Bicycling in Switzerland

Cyclists share the Albula Pass in Graubünden with a train of the narrow-gauge Rhätische Bahn.

Cycling has been a popular tourist pastime in Switzerland since the earliest days of the Fahrrad, velo, or bicicletta. My 1911 edition of Karl Baedeker's Switzerland has a section devoted to cycling, with advice such as:

The districts best adapted for cycle-tours in Switzerland are the hill-country in N. and W. Switzerland, the lake-regions of Central Switzerland and the Bernese Oberland, and the environs of the Lake of Geneva. No one who is not fairly strong and in good condition should attempt the Swiss passes or mountain-roads. In any case the machine should be well-tried and trusted rather than new, and the brakes must be powerful and reliable. The practice of tying a branch or sapling behind the cycle to check its velocity is forbidden.

Herr Baedeker's advice is still applicable today, although the development of mountain bicycles has made alpine biking less stressful than it was 88 years ago--and it's unlikely that many of today's cyclists are sacrificing tree parts in the interests of better braking.

Rent and ride

Unless you're driving to Switzerland with a bicycle on your roof rack, the easiest way to enjoy Swiss cycling is to rent a bicycle at the local railway station. More than 200 stations rent 7-gear "country bicycles," 14-gear children's two-wheelers, and 21-gear mountain bikes by the half-day, day, or week. Tandem rentals may also be available at some locations.

Bikes rented for a day or more can be returned to any participating station for a modest service charge. This makes it easy to plan tours across a region, along a lake, or over a mountain pass without having to backtrack.

Another possibility is to box your bike and take it with you on the plane or train. This could be cheaper than renting, and it may be an attractive choice if you're a hardcore cyclist with a custom bike. (Just be sure to buy insurance before you leave home!)

Finally, electric bikes are available for rental in 14 Swiss cities, and Zürich has a program that lets you borrow a bike at no cost. 

For details on renting or borrowing a bicycle in Switzerland, see the links on page 2.

Ride and rest

When your legs need a break from pumping the pedals, you can check your bicycle on most trains for SFr 6 to 12. You can even send the bike ahead and pick it up a day later for twelve francs.

Pedalers' packages

It's easy to bike on your own in Switzerland, whether or not you speak the local language. Roads are smooth, the country is criss-crossed by a network of well-marked paths, and maps are easy to obtain in bookstores and tourist offices. Still, if you like the idea of traveling with a group or letting a professional do the planning, see the list of Web links for tour organizers on the next page.

Printed materials

Switzerland Tourism usually has cycling brochures available. One of the best is the multilingual Bernese Oberland Radwandern brochure, which has itineraries and maps for do-it-yourself tours of the Brienzersee, Jungfrau-Region, Thunersee, Frutigland, Simmental, and Gsaad-Saanenland. The brochure even has photos of bicycling signs and what they mean, as well as diagrams that show the differences in elevations along the various routes.

Related Web sites

Continued on page 2

Photo © Switzerland Tourism.

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