Across Switzerland in a camper – a ready-made route with selected sections of the Grand Tour of Switzerland

This is our second trip to Switzerland in a camper in cooperation with the Moja Szwajcaria tourist organization. This year we chose the beginning of June for our trip so that we could enter the passes, which are closed in the winter and spring period. Practically all Swiss passes do not open until the beginning of June. We also wanted to visit several mountain peaks and take a trip on the famous Bernina Express. Check by reading the article to the end whether we managed to accomplish everything.

During our trip, you most often asked us about road tolls, the possibility of using the telephone and the Internet in Switzerland, as well as the costs of stay. You will find answers to all these questions and many more in the article below.

What do you need to know before a camper holiday in Switzerland?

During our trip, there were a lot of questions about the costs of traveling around Switzerland. It is impossible to say clearly whether traveling in a campervan in Switzerland is expensive or not. In my opinion, you can spend your holiday there just like in another country, i.e. you can spend it on a budget or very luxuriously. It all depends on you and the places you want to sleep and see.

How much does camping in Switzerland cost?

On average, one night at the campsite for a camper, 2 adults and 2 children, plus electricity connection costs approximately CHF 50-70, but there are (as well as throughout Europe) more expensive places. We paid cheaper for a camper park, about CHF 20. Once we slept in the wild on the Nufennenpass.

An application that helps you find cheap accommodation in Switzerland, recommended to us by our reader living in Switzerland: https://wohnmobilland-schweiz.ch/. We also recommend the park4night application.

Can you sleep in the wild in a campervan in Switzerland?

First of all, you should look at the signs, follow the general rules of wild camping, and if in doubt, ask local residents or even at the police station. We slept in the wild only on the pass. In other places we chose safe, paid parking spaces.

Internet and telephone in Switzerland

While in Switzerland, we used unlimited Internet for tourists from the Salt network. You can purchase the service for as many days as you want. It costs CHF 2 per day and works very well. We had a band aggregation router with us, which worked very well except for one place – at the Nufennepass. Link to our Huawei router at Ceneo.pl. We received calls via the WiFi calling service, which you need to activate with your operator by calling the hotline.

Road tolls for a camper in Switzerland

We traveled around Switzerland in a camper with a GVW of 7.5 tons. We purchased the vignette via the Via application. You can purchase a vignette for a specific number of days. For 10 days we pay approximately CHF 34. You can read more about road tolls for campers over 3.5 tons in the article: "What are the road tolls in Europe for campers with a GVM over 3.5 tons".

When traveling with campers weighing less than 3.5 tons, you must purchase a vignette. You can read more about road traffic regulations here: Road traffic rules in Switzerland.

Lake Walensee – where to stay with a camper

On the first day we stop at Lake Walensee at the Murg am See campsite, which has direct access to the lake. The campsite has pitches overlooking the lake, and also has its own beach and bar. There is a beautiful bicycle path along one side of the lake. It is worth planning an additional half a day to explore the area. At the beginning of June, the water in the lake is still cold, but the first daredevils, including our children, are jumping into it.

Viamala Canyon – Grand Tour of Switzerland

On the second day of our trip around Switzerland, we jump on the Grand Tour of Switzerland. The first stop on the route is the Viamala Canyon.

Entry for a 2+1 family costs 20 francs, and Franek enters for free, because children up to 6 years of age they have free entry. You can't visit this place with a stroller, there are a lot of stairs. The tour takes about 30 minutes. We continue to Filisur, from where we will catch the panoramic train to Italy tomorrow.

Grand Train Tour – Bernina Express

I recommend planning your trip on the Bernina Express panoramic train well in advance, and below are my specific tips. We drove the section from Filisur to Tirano and back. In Filisur, it is best to leave the camper at the campsite. Unfortunately, it takes about 30 minutes to get from the campsite to the station. It is not possible to park the camper closer to the train station. Access to the parking lot at the train station is very narrow and I do not recommend driving there with a camper.

• If you have a Swiss Travel Pass, you must also buy seats for this train. We recommend booking them a month in advance or even a few months in advance if you go in summer.
• When booking tickets online in advance, you can indicate that you will use the Swiss Travel Pass, even if you do not have it physically yet.
• If you're looking to save money, book a panoramic train in one direction and take a regular train in the other direction.
• We recommend purchasing additional insurance against cancellation of seats. It costs a few francs, but it's really worth it.
• The journey took us over 8 hours. If you are traveling with children, take snacks and some toys.
• Contrary to what you can read on various internet forums, it doesn't matter which side you buy your tickets from, you need to keep your eyes peeled because the views are always surprising from every direction.

More tips about the Swiss Travel Pass can be found in the article prepared in cooperation with the Moja Szwajcaria organization: "How to travel smartly around Switzerland?".

Panoramic trains are prepared for tourists. On board you have staff who help you with everything, there is a service with food and drinks that are served to the table. You can read more about the Bernina Express journey in our article: "The Bernina Express - a panoramic train journey along a railway route included in the UNESCO list".

The next day we continue with the Grand Tour of Switzerland. Unfortunately, we encounter an obstacle on this section. We were going to cross the San Bernardino Pass, but we were limited by the size of the camper we were driving. We change the route and simply drive through the tunnel under the pass. It is worth remembering when traveling in a camper along the Grand Tour of Switzerland that on practically every section of this route, if you encounter any tonnage or size restrictions, you can divert to another road that runs parallel to the Grand Tour. Don't worry about the dimensions of your vehicles!

Bellinzona

After the San Bernadrino Pass, it is worth stopping in the town of Bellinzona. There is a camper park here, which we can find on Google Maps by entering phrases such as: Wohnmobilstellplatz or Reisemobilstellplatz in the search engine.

