Hello All
How does one get around the letter of invitation if they would like to thru-hike the Via Alpina or any other hike in Europe?
Kind regards
B
Do you mean the letter of invitation for your visa?
yes😀
As far as I know, you only need a letter of invitation if you’re staying with someone (i.e. not paying for accommodation). Confirmation of paid accommodation is also acceptable.
Here’s a pretty good guide: REQUIREMENTS FOR A SWITZERLAND SCHENGEN VISA
Alternatively, contact the Swiss consulate in South Africa.
Thank you very much.
1 Like
Unless you have joined a guided hike, where they will send you an itinerary which you can use to apply for a visa, is one way to go. The cheaper option is to apply for a visa where your hike is, use an app like booking.com, to book accommadation with cancellation options and when you have your visa, cancel the accommadation you will not need. I just hiked a couple of trails in the Pyrenees using this method. Also depends if you need to stay in their refugio accommadation or do wild camping which we did the latter. Depends on your style of hiking. Cheers.
1 Like