The Grand Alpine Tour: 14 Days, Five Countries
The whole Alps in one sweep. Five countries, the four great massifs, and the scenic roads and railways that stitch them together. From Lucerne's lake to the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, the Dolomites, and the Bavarian lakes, this is the once-in-a-lifetime version, paced with two nights almost everywhere so it never turns into a race.
Length
14 days
Style
Grand tour
Getting around
Mixed
Pace
Balanced
Best season
Late June to September
Budget
$$$$$
Best for
Travelers doing the Alps once and wanting all of it: the icons, the scenic rail, and the great pass roads, with a couple of long transfer days traded for the full reach.
Driving this route?
The Great Dolomite Road, narrated stop by stop
A GPS-aware guide that rides shotgun and tells the story of every pass. Free in beta.
Your bases
Day by day
- Day1
Land soft in Lucerne
LucerneFly into Zurich and train to Lucerne in under an hour. Walk the Chapel Bridge, let the lake settle the jet lag, and start a trip this big at a gentle pace.
- Day2
Lake and a first summit
LucerneThe Mount Rigi golden round trip by paddle steamer and cogwheel railway, your on-ramp to the high country before you commit to it. No car needed today or tomorrow.
- Day3
Into the Bernese Oberland
LauterbrunnenScenic rail through Interlaken into the Lauterbrunnen valley, a glacial trench walled by cliffs and threaded with waterfalls. Settle into the village your base for the Jungfrau region.
- Day4
Wengen, Mürren, and the wall of peaks
LauterbrunnenRide the cable cars up to the car-free balcony villages of Wengen and Mürren for the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau face to face. Save the Jungfraujoch for a clear morning if the forecast cooperates.
- Day5
Transfer to the Matterhorn
ZermattOne of the trip's best rides: down the valley and across to car-free Zermatt. Evening apéro with your first look at the most famous mountain in the Alps.
- Day6
Gornergrat morning
ZermattFirst cogwheel train to Gornergrat at sunrise, then the 5-Lakes hike for Matterhorn reflections. The day most people remember most.
- Day7
Cross into France
ChamonixTransfer west to Chamonix, under the white dome of Mont Blanc and into a different mood: bigger, steeper, more mountaineering town than resort. A car or a train-plus-transfer day, your call.
- Day8
Aiguille du Midi and the Mer de Glace
ChamonixThe cable car to 3,842m for the closest you can stand to Mont Blanc without a rope, then the rack railway to Montenvers and the Mer de Glace glacier. Book the first cabin for the clearest air.
- Day9
The long transfer east, to the Dolomites
OrtiseiThe trip's one big travel day, and we will not pretend otherwise: it is a long haul across northern Italy from the western Alps to the eastern. Break it, enjoy the changing scenery, and arrive in Ortisei in Val Gardena for the most beautiful mountains of the lot.
- Day10
Seceda and the Alpe di Siusi
OrtiseiThe cable car to the Seceda ridgeline, the most photographed skyline in the Dolomites, then the Alpe di Siusi, the largest high-alpine meadow in Europe. Pale limestone towers in every direction.
- Day11
The Great Dolomite Road to Cortina
OrtiseiA driving day on one of Europe's legendary roads: over the Sella and Pordoi passes, past the Marmolada, and down to glamorous Cortina d'Ampezzo before looping back. This is the leg a car earns its keep.
- Day12
Over the Brenner into Tirol
InnsbruckNorth across the Brenner Pass into Austria and down to Innsbruck, a real city wedged under the peaks. One night is enough to walk the old town and ride the Nordkette cable car straight from the center to the ridgeline.
- Day13
Into Bavaria and the Königssee
BerchtesgadenCross into Germany, your fifth country, to Berchtesgaden in the deep south of Bavaria. An electric boat glides you down the Königssee, an emerald fjord of a lake, to the onion-domed chapel of St. Bartholomä.
- Day14
Eagle's Nest, then Salzburg or Hallstatt
BerchtesgadenThe Eagle's Nest mountaintop perch in the morning, then an easy day trip to choose your finale: Salzburg's baroque old town or Hallstatt's lake-and-spire postcard, both within an hour. Fly home from Salzburg or Munich.
Frequently asked questions
- Is 14 days enough to see the whole Alps?
- It is enough for a genuine cross-section, not every corner. This route deliberately strings together the icons of five countries, the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, the Dolomites, and the Bavarian lakes, with two nights in most bases so it never feels frantic. It is the grand-tour sampler, not an exhaustive survey.
- Do you need a car for the Grand Alpine Tour?
- It is a mixed trip. We would ride the rails through Switzerland and Austria, where the trains are superb and Zermatt is car-free anyway, and use a car for the Dolomite passes, where the driving is the experience. The day-by-day spells out the call for each leg.
- What is the one long travel day?
- The transfer from Chamonix to the Dolomites on day nine. It is a genuinely long haul across northern Italy, from the western Alps to the eastern, and we do not pretend otherwise. Everywhere else the legs are short; this is the single day to brace for, and to enjoy the changing scenery.
- Where do you start and finish the trip?
- Fly into Zurich to begin in Lucerne, and out of Salzburg or Munich at the end, both an easy hop from the final base in Berchtesgaden. The route runs west to east so you never double back, apart from that one long central transfer.
Want this trip done for you?
Our regional planning kits turn this route into a complete, bookable plan, bases, hotels, trains, and timing.
Or get the free 7-day starter route: