12 Days in Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Switzerland is truly a hiker’s and outdoor enthusiast’s paradise. The transportation infrastructure and trails that the country has are unbelievable. Neighboring Switzerland, Liechtenstein is one of the often overlooked and least visited countries in Europe. Liechtenstein also has amazing hiking and a completely different atmosphere from Switzerland, even though they are so close. This post details our 12 day trip (10 days in country, 2 travel days), but focuses mainly on the hiking, with highlights from other areas of the country we visited.

Trip Logistics

We chose to take a 12 day trip in June of 2023, trekking across as much of Switzerland and Liechtenstein as we could. The two main airports to fly into are Geneva and Zurich, we flew into Geneva. We never rented a car, and did not regret it. As mentioned in the intro, the infrastructure is phenomenal, and it cannot be fully appreciated until using every form possible. We highly recommend the Swiss Travel Pass. This pass makes transportation incredibly stress-free and saves a substantial amount of money. This option does require a bit more logistical planning than a car rental, but what is a European vacation without using public transport?

The best app for planning public transportation routes and times is the SBB Mobile app. Before we left, we chose to get a general idea of first/last trains, transitions, and rough intervals, but each night we would confirm exact train times. Since we had the Swiss Travel Pass, we didn’t have to worry about buying tickets in advance. Just make sure when you go to board a train, you pay attention to the numbers on the cars to ensure you pick the right class.

The MetroSwiss app was the best we found for accurate weather in Switzerland. A lot of the standard sites like Weather.com were wildly wrong.

Day 1 (Flight)

Fortunately, if you are flying from North America, the timing works out such that you can arrive in the morning of Day 2 in Switzerland, ready to begin adventuring if you don’t suffer from jet lag. After taking a short flight to Newark, we were able to get a direct flight from Newark to Geneva, which was about a 7.5 hour flight.

Day 2 & 3 (Geneva)

Our flight arrived at 7:30am Geneva time, giving us the full day ahead. We chose a hotel near the city center (Ruby Claire Geneva), and elected to head there first to store our bags. Quick note on the hotel: Overall accommodations are fine and modern, excellent location, but we had a few hiccups: 1) we were given the wrong room key, so we walked into someone else’s room; based on other reviews around our stay, this wasn’t a one-off issue, 2) there is apparently a club nearby that plays loud music well into the morning hours that may impact a light sleeper.

After recovering your bags in the airport, follow the signs to the train station, which is integral to the airport. Don’t make the rookie mistake we did and completely misunderstand how the airport trains work. Every train at the airport will take you to Gare Cornavin, even if the signs don’t directly say that. It’s a 7 minute ride, and they are always coming/going, so just pick the one that appears to be leaving next. This train should also be free, especially if you book a hotel in Geneva, since they will send you a Geneva Transport Card shortly before check-in.

Once at Gare Cornavin, you will need to find the appropriate train, bus, tram, etc. to get where you need to go. If you prefer to walk, the station is only about 5 minutes from the city center. Although not common to have your ticket checked on inner city transportation anywhere in Switzerland, don’t risk it because getting caught will be costly.

Highlights of Geneva

• Old Town Self Guided Walking Tour (approx. 3 hours)
  • Flower Clock
  • Jet d’Eau fountain
  • St. Pierre Cathedral: No fee to enter. 5 CHF to climb towers and totally worth it for amazing views; south tower is open/airy while north tower is enclosed and dry. 8 CHF to visit the archeological site; also totally worth it for mind-blowing preserved history
  • International Museum of Reformation, next to Cathedral, 10 CHF
  • Place du Bourg-de-Four, near the Cathedral, Geneva’s oldest square
  • Maison Tavel House, oldest private residence in Geneva, interesting museum
  • Reformation Wall
  • Promenade de le Trielle, beautiful views and longest wooden bench in world
  • Old Island Tower
  • Walk across the Mont Blanc Bridge
  • Basilica Notre-Dame
• Red Cross Museum, honestly one of our favorite activities in Geneva. 10 CHF for self guided audio tour
• United Nations Office. Can get 1hr 16 CHF guided tours, but have to book way in advance, which we did not do. Still neat to view the broken chair statue and flags
• Neighborhood of Carouge. Neighborood of Geneva with Italian vibe. Market on Thursdays. We just wandered the area for a few hours. There is also a nice path paralleling the river Arve.
• Lavaux Wine Trail from St. Sephorin to Lutry into the Lavaux wine district. We had great ambitions to walk part of the trail through beautiful vineyards and wineries, but we had a ton of trouble finding it. We made our own adventure and still got amazing views of vineyards and the lake. So beware if you go, the trail might be hard to find if you start somewhere in the middle of the trail. The Chasselas grapes and wine from that region were very good.

