Drive motorhome to Zermatt, Interlaken and Lucerne
Fiona is planning a motorhome trip through Switzerland from April 20th to 25th, stopping in Zermatt, Interlaken, and Lucerne. She seeks advice on road safety and parking options, especially considering the mountain roads and her experience driving in New Zealand.
- Avoid driving into Zermatt; park in Täsch or Visp and take the train to Zermatt instead.
- For the Visp to Interlaken leg, stick to motorway routes for easier driving.
- Consider camping at a site in Visp for a convenient base, as there are multiple campgrounds in the area.
- Purchase a Swiss Travel Pass for easy train access, especially for the car train between Visp and Zermatt.
AI-generated summary-
Hi all
I would be grateful for some help. We will be travelling through Switzerland by motorhome from around April 20th to 25th. I am fine with driving on normal roads, but don’t really want to get caught trying a mountain pass.
First stop would be Zermatt – sounds like it is a mountain road to Tasch, but is it a good road to Visp, or is there another option that could be good to park. We would be there for a day trip.
Next stop would be Interlaken, and I think the roads would be ok there, and then onto Lucerne. Then possibly a stop in Wittenbach before we head for Austria.
So are there any roads/routes that we should try to avoid? I come from New Zealand, so am used to windy roads, but not so much in a right hand drive motorhome driving on the right hand side of the road.
thanks
Fiona
-
Hi Fiona,
Welcome to MySwissAlps! For your destinations you’re better off without the motorhome, but I understand you are driving across Switzerland on your way to Austria.
Most of the actual pass roads will still be closed in April: http://www.myswissalps.com/ca r/trafficinfo. The roads that are open in the areas you’ll be driving in are good but sometimes curvy and in the mountains. This indeed applies to the leg from Visp to Täsch. The road is safe if you pay attention and take it slow. Most people park in Täsch but you can also park in Visp. You’d have to check where you can park a motorhome there.
Zermatt to Interlaken will get you on the Lötschberg car train, as there is no road there to cross the Alps: http://www.myswissalps.com/ca r/cartrains.
More information for drivers can be found here: http://www.myswissalps.com/ca r.
I hope this helps you out!
Hi Fiona,
You are probably aware that you – or anyone – cannot drive to Zermatt, which is a car-free town. The closest place you can drive to is Täsch, from where you take a train.
Hi Fiona
A suggestion would be to leave your Motorhome on a site in Visp. I can recommend Camping and Pool Muhleye. We stayed there for a week last year and took the train to Zermatt from the station which is about 10 minutes easy walk from the site. The trip is very scenic and overall costs the same as parking and taking the train from Tasch.
The Car/ train goes from Ausserberg to Kandersteg but I believe some also go from Brig to Kandersteg (you will need to check as there are only a few) I have not driven up to Ausserberg but the road from Kandersteg to Spiez is fine for Motorhomes and from there to Interlaken. There are two sites in Interlaken but both are quite near the railway but it should not be too noisy as everything stops there and it’s close to the centre for walking. So much to see and do there!
Luzern is beautiful and well worth the visit The only site I have used is Sempachersee which is a TCS site and very nice but about 30 mins drive to the city. The lake is very accessible for swimming and is one of the very few places in Switzerland where horses are allowed to swim so that’s a unique site.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Roger
“The Car/ train goes from Ausserberg to Kandersteg but I believe some also go from Brig to Kandersteg (you will need to check as there are only a few)”
Please note that the The BLS Autoverlad (Lötschberg tunnel) car carrying train service does not run from Ausserberg to Kandersteg, nor from Brig to Kandersteg.
The trains run frequently through the Lötschberg summit tunnel between Goppenstein (south end) and Kandersteg (north end). There are occasional trains Iselle (Italy) – Kandersteg but that is not relevant to this discusssion.
You should camp in your motorhome at a camp site near Visp – there are lots of campsites along the Rhone valley between Sion and Brig – and take the train to Zermatt.
BLS car train is here (beware if over 3.5t):
http://www.bls.ch/en/fahren/u nterwegs-mit/autoverlad
The above is the quick way Visp – Interlaken. Otherwise I recommend you stick to motorway routes as it is still early in the year. Swiss motorways are as scenic as any other road in the Swiss Alps.
“You are probably aware that you – or anyone – cannot drive to Zermatt, which is a car-free town. “
Not actually true!
This is a common misconception. Residents can drive to Zermatt (there are garages at the lower end of the village). You can also hire a taxi that will take the road all the way to Zermatt.
Indeed when ‘Zermatt unplugged’ music festival (coming up soon!) is on I have seen large articulated trucks in the smallest Zermatt streets
Thanks everyone for your responses. I am thinking that maybe Interlaken is not for us. The idea of the campground at Visp sounds good. I suspect we might then just drive to Lucerne, and do day trips from there. We will have bikes, and I think the biking around Lucerne is pretty good.
Fiona
Hi Fiona
It probably would not take too much longer to drive on the motorways to Interlaken than trying to take the train. My route planner suggests only about an hour more driving time but you would not have to queue to get on and off the rail shuttle so time wise there may not be much in it. It looks a long way but distances are much less than they seem in Switzerland. I drove from Visp to Thun ( not far from Interlaken) easily in a morning after packing up and I keep to 80 km/h due to my size and trailer. The area around Interlaken is lovely.
Regards Roger
No don’t miss Interlaken.
Go and stay with Frau Blatter at Camping Hobby 3 in Unterseen. Brilliantly efficient and friendly site, owned and run by the same family since it opened in the early 1950s. Superb welcome awaits
- The thread ‘Drive motorhome to Zermatt, Interlaken and Lucerne’ is closed to new replies.
