Hey all,

Wanted to see if there is any interest in the following idea.

I'm spending an academic year in CH from August and have so far visited a few times. In this time I have visited some of western towns/cantons but nothing more.
So I intend to try and visit as much of switzerland as possible and meet as many new people as possible.

So my target is to visit the 25 other contons of CH by May/June time. I will probably visit the capitals of these cantons but have no real plans apart from that.

I plan on buying a halbtax+gleis 7 to minimise costs and would try to visit a new place fortnightly, mostly at weekends. Obviously this would mean visiting 2+ cantons in one day on one or two weekends, but this is not so bad for the smaller cantons.

So if anyone is interested in doing the whole 26 with me, or would be interested in joining certain visits then post here so we can get an idea of numbers and get a plan together.

If no-one is interested I'll do it on ma bill

p.s. being a poor student I will be looking to keep this as low cost as possible!!

That's a great idea! My wife and I achieved the same goal within about a year of moving here. I don't think that we've been to every cantonal capital, but we've done something in each canton. Most of them we did without the explicit intention of seeing them all, but just due to a desire to explore. However, I believe we did go to Schaffhausen just because it was the final canton that we hadn't been to.

It is pretty easy to find interesting places to visit in just about every part of this wonderful country, you should have a great time. When you decide to visit Vaud, then let us know and we can give you a few local tips.

All the best with your quest!

That sounds like a pretty decent idea. I'm actually a poor student as well, although I am currently taking a year off in Switzerland. Been here since January, and many other times growing up.

I don't know where you will be stationed or where your hub will be, but I wouldn't mind tagging along for a couple excursions.

If you have facebook feel free to add me (Kevin Egli - Switzerland / Trent Network)

Cool, added on facebook.

During my first trip to Switzerland, I think that I travelled through 16 Cantons in 2 weeks. Subsequently, I have only added one more canton to my list. I would only say that I "visited" nine of these cantons, though not to the capitals of all: Vaud, Fribourg, Valais, Bern, Luzern, Nid-Walden, Ob-Walden, Uri and Graubunden. I only passed through the remainder on train journeys.

Based on this, I think that your target should be easily achievable.

Have fun with the challenge.

Rod

Y'know guys - that has the makings of a superb pub crawl

Five cantons in a day is easily doable, assuming you choose the right ones...

I just remembered that a friend told me a story that she read about in a local paper last year of two guys who decided to visit all 26 cantons in 24 hours using the train. Apparently, they were successful and had a good time.

Hmmm interesting..maybe i'll change the target to "26 Beer Canton Challenge"

All you have to do is drink 26 beers in each of the cantons we go to..I'm sure it would entice a few more people to come!

Actually,for us cyclists, goal could be to cycle to the highest road in each canton.

I think I have physically been to 23, not sure about a couple though, maybe passed through without knowing.

IMHO.
Cantons are nothing but imaginary lines drawn on the swiss political landscape.Their is nothing to say one canton will be significantly any different than other...hence can't imagine what is the essence of covering all cantons.I would rather understand seeing 'n' no. of interesting places in Switzerland ( if you wanna stick to the country) or Western Europe in general.

The entire world is split by imaginary lines...

Regardless... most Cantons have their own dialects, their owns breads and cheeses, their own beers, etc. It even happens with small communities only 20 minutes apart.

If you can't even see a novelty value to visiting each canton, you may in fact be hopeless

That sounds like a fun idea. I guess I could sit back and count where I have been in CH. I think I might just be mising a few.

CH isn't THAT exciting. It's fun of it's own though. I am amazed that in such a small country that you can get a taste of France, Italy, and Germany without crossing the border. Albeit a Swiss version of those cultures. But quite close anyhow.

I do have to say, go to Interlaken and spend time there in Grindewald and Gimmelwald. There's a sweet hostel on the river that you can also camp at. Great base for all the locations, and great people there too. The area is seriously my favorite place on earth. I have been 5 times in 6 months. It's also the "backpackers paradise" with all the activites it offers.

I would appreciate if you keep your feisty opinions of others to yourself...I wrote there are differences, maybe not significant enough..anyways no further ramblings ..

I hate to butt in on this debate..... oh who am I kidding. I'm American, it's what I do best! You can't be offended though. Everyone posted what a nice idea it was. Then your original negative post came along. Someone pointed out the bright side.... and here you go being negative AGAIN. Blah.... be happy people!

rahul, you sound very depressing... have you visited all the different parts of CH? the diff. areas are very different. I suppose all flowers look the same to you, people are all labelled and life is one big bore.

I actually disagree, the history of Switzerland is one of individual cantons joining a federation, each one has a different history, it wasn't just an abstract breaking up of the country into states or even countries..as you find elsewhere. As a US American, I do find it silly when people try to visit all 50 states though there are differences, these aren't very distinctive in most places and historically is more randomly set borders (compared to Switzerland)... and these are usually the people who don't even have passports.

Although I appreciate this is your opinion, which you are very much entitled to, I would ask that you go and start your own " 'n' no. of interesting places in Switzerland" thread, if that's what you believe in.

This thread was not for debate it was merely an invitation to other EF users to join me on my tours.
So far, all of the posts have contributed to the topic, whereas yours detract from it.

Thanks,

Greg

Now you've got me thinking could it be done (safely) by motorcycle in 24 hours? Bike v Train. Top Gear should have a go at that. Dear BBC ......

It's funny, I had the same idea. I want to buy a one month train pass and visit one canton per day for one month. Since we'll be living in centrally-located Luzern, almost the entire country can be visited by daytrips. I'll probably visit the more famous places on weekends when my wife isn't working and do the obscure places she doesn't care about during the week. By the way, I'm planning on doing this in October.

From Delemont to Herisau, I completed my own personal 26 canton challenge on Monday when I hiked over the Surenenpass and visited Stans, the capital of Niwalden, on my way home which was the last piece of the puzzle. It took me one month and I saw every cantonal capital, plus did tons of hiking and visited other towns that I was interested in.

In the end, my favorite canton was probably Uri.

I learned a lot about this nation and its history along the way. It's amazing how diverse Switzerland is for such a small territory. In the end, I think that's what surprised me the most. Even though I have traveled here before moving, seeing each canton really makes you appreciate the differences a lot more.