Swiss National Park: Your Ultimate Hiking Travel Guide

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Trails Overview

For this article, we will focus on the two trails that I did: the Alp da Munt and the Munt la Schera. The map above shows the overview geography of Zernez and the surrounding area, highlighting those two trails.

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Fun Trails to Hike in the Swiss National Park

Alp da Munt

This is a small hike located right behind the campsite. The hike can be done in 2-3 hours with ease. I did this trail right after I arrived in Zernez on that same day. You can do this trail if you have at least 3-4 hours of daylight left that day.

The trail begins from the plain behind the campsite. You can start the trail by exiting the campsite from the entrance, following the road until you reach the river. Cross it and walk toward the mountain.

Right at the foot of the mountain, you will see a trail leading north along the side of the mountain. Follow that trail until you reach an opening. It should take around 45 minutes to get to the opening. You will know when you've reached this point when you see the yellow sign shown above.

On top of that hill, you should see a farmhouse with plenty of sheep and cows, announcing their presence with bells around their necks. Rest there for a bit and head west toward the house, go through it, and follow the trail behind that house. You might have to climb a fence here.

From here on, the trail should be straightforward. It will take you through many openings with beautiful scenery from the mountainside.

Once you reach an intersection with the option to go back to Zernez, follow it down until you are safely back in Zernez. This will conclude our hike for the day.

Munt la Schela

As the weather was pouring on us the day before, and we did absolutely nothing that day, we mutually decided and agreed to go deeper into the national park and summit something the next day. We ended up summitting Munt la Schela due to its close proximity to Zernez, but with enough elevation (2587m) to give us a great view of the whole area.

For this trail, you will have to take a bus from a bus stop near the Tourist Information center (ask them, and they will show you where it is) to Buffalora, a 30-minute ride away from the town. From there, follow the yellow sign labeled Munt la Schela, and off you go.

The trail starts off from what looks like a river bed, towards a hill, through people's farm, and a gradual climb around it. Along the way, you should see plenty of sheep and cows chomping away at the vegetation.

As you follow the path, you will see so many mountains that might make you wonder which one is Munt la Schela. None of them... not until you see a yellow sign directing you to the way up to the summit.

Once you see the sign to go to the summit, take it. The climb is rough, steep, and long, and as you go higher and higher, it will get colder and colder. Once on top of the summit, the wind can be unbearably strong. Thankfully, there are plenty of big rocks up there so you can use them as shelter.

Walk around the summit for a bit before heading down so that you can see the national park in its full glory. Trust me, no matter which direction you set your eyes upon, you will be amazed by it. Expect to see a lot of beautiful valleys with gorgeous blue rivers surrounded by snowy mountains when you are up there.

To go down, walk a little bit west from the summit and find the yellow direction sign. Once you find it, follow the way down to Il Fuorn, our final stop.

The trail from the summit going down is a lot easier, so use this luxurious time to enjoy the scenery as much as you can. The way down will take you through a variety of Instagram-worthy scenes, so get your camera ready.

From the summit, it should take you around 2 hours to reach Il Fuorn, where you will have to find a bus stop and catch a bus back to Zernez. The bus runs every hour, and it can fill up quickly due to the number of day hikers scattered around the park.

With this information, you should be able to hike the Swiss National Park without any issues. If you have done the hike, let us know in the comments below how it went. Good luck!

Note: The trails I chose are not, by any means, the best trails in the national park. There are so many trails you can do there. If you have more time, you can mix it up a little and create your own set of trails, and it will still be amazing.

Where to Stay in the Swiss National Park?

Budget

Filli Andris campsite

Tent | $

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👍 Top Pick

Mid-Range

Hotel Alpina

Double Room | $$

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High-End

Hotel Crusch Alba Swiss Lodge Zernez

Double Room | $$$

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What to Pack for the Swiss National Park?

Zernez is surrounded by mountains, so the weather can be unpredictable. Appropriate gear is essential to make your trip the best one possible.

