Switzerland Campervan Trip – 10 Days Itinerary
This summer, on the occasion of Andrea’s father’s 60th birthday, we decided to take a change of pace from the usual and wanted to experience a slightly different adventure. We wanted to take a Campervan trip in Switzerland.
In summer, we had been traveling to Asia or to beach places (Thailand, Greece, Fuerteventura, India and Maldives), so as you can see, the change is significant, as we decided to go to a place without beaches and with quite low temperatures for the season and in a means of transport that we had never used before, the camper van. After the trip, our evaluation is VERY good, as we loved the experience of traveling in a portable house and Switzerland is one of the most beautiful countries we have ever visited.
What is it like to do a Campervan trip in Switzerland? It is actually very easy. The country is full of campsites where you can stay, as the locals themselves usually go to these places on holiday, so you won’t have any trouble finding accommodation. However, you’re not allowed to camp anywhere in Switzerland, so be careful not to get a scare. Our advice is to check in advance where you plan to go and contact the campsites in the area by email so that they can sign you up and save you a place. We did it this way and had no problems at all.
If you want to be on the safe side, we recommend the best app for traveling in this way, which tells you where you can park your camper, some campsites and rest areas. It’s called park4night (iOs / Android).
As for driving, the truth is that it was a spectacular experience. The roads and communication in Switzerland are some of the best we have ever seen, so driving is a joy. You will find places with incredible roads that run through the mountains and with brutal views.
An extra point that everyone knows is that Switzerland is a very expensive country. If you expect to eat there in restaurants or even buy all your food locally, you’ll be spending a lot more money than expected. The reality is that it all depends on how you organize yourself, but we rented the camper in our city, Barcelona, and drove there. This allowed us to take most of the food from Spain, reducing the cost a lot.
Finally, we rented the campers (we went with 2 to be more comfortable as we were 6 people) with Roadsurfer. The truth is that everything was perfect, they are very nice, the campers were great (you rent them with a maximum age of 2 years, so they were almost new) and everything was super smooth. We highly recommend it if you want to do a trip like this.
Last but not least, if you want to know more about other aspects of our trip to Switzerland, check our posts:
- 5 Lakes Route, the Complete Guide
- Stoos Route: From Klingenstock to Fronalpstock
- Detailed guide to visit the Gornergrat
That said, let’s tell you how our 10-days of Campervan trip in Switzerland went
We arrived at 9-10 pm at our first campsite, situated on the banks of the Lac Leman, one of the largest in the country and part of France and Switzerland. The great thing about the location of the campsite was that it was perfectly situated for the sightseeing we wanted to do the next day. We organized a more cultural day, visiting villages and emblematic places.
The first place we visited was the famous Chillon Castle. It is a medieval castle that was an important defensive building and is currently a very touristy place due to its location and beauty. It is a place that you can see from different perspectives as there is a hiking trail along the river that allows you to walk and see the area on foot. We took the path from the campsite where we were staying and went there. You can enter the castle (we didn’t) for 13.5 CHF (1CHF is approx. 1€). You can get tickets for Chillon Castle on their website or directly at the ticket office.
Next, we took the camper van from where we were and wanted to go for a walk around the capital of the canton where we were, Fribourg. It is a small city, very pleasant to walk around and with many nice places to see. We were able to see the Bern Bridge, St. John’s Bridge, St. Nicholas Cathedral and the Fribourg Town Hall all within walking distance of each other. You can dedicate one morning to this place, we think it is enough.
To finish the day, we wanted to go to a very famous village in the area, Gruyères. This village is famous for the world famous Gruyere cheese. But the village is very beautiful and well worth a walk. It goes quickly as the main attractions are in the centre (it is very well signposted), but it is worth seeing. We ended up in Gruyères eating a Swiss chocolate ice cream, which was AMAZING.
Where to sleep?
To sleep the first night we chose Camping Les Horizons Bleus. We give it super good marks, the location is perfect in front of the Leman lake and super clean.
