Hiking and Wild Camping in Switzerland

HIKING AND WILD CAMPING IN SWITZERLAND

Switzerland has become my new favorite place for hiking and wild camping with a multitude of trails all over the country of varying lengths and degrees of difficulty with absolutely stunning scenery. How can it not be? You can be the only one on a trail, then next in a tourist area, be passing multiple hiking groups, then in another few kilometers back on your own.

This post is designed to help you put together your own hiking and wild camping experience in Switzerland.

There are posts on the internet that declare it is illegal to camp in Switzerland, this is not completely true. Don’t let it deter you, it is pretty easy to do and, in my opinion, the best way to see Switzerland. I refer you to this website on how to responsibly camp in Switzerland if you are in doubt Camping and Bivouacking

I multi-day hiked and wild camped throughout Switzerland in May to July 2019, hiking 463 kilometers from Bern to Bern on National and Regional Routes. In June 265 kilometers on mountain trails from Interlaken to Sargans on the eastern border. July I hiked 10 sections of the Via Alpina (National Route 1), Montreux to Grindelwald. A total of 207 kilometers on mountain trails. I completed the Grindelwald to Altdorp section in November 2020. Hiking the Via Alpina

There are literally hundreds of places to camp in the multitude of small and large forests scattered across the country. Plus the alpine regions where you can be on your own most of the time.

I practice a leave no trace camping policy and move into an area late in the day and away from houses or villages.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. EXPENSE
2. CHOOSING YOUR TRAIL
3. NAVIGATION TOOLS
4. WEATHER
5. COMMUNICATION
6. HIKING AND CAMPING EQUIPMENT
7. GETTING TO THE START OF THE HIKING TRAILS
8. ON THE TRAIL
9. ALTERNATIVE ACCOMMODATION
10. ALTERNATIVE WAYS OF EXPLORING SWITZERLAND’S MOUNTAINS
11. RESOURCES

EXPENSE

The first thing that comes up in a conversation when you mention hiking in Switzerland is, how expensive Switzerland is. This is true, but with wild camping, using discounted train travel, purchasing food from supermarkets and cooking it yourself, you will certainly keep the costs down.

Just as an indication I spent approximately US$18 per day when hiking and wild camping in Switzerland.

CHOOSING YOUR TRAIL

Here is the fun bit. There are so many trails in Switzerland, it can sometimes be hard to choose which one to hike. One of the major deciding factors will be the weather.

In early May the mountain trails were snow bound for hiking, so that left the trails below 14-1500 meters available for me to hike.

I hiked of a number of different trails on my first major hike in May in the lower elevations starting from Bern.

• Bern on Route 4 Via Jacobi ,
• 26 Panorama Rundweg Thunersee around Lake Thunersee
• 4 to Riggisberg
• 3 Alpine Panorama Trail to Lausanne,
• 70 Via Francigena to Saint Croix,
• 5 Jura Crest Trail
• 2 Trans Swiss Trail back to Bern. A total of 463 kilometers with a variation in elevation, scenery throughout.

Here is a small sample of the routes in Switzerland below.

NATIONAL ROUTES

• 1 Via Alpina
• 2 Trans Swiss Trail
• 3 Alpine Panorama Trail
• 4 Via Jacobi
• 5 Jura Crest Trail
• 6 Alpine Passes Trail
• 7 Via Gottardo

REGIONAL ROUTES

• 26 Panorama Rundweg Thunersee (Thun to Thun)
• 57 Obwaldner Hohenweg
• 70 Via Francigena (Ste-Croix to Col du Gd St Bernard)

LOCAL ROUTES

Of which there are dozens to choose from. The App link below will provide that information. schweizmobil.ch/en/switzerlandmobility-app

A map of the hiking routes I have done in Switzerland

NAVIGATION

The Swiss Mobility App is a great source of information . I have used it in online and offline modes. The app has a vast majority of the trails that crisscross Switzerland. National Routes (Such as the Via Alpina Route 1, Jacobweg Route 4), Regional routes such as the (Via Francigena Route 70, Via Jura Route 80) and local routes. Even obstacle free routes.

