Driving an RV in Switzerland
Dec 31st, 2014, 01:11 PM
#22
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Next stop priddo is to dump the RV and walk!!!
I've walked across Switzerland North to South from Basel to Ascona and East to West from Basel to Geneva.
There is no country better suited for what I call 'credit card camping', in the world. To credit card camp, you need a small pack to carry a few items of clothing along with your toilet kit and a lunch. Everything else is taken care of with your credit card. Bed, dinner, etc.
Note, there is no packing and unpacking to be done when all you have is one small pack. The same major advantage that an RV has. What's more, there is nowhere that you cannot get to if someone has ever got there before (more or less)and that is something you cannot do by RV, train, car or bus.
The ideal way to do it is to simply pick a rough route from A to B and then you get as far as you get each day. I've done many walking trips in Switzerland of a few days to several weeks as in the above two mentioned trips. Never have I had a problem finding a bed for the night.
Tip for anyone interested in walking like this. There are lots of guided or self-guided trips advertised online. Most describe their route fairly well. For someone who does not want to pay a third party just to provide a map and make reservations for them, all that is required is that you look at some of the route descriptions, buy your maps and do it all yourself. As I said, I don't even tie myself to reservations but you could if you aren't comfortable with having to find a bed at the end of each day.
Here is an example anyone could easily do on their own.
http://alpinehikers.com/self-guided-...averse-part-a/
Here is another that is part of the Via Alpina which in total is an ambitous route of over 3000 miles!
http://www.ryderwalker.com/ViaAlpinaStage1.html
Rvs priddo? Not very adventurous. Get out your hiking boots.
I've walked across Switzerland North to South from Basel to Ascona and East to West from Basel to Geneva.
There is no country better suited for what I call 'credit card camping', in the world. To credit card camp, you need a small pack to carry a few items of clothing along with your toilet kit and a lunch. Everything else is taken care of with your credit card. Bed, dinner, etc.
Note, there is no packing and unpacking to be done when all you have is one small pack. The same major advantage that an RV has. What's more, there is nowhere that you cannot get to if someone has ever got there before (more or less)and that is something you cannot do by RV, train, car or bus.
The ideal way to do it is to simply pick a rough route from A to B and then you get as far as you get each day. I've done many walking trips in Switzerland of a few days to several weeks as in the above two mentioned trips. Never have I had a problem finding a bed for the night.
Tip for anyone interested in walking like this. There are lots of guided or self-guided trips advertised online. Most describe their route fairly well. For someone who does not want to pay a third party just to provide a map and make reservations for them, all that is required is that you look at some of the route descriptions, buy your maps and do it all yourself. As I said, I don't even tie myself to reservations but you could if you aren't comfortable with having to find a bed at the end of each day.
Here is an example anyone could easily do on their own.
http://alpinehikers.com/self-guided-...averse-part-a/
Here is another that is part of the Via Alpina which in total is an ambitous route of over 3000 miles!
http://www.ryderwalker.com/ViaAlpinaStage1.html
Rvs priddo? Not very adventurous. Get out your hiking boots.
Jan 7th, 2015, 01:16 PM
#23
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Sounds great sojourn traveller. Something we should have done 40 years ago before hubby had his knee replacement and bad back.
I guess what we try to do now is as close to that in an RV.
Thanks to everyone's comments our itinerary is coming along nicely. I keep getting drawn to all the cute little off he beaten track towns. Lucky we have 5 weeks to do it.
I guess what we try to do now is as close to that in an RV.
Thanks to everyone's comments our itinerary is coming along nicely. I keep getting drawn to all the cute little off he beaten track towns. Lucky we have 5 weeks to do it.
Feb 15th, 2015, 04:41 AM
#24
Join Date: Apr 2012
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I just saw your post on my last thread.
Don't worry about driving an RV on the mountain pass roads. It is perfectly doable in a small RV. We had no problems and here were lots of them on the roads. Just make sure that weather conditions don't result in road closures. We were there the last two weeks of June and all the passes were open but there was still considerable snow accumulation at altitude. We drove pretty much all the passes on our trip without an issue.
Feel free to ask any questions you may have. My memory might be getting a bit foggy on details but I can tell you that we had a great time and navigating the RV in Switzerland was a heck of a lot easier than some of our other trips to Portugal and Italy!
Don't worry about driving an RV on the mountain pass roads. It is perfectly doable in a small RV. We had no problems and here were lots of them on the roads. Just make sure that weather conditions don't result in road closures. We were there the last two weeks of June and all the passes were open but there was still considerable snow accumulation at altitude. We drove pretty much all the passes on our trip without an issue.
Feel free to ask any questions you may have. My memory might be getting a bit foggy on details but I can tell you that we had a great time and navigating the RV in Switzerland was a heck of a lot easier than some of our other trips to Portugal and Italy!
Jul 15th, 2015, 12:51 AM
#26
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We live in Sweden and just took a big RV through passes in Germany and Austria. My husband is not a professional driver, but has negotiated single lanes in Scotland and Wales (lanes that made me close my eyes and cringe). If he can do it, I'm sure your husband can manage - just make sure you have maps that show you where the low overheads are (I have one from Germany that has little "no RV" icons -- meaning it's not a good idea to take one on those roads). We took a few anyway and managed quite well -- but were prepared to turn back if necessary.