Geneva Food Recommendations

• Eden’s Garden (breakfast)
• Mama&Zita (Mediterranean, near Red Cross and UN)
• Le Chat Botte (Michelin Star)
• Osteria della bottega (Italian)
• Laderach Chocolates

Day 4 (Zurich)

Take a train from Gare Cornavin to Zurich HB, which is about 2.75 hours. On any intra-city trains, you can almost guarantee to get your ticket checked at some point. Again, we dropped our bags off at our hotel first (Hotel Adler). We loved our stay here and would highly recommend it to anyone. Plus, it makes for easier entry into one of the best fondue restaurants in the country.

Highlights of Zurich

• Self-guided walking tour (couple hours)
  • Old Town
  • Lindenhof Hill, great views of the city
  • Fraumunster Church
  • Augustinergrasse St, neat stores, beautiful buildings, flags
  • Church of St. Peter, largest clock face in Europe
  • Bahnhofstrasse, old street with fancy stores
  • Grossmunster Cathedral, 5 CHF to bible collection and tower climb
  • Opera House
  • Lake Zurich Promenade
  • Niederdorfstasse, pedestrian street with lots of shops/restaurants
  • Old Botanical Gardens
• Lindt Museum, 10 CHF, timed-entry self-guided chocolate tours
• FIFA Museum, 24 CHF, but free entry with Swiss Travel Pass
• Rhine Falls, 45 minute train ride outside of city, didn’t have time but supposedly beautiful

Zurich Food Recommendations

• Hotel Adler, Swiss Chuchi Restaurant. Best fondue ever. No reservations were available online, but hotel was able to get us a table
  • Hotel Adler breakfast was the first place we encountered Swiss museli and it was amazing. Andy has since added this to his breakfast rotation, although it isn’t quite the same. We recommend eating it wherever you can find it.
• Haus Hiltl, first vegetarian restaurant in world, great buffet
• St. Jakob Beck & Kafi Münsterhof (near Fraumunster)
• Confiserie Sprungli

Day 5 (Liechtenstein)

We kept our hotel in Zurich and just made a day trip over to Liechtenstein. We were a little concerned that going on a Sunday might result in several things being closed, but much to our surprise, they were not. They actually had a bunch of street performers throughout the afternoon that encouraged stores to be open that otherwise wouldn’t have been. Within 10 minutes of arrival, we even saw the royal staff (minus the Prince) parade through town on their way to the church service.

Liechtenstein is a wonderful place and we would highly recommend a visit to anyone. It is one of the least visited countries, with an average of 70,000 tourists a year. For this reason, they treat tourists very well and welcome them in. They have a unique activity book, called the Vaduz Adventure Pass, which is 25 CHF. It has access/discounts for over 30 activities, including a free bus ride, and saves money if you complete several items in it. I believe we saved at least 5 CHF/person from our one day there by using it.

Liechtenstein does not have an airport or trains. Their main public transport is via bus. You’ll take a train from Zurich HB to Sargaans most likely, and hop on a bus from there to reach Vaduz Post. The entire journey is about 1.5 hours. The LIEmobil site is a great resource for public transport in Liechtenstein.

We chose to start with the hike, since that was our main purpose for visiting and we knew the bus schedule wasn’t ideal for the return journey. Our original plan was to complete the full Price’s Way hike, but it was closed, so we asked the Visitor Center for recommendations, and they suggested an out-and-back to Alpspitz rather than the loop.

