The Swiss Two-Day March (Zweitagemarsch): Bern's March You Can Walk Anywhere

Every June, thousands of marchers spend a weekend walking the loop routes around Bern, Switzerland, at the Schweizerischer Zweitagemarsch — the Swiss Two-Day March, known simply as the 2TM. It has run since 1960, it is Switzerland's event in the IML Walking Association, and it holds a distinction few marches anywhere can match: under the organizer's own regulations, you can march it from your own route, anywhere in the world, and still earn the award.

This guide covers what the march is, how the two days work, what the requirements honestly are — including the one that surprises ruckers — how the virtual participation works, and what you earn when you finish.

What the March Is

The Swiss Two-Day March is organized by the Verein Schweizerischer Zweitagemarsch, a Bern-based association. The march sits within the Swiss Armed Forces' off-duty activities ecosystem, overseen by the SAT (the federal office for shooting and off-duty activities), which sanctions marches for Swiss soldiers — but the 2TM itself is run by the association, not by the Army. The 67th edition was held on 13–14 June 2026 in Bern, and the march traditionally falls on a mid-June weekend.

As Switzerland's IML event, it draws marchers from well beyond Switzerland's borders. For IML credit, the standard is two days of at least 20 km a day (10 km a day for participants under 10 or over 70). Foreign military teams march it regularly, and its standing reaches into the Swiss Army itself: completing the Two-Day March is a prerequisite for Swiss soldiers who want to join the Swiss delegation to the Nijmegen Four Days Marches, where the standard jumps to 40 km a day with a minimum 10 kg pack.

The Format: Two Days, Your Distance

The march runs over a Saturday and Sunday. Each day, you choose your distance — 10, 20, 30, or 40 km — on signed loop routes that start and finish at the same point in the Bern region. Your daily goal is your own: there are no age limits and no required finishing times. The course closes at 18:00 on Saturday and 17:00 on Sunday, and the start windows are set to give longer distances an earlier step-off (the latest start is 12:00; the organizer recommends 06:00 for 40 km, stepping down by the hour to 09:00 for 10 km).

On the route, control runs through checkpoint stamps and the organizer's free 2TM app, which records your march and carries an emergency button. It is a march, not a race — you set the distance that tests you, and you cover it on your feet.

The Honest Part: Requirements

Read this section carefully, because the 2TM is a different tradition from the badge rucks most of our community knows — and we would rather tell you plainly than let you assume.

• There is no pack-weight requirement. None. The organizer's own FAQ answers the weight question flatly: there are no weight specifications for this march, and the regulations confirm there is no weight limit for rucksacks. This is a distance march, not a weighted-badge ruck like the Czech and Austrian marches, where the standard is 20 km under 16 kg (35 lb). Different tradition — and a legitimate one, with more than six decades behind it.
• Dress is your choice. March in civilian clothing or in uniform; the organizer recommends good footwear. If you march in uniform, your own service's uniform regulations still govern you.
• Weapons are prohibited for the entire event, for everyone.
• Foreigners marching in uniform need a uniform-wearing permission — a "Request for Visit" — under their home country's rules.
• Insurance is your own responsibility; the organizing association accepts no liability.

March It From Anywhere: The Virtual Option

Here is what sets the 2TM apart. Virtual participation is not a leftover pandemic exception — it is a standing section of the organizer's regulations (§3.1, "Virtuelle Teilnahme"), carried in both the 2026 and 2027 rulebooks, with its own entry categories (the in-person categories with a "V" in front: VB2, VC1, and so on).

As a virtual marcher, you plan your own route and your own rest stops, wherever you are. You start your march in the 2TM app, walk your chosen distance, and submit the completed march through the app. The fees match the in-person categories — for example, VB2 is CHF 30 and VC1 is CHF 25, the same as their Bern equivalents. Your completion counts toward the 2TM award and toward the IVV rating — but be clear on the one limit: virtual participation does not count toward IML recognition.

One responsibility shifts to you when you march virtually: medical cover, safety, and any rescue are your own responsibility, and the organizer accepts no liability or costs for virtual marchers. Pick a route you know, carry what you need, and march smart.

Registration for both the Bern march and the virtual categories runs through the organizer's own site (2tm.ch), with entry open up to the march day itself.

What You Earn

The 2TM rewards the long haul — the marcher who comes back year after year. The standard recognition is a pin, not a medal: civilian marchers receive a pin bearing the number of marches they have completed, and uniformed marchers receive a pin with a helmet, plus their number. A medal is awarded at the milestone participations — the 1st, 5th, 10th, 20th, 25th, 30th, 35th, and 50th march. To qualify for the award, you march both days at a minimum of 10 km a day. Finishers in the award categories also receive the Two-Day March diploma (certificate), with IML and IVV stamps where they apply.

Groups are recognized too: a group earns a pennant for every 10 participants who march both days. For a rucking group weighing an international tradition to build a season around, that ladder — pin by pin, medal at the milestones — is the point. Recognition here is earned across years, not weekends.

Who It's For

Everyone. The march is open to individuals and groups, Swiss and foreign, civilians and uniformed services alike — soldiers, veterans, first responders, and civilians who simply want a real distance standard in a real marching tradition. If you serve, the uniform route is open to you with your home country's permission sorted first; if you don't, no uniform is required and none is expected.

And if Bern is not in your travel plans, the virtual categories mean the tradition is still within reach — your route, your town, the organizer's standard, and an award that counts. To understand how foreign awards fit into the bigger picture — including how wear approval works for service members — start with our Foreign Badges hub.

Keep Exploring

The 2TM is one of several great European marching traditions worth knowing. Read our guides to its fellow IML event, the Nijmegen Four Days Marches in the Netherlands, and the Diekirch March in Luxembourg — and for the foreign marching badges you can earn from your own route with Rucking Tough, start with our Foreign Marching Badges guide and the Foreign Badges hub.