On this day, we decided to sleep in Gruyères, in a campsite located near the village in green meadows and surrounded by mountains. A great place. It’s called Camping Haute Gruyere.
Where to eat?
On this trip we ate very little in restaurants as most of the food was in the caravans, but on this day we managed to find a restaurant in Fribourg with a terrace with a great view for 26 € for two courses and dessert (an anomaly in Switzerland). The restaurant is called Café Restaurant Terrasse Belvedere and is only at this price at lunchtime, in the evening the price is much higher 🙂
Day 2: Blausee and Oeschinensee lakes
We start with the excursions and trekkings, which will be a constant feature of this Campervan trip in Switzerland. On this second day, we wanted to visit two quite famous lakes in the canton of Bern, Lake Blausee and Lake Oeschinensee.
First of all we went to Lake Blausee. This small alpine lake is one of the most famous in Switzerland. For us, if you are just passing through, it is not worth it, as it is very small and the entrance fee in summer is 13CHF (about 14€) + parking (about 5 per car). If you really want to visit it, we recommend you leave some time to stroll along its routes, as there are several that leave from the lake and you can even eat there. You can find all the information about Blausee Lake on its official website.
Very close to this lake (about 10 minutes by car) is one of the most beautiful areas of the country, the area of Lake Oeschinensee. It was one of the places we liked the most, due to its spectacular setting and the many trails and trekking routes around it. To visit it, we left the caravans in the car park located in Kandersteg, from where the cable car takes you up to the area where the excursions begin. With the Swiss Half Fare, the cable car cost us 15 CHF 2-ways.
Once at the top, as soon as you get off the cable car, there is a very fun activity that we wanted to do, the toboggan run (price 6 CHF per person). It is a 750m toboggan run that goes down a 150m drop and is great fun and quite fast. Let us know if you try it!
Then we wanted to go on an excursion to see the lake. There are up to 10 signposted routes for all levels (you can check them on this official link of the Oeschinensee lake). Due to the bad weather (it rained) we decided to do the simplest one, but there is a route that we found very interesting and we were very sad not to do it, which is route number 9, where you go around the lake but along the mountainside and you can have a panoramic view from above.
The simple excursion to the lake takes either 25 minutes or 35 minutes depending on which side you choose (it’s practically the same) one way and the same for the return. The truth is that it is a beautiful area with the arrival at the enclave of the lake. It is a perfect place to have a picnic or eat in their public barbecues so, if the weather is good, do not hesitate to spend the day here, it is totally worth it!
After the excursion and lunch, we had to move on to our next destination, one of the most famous areas of the country, the area of Zermatt and its famous Matterhorn.
As a curiosity, to get there from Kandersteg we had to take a train for cars, where you put your vehicle and they take you through tunnels under the mountain in a most curious experience.
Where to sleep
This third night of our Campervan trip in Switzerland, we stayed in the Zermatt area. Zermatt is not accessible by car, so you will have to stay in a nearby village and get there by train. The closest place is the village of Täsch, with a station that takes you to Zermatt and only one campsite, the Alphubel campsite. We think it’s the best option if you’re going with a caravan or tent because of the location, although the campsite was not that great.
Day 3: Gornergrat - Zermatt excursion
Our third day of our Campervan trip in Switzerland was spent on one of the most popular excursions, the ascent of the Gornergrat. This is a ridge overlooking the Gorner glacier, which is reached by the highest cog railway in Europe.
As mentioned, we stayed in Tasch, a village next to Zermatt, as it is not possible to get there by private transport, so it was a great option only 10 minutes away by train. Once in Zermatt, we headed to the Gornergrat station, where we bought tickets to go up to this incredible viewpoint. It’s one of the most typical hikes in the country so it’s also one of the most expensive. It cost us about 31 CHF per head one way (with Half Fare pass).
The train ride takes about 45 minutes and is a blast. You go up and up as you look out over the Alps. You can get off at any of the different stops along the way and then get back on the train. We went straight up to Gornergrat. Once at the top, all you have to do is admire the views of the Glacier and the Matterhorn. A real paradise.
