Switzerland Backpacking Tour Package

Evening: The lakefront promenade past the Bahnhofsteg footbridge. A lake cruise is on the add-on list if you want to get out on the water.

Morning rail: Direct train to Lucerne, about an hour, roughly hourly through the day.

Afternoon: The Chapel Bridge, the oldest surviving wooden covered bridge in Europe, and the Lion Monument ten minutes away. Both free.

The best free view in Lucerne: The Musegg Wall towers. Four of the nine are open in season and you can climb them for nothing - the view over the old roofs is better than anything you would pay for.

Getting there: Train to Engelberg, about forty-five minutes, then three lift stages up Mt Titlis - finishing on the Rotair, the first rotating cable car built anywhere, which turns a full circle as it crosses the glacier.

At 3,020m: The Glacier Cave cut ten metres into the ice, the Cliff Walk suspension bridge at 3,041m, and snow on the ground in August. Included.

Ice Flyer: An open chairlift out over the glacier crevasses with nothing under your feet. Part of the same ticket, and the best thing up there.

Afternoon: Back down through Engelberg. The Benedictine monastery and the village cheese dairy are both free if you have time before the train.

Check-in: Three nights in Interlaken, the longest stay of the trip, walking distance from Interlaken Ost.

Evening: Unterseen, the quiet old quarter across the river, and the Lake Thun shore beyond it. Both free. The Harder Kulm funicular is on the add-on list if you want the high viewpoint.

Scenic rail: The Luzern-Interlaken Express over the Brunig Pass, with Lake Lungern below it. Two hours, no reservation, no supplement - a named scenic route that happens to be the ordinary way between your two bases.

Afternoon: The Hohematte, a protected meadow kept clear of buildings in the middle of town so the Jungfrau stays in view. Paragliders land on it through the afternoon. Free.

Getting there: Thirty-five minutes by train to Grindelwald, then the gondola to First at 2,168m. Included.

The Cliff Walk: A steel walkway bolted to the rock face, ending on a platform that juts out over the drop with the Eiger north face straight ahead.

Bachalpsee: An hour each way on an easy track to a lake that reflects the Schreckhorn on a still morning. Also free with your gondola ticket, and the best walk on this itinerary.

Pace: A full day if you do the lake walk, or a half day if you just want the Cliff Walk and the view. Either way you are back in Interlaken for a free evening.

Morning: Twenty minutes by train from Interlaken Ost into Lauterbrunnen - a flat-floored valley with vertical rock on both sides and seventy-two waterfalls coming off the walls. Rail included.

Staubbach Falls: Nearly 300m in a single drop, straight off the cliff above the village. Fifteen minutes on foot from the station and it costs nothing.

The valley walk: The path from Lauterbrunnen towards Stechelberg is about an hour, entirely level, with falls on both sides the whole way. This is the easiest good walk in the Bernese Oberland and it is free.

If you want more: Truemmelbach Falls, ten glacier waterfalls inside the mountain with a tunnel lift up through the rock, is on the add-on list. It is the only paid thing in this valley.