Switzerland - Fondue, chocolate and fantastic cycling (22nd July - 6th August 07)

After leaving Nick's family in Milan we headed north to Switzerland. Since being in Europe we have changed our travel set up. We are now camping so we needed another set of panniers for our new gear. We purchased a new pair of ortlieb panniers and Nick now has two small panniers on his front wheel, two big one on the back and the tent sitting across the rack totalling 40kg of gear. Nat has upgraded to large panniers on the rear totalling 20kg.

Setting out fully loaded in Milan


We decided to catch a train just out of Milan then rode north to some lakes near the Swiss border. There are plenty of camping sites so it is just a matter of stopping for the day when we get tired, or when we find a great spot.

Going to Switzerland was an impromptu decision so we had not done much research and did not have a guide book but upon entering Switzerland we were confronted with sign posted cycle routes and an abundance of cycle lanes. There is a fantastic network of cycle routes over the country and there are maps and books that detail all of the routes at a country, regional and local scale. We got onto the north-south route which would take us to Luzern, then to Zurich.

The south of Switzerland is italian speaking, so not much changed from crossing the border and it is not until you cross the alps over the San Gottardo Pass do you enter german speaking Switzerland.

We stopped at some charming towns on our way north. Bellinzona is a UNESCO world heritage site with 15th century castles in the centre of town. They were used to protect the Lombardy people of northern italy from germanic tribes. Who ever said that Switzerland was too sterile with no culture?

One of the charming villages in southern Switzerland


After Bellinzon the road started heading up into the alps. We were heading for the San Gottardo Pass (2109m) which was a 2 day ride away. The ride up was great, the cycle route took us off the main road and through small towns set on the river running down the valley.

There are 3 routes over the San Gottardo Pass, the highway (via a 20 odd km tunnel), the main road with many tunnels or the old cobbled road. Being traditionalists we took the old road which was a 900m rise over 12km (for the day we climbed 1500m over 30km). There were plenty of other cyclists doing the climb, but we won the prize for hauling up the most gear. It took us 2.5 hours to get to the top but upon arriving we had the mandatory photo with the altidude sign then enjoyed a bratwurst sausage each.

The many switchbacks


We decided to take the main road down and had 45km of descending to Altdorf where we finished for the day.

We then headed to Luzern, a charming but touristy town located on the edge of a lake (like all swiss towns). We camped about 10km out of town and stayed a few nights exploring the area. We met some other kiwi cycle tourers who have been living in London so it was great to chew the fat for a few days with them.

Camping is not so bad afterall with a spot like this


Zurich was only a days ride away but we managed to take two, partly because the ride was so nice and we found a nice campsite by a river to hangout at.

In Zurich we stayed with Alistair, a kiwi who is doing his Phd over here. Al showed us the highlights and the best kebab shops of Zurich and it was great sleeping in a futon instead of a thermarest mattress for a few nights. Zurich is a fantastic town and reminds us alot of Wellington....but better. It is definately not `all banks` and there is a great young, ethnically diverse cultured feel to the city. There are more cyclists than pedestrians and the city is very compact given there are only 300,000 people here.



We both know that sometime in the near future we will be living in Zurich, whether it be study or work.