Dear all,
Myself and a crazy friend of mine (visitor from overseas), would like to ride from Basel to the Goldeneye Bungee Jump at Verzasca Dam (located near Locarno). I've looked at various maps and the most obvious and shortest route, is probably to use cycle route 3 however, I have been told that this is not the best way to go. I'm looking for breath-taking scenary, preferably on a reasonable riding surface, i.e. nothing too extreme that will destroy my run of the mill push bike/mountain bike. Can you recommend a route to get there. We have about 3-4 days to get there and will probably return by train. Also what precautions should we take when riding at altitude ... any special considerations for clothing etc.

Any help/advice would be much appreciated.

For those of you who fancy the idea of the bungee jump, check this out ...

Many thanks,
Regards,
SwissMorgs

From experience of cycling a few mountain passes - the long downhill bits, even in summer, can be really cold so a lightweight, windproof jacket would be a good idea. (a hat and gloves are not over the top if it's not particularly warm).
Don't forget to drink enough water - especially on the uphill bits!

If you want the route to be direct, then you pretty much have to follow the general route of the 3 from Brunnen to Locarno. However, from Basel to Brunnen you have a lot of options. Use a good topographical map (like the composite 1:100,000 maps offered by SwissTopo, you would need maps 101, 102, and 107 for your route) to pick a route over the Jura to the Aare, then connect to Lake Luzern from there. A useful planning tool is that the train-lines follow the flattest routes.

I've generally found that the national cycling routes are not always the best things to use if you're actually trying to get somewhere. They try too hard to find the quietest possible road, which often means that it is not very direct or flat (this is the reason why the road is so quiet). There is often another option that is still not particularly busy (especially if there is also a motorway in the area), but is much more direct and less hilly than the recommended route, so you should keep this in mind.

As for the altitude, I've found that I don't notice it until I hit 2,000 metres. Since the Gotthard only goes up to 2,100 metres then I wouldn't worry too much about altitude. Besides, there is no other way to handle it other than to stop for a breather occasionally, and you'll probably want to stop for photos anyway.

Easiest way to get them is from SwissTopo, I have found that bookstores carry limited selections, and that the map you want is almost always out of stock Not cheap, though: three maps at CHF 28.00 each adds up

You can browse the 1:100,000 composites or go directly to TopoShop to order.

I find the 1:100,000 maps a wee bit lacking in detail for hiking, but they should be fine for choosing a bicycle route. I wonder what ChrisW thinks of the General Map 1:300,000; at CHF 15 it is a steal!

It's true, 28 CHF is quite a bit for a map, but there is sooo much info contained in them - a lot more than your average driving map.

For hiking, the 1:100,000 are certainly marginal. However, I've used them for a lot of long hikes and they are generally OK when paired with the frequent directional markers. However, they don't have all of the hiking trails marked on them, so before leaving home I'll often have a look at the area I'm going to on the Swissgeo.ch website, and then copy onto the map any additional trails that I think might be useful.

Of course, I also have a couple of national 1:300,000 maps that are best for long-distance route planning; one that is good for driving, and a Kummerly+Frey map that has all of the cycling routes marked on it. One can never have enough maps