At this point we have to explain our experience with the excursion from Gornergrat to Zermatt. We decided to go up by train and walk down, in an excursion that, a priori, was about 3 hours downhill. In our opinion, it is a descent that is not for everyone, but only for people with a minimum of physical fitness, as it is quite long (between stops and the slow pace of some members of the group, it took us 5-6 hours). What many people do is go up to Gornergrat and walk 30 minutes down to the famous Riffelsee lake to catch the return train, so you have an alternative in case you don’t like walking.
If you have the possibility, we would recommend walking down, it’s a real blast the places you’ll find and the views of the Matterhorn for hours and you spend the whole day in this natural paradise. Of course, take food and water with you!
If you want to know the complete detail about this day, visit our post:
On the way back, we couldn’t keep our spirits up, so we went back to the campsite to rest for the next day.
Day 4: 5 Lakes route
During this 4th day of our Campervan trip in Switzerland, we continue to enjoy the wonderful area of Zermatt, this time on another of the most famous hikes, the Five Lakes Route.
This is a circular route, with an approximate duration of 8-9km where you will pass by 5 wonderful lakes on the way and have, once again, great views of the Matterhorn.
There are two ways to do the hike, one downhill and one with a lot of uphill. To get to the start of the hike you take a cable car from Zermatt to Sunnega. At this point, if you want to do the uphill route, you can start by visiting the lakes in this order: Leisee, Moosjisee, Grünsee, Grindjisee and Stellisee. We chose to take the second cable car from Sunnega station to Blauherd station. The route is almost entirely downhill or flat, but you will do the lakes in the opposite direction, visiting the Stellisee first and in the opposite order.
Our favourites were the Stellisee and the Grünsee. We’ll let you comment which one you liked the most :).
The truth is that this is a highly recommended excursion, as the walk is very pleasant, the lakes are big and beautiful and, if the weather is good, you can even swim in them, so for us it is a must if you go to Zermatt. You can’t get lost, as there are signs at all times indicating the route of the 5 lakes.
Once you get to Lake Leisee and after having visited all of them, the Sunnega station is right there, which will take you back down to Zermatt.
Here you have more information about the 5 lakes route in case you are interested in doing it.
Day 5: GOMS Bridge and Grindelwald
A day of change of location. This day we headed to another essential area on a Campervan trip in Switzerland, the area of Interlaken, so we had to get up early to start heading there.
Our first plan was to visit Randa and make a very famous excursion to visit the Charles Kuonen bridge, the second highest suspension bridge in Europe, but it was a hike of about 8km with a lot of slope so we decided to discard it because of the physical condition after two days of hiking of some of the people we were with. If we come back one day, we will do it for sure! We leave you some information here about this excursion SUPER recommended by everybody.
After discarding it and as we were left with a hankering for a suspension bridge, we discovered that there was another quite famous one on the way to Interlaken called GOMS Bridge. And it was a really good choice. It is a 280m long suspension bridge over the Rhone in the village of Ernen. We were quite impressed by its height to the ground, about 92m! If you want to visit it and spend some time in the area, there are also interesting excursions around it.
We continued on our way and wanted to head to one of the most famous villages in the country, Grindelwald. It is well known for being one of the access points to the Jungfrau and the famous Eiger mountain. This place is totally magical, a small village in the middle of huge mountains with typical little houses and views of the Jungfrau. What more could you ask for?
We decided to go there for lunch and then we wandered a bit around the village and, as it started to rain, we decided to go to the campsite, 1 hour away. This day was the 1st of August, Switzerland’s bank holidays, so if you like bonfires and fireworks, the country is full of them everywhere, especially on the top of the mountains.
Where to sleep?
We chose a campsite located 45-1h from Interlaken called Camping Arnist. It is highly recommended, they are very nice and it is in a very quiet place surrounded by nature.
Where to eat?
We couldn’t do a Campervan trip in Switzerland and not try the famous Swiss fondues. We found a pretty cool place for a pretty good price for Switzerland (28 CHF per head) for the fondue + German salad. It was a hotel restaurant called Pinte.
