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Guidebooks for Switzerland

Books about hiking in Switzerland will help you decide which regions you want to travel to. They also usually include good general travel information. When you are in Switzerland, you will be able to get more detailed hiking books and maps. I usually just take the Michelin Guide to Switzerland.

Hiking Guidebooks

There are many books about hiking in Switzerland that are written in German, but there are also some good books in English. I have listed some here. Some books will be available in the US, but some are only available in England or Switzerland. Remember that you can get good, detailed hiking information at the Tourist Office or train station in each town that you go to in Switzerland. Some of that information is now available online on the tourist office web sites.

These books are available in the US:

Marcia and Philip Lieberman, Walking Switzerland - The Swiss Way - From Vacation Apartments, Hotels, Mountains Inns and Huts, The Mountaineers, 1986. Second edition 1997. I highly recommend this book. This is the first book that I read about Switzerland on our big trip in 1988. This is where I discovered vacation rentals! The author recommends the best hiking areas in Switzerland and gives hiking information for each area: Zermatt, Saas-Fee, Val d'Herens, Grindelwald, Lower Engadine. They also give some long routes and walking tours. From this book, we selected Grindelwald and Zermatt for our first trip to Switzerland and we were not disappointed! I have purchased this book several times because I always tear it up during a trip (easier to carry with us on a hike). They even have a good section describing vacation rentals in Switzerland.

Recommended hiking regions: Zermatt (19 hikes), Saas-Fee (14 hikes), Val d'Herens (12 hikes), Grindelwald (7 hikes), Lower Engadine (10 hikes)

Marcia and Philip Lieberman, Switzerland's Mountain Inns - A Walking Vacation in a World Apart, The Countryman Press, 1998. I haven't gone through this book yet, but it seems to be about mountain inns (Berghotels) that you hike to.

Chet and Carolee Lipton, Walking Easy in the Swiss Alps, Gateway Books, 1993. Walking Easy books are available for several European countries. This books is similar to the books "Walking Switzerland - The Swiss Way", but I didn't like it as much. They concentrate on the following areas: Saas-Fee, Zermatt, Champex, Lauterbrunnen, Kandersteg, Samedan.

Recommended hiking regions: Zermatt (6 hikes), Saas-Fee (6 hikes), Champex (6 hikes), Lauterbrunnen (10 hikes), Kandersteg (9 hikes), Samedan (7 hikes), Arosa, Engelberg, Meiringen

Lonely Planet, Walking in Switzerland, 1996. This book covers all of Switzerland and seems to be for the more serious hiker (more serious than us).

These books are available in England (and maybe the US):

Kev Reynolds has written a number of hiking books in English. They are published in England and may be hard to find. I can't remember where I got all my copies, but some I got in Switzerland. He has books for nearly every region in Switzerland. The following are the books that I have:

Kev Reynolds, Walks in the Engadine, Switzerland, Cicerone Press (UK), Hunter Publishing (US), 1988.

Kev Reynolds, The Valais, Switzerland: A Walking Guide, Cicerone Press, 1994.

Kev Reynolds, Central Switzerland: A Walker's Guide, Cicerone Press, 1993.

Brian Spencer, Walking in Switzerland, Moorland Publishing (UK), Hunter Publishing (US), 1986. Similar to Walking the Swiss Way in that he recommends specific towns. I just found this book recently and haven't used it yet.

Recommended hiking regions: Altdorf, Grindelwald, Kandersteg, Obergoms, Engadine, Zermatt, Saas-Fee, Appenzell, Arosa

Maurice and Marion Teal, Pathmaster Guides, Bernese Oberland, 30 Circular Walks from Regional Centres, The Crowood Press, 1990. Printed in the UK. I haven't used this book yet. The regional centers are: Adelboden, Kandersteg, Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, Brienz, Meiringen.

These books are available in Switzerland:

Kummerly+Frey put out a series of hiking books in English (also in German). I have their book on the Jungfrau-Region. They are small, yellow books and you can find them in Switzerland.

Web Sites with Hiking Information

www.gruxa.ch: Great personal web site with hiking information for central Switzerland near Zug and Lake Lucerne.

www.myswissalps.com: Swiss travel guide including hiking routes, day trips and resorts in the Alps. Also travel tips, maps, pictures, downloads, brochures, links and general information about Switzerland.

Slow Travelers Switzerland: Travel Notes - Hiking: We have more hiking information on this web site.

Books about Life in Switzerland

Bergli Press

www.bergli.ch

This publisher puts out many good books about living in Switzerland.

Paul N. Bilton, The Perpetual Tourist, in search of a Swiss Role, Bergli Books (Switzerland), 1994. A great story about a British man married to a Swiss woman. They move from England to Switzerland and he writes about living and working in Switzerland.

Paul Bilton, The Xenophobe's Guide to the Swiss, Ravette Publishing (UK), 1995. More information about the Swiss.

Dianne Dicks (edited by), Ticking along with the Swiss, Bergli Books (Switzerland), 1995. Entertaining stories from many people about life in Switzerland.

Dianne Dicks (edited by), Ticking along Too, Bergli Books (Switzerland), 1996. A second book of entertaining stories from many people about life in Switzerland.

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