Backpacking Switzerland: 10 best places to visit
The most rewarding stops for backpackers in Switzerland, ranked and mapped — and real routes through them, written by travellers who went.
Read Switzerland stories1
Zermatt
Valais
Under the Matterhorn.
2
Interlaken
Bern
Adventure between two lakes.
3
Lucerne
Lucerne
Covered bridge and lakeside.
- 4
Jungfraujoch
Bern
The 'top of Europe'.
- 5
Zurich
Zurich
Lakeside financial hub.
6
Grindelwald
Bern
Village beneath the Eiger.
7
Lauterbrunnen
Bern
Valley of 72 waterfalls.
8
Geneva
Geneva
Lake, jet fountain, diplomacy.
9
Lugano
Ticino
Italian-speaking lake town.
10
St. Moritz
Grisons
Glitzy alpine resort.
Backpacking routes through Switzerland
Real trips through Switzerland, drawn on maps by the people who took them.
Interlaken and the Bernese Oberland Without Going Broke
A budget backpacker's week in Lauterbrunnen, Murren and Grindelwald: which lifts to skip, where to hike free, supermarket tactics and honest 2026 costs.
Valais to the Engadine: Zermatt, the Matterhorn and the Glacier Express Line
From Lake Geneva through Zermatt to St. Moritz on the Glacier Express route: Matterhorn hikes, the cheap way to ride the famous train and 2026 budgets.
Been backpacking in Switzerland?
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