Uetliberg to Felsenegg Planetenweg Trail: My Recent Experience

The Uetliberg Planetenweg is an easy 1.5-2 hour walk from Uetliberg train station to Felsenegg cable car. It is a family-friendly walk that can be done with an all-terrain stroller if you are fit. The walk is a planet-themed trail that includes all the planets placed at scaled distances along the path with information boards for each.

The walk can include epic views from the Uetliberg and Uetliberg Lookout Tower as well as a fun gondola ride down to Adliswil at the end.

Planetenweg Trail Overview

The following is all the information related to the Planetenweg trail itself

Trail Maps

Below is a helpful map to give you an idea of the Planetenweg location and surroundings. This includes the train to get there and the cable car down to Adliswil.

You can also explore the full trail map here.

Getting There & Back

You can walk the Planetenweg trail in either direction, but most people start at the Uetliberg and walk to the Felsenegg gondola.

So, with that in mind, this is how you get to and from of the Planetenweg trail.

**NOTE: The Adliswil train option below is the fastest and most direct route. There are other options between the S4 trains. The other times given are the only options for that journey

Also, for the train tickets, you are best to use the new SBB App feature – EasyRide. This feature allows you to get the best price for all your trips that day by just telling the app when you got on/off as you go along.

Planetenweg Trail Description

The Uetliberg Panorama Trail to Felsenegg is one of the easiest and most scenic hikes in the Zurich area. It is easy to get to and from, has some great entertainment options for the kids, and is even stroller friendly. At least if you are reasonably fit.

It took us around 1.5 hours to do the trail without kids and we are reasonably fit. So, I would give yourself 2 hours or more in case you want to stop for breaks or read the signs along the way.

Most of the hike is amongst trees on a wide gravel path on the Uetliberg ridge. However, there are lots of openings in the trees as you walk along which give you fantastic views of Zurich, Lake Zurich and the Alps in the distance.

We actually took a detour to the top of the Uetliberg and climbed the lookout tower while we were there. That is definitely worth doing because there is no better place for 360-degree views of the Zurich area.

You can also grab an ice-cream, a drink or even a meal here at the takeaway spot or at the restaurant. It all depends how long you have and what time of day it is of course.

There are also seats towards the end of the viewing area on the top. Although they were all taken when we were there, they seem like a great spot for a snack!

Following The Trail

The trail starts at the Uetliberg train station and all you need to do is follow the wide gravel path to the end. During the initial climb there is also a narrower “wanderweg” hiking path on the right (see the stairs above) which also leads to the top, so you don’t have to stay on the gravel trail for this portion of the hike. But, if you have a stroller, then yes, you do.

The only difficult part of the navigation is at the intersection below the peak where the path branches.

I recommend you go left to the top of the Uetliberg first (as I mentioned above). Then come back down and continue the “official” Planetenweg – which actually goes right at this fork.

You can also take the stairs down which are just up from the intersection on the right, but that is not the official path and is not stroller-friendly!

You then follow it all the way along to the Felsenegg gondola station. Take the gondola down, and there are signs there to the Adliswil train station (which is another 5 minutes away).

It is hard to get lost on the Planetenweg, but in any case, I always use the SchweizMobil App to track my path and progress, as sometimes there are turn offs where you might go wrong.

There is actually one such turn-off towards the end where I don’t think it matters which way you go. But having a map on an App is always handy!

The Planetenweg Theme Trail

The Planetenweg is actually a theme trail that is designed around the planets in the solar system. Each planet is given an information board along the path and is placed at a distance relative to how far apart they are in space.

This means that each meter on the Planetenweg path corresponds to one million kilometers in space.

Each of the first six planets along the trail are actually very close together. This means that you will spend more time at the stops in the very beginning and very little time after that.

There are actually three stops for Pluto because it is actually at various distances from the sun during its orbit.

I found the information boards themselves to be a little bit technical and uninteresting for kids. So, you will have to make a bit of an effort to spice things up a little. They are mostly just filled with statistics and a visual showing the paths of the planets in the solar system.

Don’t get me wrong, the idea of the Planetenweg is quite cool, I just thought the Zurich Tourism Office might modernise it a little and make it more fun – kind of like the Goat Trail on Sattel, which is way more interactive and fun for kids.

Restaurants, Picnic Areas & Rest Stops

Apart from the Uto Kulm restaurant and cafe at the top of the Uetliberg, there is also another restaurant along the Planetenweg called Uto Staffel. It is only about a 10-15 minute walk, mostly downhill from the turnoff in the path.

When we passed it, they were closed for the summer holidays (as is often the case in Switzerland). But from the views I could see there, it looks like a great spot to stop for a break. They also have a small outside area for kids.

You can (and should) stop along the way at the various benches for a break as well or at the picnic areas with fireplaces that are usually stocked with wood.

There are some great spots to stop, many of them with spectacular views.

If you plan on doing some grilling, bring along a lighter or matches and your Cervelat or other sausages of course! It is a Swiss tradition.

Other Hikes

There are lots of other hikes up, along and down the Uetliberg which you could combine with the Planetenweg.

Here are a few you might want to consider:

The last one on the list starts at the tram stop Triemli and climbs to the Uetliberg peak and would make a great combination with the Felsenegg trail. The other two come up the mountain a little further along, but could also be combined with a partial walk either back to the Uetliberg station or across to Felsenegg instead.

Planetenweg Trail Photos