Hike from Gaflei to Alpspitz

— 3.6 mile out-and-back — 2 hours — Strenuous — 1575 ft. Elevation gain —

Take bus 21 towards Triesenberg from Vaduz Post. In Triesenberg, switch to bus 22 and ride to the last stop, Gaflei. The trailhead is at the end of the parking lot. Take the first left on the trail. Then take a sharp right in 0.2 mile, continuing on the wide path/gravel road; the straight path here leads to the Prince’s Way loop. After another 0.2 mile, take a left, and then immediate right, staying on the wide path. In 0.3 mile, you will reach a building, where we watched a paraglider jump and glide into the valley. Continue up the switchbacks for ~0.4 mile.

Next, turn sharp left to follow a single-track trail along the ridge. For 0.1 mile, the trail is fairly mild. The next intersection, you have a choice: left is a very steep hill for a shorter strenuous hike to Alpspitz, and right is a more gradual longer path. Being short on time, we chose the left trail. We quickly wondered if we made the right choice due to the unrelenting steep grade (0.2 mile 300+ ft gain, then 0.1 mile 200 ft gain later). You will reach another intersection in 0.5 mile. Take a left; from here the beautiful Alpspitz summit cross is visible. Make the last ascent up to the cross to enjoy the amazing 360° views.

We met some Swiss locals shocked to find Americans at the top. We signed the hiker log, admired the view, and returned the way we came, cautiously down the steep trail. If you choose the loop to Alpspitz, we’d recommend going right first and returning the steep way, for a longer hike. By the end, we were exhausted and barely made back in time for the next bus.

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Liechtenstein Highlights

• Vaduz Castle, Prince’s residence. Unfortunately they were restoring it so we didn’t get the view we wanted, but still pretty
• Red House of Vaduz, beautiful to view on way to/from the Castle
• Vaduz Cathedral, we only viewed from outside, but you can go in
• Liechtenstein National Museum (Landesmuseum). 10 CHF, but free with Adventure Pass
• Liechtenstein Treasure Chamber, crown jewels and other amazing treasures (8 CHF, but free with Adventure Pass)
• Visitor Center for Passport Stamp (3CHF, but free with Adventure Pass)
• Souvenir Boutique in Vaduz. Great place for souvenirs and with Adventure Pass, get free magnet made from local wood and free wine tasting
• Gutenberg Castle. We ran out of time to visit.

Liechtenstein Food Recommendations

• Street food if you go on a Sunday when they are having their street performers
• Dolce Vita Ice Cream Parlor
• Try kasknopfle at any restaurant that has it; it’s the national dish of Liechtenstein. Think of it like mac-n-cheese with fried onions and apple puree. Don’t write it off just from the way it sounds. We didn’t get to try it in Liechtenstein, but we did try it elsewhere and it was amazing!
• We chose to eat dinner back in Zurich for more options and to avoid any evening transit concerns

Day 6 (Luzern and Interlaken)

Take an early train from Zurich HB for a 1 hour ride to Luzern. Getting to Luzern early was key for us to be able to snag large luggage storage lockers in the station. By the time we were leaving, none were available and people were happy we were vacating ours.

Luzern Highlights

• Self-Guided walking tour loop
  • Chapel Bridge. Beautiful wooden bridge with historical paintings
  • Jesuit church
  • Spreuer Bridge. Similar to Chapel Bridge, but less crowded
  • Musegg Wall. Can go up 4 of the towers and walk along the top of the wall for a while. One tower (Zyttrum) has an old clock
  • Glacier Garden and Lion Monument. If we are being honest, you can probably skip, although it is fairly iconic for Luzern
  • Explore Old Town

Luzern Food Recommendations

• Pastarazzi Spezialitaten. Homemade ravioli and customizable combinations

Recover your luggage and hop on a train to Interlaken. This is approximately a 2 hour train through beautiful country-side. This route is technically part of the Golden Pass route, so it will be a crowded train. Sit on the right side of the train for the best views. On arrival, we dropped our bags off at our hotel (Hotel Interlaken). The hotel was a great experience.

We then hopped on a bus to St. Beatus Caves, about a 10 minute ride. The walk up to the caves is fairly steep, but beautiful. There’s a reason the area inspired JRR Tolkien’s books. Take your time and enjoy the cascading waterfalls. The entrance fee to the caves is 19 CHF. We took a self-guided tour. It was a really unique experience, and we did not expect to go caving in Switzerland.