The trails are well marked and easy to follow, but there are areas where a number of trails come together and not quite enough signage or indication of which one is which. This is where the Swiss Mobility App Gps positioning is very useful to make sure you are on the right trail and not heading off down the wrong side of the mountain.

The app can also be set up to show where the Natural, Restricted or Protected areas are located so you can avoid camping in them. This will help in your decision as to how far and where to stop for the night.

Paper maps can also be brought in the English bookstores such as orellfuessli.ch/shop/home/show. There are a multitude of maps in various scales and areas available. I brought one that showed most of the trails in Switzerland as an overview and used the Swiss Mobility app for trail navigating.

WEATHER

There are a number of reliable weather apps available for Switzerland that break down weather reports into regional areas and provide warnings of floods, snow, wind and rain events. This is pretty important to take note of especially if your are following the Via Alpina route across Switzerland which crosses at least 14 high passes. and depending in which month you start, some of the passes may be closed due to deep snow making them difficult and dangerous with the possibility of avalanches.

I used Meteoswiss and found it pretty reliable.

COMMUNICATION

I used Migros Budget Pre-paid internet data for the time I was in Switzerland. 1.5 gb for CHF 12.80. I had a connection most of the time, even up on the mountain passes. The only issue is that it is difficult to purchase more data online as their site is only in German, Italian and French. The option is buying data in the Migros Electronic stores, which are only in the major centers.

HIKING AND CAMPING EQUIPMENT

You are better off buying your hiking and camping equipment outside of Switzerland due to how expensive the same equipment is in Switzerland.

The other option is to rent equipment if you are unable to buy or don’t want to carry it after your hiking trip.

Baechli-bergsport  is a major retailer of outdoor equipment for nearly every interest. They will rent most equipment on daily rate that decreases the longer you rent.

Intersport also sells and rents equipment

Decathlon sells equipment.

GETTING TO THE START OF THE HIKING TRAIL

There are a multitude of hiking trails in Switzerland of various lengths and degree of difficulty. The trail signs or way markers are designated by color which indicates the degree of difficulty and or experience required to hike them. The link below will explain the differences. Switzerland/hiking-trail-network-and-signalization.

It is possible to start walking on a trail right out of a city, as many of the major National and Regional Routes pass through or near major centers.                                         

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

SBB

Signing up onto the SBB site, will enable you to buy in advance Super Saver tickets, saving you money on the trains but not so much on the buses.

Another option is if you intend to spend a bit of time on the trains and buses, the SBB Half Fare Travelcard paid either monthly or yearly will help save money.

As I was hiking and only using transport to the start of a hike or return to Bern, my overall transport costs without using the SBB Half Fare worked out the same. It would definitely be useful for longer stays.

FLIX BUS

Flix Bus is another cheap travel option in Switzerland, but is limited to the major centers i.e. Zurich, Bern, Basel, Montreux etc.

ON THE TRAIL

CAMPING

Wild Camping.

Wild camping is not encouraged, but is possible as long as you do not camp in natural, restricted or protected areas. This link shows you the restricted areas. map.geo.admin.ch

You can ask farmers for permission to camp in their forests or on their land, but it can be difficult to workout who owns which property, especially up in the higher elevations. You can end up wasting a lot of time trying to find the owner.

I work on the principle of if there is:

• no fence around a potential campsite,
• no farm animals,
• I am not likely to disturb anything,
• I don’t light fires unless there is an existing fireplace
• don’t leave rubbish
• then anywhere is game.

This is the link to the Swiss Alpine Club PDF on camping and bivouacking that provides advise on responsible camping in Switzerland.

Official campsites

Official campsites can be an option, if it is difficult to find a suitable wild campsite, especially in the more populated lower lands.

