14 Days Hiking Through Switzerland: Zermatt, Interlaken, Lucerne, and Appenzell

Why this route works

The trick is that this is not one base with day trips. It is a west-to-east hiking arc. You land in Geneva, get the long travel day out of the way, and wake up in Zermatt instead of burning a perfect weather window on logistics. From there, the route stacks the highest-drama alpine days first: Gornergrat, Riffelsee, Sunnegga, and the Five Lakes Trail.

Then it changes texture. The Bernese Oberland days are not just more mountains; they are villages, lifts, balcony trails, waterfalls, lakes, and rail platforms that feel like part of the trip instead of dead time. Grindelwald First to Bachalpsee, Kleine Scheidegg to Mannlichen, the Lauterbrunnen valley, Murren, Gimmelwald, and Schynige Platte all sit close enough together that you can move hard without constantly repacking.

Start with Zermatt, before the legs get tired

Zermatt is expensive, dramatic, and weather-dependent. That is exactly why I would put it early. If the Matterhorn appears, you want enough energy to go get the view. The full itinerary gives Zermatt three nights: arrival and acclimatization, Gornergrat with the Riffelsee descent, then Sunnegga and the Five Lakes Trail.

The Zermatt days are not trying to be obscure. They are popular for a reason. Gornergrat is the panorama. Riffelsee is the reflection. Five Lakes is the all-day walking memory. The goal is to do them early, start before the crowds, and leave the afternoons loose enough for weather, food, and recovery.

The Bernese Oberland is the center of gravity

After Zermatt, the route takes the train toward Interlaken and Grindelwald. This is where the trip starts feeling less like a sequence of headline views and more like a place you are moving through. Grindelwald First and Bachalpsee make a strong first day because the logistics are clean: gondola up, cliff walk if you want it, lake hike, then a choice between more descent or saving the knees.

The next days spread across Kleine Scheidegg, Mannlichen, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren, Gimmelwald, and Schynige Platte. That is a lot of names, but the rhythm is simple: take a train or lift into a high place, walk across a view, descend into a village, eat something, and check the weather again. This is the section I would protect most carefully if storms force changes.

Lucerne is not a detour; it is the reset

By day nine, the route leaves Interlaken on the Luzern-Interlaken Express. This is a good pivot. You still get a scenic train day, but the body gets a different kind of travel. Lucerne gives you Old Town, Chapel Bridge, the lake promenade, and enough flat walking to feel civilized again.

The mountain days do not stop. Rigi and Pilatus keep the hiking thread alive, but they feel different from Zermatt and the Jungfrau region. There is more boat, cogwheel rail, lake air, and summit wandering. Those days matter because they make a two-week hiking trip sustainable instead of just impressive on paper.

Finish in Appenzell, then let Zurich be easy

Appenzell is the late-trip wildcard. It takes effort to reach, and that effort is part of why it works. Ebenalp, Wildkirchli, the Aescher cliff restaurant, and Seealpsee make the ending feel distinct from the famous central Alps. The trails can be steep and slick, so this is not where I would pretend weather does not matter.

The final Zurich day is intentionally light: Old Town, the lake promenade, lunch near Zurich HB, then the airport train. A good two-week trip should not end with a panicked transfer. It should end with enough margin that the last morning feels like travel, not damage control.

A summarized version of the full TripGuru itinerary