Day 7 (Interlaken)

Harder Kulm to Suggiturm Hike

— 9.0 mile out-and-back — 5 hours — Very Strenuous — 2800 ft. Elevation gain —

The hike starts with an 8 minute funicular ride to the top of Harder Kulm. Take in the amazing views from the viewpoints before beginning the hike. The trail starts next to the restaurant. Travel the first few miles through the forest, keeping straight at any trail intersections. The trail will begin to open up and pass through pastures with views of the lake below. The best part of hiking in Switzerland are the cowbells you hear in the distance. This was a wonderful sound and we were always on the lookout for cows.

Once you reach 4 miles from the trailhead, this is where the hike changes. This first 4 mile stretch is still a 2150 ft. elevation gain, but that will seem like nothing compared to what is in front of you. The next 0.4 miles might’ve been the hardest section of trail we have ever done. The trail travels along a ridge, with sheer drops on both sides. The elevation gain in this stretch alone is ~700 ft; making the summit of Suggiturm very rewarding. When ready to return, simply retrace your steps. You could continue on to Augstmatthorn if you’d like, which would add on 0.7 mile each way and 200 ft. of elevation gain, but we decided to save the time and explore other things.

Interlaken Food Recommendations

• Hotel Interlaken Restaurant
• Ristorante e Pizzeria Sapori. Great pizza, but European pizza is rather comical in that they seem to put one type of ingredient on each slice rather than spread out, so we had a few slices full of only olives that we redistributed.

Day 8 & 9 (Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen)

We chose to stay a few nights in Grindelwald to be closer to some hikes we were interested in, and to experience another alpine mountain town. The train ride to Grindelwald from Interlaken was only 28 minutes. We chose to stay in Hotel Gletcherblick. The hotel is a little bit of a walk from the downtown area, and up a rather steep hill. This wasn’t our first choice, and we wouldn’t really recommend it, but it served its purpose. It did have amazing views from the balcony. Few weird things: 1) luggage storage was not locked, 2) key situation wasn’t very secure, 3) we came back one day to find our mini-fridge missing, and only learned the whole story upon check-out (apparently it shorted out the whole floor so they just took it and didn’t bother replacing).

You should be able to find the Grindelwald bus schedule here.

First to Bachalpsee Lake Hike

— 4.0 mile out-and-back — 1.5 hours — Moderate — 490 ft. Elevation gain —

Find the First Summit cable car station in downtown Grindelwald. Take the 25 minute cable car to the summit and enjoy the views. The cost isn’t cheap; we’d recommend getting round-trip tickets in advance. We originally planned a longer loop hike through Faulhorn, so we only bought one-way, and buying return tickets at the top wasn’t simple.

We suggest exploring the First Cliff Walk upon arrival; it gets more crowded as the day progresses. You can reach the large overhang platform by walking around the left side of the building/restaurant, but we recommend walking around the right and up the hill. Complete a loop around the cliff on grating attached to the cliff-face for even more adventure. We saw someone conquering their fear of heights, so you can too!

After taking in the views, retrace your steps and continue up the gravel road. In ~0.5 mile, you will reach a cabin. Continue straight for about 1.5 miles until you reach Bachalpsee Lake. Even in June, the lake was partially frozen and very snowy. The trail was closed beyond Bachalpsee Lake towards Faulhorn, due to the large winter snowfall remnant, forcing us to turn around. Keep your eyes peeled and binoculars handy for the chance to see chamois on surrounding hillsides. To complete the 4 mile hike, simply retrace your steps back to First. There are many other fun activities you can do at First, including ziplines, gliders, mountain carts, scooters, or watching paragliders take off.

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After First, we took the train from Grindelwald to Lauterbrunnen. It is a 17 minute ride to Zweilütschinen, where you transition for a 7 minute ride to Lauterbrunnen. Sit on the left side on the Lauterbrunnen leg. Lauterbrunnen was a beautiful place and matched the anticipation we had for it.

Lauterbrunnen Highlights

• Staubbachfall, 5 minute walk from town (it’s the waterfall that looks like it is in the middle of town)
• Trummelbach Falls. Largest underground glacier waterfall in the world. 2.2 miles one-way from town, signage is good. 14 CHF. Many stairs or ramps with elevation gain.
• Explore the small town
• Eat at Horner Pub. We got the kasknopfle and it was delightful

We had grand plans to do several other well-known or unique hikes the next day, but the lingering winter snowfall had other plans. So we improvised after talking with the Grindelwald Visitor Center staff, and found the next hike, which was magnificent and we wouldn’t trade the experience. Also, make sure to get a trail map at the Visitor Center because it was super helpful.

