Alex and Olga. A bike tour through Switzerland

This is the captivating tale of Alex and Olga's cycling journey through Switzerland in the summer of 2023. Our customers from Vancouver, Canada, embarked on a thrilling adventure, sharing their experiences from their Switzerland bike tour. Thanks to our Flexible+ service, Alex and Olga were able to pick up their bikes in Kreuzlingen and return them in Bern.

Alex in front of one of the many swiss lakes

A European tradition

Where should I start… My wife and I have been married for 22 years, live in Vancouver Canada, and have 5 children. Last year we started our annual cycling trip European tradition. Our first adventure was El Camino from Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela and we and up having 905 km in 11 days, loved it so much.

This year we decided to visit Switzerland and Bodensee region, 20 years ago we were studying there, and we still have romantic memories alive. Our plan was simple, flight to Zurich, rent bikes close to Constance, visit Rheinfall, go around Bodensee from west - north- east and then see as much as possible lakes and mountains on the way back to Zurich.

Challenges and highlights

We expected the best bicycle marking routes in the world, separate bike lanes and dedicated car-free streets. We also were looking forward to experience very bike-friendly traffic and good quality campgrounds on the way. We were aiming at cycling as close as possible to lakes/rivers so we can swim and chill on the way. We were particularly eager to see places from our sweet memories.

First two days were the hardest, meeting Alex and Adrian from Pedalmondo gave as very much needed positive impulse, but pouring rain, absence of comfortable places in two campgrounds (be my guest to set up a tent in a paddle of mud) forced us to spend two nights under a roof and cycle only 50 km. However the magnificence of Rheinfall, charm of Schaffhausen and especially well-preserved 11 century old town Stein am Rhein made that misery quite sweet.

Starting from day three everything turned the right way and we started to enjoy our trip at full. Germany was nice and predictable, very familiar but still lovely to bicycle along the Bodensee. We visited all small towns on route, venture to Ruine Altbodman (heavy forested ruins on a hill with fantastic view), took couple of detours due to bike restrictions on the roads and ended up one evening in Meersburg Therme sauna, where personal tried to force us to get rid of our swimsuits.

We took our great bikes (thanks Pedalmondo!) to the Bregenz Gondola (Pfänderbahn) and rode back to Switzerland on day 4, finishing that day with 125 km. Then we realized… we are in Switzerland, we need to hike and adjust our plans… so we took our bikes to Flumserberg, hiked there and had a nice ride downhill with gorgeous views.

The plotted route of Alex and Olga. From Lake Constance to Bern

Cycling besides Walensee we experienced a dedicated cycling/pedestrian tunnel though mountain first time, amazing! Zurichsee was very grandeur with fountains in the lake, comfortable rest areas and quite speedy ferries - we tried to catch up with one for about 15 km but failed. We did catch one on the other lake to our advantage though. We allowed ourselves to spent 2 hours in Zurich and that was pretty enough. Great vibe and very energetic city.

Lake Lucerne… I believe it is the heart of Switzerland not only because it has Rütli on a shore but also the amount of far beyond beautiful combinations of beauty - Swiss beauty. So we decided to spend as much time as possible around there. To start with we went as far as possible, to Sisikon, and set to cycle to Lucerne. However almost immediately we were forced to take a mandatory but free bike shuttle through several tunnels because of the road work. After arriving to Lucerne campground, we left the bikes and went to Pilatus and that was epic - starting early morning on bikes and finishing a day on the last gondola down. Then we visited surprisingly open to public Medieval towers and Lucerne wall. We were standing at the top of the tallest wall tower and observing a bright purple sunset with sparkling lights of Lucerne below and the Pilatus on a horizon, probably the most touching view of the trip. Got inspired by the Pilatus hikes we took a day off from bikes and went to Titlis mount, above 3 000 m elevation. Great experience, especially combined with several hikes at the Trübsee mid station after the peak. Those glaciers and deep green valleys with sharp edges all over definitely left a distinctive mark in our souls. And again, after a day of hiking, second evening we dedicated to Lucerne, charming town full of history gems, with our favourite Lion Monument.

With sadness on the day 9, we said farewell to Lucerne, city and lake, and went to Interlaken. Indeed we had to take a train for a portion of our ride because we planned to experience Via Ferrata Murren-Gimmelwald, one of the best in the world. That walk high above the Lauterbrunnen valley was hilarious! We wish that scary little portion would be much longer. We ended up hiking, running and taking train to Wengen and then Grindelwald, where we praised the greatness of magnificent trio Jungfrau, Mönch and Eiger. It was lovely to run after last dedicated bus back to Interlaken because all trains were suspended due to construction that day. We felt very lucky when we got back to campground for a nice sleep before our last day of the trip.

Alex on the via ferrata in the Lauterbrunnen valley

Last one was exciting and surprising at the same time, we started towards Bern leaving Interlaken along Thunersee enjoying Swiss beauty and fresh air as usual. Then we were surprised by St. Beatus-Höhlen, remarkable caves, where we met Adrian from Pedalmondo, again by surprise. Down the road, seeing Mount Niesen, known as the Pyramid of Switzerland, we made a spontaneous decision to ride it up and hike. So we raced with the next ferry, crossed the lake to Spiez and went to Mount Niesen. It was one of the best impulsive decision we ever made during the trip!

We continued to cycle to Thun, managed to see the castle before its closure and set up a tent in a famous Eichholz Campground before the sunset. Of course, we floated down Aarre river and fell in love with it, the river reminded us our Canadian Yukon river - very strong but much colder one. We finished our final night by seeing Gurten Hill and walking Bern city centre in midnight… what a day!!!!

Next morning we cycled our final 2 km to the Pedalmondo office and returned the bikes with huge appreciation and certain sadness. We had 3 hours to our flight back home, so we jump from the legendary bridge to Aare river, walked through Bern Altstadt ones again and took a train to Zurich airport.

Switzerland bike tour – our conclusion and tips

We had 10 days and we ended up finishing with 600 km total only due to very tempting hikes and gondola rides up mountains
Cycling trails/ways are sometimes not clearly marked, even around lakes and famous attractions, so be ready to ignore them and use google maps to your advantage
As usual, best time to see European Medieval towns is from 10 pm to midnight
Train service is one of the best in the world, so use it if you decide so
Switzerland has a lot of gravel cycle roads to our surprise
Traffic not very friendly towards cyclists, couple of times we were yelled at in German and yelled back in English
Swiss people rarely lock their bikes, even at the train stations
Be ready to spontaneously change your plans
Lucerne town and the lake were our favourites in the trip
Most of the lakes in our trip were not too much warmer than Pacific Ocean near Vancouver, to our surprise
We wish we had not forgotten our German, couple of times English was not enough
The best small Medieval town - Stein am Rhein
Campground spots are limited as well as campgrounds themselves, we were turned away two times during our trip and that was a low season, but we still prefer not to book ahead
We swam in about 12 lakes and two rivers, Aare and Lucerne are our choices
Great communication with Pedalmondo including travel advices

A heartfelt thank you

Finally I would like to say thank you for the Pedalmondo team, their bikes and service were beyond our expectations. Feeling confident in the equipment and be in touch with the company during any trip makes a huge difference between a great adventure and a failure. Alex and Adrian, we appreciate your friendliness and professional service, good luck with your future plans.