• A Tent: If you are a budget traveler, camping is the only budget option you have. Zernez is a small town with a limited number of hotels and no hostel at all, so a tent is required. I recommend this 2-person tent for your trip.
• Sleeping Bag: Due to the location of Zernez, it could get rainy and cold, so a warm sleeping bag is recommended. I recommend the Coleman North Rim Sleeping Bag for this trip.
• Headlamp: You will need this to navigate the camping ground at night, so be sure to have one ready. I recommend this Cree LED Headlamp for the trip.
• Good Walking Shoes: The trails we are going to tackle are not too difficult, so regular walking/hiking shoes are more than enough. These Timberland Shoes are my go-to hiking boots in most situations.
• Weather-proof Clothing: It can rain a lot up there and that, combined with rain, can be unpleasant. Here are jackets I recommend you get for the trip: fleece jacket and the beautiful orange Columbia outer-shell jacket.
• A Hiking Map: You can get a not-so-detailed map for free at the camping ground or the Tourist Info. If you want to do more hikes in the park, I would suggest you buy a complete hiking booklet from the Tourist Info. For me and the trails mentioned here, a not-so-detailed map was more than enough. You can also download our maps from the links under Hikes Overview below.
• Food and water supply: There are a few supermarkets in Zernez that offer food and fresh fruits, so you can buy them there. Each trail mentioned here will only take a few hours, so there is no need to prepare a whole day's supply when hiking. I always carry my 2-liter hydration pack, which I highly recommend so you don't have to stop to stay hydrated.
• A Daypack: You will need a daypack to carry all of your gear with you when you are out and about. During this trip, I use the classic Herschel Supply's Little America Backpack to carry everything with me. It is light with a good capacity and stylish as hell.

Check Out My Hiking Packing List

How to get to the Swiss National Park?

The best way to get here is to fly into Zurich or cities nearby and take a train or a bus from there. I would recommend you browse through Skyscanner or Expedia to find all the cheap flights from where you live to Switzerland and compare them so that you can find the one best fit for your itinerary.

If you are traveling in Switzerland for more than a week, I would suggest you buy a 4-day pass train ticket. It should cost around 260 CHF. This is a no-brainer, especially if you are 26 or under. Transportation is crazily expensive here, and if you want to cover a lot of areas, the cost will accumulate rapidly. This ticket will save you a fortune.

Zernez is the closest town to the national park. It is also the nearest town to the entrance. The easiest way to get to Zernez is by train.

You can also go with Flixbus as it is cheap, reliable, and runs extensively throughout Europe.

Now that we have all the information we need, it's time to start planning your trip! Here are some resources to help you get going:

Flights: Skyscanner and Expedia are the best places to start looking for cheap flights and great deals from your home country.

Accommodation: Hostelworld, Booking.com, and Agoda.com are the ultimate go-to platforms to search for amazing hostels and hotels at affordable prices.

Travel Insurance: Heymondo covers theft, medical emergencies, cancellations, and more during your travels. Get a 5% discount if you sign up today.

Transportation: For buses, I always go with Omio when traveling in Swiss National Park, Switzerland while for trains, Omio is my go-to place to book all my train travels in advance.

Car Rental: DiscoverCars.com is a great and reliable platform to find rental cars.

Internet: Airalo is the best way to get a sim card and has reliable internet access for your trip. All you need is an esim compatible smartphone, install it on your phone prior to your trip, and you are all set.

VPN: To stay connected with people at home, I always make sure to have ProtonVPN, installed before traveling. It's FREE, and I can gain access to services that may be blocked in certain countries.

Day Trips & Tours: Viator, GetYourGuide and TripAdvisor are great platforms to search for trips and tours to join.

Tickets & Deals: Tiqets is always my go-to website when I want to find cheaper deals for entrance tickets to tourist attractions.

Are you planning to travel independently? Be sure to check out my guide on How To Plan A Backpacking Trip here.

Further Reading for Switzerland

I hope you found this guide helpful in your trip planning. If you want to read more about Switzerland, I have written a few more travel guides, all listed here:

• First time in Switzerland? Here are the 10 Most Beautiful Places to Visit in Switzerland.
• Are you traveling to Switzerland as part of a bigger Europe trip? Be sure to check out my 3-month itinerary for Europe from Portugal all the way to Sweden.
• Packing for a trip to visit a region as big as Europe is extremely daunting. Here's a packing guide to help you: What to Pack for Europe - The Essential Packing List.
• Want to visit Europe in winter? Better prepare for the cold. Here's a winter packing guide to help you: What to Pack for Europe in Winter - The Essential Packing List.
• Switzerland is best seen on foot, especially in Zermatt and the Matterhorn area. Here's the ultimate one-day hiking guide to the Matterhorn Trails in Zermatt, Switzerland.
• Not convinced by my words? Here are 125 photos that will inspire you to visit Europe.
• You can also watch my Switzerland travel video here: "Helvetia - The Great Switzerland" travel video.
• To see all the articles about Switzerland, visit the Switzerland Travel Guide page.
• Looking for a place to go after Switzerland? How about Germany or France? Visit our Germany travel guide page, and France travel guide page for more.
• Traveling in Europe can be cheap, really cheap. These are the 12 Cheap European Countries to Visit.
• Looking for more travel guides for Europe? You can find more on my Europe Travel Guide page.
• Or, if you want something more specific to the region, visit our Western Europe Travel Guide page.
• For more of my travel guides like this, visit my Destinations page.