Bicycling Switzerland and No. Italy
A number of my friends and I, who are in good but not spectacular physical shape, decided to craft our own bicycling itinerary through Switzerland and northern Italy. The result was a wonderful 2½ weeks of biking among the spectacular Alps, June 17-July 3, 2008. Six of us biked and one nonbiker rode in taxis with our luggage.
Two of us had biked along the Danube in 2006, utilizing the services of a tour company that furnished bikes, daily shuttle and reserved lodging plus contingency services. With that experience “under our belts,” we decided we could plan this trip ourselves.
During the planning, I sent a number of e-mails to the office of Switzerland Tourism (New York, NY; 877/794-8037), requesting maps, asking questions, etc. I was put in touch with one of their “tourism experts,” Elaine Ridge of European Journeys (Wheat Ridge, CO; phone 303/432-0123 or e-mail europeanjourneys@q.com), and over the next few months she provided valuable assistance.
After we decided in which town to stay each night, Elaine obtained information about lodging and we chose the places. She obtained all of the railpasses for long-distance travel, arranged taxi transfers from town to town, got information about bike rental shops in Geneva and more.
Our route (chosen largely because of familial concerns) was through agricultural, rolling-hills farm country. We were usually on high ground, able to see far in all directions. Some of the crops we could identify; others we could not. One time we passed a field of newly dug, aromatic onions lying in the sun.
We flew to Geneva and picked up our bikes at Geneva Roule (phone +41 [0] 22 740 13 43), located across the street “behind” the main train station.
We departed that afternoon for Lake Neuchâtel, only about 20 kilometers north of Geneva, and stayed overnight. We followed Lake Geneva in the afternoon and the next morning, leaving it to head north for Estavayer-le-Lac.
The next day we headed east and south, just past Châtel-Saint-Denis and up a steep mountain to a ski resort, Les Paccots, the only place available to us due to Europe-wide sports competitions being held at that time. If you bike there, ask for the “bike taxi” to haul you to the top! (This was the only occasion in Switzerland where we were faced with a mountainous bicycle route. We had planned our route so as to take the train to avoid such uphill climbs.)
The following day we screamed downhill to Vevey, on the north shore of Lake Geneva, where we boarded a train for Thun. At Thun we biked along the spectacularly scenic lakeshore to lnterlaken, boarding a local train for Lauterbrunnen, where we spent the following four days hiking and biking smack in the middle of magnificent mountain scenery.
While we were in Lauterbrunnen, reserving seats on our rail trip to Stresa, Italy, we found that, contrary to repeated attestations from the railroad to Elaine that we COULD take our bikes with us, we certainly COULD NOT take them on the CIS train. I e-mailed Elaine, asking if she had any idea about bike rental shops in Stresa. Within 24 hours she replied in the affirmative!
In Lauterbrunnen we had two choices on handling our first set of bikes: ship them by train back to Geneva Roule and rent different ones when we later returned or store them at our hotel, returning to retrieve them. The latter choice worked out fine.
We took the train to Stresa, on Lake Maggiore, and found Stresa Bicico (phone 340 357 2189) at the base of the cable car station to Mt. Mottarone. They had mountain bikes and racing bikes. If touring road bikes are needed, then use the Stresa bike rental firm Sapori d’Italia (Via de Martini, 35, 28838 Stresa [VB]; phone 0323 31598, fax 0323 932574 or e-mail saporiditalla@stresa.it), which some of us did.
In Stresa, I recommend taking your bike on the cable car and riding to the top of Mt. Mottarone. After looking around at the top, ride the cable car back down to the middle stop, exit (don’t miss the botanic garden) and bike a few happy hours on the back roads and streets down to Stresa.
After three days of hiking and biking in Stresa, we turned in those bikes and returned by train to Geneva, where we spent three days bicycling in the area.
Here are some general comments about our trip.
We reserved the type of bikes we needed at the rental shop in Geneva. They were excellent touring bikes. The bike rentals in both Geneva and Stresa cost about CHF810 (near $780) per bike per week.
We brought our own helmets, which I think was not necessary. Next time, I’ll rent a helmet along with the bike.
We were in the Bernese Oberland the last two weeks in June. I am used to hiking and camping in the Rocky Mountains, where in June the weather can get really cold and wet, so I encouraged all of us to take winter clothing. Surprisingly, many days were in the 70s and low 80s.
Elaine’s suggestion that we utilize intercity taxis for the nonbiker and our luggage was excellent. However, when I go again, I’ll consider renting a bike trailer for each bike to carry our luggage.
We could not find detailed maps of bike paths even after a diligent search, but our large-scale map of Switzerland (2008, Kummerly & Frey from Schweiz Suisse [ratio 1:301,000] — $25), which included North Italy, was sufficient for all but the most local journeys, which were explained by locals whom we queried as necessary. Often we came upon signed bike routes, which we followed.
In Lauterbrunnen, you can rent Lowa hiking boots and poles by the day from Intersport Crystal in the Crystal Hotel. Lowa has other rental locations in Switzerland too — a great boon to those who don’t want to drag hiking equipment to Europe for just a few days of hiking.
In Switzerland, occasionally I used French or German when, for example, the hotel clerk did not speak English. But in Italy, a smattering of Italian, which I did not know, would have helped.
In Geneva I took the free tour of the UN, but I neglected to take the tour of the Red Cross, which, I’m told, is well worth the time.
GENE McPHERSON
Sturgis, SD