Hiking

Interested in hiking but not sure how to get started? Worried about whether you’re fit enough to complete a hike? Or perhaps you have done a few hikes and want to know more? You’ve come to the right place! This document is aimed at beginner hikers living in Switzerland and targets hikes that can be completed a single day, without camping overnight.

Getting started

First, make sure you have a good map. The Switzerland Mobility app is an amazing free app that has all of Switzerland accurately mapped with routes for hiking, cycling, skiing, and other snow sports. All routes, geographical features, and transport options are marked. Some even have explanations and suggestions for a day hike. Avoid using Google Maps or other general-purpose maps as your primary sources, since they are sometimes inaccurate in the mountains. The app also has a paid feature for 30 CHF/year where you can plot your own routes and measure the distance, elevation profile and time taken. If you don’t want to spend the money, you can use similar features on the open source Swiss Topo which also has a mobile app and more overlay maps (e.g., snow depth).

Second, make sure you know how to read your map. The best way to get used to reading a hiking map is to go on a few simple hikes. Remember that your phone’s GPS location may not always be up-to-date in the mountains, so use your judgement at times to avoid wasting time in paths you didn’t intend to take.

Third, look out for signs during your hike to confirm you’re going the right way. Virtually all hikes contain arrow signs that indicate directions and times to points of interests. There are also frequent yellow diamond and arrow signs on the ground, on rocks, and on trees to reassure you that you have not strayed off course. These signs are managed by the same association that manages the Swiss Mobility app.

Types of hikes

There are roughly three categories of hikes:

  1. Easy walking paths, marked with yellow signs
  2. Mountain hiking paths which require good shoes, marked with white-red-white signs
  3. Alpine hiking paths which require serious equipment, marked with white-blue-white signs

The Swiss Mobility app displays these three categories as yellow, red, and blue respectively. The other most relevant parameters when choosing on a hike are the walking distance and the elevation. In addition, the app has a “fitness level” required for the hike. Even easier hikes can require a high level of fitness if they are very long.

The Swiss Alpine Club has a more detailed classification ranging from T1 (easy) to T6 (very difficult), if you are interested.

Note that “via ferratas” are not considered hikes and are essentially between hiking and mountaineering. They have a different difficulty scale.

Some more useful resources on types of hikes:

Winter hiking and snowshoeing

You can still hike in the winter! You can do winter hiking which is just hiking on the snow. Many ski resorts prepare safe paths for winter hiking. You can also snowshoe, which is hiking on snow with snowshoes or raquettes in French. They have a large surface area allowing you to walk on snow without sinking. You can find snowshoeing trails marked in pink on the Switzerland Mobility app, as well as at many ski resorts.

Planning a hike

First, time. While apps such as Swiss Mobility give you an estimated time, you will probably want to add 2–3 hours to account for breaks and unforeseen events. Also, if you travel in a large group, you tend to go slower. As a beginner, start with simple hikes, which are flatter, and gradually increase distance and elevation gain/loss to increase your confidence and better estimate how fast you walk.

Second, weather. The weather determines the hike feasibility, and in particular mountain hikes should be avoided when it is rainy/snowy as it can be quite dangerous. Even in spring or fall, there may be snow at higher elevations, which you can sometimes check on online webcams from tourism offices. Check the weather before the hike, and don’t be afraid to reassess the weather situation during your hike and look for shelter early if needed. The Swiss government has a good weather app (MeteoSwiss). There’s also mountain-forecast.com. For snow, use whiterisk.ch, wepowder.com, and windy.com.

Third, transport. The start and end points of many hikes are reachable by public transport, and for non-loop hikes you will need public transport even if you come with your own car. As you go for more mountainous and remote start points, the frequency of public transport gets lower, usually once an hour with the last bus/train sometimes as early as 5pm. Double-check the schedule of public transport you plan to use, as in some cases you will have to start your day very early. Some options to help reduce costs while hiking are the CFF’s youth day pass, saver day pass, and in Vaud, the Mobilis pass.

Fourth, equipment. Get yourself a good compact bag, or at least a backpack if you’re just starting, and use the following checklist:

Tip: Keep everything prepared for the hike ready the previous night including the clothes you have to wear. This helps you make less decisions early in the morning and reduces the chance of forgetting something.

If you’re really serious, you could get a headlight and a rope for emergency situations, hydration packs with a straw, as well as physical maps to not worry about your phone dying. But that’s probably too much for 99% of situations.

Wildlife

One nice thing about hiking in Switzerland is that you don’t have to worry about wild animals attacking you. If you are lucky you may spot some marmots and eagles!

Safety

“Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” – Ed Viesturs (mountaineer)

While people you will meet on hikes are nice, the biggest danger is the mountains itself. You are free to explore the mountains at your leisure, but this also means many times there are no barriers stopping you from attempting very dangerous activities.

