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Holiday itinerary
You leave Zurich at lake-light, the water still holding last night's wind. Ten short driving days follow the Grand Tour: painted Appenzell, the Julier opening onto the Engadine, Ticino heat after the Bernina, and the Matterhorn by train from Täsch. Five high passes are the holiday, not a reason to empty the battery.
Season: Julier, Bernina, the Gotthard Tremola, and Furka are typically open June–October. Check alpen-paesse.ch the morning you climb; a closed col is a tunnel day, not a ruined holiday.
Landmarks
Lake-light on Zürichsee, the city still wakingPhoto: Jules Verne Times Two / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
High water after the Julier, the Engadine holding stillPhoto: Murdockcrc / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)
Castelgrande above the Ticino roofsPhoto: H005 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The pyramid above Zermatt, caught in a clear hourPhoto: Robertuswiki / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Arcades and the Aare, Bern taking the evening slowlyPhoto: Dmitry A. Mottl / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Painted eaves in the Appenzell squarePhoto: Daniel Kraft / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The Rhine in one white fall, before the road turns eastPhoto: Ahmet Selman Bozkır / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Lausanne stepping down to Lac LémanPhoto: Photochrom Print Collection / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Holiday itinerary
- Day 1 · Zurich
Bahnhofstrasse spills into the lake. Walk until the water turns pewter, then sleep in the city; at first light you peel north to the Rhine Falls, a white roar before the road turns east.
- Day 2 · Appenzell
The square is painted eaves and cowbells. Take the rest day here — a slow coffee under the woodwork — because tomorrow the road climbs toward Graubünden and the air thins.
- Day 3 · St. Moritz
Julier Pass at 2284 m is a long, honest climb, then the Engadine lakes lie still at about 1800 m. Walk the shore at St. Moritz before the altitude night.
- Day 4 · Bellinzona
Bernina and the Maloja drop you into another country of palms and stone. Three UNESCO castles watch the Ticino valley; you overnight under Castelgrande.
- Day 5 · Täsch
Park in Täsch and let the train finish the job: Zermatt is car-free, the Matterhorn a pyramid at the end of the street. The Gotthard Tremola cobbles may be closed; the tunnel is the unsentimental backup.
- Day 7 · Lausanne
The Valais vineyards step down toward Lac Léman. Lausanne is steep, the Olympic Museum by the water, the lake wide enough to slow the holiday down.
- Day 8 · Bern
The old town is arcades and the Aare looping like a moat. A slow Mittelland day: no passes, just the capital taking the evening seriously.
- Day 9 · Lucerne
Chapel Bridge, the water tower, a steamer if the weather holds. Tomorrow is a short hop; tonight belongs to the lake.
- Day 10 · Zurich
The last morning follows the water home. Zurich again, but the lake looks different after ten days of mountains.