As for signs saying “No Camping.” I saw very few and the signs were mainly around major tourist areas such as lakes.

FOOD

Most National and Regional routes will pass through villages and towns where food can be purchased.

On Sundays it can be very difficult to find any supermarkets, or small grocery shops open, so it is advisable to ensure you have enough food until Monday.

Migros and COOP are the two main supermarket chains that seem to be in most reasonable size towns. Both seem to charge pretty much the same amount for their products.

WATER

Streams

Collecting water from streams is only advisable if you are up high enough in the mountains i.e. above grazing cattle or sheep. This can be difficult as the farmers are grazing their herds up to as high as 2200 meters.

Once the snow melts some of the mountain streams will dry up. If there aren’t any streams but plenty of snow up on the ridges, you can always melt snow. Be aware by doing this you will use a lot more stove fuel doing it.

Water points

The other option is village fountains or water taps. Water can also be collected from farm water trough taps, which are generally safe as the water supply has been piped in from springs much further up in the mountains.

Filters

I have also been using a Katadyn Befree Water Filter 1Litre if I was in any doubt about the quality of the water. Through out all the hiking I did, I didn’t suffer any ill effects.

Cooking fuel

I have been using a gas stove with re-sealable gas canisters for cooking. Unfortunately new canisters were only available in the Bachli stores. Which were only in major towns or cities, not village’s. So I had to make sure I had a spare.

There are other types of gas canisters available, but they are the non re-seal-able types.

ALTERNATIVE ACCOMADATION

HOSTELS

The hostels are situated in major tourist towns, such as Interlaken, Montreux and Lausanne, outside of these areas are expensive B&B’s or small hotels. Hostelworld Booking.Com

COUCHSURFING

Couchsurfing Hosts are mainly in or near major towns, outside of these areas are few and far between.

ALPINE HUTS

Alpine huts are scattered all over the place. If you are hiking early in the season, very few are open.

The Swiss Alpine Club have their own, and by joining the association you will get a reduced hut fee with or without food.

ALTERNATIVE WAY OF EXPLORING SWITZERLAND’S MOUNTAINS

Swiss Alpine Club

It is possible to join the Swiss Alpine Club to go on trips and training courses. There is an annual membership fee.

There are sub clubs in the different cantons that offer different activities giving more options. Quite often though the trips and training programs are booked out early, and members will always have priority.

Couchsurfing Events

If you haven’t already, join the Couchsurfing group and keep an eye on local events. I joined two Couchsurfing group events consisting of multiple day hikes, camping and glacier traversing. I had a fantastic time, met some great people and gained a lot of experience which helped in the alpine hiking I did later.

If you found this post helpful, how about checking out some of the other hiking destinations covered by The Backpacking Hiker below.

• The-Backpacking-Hiker-on-the-Via-Egnatia
• Hiking-trails-in-the-Balkans
• Hiking-trails-in-the-Caucasus-Mountains
• How-we-hiked-the-Lycian-Way

I don’t receive any monetary rewards from any of the links in this post. They are there purely for your benefit.

RESOURCES

• sac-cas.ch/en/the-sac/
• sac-cas.ch/de Camping and Bivouacking
• schweizmobil.ch/en/switzerlandmobility-app
• schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/hiking-trail-network-and-signalization jakobsweg.ch/en/eu/ch
• viefrancigene.org/en/itinerari
• orellfuessli.ch/shop/home/show
• meteoswiss.admin.ch/home
• shop.m-budget.migros.ch/de/prepaid/prepaid-optionen
• Baechli-bergsport.ch
• Intersport.ch
• Decathlon.ch
• sbb.ch/en/home
• sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets/railpasses/half-fare-travelcard
• global.flixbus.com/bus/switzerland
• en.camping.info/switzerland/campsites
• map.geo.admin.ch
• Katadyn Befree Water Filter 1Litre
• hostelworld.com
• booking.com
• couchsurfing.com