If you are hiking alone, it’s important to let someone know your hiking route for the day in case of emergency. Even as recently as Feb 2024, some hikers died while hiking in the snow/ice at Rochers de Naye.

Also, be very careful when attempting difficult hikes (SAC’s T4 and above). These hikes are rated difficult for a reason. Preferably attempt these with a hiking partner with more experience. Every year, many people get into hiking accidents. Read the SAC safety tips before you add to that number.

If you have an emergency while hiking:

  1. Keep calm and assess the situation.
  2. Warn others and ensure the safety of everyone.
  3. Organize as a group. Distribute tasks such as calling for help, providing first aid, looking for shelter, finding landing spots for helicopters, documenting the situation, etc.

If you need rescuing, call REGA’s phone number, 1414, or use their app. Their service is run by donations and patrons and they are incredibly efficient. However, you will get charged for their services, which are not covered by your mandatory health insurance. The REGA app is also quite useful with which they can trace your location. You can also ask them to check on you regularly if you go solo hiking/camping in the mountains.

If you have no connection through your cell phone network, you can always call the international emergency phone number, 112, through other networks. If you have no connection at all, look for elevated spots, and in the worst case, hike to the next mountain hut or village.

A subscription to REGA drastically lowers the costs of their rescue services should you ever need them, for only 40 CHF/year. Also consider getting a SAC member subscription if you want to do more mountain activities, as they have many member discounts for living in huts and taking mountaineering courses.

General hiking culture

Hiking in Switzerland is an amazing social activity. You can meet lots of interesting people and even make friends through hikes, such as using the #hiking channel of the EPFL IC PhD slack to find other people interested in hiking. The EPFL Club Montagne is another great way to meet like-minded people, as they organize hikes and other mountain-related activities.

In general, people are super nice and helpful on the mountains and you should be as well. Always greet other hikers: bonjour/salut on the French side or Grüss Gott on the German side. Other hikers can also give advice and take photos for you!

Do not be too self-conscious: Swiss people are hiking beasts, and you will frequently be overtaken by young children or by elderly people. When the Swiss say a hike is easy, it’s probably not as easy as you imagine. Keep hiking and one day you too will be doing Swiss-difficult hikes!

Finding hiking routes

Some useful sites for inspiration:

Jura is easy and more accessible in the spring and fall. The Alps are more amazing and difficult and usually accessible only late spring to early fall since once it starts raining, it snows in the mountains.

Don’t hesitate to stare at a hiking route map and make your own route, which gives you a lot more freedom and lets you adjust the difficulty. Often there are gondolas/lifts/trains connecting parts of the mountain to the down below. To save your legs, plan on hiking uphill and then a bit downhill and then taking the transport down. You can also take lifts both ways, leading to quite flat hiking in the middle.

Another interesting route option is to combine an easy hike with a cultural activity at the end like a city/museum visit. Very possible in the Neuchatel, Biel/Bienne, Fribourg area with options like the Absinthe museum, Papiliorama, Panzermuseum, and so on.

One final tip: you can experience how people moved in the past with day hikes by hiking from one place to another and staying at a different place every night. Many routes were made for this purpose, such as the Via Francigena (road to Rome), Tour du Mont Blanc (around Mont Blanc via 3 countries), and Via Alpina (across the alps, where J. R. R. Tolkien saw Lauterbrunnen, the most beautiful place on Earth and the inspiration for the Elvish settlement of Rivendell). These routes have sections and you cover one section every day which is why most sections end in towns or at mountain huts.

Recommendations

Italic hikes are personnal recommendations from the original author of this page, Aditya Pradeep.

Easy: (zero prerequisites, some cultural/fun activities)

  1. Sentier de la cascade
  2. Ecublens to Preverenges
  3. Prevenges to Morges
  4. St.Saphorin to Lutry (see the vineyards of Lavaux)
  5. Gorges de l’Areuse (all about water)
  6. Biere Arboretum (all about fall)
  7. Vallorbe — Grottes de Vallorbe and Jura Parc
  8. Nyon/Gland — Fortress Villa, “toblerones” path
  9. Hike near Bex and see the salt mines
  10. Avenches to Murten
  11. Le Pont around Lac Brenet and Lac de Joux
  12. Mont Pelerin
  13. Sauveblin to Lausanne to Ouchy
  14. Romainmôtier – La Sarraz – La Tine de Conflens
  15. Sentier du Talent
  16. Penthalaz to Bussigny to Ecublens
  17. Narcissus spring snow
  18. Diableret hikes
  19. Glacier 3000 walk

Medium: (some uphill and downhill)