Romantic Trail (Mannlichen to Grindelwald) Hike

— 9.5 mile — 5 hours — Strenuous — 5154 ft. total elevation loss (1353 ft gain in middle) —

Take the train in the direction of Interlaken, but get off at the Grindelwald Terminal. Follow the signs to the Mannlichen cable cars and purchase a one-way ticket for a 20 minute ride to the top. Enjoy the viewpoints from Mannlichen before heading out.

Follow the signs that direct you toward Alpiglen; start on a large gravel trail next to the cable car center. After 0.2 mile, take a slight left. In roughly 0.4 mile, you will reach some lovely little alpine lakes that might just have a reflection of the Eiger if you are lucky. You’ll get magnificent views of the Eiger directly in front of you for most of this trail. Continue straight for roughly 2 miles, where the trail connects to a larger road again.

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Take a right here and continue following signs to Alpiglen. In about one mile, you will pass a ski lift area where you will bear right. Continue straight for another 1.3 miles, following signs to Alpiglen, passing historical huts on the way.

We got lunch at Berghaus Alpiglen. Our waitress did not speak English, but Andy’s broken German was good enough to get us by. This was really the only place on the trip we didn’t have someone who spoke English.

On the far side of the restaurant, find the Unesco 3 trail that begins through an open rocky area and up a hill for roughly 0.5 mile. Keep left at the intersection and then continue straight for roughly 3 miles. You will pass by some lovely waterfalls, glaciers (that we carefully traversed over; thank goodness for microspikes), a few huts, and incredible views from the edge of a sheer cliff into a valley near the end of this stretch. We also happened upon a flock of sheep (with bells) guarded by several llamas, who were not very bothered by us.

At the end of that 3 mile stretch, take a right, and then left in 0.1 mile, before descending the last 0.2 mile to Hotel Gletscherschlucht. Enjoy a rest and beverage here on their outdoor patio. We recommend getting an Apfelschole, which was quite refreshing after a long day of hiking.

From there, we walked back to our hotel/town along the roads. Cross the bridge to the right of the patio and head left up Aspistrasse for 0.3 mile. Then take a slight right onto Mettenbergstrasse for 0.3 mile. Take a left onto Grabenstrasse and wind your way back up to the main road (Dorfstrasse) for another 0.3 mile.

Grindelwald Food Recommendations

• Barry’s. Fondue was good, but not as good as Swiss Chuchi Restaurant in Zurich.
• Hotel Kreuz and Post Restaurant. They had wonderful rosti

Day 10 & 11 (Zermatt)

Take the roughly 3 hour train ride from Grindelwald to Zermatt, stopping in Tasch to transition for the train up to Zermatt. We chose to stay at Hotel Zermama and were certainly not disappointed. They offered free shuttle (electric truck) to the hotel, had wonderful hospitality, and even allow you to make fondue from your balcony, which we did on the last afternoon before departing.

The Matterhorn app is pretty helpful and we used it quite a bit during our time.

Matterhorn Glacier Paradise

Take a bus to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise gondola. Note it closes relatively early compared to other activities. Make sure to bring some thick coats and layers. The tickets are definitely not cheap, but you’ll see why as you enjoy the journey. We would recommend getting the Peak Pass, which you can buy at the station, to save some money on this and other adventures in Zermatt. You have to transition multiple times between cars/stations and takes around 30 minutes to reach the top via the highest cable car in Europe.

On the way up, sitting on the right will give the best view of the Matterhorn and sitting on the left will give the best view of Breithorn. You might also catch views of skiers or animals, and the last gondola even has heated seats. You’ll think they are overkill on the way up, but you will love them on the way back.

Once at the top, make your way up to the observation platform via the elevator. While waiting for the elevator, Andy began to notice a little lightheadedness, which he’d never experienced before even though he’d previously been to other high elevations. So please be mindful of exertion at these elevations. The views of Breithorn and snowy-capped peaks were beautiful, but it was very cold. After taking in the views, we returned via the elevator and made our way to the Glacier Palace.

