Help needed- looking to trek around zurich.....
Hi my name is mikey-

Me and three friends are planing a trip to zurich and would like to know about the trails around zurich.this will be our first time in Switzerland.

we are interested in doing a five days four nights trek in the area of zurich starting march 29th threw thursday the first.(2010) starting and ending in zurich.

I would like to know if anyone has information that can help about sleeping accommodations,trails, weather(end of winter ), public transportation etc

we are all in good shape and have done treks in the past,we are also used to carrying heavy loads on our backs.

we are on a budget i.e we do not have the money to stay at hotels and would rather cheap huts and guest houses- im not familiar with the prices at all..

as you can see i need lots of help.......

Thanks mikey

Quite frankly the end of March is not a time of the year I would consider for a multi day hike in the Swiss Alps. Even in the lower parts of the country the weather can be quite unpredictable.

If you go in late August, September and early November I would recommend:

Day 1:
Davos Madrisa - Gargellen; stay overnight in Gargellen in Pension Wulfenia
http://www.wulfenia.co.at/

Day 2:
Gargellen - St. Antönierjoch - St. Antönien
take public transport to Linthal
stay in Linthal

Day 3:
take the Alpentaxi to Tierfehd
Cablecar from Linthal Tierfehd up to Chaltrittli
Hike to Muttseehütte
stay overnight in Muttseehütte (gets crowded on Weekends, go during the week)
http://www.sac-winterthur.ch/huetten/Muttsee.htm

Day 4:
hike across the Kistenpass to Brigels
stay in Brigels, Disentis or Sedrun

Day 5:
take public transport to the Oberalppass
hike up to Fellilücke
hike down the Fellital
stay overnight in the Treschütte
http://www.sac-albis.ch/huetten/treschhuette-sac/

Day 6
hike down to Gurtnellen (about three hours) and head off to wherever you want to go

These are all places out of the way of international tourists and will thus be cheaper than the usual tourist hotspots. You have to be fit and able to walk for 6 to 7 hours a day.

If you are looking for even more cozy and inexpensive places in the alps, here are a couple of additional suggestions:

Spitzmeilenhütte:
http://www.spitzmeilenhuette.ch/
This can be combined as follows:

Day 1:
- take the cablecar up to Flumserberg Maschgenkamm
- hike 2 hours to Spitzmeilenhütte
- stay overnight in Stitzmeilenhütte

Day 2:
- hike around the Spitzmeilen and down the Krauchtal to Matt (about 5 hours)

from there you could go on to:

Äugstenhütte
http://www.aeugstenhuette.ch/frameset.html
(either stay overnight if you arrive from Matt or just have a beer)
the new cablecar will not operate until about early July
hike across the Schwarzstöcki and down to Murgsee

stay overnight in Murgseehütte
http://www.murgsee.ch/murg_frm.html

and proceed the next day via
Murgseefurggel, Spaneggsee, Talalpsee to Filzbach

All places are accessible by public transport. You will not need a car. Hiking maps can be found here: http://map.wanderland.ch/?lang=de&p&route=all

look for 'schlaf im stroh' - to 'sleep in the straw'.

There is one I can recommend in Eschenz. He caters for groups who ride around lake constance...

http://www.abenteuer-stroh.ch/

The weather in March will be 'spring' - cold nights, warmer days, the snow will be mostly gone, and several days of what I consider 'light' rain would be the norm.

I would recommend a combination of train and hiking. It's only an hour express-train to Schaffhausen from Zurich and from there you can see the Rhine falls, and go up-river to the medieval town, then stay at Eschenz and continue the next day along the river as far as you like to maybe Arbon, there is a caravan park there on the lakeside. Then from there it's possible to go to Liechtenstein and end up in 'Heidiland'...

Rather than being stuck close to Zurich I would recommend doing hikes along the valleys - one around lake constance, one down the valley in Ticino (Bellinzona), maybe from Bad Ragaz (Heidiland) and through Liechtenstein.

It really depends on how far you think you can cover in a day...and if you prefer to hike through the mountains and challenge yourself, or have more fun hiking along the flatter trails and enojoy the scenery...

Whatever you do, make sure you leave a good detailed itinerary, travel with at least three people in the group, and have good health insurance. They weather can turn pretty challenging and the terrain is fairly challenging if you get caught out in exposed land - and it's very easy to get disorientated in the forests and mountains...

What fun!

Bear in mind that the time of year you are looking at is the end of ski season and that a lot of the usual passes that I would recommend for great summer hiking will still be covered in snow. Some of the passes and wanderwegs will be open albeit they will be covered in snow If you have the correct equipment and are interested in snow shoeing or hiking/climbing with crampons then this can be fun However, I would say if you are not experienced with this sort of hiking then please use a guide as you will be hiking over snow and ice and accidents can and do happen.

If you are looking for something at a lower altitude with less snow then I can highly recommend the national route 5 Swiss Jura though there is a chance that even parts of this route will be unpassable and still have snow as from what I remember there was still snow in some of the higher parts of this route in early May this year. The Creux du Van leg of the route 5 is a nice hike but even I wouldn't normally do this until end of April beginning of May.

Some sites you may find useful in planning your walks....

Activity Workshop

Wanderland

Zurich Hike and Outdoor of which I'm an organizer but to be honest most of the hiking doesn't start until mid/late April depending on snow/weather

edit - as an afterthought and going along with what Swisspea said, there is a nice hike along the river from Schaffhausen down to the Rhine Falls (approx 5-6km) and there are also a couple of valley walks in the Sargans area which should be fine and free of snow.