Hi everyone

We're just starting to plan a four week holiday, touring Switzerland in June 2010. The flights are booked.

I've had a look at the veloland.ch web site which is absolutely fantastic and have probably decided to do the National routes 9 and 5, starting at Zurich, heading up to Lake Constance, then down route 9 to the edge of Lake Geneva and returning to Zurich via route 5.

Allowing for a few days to get over jet lag flying from Australia we have just over three weeks for the touring.

I'd love to receive any advice, feedback or whatever people have to offer.

Also, we'll be taking the tandem. This will be my wife's first experience in cycle touring, although we plan to do some shorter 'test' tours before we go. Does anyone have experience whether taking the tandem on the trains their (if required) is a problem?

One last question, if I may. I've toured on a solo bike before and generally use four panniers. One thing I am pondering is how to fit gear on a tandem for two people? Any advice from those that have gone before me?

thanks

It's hard to go wrong touring in Switzerland. You will find a bicycle-friendly culture, well-marked and extensive bike routes, multilingual tourist information everywhere, and beautiful vistas (almost) everywhere.

If I were to fly to Zurich again, I would do one thing differently: I would take the train to the city. There are a myriad of different routes, and all were confusing! The three hours I spent meandering from the airport to downtown was the least interesting part!

I hope that your tour includes Martigny and Zermatt, beautiful!!

They make handy knives but put holes in your cheese. Have to admit my thoughts on Switzerland are quite neutral

You will love Switzerland. I've toured both the #5 and #9 routes and absolutely loved it. They are well signed, the scenery is lovely, and there are plenty of places for a quick swim or bite to eat. It's great!

You can find more information on the routes (including elevation profile) at

https://www.veloland.ch/en/routen_detail.cfm?id=20812
https://www.veloland.ch/en/routen_detail.cfm?id=20811

An alternative to sleeping in pricey hotels is "schlaf-im-stroh", or translated as "sleep on straw". It's a simple bed & breakfast, but your bed is literally in the barn in the straw. It might not be for everyone, but it definitely adds to the adventure. Check it out:

https://www.abenteuer-stroh.ch/en/default.asp

You should note that the #5 route passes right by the Zurich airport, making it a good starting point. You could book a hotel near the airport, store your stuff, and make day trips into the city until you recover from your jet lag. A detour that I enjoy is to the end of the Zurich airport runway on the north end. Planes fly directly overhead as they land.

Bikes are allowed on almost all Swiss trains, but advance reservation is required for ICN trains. You probably don't need to worry about this since the ICNs travel longer stretches, which you probably won't do. Transporting a bike is CHF 15.- for a day pass, or the equivalent fare for a single person. Just take what's cheaper. Unfortunately, this price doubles for tandems. Most trains require you to load the bike yourself and you can sit in the same area. Tandems might be tricky with some trains due to space, but there are trains with extra space for tandems and those pulling children carriers. More information on bikes and trains here:

https://mct.sbb.ch/mct/en/reisemarkt/...ad-schweiz.htm

Feel free to send me any questions you have, and I'll do my best to answer. Good luck with the planning!

I agree with acantor its really hard to go wrong in Switzerland. Just walk into any tourist office for any information you might need its a really bike friendly country.

I love riding in Switzerland. Their bike routes are second to none, IMHO. I bike commute from our home in France to my job in Geneva every weekday, so if you want info about biking near Geneva (or anywhere around the lake), just let me know. Good luck and have fun!

I used to live in Basel and can confirm that the bike routes in CH are amazing. Never found anything else like it. I haven't done Route #9 but #5 is a really nice route.

Thanks for the replys everyone.

jeffpoulin, now that's a great commute! I would not mind that one.

I'll keep planning. I enjoy the planning phase of touring, but I LOVE the riding part!

I've read that some of the routes are 'unsurfaced'. Are the conditions normally good? Good enough for road tyres?

thanks

Chrisch, the schlaf-im-stroh sounds really interesting, I saw that on a travel show here recently, but I fear that it would put a new twist on my wife's HAY fever! I'll think we'll be looking at basic hotels or hostels along the way as I don't think well be able to fit the tent etc onto the tandem.

There are a few hills in Switzerland!

From the schalf-im-stroh website:
I can also recommend the Lago Lodge in Nidau (near Biel) to overnight, which also has a restaurant and brewery on site.

Most of the unsurfaced sections are on hard packed gravel, and are very smooth to ride on. I'm on 700x35C tires and that has always been fine.

It will depend on whether you are planning on camping and if so, how light you can pack. I've toured comfortably on a tandem when not camping with four panniers. The tour I did when I camped we used four panniers and a Burley Nomad trailer. In retrospect we probably didn't need the second set of panniers or at least not full sized ones.

If you're not planning on camping I think panniers should be enough. If you pack light (I don't) when you camp, panniers may still be enough.

Try a couple of combinations on your 'test' tours and see what works for you.