Day 6: Lauterbrunnen, Mürren and Trümmelbachfälle
Sixth day of our Campervan trip in Switzerland and we visited one of the coolest places of the whole trip, the Lauterbrunnen valley. As we have said that Grindelwald is one of the main places to access the Jungfrau, Lauterbrunnen is the other one. It is a small village located in an incredible place, a spectacular green valley.
On this day, we wanted to take a cable car to the village of Mürren to do a downhill trekking that would take us back to Lauterbrunnen passing by the famous Trümmelbachfälle waterfalls, so it is a quite complete route that allows you to admire the place very well. The route to Stecherlberg takes about 2-3 hours. The cable car + train cost us 12€ one way.
How did we do this?
- Take a cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp, from where you can either start the route on foot or take a train with beautiful views to Mürren.
- We took the train, which took about 15 minutes and drops you off at Mürren station.
- From there, follow the signs to Grimmelwald, a small village en route.
- Then follow the signs to Stecherlberg.
Once in Stecherlberg, there are two options. Either you walk about 45 minutes back to Lauterbrunnen or you take a bus that takes you directly to Lauterbrunnen. We chose to walk because on the way there is a very interesting waterfall in the mountain grottoes and we found it very impressive. The Trümmelbachfälle waterfalls have an entrance fee of 14CHF.
To end the day, Lauterbrunnen is a fantastic place to spend some time, but we wanted to take advantage of the nice day and go to one of Interlaken’s lakes, the Brienzersee, for a swim. To get to the bathing area, you have to get to Boningen and from there follow the road around the lake until you find a place to leave your car. Be warned: even in summer, the water is completely frozen.
Día 7: First (Grindelwald)
The seventh day of our Campervan trip in Switzerland was again dedicated to the Grindelwald area, but this time we wanted to go on an excursion. We decided to go up to First, a place with numerous activities to do and, also, with one of the most beautiful places and trekkings that we could see, the one that leads from the resort to Bachalpsee Lake.
As mentioned before, in this area you can do 4 very popular activities: down the mountainside in a buggy, down a mountain bike and two super cool zip lines. These activities can be booked on the Jungfrau website and require prior reservation. We were not able to do the zip line activity as we didn’t know about it and we didn’t book it 🙁
But at First there is also room for those who don’t want to live experiences of this kind. We started by taking the funicular up to First from Grindelwald, which takes about 25 minutes. Once at the station, we were able to start by taking the First Cliff Walk, a walkway with a breathtaking view that ends up leading to a platform with one of the most famous photos in the area (there is a long queue to take it).
Once we had completed this, we took the road to Bachalpsee. It’s a 2 hour round trip to Bachalpsee Lake, one of the best views of the Jungfrau you’ll ever see. As you can see, the picture speaks for itself.
After this morning in this area, we took the car to go to the next stop of our Campervan trip in Switzerland. On the way to the next campsite, we wanted to stop in Lucerne to walk around the city and have a drink. The truth is that it is a very pleasant city to walk around, with a very lively area near the river where you can stroll and have a drink.
Where to sleep?
We changed area and this time we chose Camping Gerbe. A very family campsite, with a large farm, swimming pool and very rural, so we found it a good choice, especially for family holidays.
Day 8: Zurich
Then came the torrential rains. We were going to spend the next few days in the eastern part of the country, with several routes that we will now tell you about, but we had to correct our plans and stop doing several things we had planned because of the storm. It is very typical in this country and the fact of going in a camper allowed us to adapt perfectly and go to other places.
On this day, we wanted to do the Stoos trek, going from Fronalpstock to Klingenstock. When we arrived at the station we were told that one of the cable car stations was closed, so it was not worth going.
Because of this, we decided to go and visit one of the main cities of the country, Zurich. We spent most of the morning there, and were able to see several key points of the city:
– Fraümunster Church
– Zurich Opera House
– Grossmünster
– Lake Zurich (if you have time, take a lake cruise).
