhorn-Bahn in 1893.

In its heyday the Stanserhorn-Bahn sported an exceptionally long approach connected by tram to steamboat lines on Lake Lucerne. The funicular debuted the world’s first caliper breaking system (still in use around the world), and a large and luxurious mountain top hotel near its final station at Stanserhorn.

For the next 77 years, the Stanserhorn-Bahn operated more or less uninterrupted until a lightning storm in October 1970 struck the peak. The mountain hotel initially caught fire and ultimately destroyed both the hotel and the upper station of the Stanserhorn-Bahn. This tragedy, in combination with the conclusion of the railway’s concession, eventually saw the upper two legs of the funicular, some 2.3 km’s of track, replaced by an aerial cable car in 1974.

In 2012, the older cable car reached its own service life and was replaced by a, first of its kind, two lane double-decker aerial tramway, called the Cabrio.

Similar to a gondola, the Cabrio operates on parallel cables which run on either side of the car. The configuration allows each gondola to carry some 60 passengers between two floors, a lower enclosed cabin below the cable, and an upper open top cabin above the cable.

From the Hotel Engel it was a quick 5-minute walk to the base of the historic valley station of the Stanserhorn-Bahn and its nearly untouched initial leg. As the adorable 1890s wooden funicular trundled its way up through relatively gentle pastures to the base of Stanserhorn, we attracted the attention of some of the town’s young bovine residents. The whole bucolic scene was really like something out of an old timey film.

The Cabrio heading up to Stanserhorn

The Stanserhorn-Bahn funicular

When you finally reach the station of the Cabrio about half-way into the 20-minute journey, you are faced with a true contrast of historic and modern. I really enjoy overlapping history, but I tend not to be the biggest fan of Swiss ultra-modern. That said, I appreciate the attempt to preserve portions of the historic railway while still competing with modern mountain journeys. Also, its nice to get the historic feel without having to count on those old caliper brakes to stop you on the way back down.

The Stanserhorn-Bahn

Stunning Stanserhorn

Believe it or not, we deliberately choose to experience the outdoor portion of the Cabrio despite our prolific fear of heights. The Cabrio is so smooth, I can’t say we ever found ourselves particularly concerned and the views as we popped out of the clouds and into the fall colors of the Stanserhorn were unbelievable.

Our final leg saw us pass over the old funicular line which runs through the forest before entering a tunnel and re-emerging just above the tree line. Several chamois, or Gemsi as they are known in Switzerland, were munching away on the slopes and, while we didn’t see any on our latest visit, I could easily imagine seeing some Ibex or Steinböcke up here as well.

From the mountain station of the Cabrio, there are a couple of options for exploration. You can head down to a small ridge with a look out over the Cabrio line below the station, head straight ahead to an overhanging viewing platform, make your way up a switch backing path to the summit, or take a short looping path around the summit and up its back side creating a loop with the switch backs.

We started off with the loop walk which takes about half-an-hour, mostly because of the need to stop every few seconds and admire the stunning vistas. As the path curves around the summit, the views keep changing and seem to get increasingly spectacular. The final full panorama from the summit of Stanserhorn is arguably one of the most majestic Switzerland has on offer.

The fall colors from the Cabrio

Looking out over Sarnen and the Canton of Obwalden

After lingering near the summit, we made our way back down the switch backs towards a marmot enclosure that hosts at least one of the adorably furry little alpine critters. Unfortunately, when we were around, the marmots seemed to be enjoying the indoors.

Back at the restaurant, we took a peek at the giant pulley for the original Stanserhornbahn, still in place, the rotating platform inside the restaurant, and wandered further along the ridge to take a look at the Cabrio.

Looking out from the peak of Stanserhorn with the marmot enclosure in the foreground

Between the walking, nice restaurant, wildlife, stunning views, and volunteer ranger programs, we could have easily spent a couple of hours at Stanserhorn looking down on the birthplace of Switzerland, but with the days becoming increasingly short and with an interest in exploring the rest of Stans, we found ourselves back on the decent to the valley bottom in fairly short order.

The Legend of Winkelried

About 20 minutes after leaving the summit, we were once again back in Stans and made our way through the town center to explore a bit more of the town’s history.

The collection of buildings that make up the town center tend to cluster around the main town Church of St. Peter and Paul. Most of the baroque church, with its sparkling gold leaf, heavy marble columns, and fine stucco work, dates to the mid-17th century, while its older, fancifully frescoed, gothic bell tower dates to the early 13th century.

The Church of St. Peter and Paul in Stans with the second oldest playable organ in Switzerland dating to 1646

Similar to our visit to Leuk, the church grounds in Stans hosts several chapels including a 15th Century multi-level Beinhaus. These chapels, which tend to appeal best to fans of the macabre, are generally old, nicely frescoed and host at least one hefty stacks of human skulls. The Beinhaus in Stans is no exception.

Heading out from the church grounds, we made our way into the town square and up to Stans’ most iconic monument, the Winkelrieddenkmal. This exceptionally large Carrara marble statue portraying three figures in battle memorializes the town’s most famous (and quite likely fictional) war hero Arnold Winkelried.

