Thanks for sharing! I’m planning my trip for next summer and am feeling overwhelmed by all the different methods of travel - from gondolas to buses and trains, I want to maximize the amount of time we spend hiking and seeing the sites vs traveling. Did you use a specific app to help you understand what your travel itinerary would include to get you to each of the starting points? Do you think staying in a place like Wengen makes for a good central location?
Make sure you read my linked “10 things you need to know before coming to Switzerland” post, because this is a challenge. It’s not like SLC, where you jump in a car and are on the trail in 20 minutes. MOST trails require a gondola ride (unless you want to hike up a steep-ass dusty trail to the start of the good hike). We did one hike straight out of our Airbnb in Wengen, but the rest required transportation. At times, we were commuting via trains and/or buses to get to and from the trailhead. The SBB app (also linked in that post) is what you need. You put in your starting location and where you want to go, and it will often plot the whole route for you, combining trains, buses, gondolas, even ferries. You can eve buy one ticket that covers all forms of transportation. Some gondolas have their own ticketing system, however, but we were always able to buy tickets online ahead of time. (And you want to, as lines can be long.) You can also ask ChatGPT, “I’m staying here and want to hike here, help me plan the day.” Just confirm the info it’s giving you, as it’s not always 100% correct, but it was very helpful in picking and choosing specific routes and stops on the trail.
Hi! Wondering what snacks/foods you bought at Coop for hiking? I'm going in October for a few days (different region though so I can't steal these hikes!), but we are going to spend 1-2 days hiking (Mt. Pilatus and Mt. Rigi) and wondered what would be good to bring on the trails?
Some Coops are bigger than others, but the ones in our mountain towns were pretty small. For hikes we bought bread, PB, and jelly and made sandwiches every single day. We always had a bag or two of chips to munch on. They had some protein bars in some locations, but nothing impressive, and you could get fruit but it was super expensive. A hunk of parmesan is a surprisingly good trail snack! It's stable out of the fridge and decent in protein (11g per ounce). There is NO shortage of cheese in Switzerland. 😂 Plus you can find nuts and seeds and trail mix at the Coop pretty easily.
I also packed my own DAILY BARS from home and (most important) had a Kreatures of Habit high protein oatmeal every single day. EVERY DAY. I'd make it in a washed-out jelly jar as overnight oats, or eat it for breakfast before the hike. I packed 10 and ate them all.
Also BUY ZIPLOC BAGS. They came in SO clutch for packing our own trail food.
LOVE all these details! Have you posted your packing list (with links) yet? Really looking forward to that info!
Thanks for sharing! I’m planning my trip for next summer and am feeling overwhelmed by all the different methods of travel - from gondolas to buses and trains, I want to maximize the amount of time we spend hiking and seeing the sites vs traveling. Did you use a specific app to help you understand what your travel itinerary would include to get you to each of the starting points? Do you think staying in a place like Wengen makes for a good central location?
Make sure you read my linked “10 things you need to know before coming to Switzerland” post, because this is a challenge. It’s not like SLC, where you jump in a car and are on the trail in 20 minutes. MOST trails require a gondola ride (unless you want to hike up a steep-ass dusty trail to the start of the good hike). We did one hike straight out of our Airbnb in Wengen, but the rest required transportation. At times, we were commuting via trains and/or buses to get to and from the trailhead. The SBB app (also linked in that post) is what you need. You put in your starting location and where you want to go, and it will often plot the whole route for you, combining trains, buses, gondolas, even ferries. You can eve buy one ticket that covers all forms of transportation. Some gondolas have their own ticketing system, however, but we were always able to buy tickets online ahead of time. (And you want to, as lines can be long.) You can also ask ChatGPT, “I’m staying here and want to hike here, help me plan the day.” Just confirm the info it’s giving you, as it’s not always 100% correct, but it was very helpful in picking and choosing specific routes and stops on the trail.
This sounds incredible! What an amazing experience and I can imagine all the memories you took away! Thank you for sharing!❤️
It was a bucket list trip, truly. We were so lucky the timing worked out!
The way I sprinted to that BOGO Daily Bar offer!!! So stoked to see KOH in my Sprouts. Also, thanks for planning my future Switzerland trip for me 🤣
BOGO is legit!!! I just KNOW your company will approve that 2-week PTO request 😂
Hi! Wondering what snacks/foods you bought at Coop for hiking? I'm going in October for a few days (different region though so I can't steal these hikes!), but we are going to spend 1-2 days hiking (Mt. Pilatus and Mt. Rigi) and wondered what would be good to bring on the trails?
Some Coops are bigger than others, but the ones in our mountain towns were pretty small. For hikes we bought bread, PB, and jelly and made sandwiches every single day. We always had a bag or two of chips to munch on. They had some protein bars in some locations, but nothing impressive, and you could get fruit but it was super expensive. A hunk of parmesan is a surprisingly good trail snack! It's stable out of the fridge and decent in protein (11g per ounce). There is NO shortage of cheese in Switzerland. 😂 Plus you can find nuts and seeds and trail mix at the Coop pretty easily.
I also packed my own DAILY BARS from home and (most important) had a Kreatures of Habit high protein oatmeal every single day. EVERY DAY. I'd make it in a washed-out jelly jar as overnight oats, or eat it for breakfast before the hike. I packed 10 and ate them all.
Also BUY ZIPLOC BAGS. They came in SO clutch for packing our own trail food.