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in Europe in Germany in Switzerland
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To dream the impossible dream The Swiss are amazing. Their country is not a natural place to build railways, so they build them up to the top of mountains. They live in a country that does not naturally spring to mind when one thinks of cycle touring. The country is full of mountains and lakes, so common sense would suggest that it is a great place to go mountaineering, hill walking, sailing, or sailboarding or board sailing but cycling? The gut wrenching pictures of the top of the Tour de France climbs come to mind, but can we expect grannie to make it? Yes! You can actually. The Swiss have done the impossible yet again and turned their country into a cyclistís paradise. How? Veloland Schweiz, a not-for-profit organisation, got together with local government planners and turned out some fantastically good route planning. In addition an eye for detail and a hundred years or so of setting up walking trails means that the signposting, is perfect. The signs are big and even we can read them from a long way away. After cycling about a third of the 9 national routes and many kilometres of cantonal and regional routes we have only found one spot where we had to stop and work out which way to go. There are some hairy routes, but there are also family routes. To be honest if a pair of grey-haired oldsters like us can cycle over the Gotthard Pass, anyone can do it. You just take your time. If it gets too much public transport is excellent. Just about all trains, lake steamers and even some buses take bikes! There is a minor fly in the ointment. Switzerland is a high wage high price economy. Life is not cheap. Maps and guide books are superb, collectorsí items but at a price! Hotels and restaurants are almost always value for money, but can be expensive. You can save money: oddly enough half board is often not that much more expensive than bed and breakfast, so enquire when you register, even if you are only going to stop one night. The landlord or lady can only say no. Hotels even posh ones up in the mountains often have walkers' rooms which are a bit more primitive but clean, and after a day out on your fitness machine, you are going sleep like a world champion. If you are booking a room and you wish to be economical ask for a cheap one. If you don't you will have a superb one and a superb bill the next morning. Counting the pennies Villages offer cheaper accommodation than cities so plan your trip to stop overnight somewhere quiet and visit the fleshpots during the day. There are also various ways round this financial problem: using the web to finding economical hotels, Youth Hostels, Bed and Breakfast establishments and leaving the country. The Swiss Tourist authorities have recognised the problem of Swiss hotel prices which is compounded by high exchange rates for the Swiss Franc and offer a number of 'affordable' hotels that can be booked on the Internet or by telephone in Switzerland (0800 10020030). Youth Hostels often offer double rooms sometimes with bath/shower/WC and even TV. They supply evening meals for 16 or 17 CHF which are nutritious and normally good. We have had one meal in about 20 overnight stays that was not so bright, but the rest were very pleasant. It is canteen cooking but reasonable canteen cooking. Youth Hostels no longer have an age limit, so even white heads like us can sleep there. They are superb value for money. Most of them cost about £25 a night per person for half board in a double or family room, which means they are popular so book in advance online on www.youthhostel.ch. The web site has instructions about finding each hostel. It is worth downloading and printing these instructions out. The hostels are open during the day, so if the weather is bad you don't have to lurk nearby. Austrian and German youth hostels (with Bavarian hostels as an exception) will also take older people. However we have heard that the hostel in Lindau (Bodensee) might take older bodies off season.
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Bed and Breakfast establishments can be found all over Switzerland and Tourist Offices have lists of holiday flats and B&B. Try the map based search engine offered by Swiss Tourism: (http://www.myswitzerland.com/en.cfm/destinations) Look for words like 'tourisme, Tourismus, Hebergement, Unterkunft', then 'B&B, Gite, PrivatñZimmer'.We have also had good experience with accommodation offered through Bed and Breakfast Switzerland (www.bnb.ch). If you cannot find any through this organisation, check out www.tourisme-rural.ch for B&B in the French-speaking areas of Switzerland. If one is near the border it is worth checking prices in Euroland. Especially on the Rhine Route and in Engadine you are but a stone's throw away from Austria, Germany or Italy where hotels and restaurants are cheaper. We have followed for example R2 during the day and then crossed the border each evening. We also planned trips in Engadine, so that we could stop in Nauders, Tyrol overnight and then made excursions into Switzerland during the day. It is not exactly fair, but it can save money. PS Three of our books are about Switzerland: "The Rhine End to End Part 1: Andermatt to Basel" (Swiss Route 2), "Mainly in High Gear: A cycling guide around Lake Constance" (Part of Swiss Route 2 and the Thurgau regional routes) and "Where Marmots Dare Swiss route 3 from Basel to Chiasso". We have also written a book: Cycle Touring in Switzerland: (isbn: 978-1-85284-526-1) about all the cycle routes in Switzerland, which is published by Cicerone Press in Milnthorpe, UK. We do not sell this book, but you can buy it from Cicerone itself or from any good bookshop. | |||||||
The Forsyths Bergstrasse Bike Books Post Box 1331, D 68503 Viernheim, Germany | |||||||
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