We are looking for a day-long hikes in Swiss Alps, for 2 week in July. Preferably in not crowded (National Park would be nice) areas, at altitudes of 2-3 km, using marked routes. We have some experience in French, Italian, Austrian Alps, but never tried Swiss before, and I have heard they are the most beautiful !
An advice about area/and or specific routes would be appreciated, as well as any related recommendations.
Hi and welcome to the forum.
I see that you seem to have no clue about Switzerland, right? This is not to turn you down, au contaire!, but to explain a few things:
In contradiction to other countries where several national parks exist, Switzerland has only one National Park, to be found in the Far East+ of the country, a region where Raeto-Romansh, the fourth official language of Willy Tell's own country is spoken. It has a much different meaning than a national park in the US or in other countries. Everything is protected here, no trees may be felled, neither flower picking nor hunting nor leaving the trails are allowed, no construction work can be done, the only exception is the road that is leading across. The intention is to give nature back its original look. As a consequence, you can find a lot of rare animals there, it's a hiker's paradise where guided tours are offered. You find it in a side valley of the Engadine , the second longest valley in Switzerland. The Engadine is one of the four best known tourist areas of the country (besides famous +Bernese Oberland+, the +Valais+ and +Ticino ). I suggest to stay up there for the entire lenght of your intended visit, you won't regret it, take this for granted. Search for village names like Scuol-Tarasp, Schlarigna/Celerina, Samedan, St. Moritz, Puntraschigna/Pontresina, Segl-Maria and attractions like Diavolezza, Corvatsch, Muottas-Muragl. There are hundreds of km of sign-posted trails to be found in the region, from easy to difficult ones. Make sure to get accommodation soon as July will be peak season.
Altitudes are given in meters, not in km, by the way. The lower part of the Engadine valley is around 1'200 m, the higher part around 1'800 m, whereas the side vallleys lead much higher up; the surrounding mountains can reach altitudes of up to 4'000 m.
Any more questions? Feel free to ask, it's a pleasure to assist.
Thanks for the answer, a_p ! (True, I have little understanding about Switzerland).
Engadine are looks like it has it all (cities, lakes, mountains, ski resorts). But you mentioned that it is one of best known tourist areas, so I wonder how crowded is it ? I would for example define Dolomites area as crowded (beautiful, but too crowded).
About National Park: they write "it is strictly forbidden to leave the marked paths". Will park service fine you if you like step off the trail and walk 30 meters on the grass/stones to sit down, or will they just fine you if they catch you hiking off-trail ? And how much National Park trails get crowded in summer ?
And other areas: what about further west, like Berner and Peninen Alpen ? Are there friendly areas for uncrowded day-hikes ?
Thanks in advance !
kestas: You're welcome. You're right, the Engadine really has it all. I don't know what you consider crowded. As you're planning to come in peak season, you'll see tourists everwhere in the country, in one place more than in another. The good point about Engadine is that it has many side valleys where you can hike and not meet a single person for a whole day. If you hate crowds just like me, avoid walking around such a posh place like St. Moritz. On the other hand, it's interesting to see how ultra rich and snobbish Russians waste their money. Pizza with caviar and/or morels plus Dom Pérignon is only one menu suggestion ;-)
I can't tell you what happens if you leave the trails in the National Park as I never did it myself. Swiss rangers aren't as violent as their American counterparts, you'll probably first get a friendly invitation to stick to the rules before anything else happens. If you want to know it exactly, send them an e-mail and ask; a contact is included in the link that I provided earlier.
Side valleys include names like Val Fex+ in the upper Engadine or +Val Sinestra+ in the lower Engadine. A hidden gem in the lower Engadine is Tschlin (sorry, the website only comes in German and Raeto-Romansh), it only has one hotel. Hikes from there are probably not to be topped as far as uncrowded trails are concerned. A famous counterpart would be Guarda , a picture book village that for sure will be packed with tourists; they even have parking meters up there... Another, real gem would be S-charl, +one of the most remote places in Switzerland as a Swiss hiking website says.
I could go on and on, the list would be endless.
As for Berner Alpen/Bernese Alps: Those will definitely be packed in July, no doubt. Still, if you go higher up, there are places where you can sit and enjoy the view and the silence without being disturbed by anybody. I have no clue what you mean with Peninen Alpen (a typo there?).
Thank for info !
Tschlin and S-charl look really nice, I looked at the map. http://www.wanderland.ch seems to be a nice site, full of info I was looking for.
Aha, so caution advised for Berner Alpen. Opps, it was a typo: I meant Pennine Alps (it looks like name is obscure after all ?): that would be Valais, southern edge.
And what about rain is Swiss Alps? There should be more rain than in Italian or French Alps ?
Edited by: kestas
Good to see that you seem to like Tschlin and S-charl. I recommended those because they really are away from the stream of the big masses.
The Engadine and the Bernese Oberland/Berner Alpen are well known holiday destinations amongst the Swiss - and amongst a considerable number of foreigners, too. The Pennine Alps are only partly in Switzerland, the other part belongs to Italy. We however speak about the Valais Alps. It's difficult to say where to expect a few thousand tourists more. Just look at this forum: Does the Engadine ever show up? Unfortunately not - whereas the Bernese Oberland is coming up at least half a dozen times per week. Now do the maths :-)
Why should there be more rain in the Swiss Alps than in the French or Italian Alps? The weather does fortunately not differentiate between nations. It would be another question, had you asked if there is more ore less rain in the Slovenian Alps than in the Swiss Alps. Or in the South American Alps or in the New Zealand Alps :-)
Hi a_p,
Sorry for the thread-jack here. You seam to highly rate the Swiss National Park for hiking? I have a few days spare after I have been to the Valaise Alps and Bernese Alps. I was thinking of spending some time hiking in the Ticino area but would the eastern part of Graubunden be more scenic in your opinion? I was already planing to walk the Lakes of Macun track but have heared of a 8-9 day tour of the whole SNP area. So many tracks... not enough time!
Hi kestas
I would also recommend hiking in the Appenzell (the Alpstein mountains), eg. Hoher Kasten - Stauberen - Stauberenkanzel - Saxerlücke - Bollenwees/Fälensee - Sämtisersee - Brülisau (5.5 hours).
You can look at different itinieraries here: http://www.hoherkasten.ch/gipfelerlebnisse/wandern.html
have fun
We are a fairly FIT family of five (We are in our 50s and sons ages 21, 18, & a 15 daughter - small for her age) staying in Murren for three days the first two weeks of August. As we want to make the most of our time there, I am trying to plan day hikes that will incorporate the best there is to see with the support of some of the gondolas and trams that will save time. We are not experienced mountain hikers but consider ourselves somewhat adventurous & in good shape...we hike in the Smoky Mtn National Park and have hiked in Yosemite, BUT we are not sure about some of the cliff-hanging, slippery rock trails described in some of the books. What about hiking UP to the Schlithorn? I've thought about taking the train to Birg- then hiking up the rest of the way. My son did the entire hike from Gimmelwald years ago in breakneck speed and took the gondola down, but most books describe taking the gondola UP and hiking down.. I think I'd rather FALL UP a mtn...than DOWN! So advice on making the Schilthorn hike doable for our diverse age group. I think we could handle 3-4 hours of hiking a day - maybe more if there is not a lot of climbs.
Other hike ideas: (easy) North Face trail from Allmendhubel to Murren.
Panoramawed - Morning hike - 3hours?loop from Schynige Platte to Daube Peak
Murren to Grutschalp and train back to Murren
There is so much to see and so little time! Thanks for feedback.