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Thread 2836298

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Anonymous No.2836298 >>2836304 >>2838956
/switzerland general/
anyone w experience in switzerland (Bern, Interlaken, Grindelwald...)
planning to go there and could use some advice :-)

+any hitchhikers here also?
Anonymous No.2836304
>>2836298 (OP)
some resources:

>general map of switzerland with hiking routes: map.geo.admin.ch

>map with hitchhiking spots that users add : https://hitchmap.com/

try to avoid hanging around Basel because it's not interesting and getting out of there with hitchhiking is hard. Bern is a nice city with a fast-flowing river called "Aare". You can go south of the city and just get in the river and let it carry you :)
Anonymous No.2837148 >>2838034
I live near Konstanz and regularly go hiking in the St Gallen / Glarus Ares. Just bought a tent that fits in my backpack, as well as sleeping pads to go multi day hiking. Super stoked. Also wondered about the restrictions on camping in the wild and how strict they really are in the end. However, I adjusted the mapgeo map to inlcude
Areas youre not allowed to camp like national parks, wildlife protection, hunting areas, ... as well as rivers and water sources i general and hiking trails. There you go - hope you can make use of it. And pls drop some 2-3 day hike recommmendations and sleeping spots :)
https://map.geo.admin.ch/#/map?lang=de&sr=3857&camera=9.40353,46.935506,9743.8,-90,,&3d&topic=ech&layers=ch.swisstopo.swisstlm3d-wanderwege;ch.astra.wanderland-sperrungen_umleitungen;ch.bafu.schutzgebiete-schweizerischer_nationalpark;ch.bafu.bundesinventare-jagdbanngebiete;ch.bafu.bundesinventare-flachmoore;ch.bafu.bundesinventare-hochmoore;ch.bafu.bundesinventare-auen;ch.bafu.wrz-wildruhezonen_portal;ch.swisstopo.amtliches-strassenverzeichnis;ch.swisstopo.vec200-hydrography&bgLayer=ch.swisstopo.pixelkarte-farbe&catalogNodes=457,ech

also +1 for hiking around Basel ... super urban andn not that interesting.Schwarzwald is quite nice though
Anonymous No.2838034
>>2837148
hi, thanks for the map! looks so chaotic lol but I think I can make some things out (german aint my native tongue) and it seems that all the zones on the map under "dargestellte Karten" are zones where you can't sleep. Was planning on sleeping in valleys anyway since I don't have the best sleeping bag + it's just cozier...

on your comment about the Schwarzwald: I assume you're talking not about the famous Schwarzwald in Germany, but in Switzerland, specifically to the south of Interlaken inbetween the mountains?

I can't give you any 2-3 day hiking spots because it'll only be my second (hitchhiking) trip to Switzerland! I've only ever come as far as Bern. In total I spent 3 days in Switzerland: I walked into Basel from St-Louis (got dropped of there while hitchhiking) and walked across that uninteresting town to get to a spot where I could hitchhike. Got out of there by the evening and rode into Bern. I camped at the free camping to the south of the centre and just had fun in the river and the area there. I spent 2 nights and then had to head back home.

if you have discord and wanna be in touch
don't hesitate to add me: greezy9737


picrel is a lame pic I took in Bern :)
Anonymous No.2838956
>>2836298 (OP)
I have family in Switzerland, so visit occasionally.

What I have basically learned is:
1. It's expensive. Hope you have a lot of money if you are paying for your own accommodation and food and travel.
2. It's beautiful. I would say it is peak European aesthetic. Very tall looming snow-covered pointed mountains as far as the eye can see, flat plateaus in the valleys with vibrant green grass and cows with bells, picturesque streams and Alpine flowers in bloom, wooden chalets and huts and traditional German-style Bavarian architecture.
3. Very well-maintained infrastructure and public transport. The trains are great, you can get around smoothly and comfortably on large trains between the major cities, and into the smaller areas, and there are funiculars up a surprising amount of mountains and regular small postal buses going up precarious mountain roads which turn up and are modern, with electronic announcements and TVs showing what stop you are at.
4. They have some of the best marked paths in the world. They maintain them, they're always well sign-posted with name of a peak or nearby village and a distance in km, with waymarker poles in case of snow.
5. Despite the above, there are big mountains, so don't just try to climb the north face of the Eiger by yourself. Go with a tour guide at the right time. But there are enormous areas in the foothills of the alps where you can climb at altitude and see beautiful scenery by yourself, just following the marked paths.

What are you after exactly? In spring there will still be a lot of snow and challenging areas where it could be chest deep and difficult without the right gear.

If you go in summer it is warm, and a lot of the lower areas will be snow free and it's really good hiking. And you have the added bonus of swimming in clear Alpine rivers etc. That's popular in many places, including Bern. You can swim in the Aare, you can get a waterproof bag, swim the whole way. Or lots of places to do river walking.
Anonymous No.2838969
Nothing “out” about Switzerland
Anonymous No.2839115 >>2839117
fren of OP here.
We've been in switzerland now for 3 days now, past days have always been kinda rainy and the last 2 nights where straight up thunderstorms lmao. We're hobo-ing this trip so we dont have accomodation /transport except what we get for free or for a okay price (hasnt happened yet).
We're in Grindelwald rn but its cloudy af so not much to see. We dont know where to spend tonight which is shit cuz its gotta be 7°C and my bag wont do much then...

Anyway the hoboing is fun but not when its raining like it has been the past day and a half.
Anonymous No.2839117
>>2839115
Aw, man. Switzerland is probably not great for a trip like this. The weather is one thing (that's just mountains in general), but people tend to be more withdrawn, and "cheap" doesn't really exist there anymore. I'd go as far as to say that the entire Alps region is, at this point, geared towards expensive holidays for tourists (speaking as an Austrian).
It's fine if you live here and can start your tours from your home and be back the same day (or wild camp over night, but planned), so you're not depending on cottages or similar. I would definitely not want to tramp here in hopes to find a cheap abode along the way.

All the best with the rest of the trip and especially the weather.
Anonymous No.2839236 >>2839281
switzerland is norway prices with worse nature and no free wild camping as far as I understand it
am I wrong? this is not bait (and the nature is still good, but the price point is so high)
Anonymous No.2839281
>>2839236
>no free wild camping as far as I understand it
It depends where.
If I'm not mistaken, after a certain altitude, it's considered "bivouac" which is allowed everywhere.
Below that, it's up to the canton or the city.
It's always like this with Switzerland : if you look at the country ON PAPER it looks great because there are few federal restructions. But once you look into a specific canto, things get a lot more complicated.
If you want the alpine experience for less money, you can stick to the french Alps or the Tyrol in Italy and Austria.