The Winkelrieddenkmal

So the story goes, Swiss troops were being pushed back by Austrian forces at the battle of Sempach in 1386 (a pivotal point in the formation of Switzerland which saw the relatively young Swiss confederacy face off against their ancestral overlords, the Habsburgs). Seeing no other option for victory, the Nidwaldner Winkelried yelled the famous words ‘I will make a path for you,’ grabbed as many Austrian pikes as he could, and thrust them into his chest. Being a large man, Winkelried’s fall created an opening in the Austrian line large enough for a Swiss advance credited with changing the tide of the battle and, dare I say, the history of Europe.

The first mentions of Winkelried only appear some hundred years after his supposed sacrifice at Sempach and there are even indications that an Arnold Winkelried was plodding around several years after the battle. Nonetheless, the story of Winkelried remains popular in Stans.

Like Wilhelm Tell, Winkelried’s sensational story took off during the 19th century during a period of national romanticism. Such tales galvanized the Swiss national identify and helped to hold the Confederation together through quite a difficult period.

Exaggerated, or not, the noble family Winkelried was very real. The family has a long history in Stans and, just down the road from the statue, you can find their, quite palatial, house now hosting the Cantonal Art Collection and rotating exhibitions.

Some of the sights around Stans

Stans and Central Switzerland

The half-canton of Nidwalden, along with its neighboring half-canton, Obwalden (together Unterwalden), signed the Bundesbrief in 1291, generally considered the founding document of Switzerland (more on that next week). But, that said, the Canton’s most defining moment may have come much later, at the dawn of a new version of Switzerland.

If the gold leaf and stucco in the Church of St. Peter and Paul were not a dead giveaway, Nidwalden, along with most of Central Switzerland, resisted the reformation and remained heavily Catholic through to the 17th and 18th centuries.

When the French swept across Switzerland in 1798 forming the Helvetic Republic as a puppet state of France, they brought with them liberal reforms including (the quite unpopular) freedom of religion. The more conservative Central Canton’s, spurred on by the Catholic clergy, heavily resisted these changes.

For two months, 10,000 Schwyz, Uri, Obwalden, and Nidwalden troops fought an uphill battle against some 12,000 French but, in the end, the Swiss were forced to capitulate. As punishment, the Central Cantons were aggregated into a single Canton of Waldstätten with fewer voting rights and even less freedoms.

The particularly conservative Nidwalden, ultimately refused to sign the constitution of the Helvetic Republic and, on September 7th 1798, some 10,000 French troops were ordered to move in on the Canton.

Unwilling to accept the overwhelming odds against them, and once again spurred on by the clergy, a force of 1,600 Nidwalden troops set out to doggedly defend their Canton. Despite a surprisingly strong resistance for some hours, the French ultimately overwhelmed the Cantonal forces.

Frustrated with the resistance, over the next two days the French took the battle to the citizenry, looting homes and farms, killing many women and children, and razing most of Nidwalden’s towns, including portions of Stans. By the end of the day, over 400 had been killed and 600 homes had been burned, shocking the rest of Switzerland and much of the European world.

Using the remains of Stans to send their message home, the French forced the men of Nidwalden to line up in the square beneath a now disarmed Winkelried statue and pledge allegiance to the Republic.

The resistance and plight of Nidwalden was used as a war cry for the anti-French establishment around Europe and became emblematic of Swiss defiance and a desire for autonomy. Following the collapse of the Helvetic Republic in 1814, the events in Nidwalden still weighed heavy influencing the decision to return to a decentralized confederacy and, ultimately, shaping the modern Switzerland we know it today.

A Culinary Experience to Round Off Our Day in Stans

In keeping with their Catholic roots, churches, chapels, and monasteries abound in Stans. Just up the road from the Church of St. Peter and Paul and the statue of Winkelried is the active Frauenkloster, or women’s monastery, and, on the road between the Winkelried House and monument, is a former Capuchin monastery.

Another Chapel behind the Church of St. Peter and Paul

After over 400 years, the Capuchin monastery was dissolved and sold to the Canton of Nidwalden in 2004 and, in 2015, the former buildings were redeveloped into the culinary experience, Culinarium Alpinum.

Culinarium Alpinum hosts a simple hotel, conference center, wine cellar, farm store, and a farm-to-table restaurant that showcases a rotating, local and mostly organic, menu.

Our meal at Culinarium Alpinum

Enjoying our evening in the former home of Capuchin monks with Nidwalden’s local fall produce was both exceptionally nice and somehow seemed completely emblematic of Stans itself. It’s a town which has managed to preserve its history incredibly well while still inviting in the modern world.

Really one of the best towns Switzerland has to offer.

We hope you enjoyed hearing about our visit to Nidwalden. You can check out the other posts in this project our One Year: 26 Canton page! Stay tuned for additional articles on our Swiss travels every week!

Until next time, gute Reise, and feel free to leave a comment on one of our social media platforms!