The Berner Oberland Trek - The Swiss Alps

Day 1

We meet in the afternoon in the town of Meiringen, which has good train connections from Zurich or Geneva. We then take a late afternoon van or bus ride to the tiny town of Rosenlaui in the heart of the Engelhoerner region. We spend the night at the 19th century Hotel Rosenlaui and enjoy a big dinner in their historic dining room. The hotel and a bus stop comprise the entire town!

Day 2

Walking from Rosenlaui, we take the exciting Glacier Gorge trail that tunnels through a deep glacier-carved gorge and then we hike into the Engelhoerner with it's sharp limestone peaks and high glaciers. The afternoon is spent hiking through a peaceful valley and quiet pastures to Schwarzwaldalp where we spend the night at the Schwarzwaldalp Inn high in the countryside.

Day 3

Today is spent hiking over the Gross Scheidegg pass and onto First, where we take in spectacular views of the the Jungfrau region and the alps Wetterhorn and the Eiger. We descend into the bustling small town of Grindelwald, which is dominated by the imposing North Face of the Eiger. We stay at a 3-star hotel in the center of town.

Day 4

After a short cog-wheel train ride, we hike up directly under the North Face of the Eiger. It is easy to spot the famous climbing routes and imagine what it would be like to be on the face. After a stop for a look at the Eiger Glacier, we descend to Kleine Scheidegg where we stay at the famous Hotel Bellevue des Alps, made famous by the recent "North Face" movie as well as "The Eiger Sanction" starring Clint Eastwood. The Bellevue is an old shcool 4-star hotel that hasn't changed much at all since the first climbing attempts on the Eiger in the 1930s.

Day 5

In the morning we board the famous Jungfraujoch train that will take us inside the Eiger to the glaciers of the Jungfraujoch. Along the way, the train stops and you can get out and look out of the viewing windows that are in the middle of the North Face, where a few climber rescues have taken place. At the top we leave the station and hike along the glaciers and have lunch in a high alpine hut. We descend back to Kleine Scheidegg and descend to Wengen via the Lauberhorn trail which takes us along the same route as the world famous Lauberhorn downhill ski race. We spend the night in a 4-star hotel and spa in the quiet and car-less resort town Wengen.

Day 6

The morning is spent descending into the Lauterbrunnen Valley, the "Yosemite" of Switzerland. The glacier-carved valley has high cliffs and waterfalls much like Yosemite in California. After exploring the town of Lauterbrunnen We take a short cable car ride and make our way up to the idyllic Swiss village of Murren which is perched right on the edge of the rim of the valley. We stay at a small 3-star hotel that is overlooking the cliff.

Day 7

We head into the more remote part of the Berner region as things get just a little more strenuous. We head over the Sefinfurggal Pass with views looking back at the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau one last time. We descend into the tiny village of Greisalp for the evening to stay a charming Swiss Chalet hotel.

Day 8

The most streuous day of the trek, we hike over the steep Hohturli Pass before descending to the amazing glacier-fed lake, Oeschinensee with it's turqouise colored water. We make our way down to our final destination of Kandersteg, a small Swiss town and major hiking center. We spend the night in another 3-star hotel and enjoy a final celebratory dinner.

Day 9

After breakfast we part ways and board trains in Kandersteg on to our next destinations.