Day Trip to Oeschinensee from Murren

You can find out the exact times for Mürren - Kandersteg on www.sbb.ch. From there you can take the cable car up, or walk up. Last time I was there I walked up, and took the cable car down (my knees do no longer like downhill...)

Wether that is to much travelling/to complicated for you is something that you will have to decide for yourself.

It’s feasible but it will be a long day and I highly recommend only making the trip if it’s a sunny clear day. The lake is only in its glory on sunny days until mid afternoon when it starts to get shaded.

The logistics require multiple trains to Kandersteg, then you have to take a bus or walk to the cable car station, ride up, then walk down to the lake where the hike starts and realistically to enjoy that full hike without being rushed I’d plan on 5-6 hours there. We stayed up in Oeschinensee on the lake for a week a couple summers ago and starting from there and only doing half of the hike roundtrip took us 3 hours to not do rushed.

The bus at the base of the cable car station to take you back to the train station isn’t always reliable. We had to make the 25 minute walk with all our luggage back because the bus just didn’t show up. So realistically I’d allow minimum 12 hours to do this day trip from Murren.

And honestly, if I were staying in Murren between July-September, I’d skip it and (if you’re a fit hiker) instead do the hike from Birg>Grauseeli>Wassenegg Ridge>Bryndlii>Murren. You’ll have a high alpine lake to swim in basically to yourself and the hike down along the Wassenegg ridge is stunning. Plus you’re right there in Murren. You could meander the thing the whole day in a much more relaxed manor.

Bachalpsee near Grindelwald is a very similar Lake hike!
I have been to both.
Visited Oeschinensee when there was only an open 2-seat chairlift .

Thank you, WengenK and MaureenCH for your replies. Yea, i have checked the time and some videos on this trip. But I want to know the actual or realistic time it will take to make this trip. This has been addressed by wanderweg, thank you! 12 hours is indeed more than I expected. That's why I'm contemplating if it's worth the hassle to visit it from Murren. Although I'm not an avid hiker, i will check the Birg>Grauseeli>Wassenegg Ridge>Bryndlii>Murren hike to see if I can handle it:)

wynoka54, I do plan to visit Bachalpsee. From the videos of both lakes, I think the views are very different but I could be wrong.

What wasn't accounted for in the "fact checking" is that there is another 20-25 minute walk from the top of the cable car station down to the lake, so that's another 45 minutes roundtrip added on to the hike. And maybe the walk can be done in 13 minutes from the train station. We found it to be longer, as it's a bit of a maze to find exactly how to get there. And as I mentioned, 3 hours is not going to get you the full loop hike unless you're basically never stopping to enjoy, take photos, etc. As I stated, we spent a week up here, so I'm very familiar with the walking/hiking times. I'll again say, 12 hours to do it not rushed. It's physically possible to do in 8 hours, but defeats the purpose of going all the way there, in my opinion.

It will be a bit of a challenge for you to check up on the difficulty of the hike I mentioned because it's not widely known. Basically, you need to be able to get downhill a lot :) There is some loose scree below Grauseeli that requires hiking poles. It's a beautiful hike, but if you don't consider yourself an avid hiker, then just do roundtrip Birg>Grauseeli>Birg. This is easily done if you're not an avid hiker. I'd still bring hiking poles for the little 5 minute sketchy section getting down from Birg, but after that it's not difficult.

Here is the route:

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/switzerland/bern/birg-bryndli-murren?u=i

This person did the same thing but starting up at Schilthorn and ending in Gimmelwald. You can cable car down to Birg from Schilthorn to save some of the intense decline, which I would recommend and I’d end in Murren, not the additional decline to Gimmelwald. I don’t think you get added benefit from starting up higher or ending lower if you were already up there for the views. And you can cable down to Gimmelwald afterwards for a nice beer!

https://itsabrewtifulworld.com/2016/08/04/eiger-monch-jungfrau-and-hiking-down-from-the-schilthorn/

Basically you’re hiking from Birg to Grauseeli (alpine lake), going down a scree section to break off over onto the Wasenegg ridge and then hiking down to Murren. Bryndlii is an optional detour up to a little private peak viewing point (no one is really ever up there). It’s definitely a lot of decline so only do it if your knees are okay and you bring hiking poles.

Thank you for the suggestion, wanderweg. I will add the hike to Grauseeli to my to do list. I do have some knee problem going down hill, so the less I do ther better:) Also, bought a knee brace and hope it will help.

We have been here for 5 days in gimmelwald, leaving tomorrow. I really wanted to do the oeshensee hike you mentioned. Upon checking with the Mürren tourist info folks they said the mountain trail is currently closed due to a recent avalanche and falling rocks. I had not seen that info anywhere online and was grateful to get it and save is that time. We did many great hikes here, and although I consider myself in good shape and an avid hiker, I was pooped after the hikes! Altitude is a thing, plus the hikes are straight up or down. So go a bit easy on yourself. We did north face and Lauterbrunnen valley up to grutachalp and Mürren, mannlichen only to royal crowd since panorama trail still closed and then mannlichen to grindlewald. Ouch, that one’s torture on your knees!!

Hi jshack, thanks for sharing your experience. I could tell the paths in switzerland are way more "rugged" than the ones we hiked in various US National Parks:P

Thank you, Maureen for sharing the trail marker info, this is very helpful.

So I was wondering about the hike the Nashville guy mentioned. Birg>Grauseeli>Birg as we are here now in Murren and did the hike to Rotstockhutte today that was round trip. We started in Murren and then went up and over to Rotstockhutte and then circled to Gimmewald and back up. We passed the signs to Birg But with all the snow I wondered if it was even possible. We don’t have hiking poles so I wasn’t sure we could even do it. My boys could I’m sure:) Me I’m not sure as I hate scree. Is it even open yet or is it covered in snow?

Thank you!

@bugabiga73 This map on the Schilthorn website shows that it is
closed.

https://schilthorn.ch/en/Infos/Live?tr=1#sommer

Any idea when the trail will open? I was hoping to hike Birg>Grauseeli>Wassenegg Ridge>Bryndlii>Murren as others recommended. Will it be possible during my trip from July 2-11?

I'm a Nashville gal :) But yes, as stated it wouldn't be wise to do with snow covering all the loose scree below Grauseeli. And it's possible to do without hiking poles, but I definitely appreciated them when navigating some of the extra wonky parts of that scree. My husband & I have done this hike multiple in late July but TBD if enough snow will have melted by early July, you'll just have to play it by ear. You can hope. It's an amazing hike! If it's still too snow covered though, Mürren–Spielbodenalp–Rotstockhütte–Wasenegg–Schiltalp–Mürren is a great alternative and is already open.