– Lindenhof viewpoint
– Stroll along Bahnhofstrasse, the most expensive street in Zurich and one of the most expensive in the world.
– St Peter’s Church
– Münsterhof Square
Zurich is a perfect city to visit in one day, so if you have time, it is a great option on a Campervan trip in Switzerland.
In the afternoon, we did some shopping in and around Zurich and then returned to the campsite and stayed there to protect ourselves from the heavy rain.
Where to eat?
We ate in Zurich and wanted to try another typical food, the great frankfurts. We went to a place called Sternen Grill. Super well priced (about 15-20) with frankfurters, chips and beer, and very tasty, so for Switzerland it’s a bargain!
Day 9: Stoos Trekking
On this ninth day we managed to do one of the treks we were most looking forward to on this Campervan trip in Switzerland, the Klingenstock to Fronalpstock trek.
We started the day by moving to our last campsite and wanted to take a longer route through the mountains as we had read that there were two spectacular waterfalls. The problem was the weather, all mist and rain, so we could not admire the two waterfalls as we would have liked. Their names are Staubifall and Barglistuber.
The excursion we did after lunch, starts by taking the world’s steepest funicular, the Stoos funicular, an engineering folly that climbs a near-vertical wall and takes you to the village of Stoos, the base for starting these excursions. This funicular is 42CHF with an all-day pass and access to the chairlifts that take you up to the peaks and is totally worth it just for the experience.
Once in Stoos, there are several hiking options. The most famous is to take the chairlift up to Klingenstock peak and hike to Fronalpstock, returning to Stoos by chairlift as well. We highly recommend this option, as the hike up to Klingenstock can be quite tough, but as always it all depends on your fitness level.)
This trek goes along the ridge of the mountains, so you see both sides of the mountain side by side and have a breathtaking view of the Vierwaldstättersee lake, a real marvel. The hike takes about 2 hours, with some climbing, but nothing too physically demanding.
Once at the bottom, we finish the day by returning to the campsite to rest.
If you want to have ALL the detail about this route, check our dedicated post to the Stoos Route.
Where to sleep?
We chose the Gäsi campsite, located on the shore of a very cool lake and with many activities in the area. We couldn’t enjoy it as it rained and the campsite is located in a forest, so if the weather is bad, it is preferable to choose another option more adapted to the rain.
Day 10
In our initial planning for this Campervan trip in Switzerland, we had two extra days of activities within Switzerland before heading to Barcelona. The problem, as we have mentioned, is that a 3-day rain storm came in that prevented us from doing most of the activities we had planned. Since we were in a camper, we were able to maneuver, but we still had a couple of super cool excursions in the pipeline.
This tenth day, we wanted to go on the Limmenrnensee trek, crossing the underground tunnel that leads to this place and then having a picnic along the way. We leave you more information in this link, it is highly recommended by everyone who has done it.
We also had in mind the excursion to the Saxer Lucke and Falensee (another trekking) and visiting the Aescher refuge, a mountain refuge with breathtaking views.
We leave you here this list of places that we couldn’t go to since we did a lot of research on what activities to do and we talked to people who had gone and they were highly recommended, so I’m sure you’ll like them 🙂
We decided to head towards France to avoid the storm, so we dedicated this 10th day to traveling calmly to the area near Lyon, a city that we would visit on the 11th day. We will also leave you the summary of what we saw in Lyon on the blog, but in a post that we will do soon.
Podcast episode about our Campervan Trip in Switzerland
In case you want to know more about our experience, we created a podcast episode (in Spanish, sorry) that summarizes our experience. Hope you can enjoy it!
As you can see, despite the rain, we managed to complete a super complete and combined route between cities and excursions through a large part of the Swiss Alps. We were totally surprised by this country, not only because of its main tourist places but because of the continuous nature that you see at all times while driving and its incredible infrastructure, the best we have seen. We are going to return for sure, we had VERY interesting things left to do on this camper trip through Switzerland.
As always, I hope this post is helpful to you and if you have any questions you can contact us through social networks or in the comments!
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