Hello!
We are driving through Switzerland on our way to Lake Garda from Strasbourg and would like to stay 1 night in Switzerland and do a short hike in the Alps.. we are thinking of staying in Davos but does anyone have recommendations on a better place to stay and hike? I've heard Davos is not the best place to stay, but not sure where else. Thank you!
Posted by
SE Pennsylvania
2659 posts
Welcome to the forum!
In order to provide an answer, people will want to know when this trip is planned, and if you are aware of the high cost of returning a rental car in another country.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17417 posts
I have never driven in Switzerland but I looked up the route on Google maps. They show 3 possible routes that go through Switzerland—-I started at Basel so they would not route through Austria and the Sud Tirol. From Basel, the longest route is via Davos, 6.5 hours to Desenzano del Garda. The fastest is via Luzern and the Gotthard Basistunnel, 4.5 hours. The intermediate option is via Spiez and the car-train option from Kandersteg to Goppenstein via the Lötschberg tunnel (not the deep Basistunnel).
The third option would probably be my choice, for scenery and a nice opportunity to hike. You could spend the night in Kandersteg, hike up around beautiful Oeschinensee, and put your car on the train the next morning (they ride on flatbed cars). There are a number of nice little hotels in the town of kandersteg, and a gondola will take you from town straight up to the lake.
Here is some information on the “car-train” and Oeschinensee:
https://www.zermatt.ch/en/arrival/Arrival-by-car/Car-Train/Loetschberg-Car-Train
https://www.oeschinensee.ch/en/
I hope someone else can advise you on the vignette you need for driving certain roads in Switzerland.