Road tripping from the Cotswolds to Switzerland—a Mini Guide

Audrey Ann Masur
Jun 3
4 min read

Updated: Jun 4

For the love of beauty and family adventure, let’s go!

Day 1. Took the ferry from Dover, England to Calais, France. The port is about a 3 hour drive from the Cotswolds. You might consider getting a hotel like Travelodge or Premier Inn nearby the night before if your trip is earlier. I’d recommend showing up to the port a couple hours early during school holidays. Your car comes with you and they often have places for children to play while you sit at a nearby table.

After arriving in France we went to the Carrefour supermarket in Calais for groceries. Drove about 4 hours south to the Burgundy region. We stayed in a tiny village at an affordable Airbnb farm stay and had a lovely experience. We’ve found French people (outside of Paris 😉) to be warm and helpful. You can find gorgeous, budget-friendly places to stay off the beaten path. The lovely farm stay

Day 2. Relaxed at the Airbnb. Our hosts took us to a nearby pond and playground and we were able to meet their animals. There’s just something delightful about being in a moody and charming French home that is hundreds of years old! It was very affordable and I’d consider having a holiday solely at this home.

Day 3. Drove 4ish hours to Kandersteg, Switzerland. Before crossing the border we stopped at an Intermarche supermarket and stocked up on food. This really helped with the budget as Switzerland is very expensive!

We stayed at a highly rated Airbnb in Kandersteg (about $340 or £253 night—pricey but it’s tricky to find something super cheap for 5 people). They had plenty of things for kids to enjoy like Lego, bikes, chalk, a swing etc. We took a short walk in a nearby forest. The Swiss Airbnb

Day 4. Drove about an hour to Schilthorn Cableway which had parking. From there took the super steep Stechelberg gondola to Mürren, a car-free village. Then walked the 25 minute walk clearly marked with signs to Flower Park. My kids loved this place and there was an outdoor restaurant for parents to relax while watching the children. They even got to play in a bit of snow from the mountains even though it was warm!

Day 5. Woke up early and took the Kandersteg cable cars up to the Lake Oeschinen area. It took about 25 minutes walking after the cable cars ride to get to the late. It’s extremely muddy so not ideal for swimming but my kids still enjoyed it and splashed around for a few hours. Go early, bring a towel, water, snacks and a few extra clothes.

Day 6. Stayed in Kandersteg and just chilled. The kids rode bikes and we enjoyed looking at the mountains around us. We went to the local shop and tried some pretzels and cheese.

Day 7. Took the Kandersteg cable cars again up to the Lake Oeschinen area and had fun on the mountain coaster, also called a toboggan ride. We then took walk D on the map and enjoyed a different view of the lake. The kids enjoyed taking their time and observing the nature around them.

Day 8. We reluctantly packed up and left Kandersteg for Nancy, France a 4+ hour drive. We stayed at a Novotel hotel. In hindsight we could’ve saved money by staying outside of the city but I just wanted easy access to walking the city. Next time I think we’d say outside of the city and just drive in and park for the day.

Day 9. Explored Nancy and particularly enjoyed The Museum of Fine Arts, Church of the Cordeliers, Place Stanislas and Brasserie L'Excelsior for an afternoon treat during the ‘Les Sucres’ hours. Les Sucre is a time of day they offer a lighter (and cheaper) menu. But there was so much more to see and I’d happily visit their other museums another time.

Day 10. Headed back to the ferry and then home. Yes, that was an 8 hour drive altogether. Probably should’ve broken this day up more but not everything can be perfectly streamlined! It was a wonderful trip!

Main budgeting ideas:

Get groceries outside of Switzerland.
Research cost of cable cars and plan how many trips up the mountain you’d like to take
Look into your guest pass for all the discounts and free bus/train rides (ask the Airbnb host or hotel)
During the journey through France book places outside of the cities for affordable and beautiful stays.
Eat lots of sandwiches made with items from the supermarket and at cafés enjoy the occasional coffee and ice cream.

Important Info:

You’ll need an international drivers license which isn’t hard to get but can take several weeks.
Get the Crit’Air sticker (online) before travel if driving in French cities. Toll roads are expensive but also have more frequent and very nice service stations. But the rural drives are beautiful.
Be sure to have the digital vignette when driving in Switzerland. You can do this online or at the border.
I would check gondola/cable car prices before you go as they were more expensive than we realized, but we only took three trips so that helped.
However, you should receive a guest pass from your Swiss host and it offers local discounts. Ours did have a 10% discount for the nearby cable cars.
Of course this was just our experience, so be sure to check and see if this info is up to date when you’re travelling. There are other rules about your car when you’re driving in various European countries. Emergency equipment, light stickers, etc. It can feel like a lot at first but with a little research it’s so worth it.