  1. Dent de Vaulion, still beginner friendly
  2. Creux du Van, and consider the nearby absinthe museum
  3. Oeschinensee, Alpine coaster
  4. Blonay – Les Pléiades
  5. Les Paccots – Gruyères
  6. Col de la Croix — Villars to Lac de Bretaye, Gypsum pyramids
  7. Haut de Caux – Dent de Jaman
  8. Doubs River near La Chaux de Fonds
  9. Mont Tendre : Col to Col, highest point in Jura
  10. Chasseral
  11. Solothurn – Weissenstein
  12. Porrentruy – St. Ursanne
  13. Murten – Laupen
  14. Around Lac Gruyère, can combine with walk to Ogoz island in early spring
  15. Charmey – Jaun
  16. Gastlosen Tour
  17. Chasseral
  18. Diablerets waterfall
  19. Bisse near Sion
  20. Grand Bisse d’Ayent
  21. Leuk-Jezinen- Gampel, visit Leuk Ossuary
  22. Walk along Dixence dam — the tallest gravity dam, also has ziplining
  23. Zermatt 5 Lakes

Hard:

  1. Rochers de Naye from Haut de Caux (or even from Montreux)
  2. Leysin – Tour d’Ai – Leysin. Can add areas around Mayen
  3. Miex, Le Flon – Lac de Taney – Le Grammont
  4. Sentier de Salanfe, can add Col de Susanfe and end in Champery
  5. Lac d’Emosson – Cabane de Salanfe
  6. Glacier 3000 hike, only in summer, check conditions
  7. Tanzbodeli, Aditya’s all time favorite hike
  8. Best Oeschinensee + Glacier views
  9. Tour de l’Argentine, can add Pas de cheville and end at Lac Derborence
  10. Col du Pillon – Col des Anderets – Arpillette – Isenau – Col du Pillon, can also add La Pare
  11. Montbovon – La Bra – L’Aiguille – Chaux de Culand – Rossinière
  12. Leysin – Les Mosses
  13. Les Mosses – Pic Chaussy
  14. L’Etivaz – Rocher du Midi
  15. Tour du Grand Chavalard
  16. La Breya/Champex Lac – Cabane du Trient 3169 m – La Breya
  17. La Fouly VS – Tête de Ferret – Ferret. Hike 30 mins in Italy!
  18. Glacier Corbassière col des Otanes from Fionnay/Mauvoisin
  19. Grand St. Bernard
  20. Gemmi Pass, can also start from Leukerbad
  21. Lotschen Pass
  22. Sentier Panorama 4000
  23. Cry d’Er – Lac-Pointe de la Plaine Morte – Mont Bonvin – Cabane des Violettes, harder and more rewarding hike than Sentier Panorama 4000.
  24. Golden Meleze Fall at Nendaz, alternate Tracouet – Le Fou – Verbier
  25. Aletschgletscher — Loop from Fiescheralp. Largest glacier in the alps
  26. Arolla – Cabane de dix
  27. Arolla – Cabane des Aiguilles Rouges – Lac Bleu – La Gouille, fall hike
  28. Tour du Lac Moiry, can also go to Cabane de Moiry
  29. Zinal – Cabane de Tracuit CAS
  30. Gruben – Hotel Weisshorn
  31. St Luc/Tignousa – Zinal
  32. Gruben – St Niklaus VS via Augstbordpass
  33. Hohbalmen Zermatt
  34. 5 lake walk++, add Oberrothorn 3400 m to this
  35. Augstmatthorn from Habkern/Interlaken Ibex colony
  36. Schynige Platte – Faulhorn – Grindelwald First

Very hard:

  1. Tour d’Ai
  2. Col du Pillon T4
  3. Dent de Lys
  4. Zermatt Hornlihutte
  5. Grindelwald Schreckhornhutte

Extreme:

  1. Haute Cime in Dents du Midi
  2. Fribourg – Vanil de Noir/Ecran
  3. Hardergrat
  4. Dent de Corjon
  5. Dents de Morcles

Hikes further away from EPFL, which in principle could be done in a day but require an early start and a day pass:

  1. Brienzergrat
  2. Männlichen – Eigergletscher – Alpiglen
  3. Murren – Schilthorn – Griesalp
  4. Stoos Ridge
  5. Stanserhorn – Arvigrat Ridge
  6. Federspitz
  7. Ebenalp – Schafler
  8. Saxer Lücke – Hoher Kasten
  9. Wildhaus – Santis hike via Rotsteinpass and Lisengrat
  10. Blaue Tosse
  11. Pilatus
  12. Rigi (boat from Luzern to Vitznau and then funicular)
  13. Pizol 5 lake
  14. Around Gelmersee, take the steepest funicular, Gelmerbahn
  15. Musenalp + Buochserhorn
  16. Valle Verzasca
  17. Limmerensee
  18. Uri Rotstock
  19. Furka Pass + Grimsel Pass
  20. Joriseen Graubunden

Acknowledgements

The information on this page was originally compiled by Aditya Pradeep. He would like to thank Karen Adam and Simon Schutz for starting his hiking journey with many useful starting hiking tips, as well as Felix, Abdullah, Heather, and Aidan for their valuable comments and edits.

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