Glacier Palace was more incredible than we were anticipating. They literally tunneled through glacier ice and carved many ice sculptures. As mentioned before, we made sure to pace ourselves coming back up the steep grade. There is additionally a gift shop, cinema, ski rentals, and restaurant to enjoy.

Gornergrat Railway

Once back at the bottom, we took a bus back to the Gornergrat Railway station. This is Europe’s highest open-air cog railway and runs all year round. The ride takes 33 minutes to reach the top, with several stops along the way. We recommend sitting on the right on the way up for the best views. At the top, you will get magnificent views of almost 30 peaks above 4000m, plus views of the massive Gorner glacier (2nd largest in the Alps). Besides the panoramic views, also at the top is an operational hotel, astronomical observatory, chapel, shops, and a restaurant.

We originally planned to hike down from the top to a lower station, but there was too much snow and trails were closed. We decided instead to ride down to Rotenboden and took the 0.2 mile one-way stroll out to Riffelsee Lake. There are a bunch of social trails creating a lot of erosion, so please try to stay on an existing trail. Unfortunately the lake was still mostly frozen, so the iconic Matterhorn reflection wasn’t possible on this trip, plus the mountain was hidden in the clouds. We chose to do a little 0.6 mile loop here while waiting for the next train down. Given the trail conditions, we chose to call it a day on the mountains and explore town for the evening.

Highlights of Zermatt in-town attractions

• Hinterdorfstrasse alley, oldest street in Zermatt with amazing buildings preserving the town history
• Shops along Bahnhofstrasse
• Sheep returning on hillside behind Zermatt train station in evening
• Matterhorn Museum. Terrible hours, and people start lining up early, but neat museum with a lot of details about the first ascent of the Matterhorn and other history. Free with Swiss Travel Pass.

Zermatt Food Recommendations

• Backerei Fuchs Zermatt. The Zermatter Nusstorte, Mountain Guide Bread, museli, and other pastries were fantastic.
• Grampi’s. Wonderful Italian, recommended by the hotel

The next morning was dreadful weather, but we wanted to make the most of it so we went hiking anyway. You never know what can happen.

Modified 5 Lakes Trail (3 Lakes)

— 3.8 mile — 2 hours — Moderate — 823 ft. elevation loss and 670 ft. elevation gain —

Start at the Sunnegga funicular station and take the 4.5 minute ride up to Sunnegga. The next leg to Blauherd was closed so we couldn’t easily do the full 5 lakes trail. Stepping out of the Sunnegga station we could only see the path directly in front of us due to clouds and fog.

Travel down the hill on the wide gravel road. At the bottom of the hill, turn left at a big intersection of several trails; there should be signage for Leisee Lake, which you will reach in roughly 0.1 mile. Go around the lake on either side. Travel 0.4 mile straight to reach Mosjesee Lake. This lake is very blue, fed from glaciers. Travel around the left side of the lake. You can traverse part of the right side from the far side of the lake to find wonderful little alpine plants.

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In just over 0.2 mile along the stream, cross it by turning right and begin heading uphill. The uphill section will last about 0.3 mile, before reaching a wide road. Turn right and follow the road for 0.3 mile until you reach Mountain Lodge Ze Seewjinu. Pass beside the Lodge and keep straight for 0.3 mile to reach Grunsee Lake (“green lake”). Explore the lake and then return back to the Lodge.

Just after passing the Lodge, continue straight into trees on a small trail. After a little under a mile, you will cross the Balmbrunnen stream. Look up on the hillside, and find a waterfall. For 0.7 mile, continue on the trail to reach Riffelalp station on the Gornergrat railway, staying right at any intersections. You will get nice views of Zermatt and may see (or hear well before seeing) Blacknose sheep in the valley below. We also got lucky and found a chamois next to the trail on a hillside about 100 yards from the station. Take the Gornergrat railway back down to Zermatt.

Travel back to Geneva

In the afternoon, we took a train back to Geneva, about a 3 hour ride. We chose to stay at the Geneva Marriott Hotel, which was right next to the airport and brand new. At the hotel, we ate a late dinner and enjoyed the evening there.

Day 12 (Flight)

On the last day, we took a shuttle from the hotel to the airport and flew home.