We recommend climbing the Montebello Castle. This is where the Grand Tour of Switzerland viewing point is located. If you intend to visit more of them, we recommend downloading the application and "collecting" these places in your wallet.

Bellinzona is located in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland and this is where we will spend the next day.

Locarno by camper

We stop at a camper park in Locarno. We cycle to the city center, from where we catch a train to the town of Orselina. The journey takes literally a few minutes.

Then we catch the Cardada cable car and this is where the adventure begins! There are plenty of hiking trails, viewpoints and attractions for children on the mountain. At the lower gondola station, we can play an off-road game, thanks to which kids can easily cover several kilometers, looking for animal traces.

From the top of the site, we catch a chairlift to an even higher viewpoint. For the first time in our lives, we ride a wagon that moves sideways!

From the top you can go tandem paragliding and take an Instagram photo on a swing.

We go down by chair and gondola, but you can also go down from the top on foot. The lower part of the route leads among beautiful gardens. We pay CHF 90 for all rounds for our 2+1, because Franek enters for free again (children up to 6 years old have free entry here).

Verzasca River Valley

When in the Locarno area, I highly recommend you go up the Verzasca River. It is worth entering the dam of the same name. James Bond's famous heist in Golden Eye was filmed here. On selected days you can repeat this jump here. We managed to watch several jumps! They make a huge impression. Entrance to the dam is free.

Driving further up the river, you will reach the town of Lavertezzo, where the famous Ponte dei Salti is located. It's a great place to rest and cool down after a day of exploring the area. There is even a parking lot for campers where you can stay for the night, but we go further. We will spend this night on a pass at an altitude of 2,500 m above sea level. Higher in Sonogno, there are also designated places for campers.

Nufenenpass – entry to the pass by camper

We have always dreamed of going to one of the mountain passes in Switzerland in a camper. This year we managed to do it! We chose Nufenenpass for several reasons:

• there are no tonnage restrictions,
• there are no restrictions on the width, height and length of the car,
• you just can't leave here with trailers,
• there is only one narrowing along the way.

There is no ban on overnight stays in campers at the top, so we stay for one night. Nufenenpass is not located directly on the Grand Tour of Switzerland, but it is worth the detour if you want to go to a pass in your camper.

From Nufenenpass we go towards Lucerne. We stay at a campsite in the city center. It's hard to get here without a reservation, so we recommend planning a stop at this campsite in advance!

Morelo camper through Switzerland

If you would like to follow our lead through Switzerland and in exactly the same camper that we used, I would like to inform you that it was a Morelo Loft camper, which can be rented at the only official Morelo rental company in Poland, i.e. Trans-Al Rentals from Skawina.

The camper proved to be perfect during this trip, and huge water tanks and large reserves of energy in the batteries allowed for comfortable wild camping in permitted places. We recorded a more detailed presentation of this camper during one of our tests in 2022. Link to the video from the test -> Morelo Loft - Test

Pilatus – Golden Round Trip

Golden Round Trip is a trip around Mount Pilatus. During our trip we will use five different means of transport. The first is a ship from Lucerne to Alpnachstadt. We catch this ship from the Lido Verkhouse stop, which is right next to the campsite where we sleep. The campsite here is a great starting point not only for a trip to Pilatus, but also, for example, to Mount Rigi.

In Aplnachstad we change to the rack railway. We highly recommend booking a carriage for a specific time. You will then avoid waiting in a long queue. The cable car climbs to a height of over 2,000 m in half an hour. We recommend taking something warm to wear upstairs.

You can spend from one to two hours at the top, depending on which trails you want to follow at the top and whether you want to eat lunch there. If you are traveling with children, they will definitely want to play an interactive game with dragons.

There are definitely more attractions for children at the lower station, Fräkmutegg, which is reached by the third means of transport, i.e. by panoramic gondola. You can spend another hour here if you decide to eat lunch here like we did and go to the rope park or the bobsleigh and zipline rides.

You will take a smaller gondola down to Kriens. From there you catch bus number 1 to Lucerne. From Lucerne we walk to the campsite along the promenade along the lake. With the Swiss Travel Pass, we buy tickets for the Golden Round Trip for 150 francs for our 2+1, because children up to 6 years of age (i.e. Franek) enter for free.

Stoos

You can't sleep in a camper at Stoos, but you can park it near the funicular for the day. The town located in the mountains is accessed by a characteristic funicular with round carriages, which is said to be the steepest funicular in the world.

In Stoos you can take a walk (even with a stroller), eat lunch and just chill on the grass, or you can go to one of the two peaks. We chose Fronalpstock. We left by chairlift and went down on foot.

At the top there is a beautiful playground and several viewpoints. This is probably the prettiest place we've seen this week. We wanted to eat dinner upstairs, but the kitchen closes after 3 p.m., so watch out for that. We settle for cookies and go down. Some routes lead through pastures, so we walk among the cows and cross the fence with an electric shepherd.

We agree that we could spend a few more days in this place, choosing different walking trails every day. We love it here!

Klausenpass

We spend our last day in Switzerland at the Klausenpass. There is a great self-service camper park here operating on the fair box principle. From this place you can go on a walking tour. You can drive a camper over the pass if your vehicle is less than 2.3 m wide.

Campervan around Switzerland - our accommodation points

Switzerland by camper – a ready-made travel plan

Watch our video from the camping trip. In addition to the description of each point, you will also find a presentation of the camper in which we traveled in this video.

Looking for more travel inspiration in Switzerland?

If you are looking for more information about traveling in a camper in Switzerland, take a look at our article: "Trip to Jungfraujoch top of Europe - what you need to know".