Hi! My partner and I will be spending early September in Switzerland this year, mostly day hiking. We are relatively experienced hikers who are used to altitude. We’ll be staying in Kandersteg for a few days and are interested in hearing if anyone has any favorite/recommended hikes in the area other than the Oeschinensee loop. If there are any lesser-traveled hikes you wouldn’t mind sharing, I’d love to hear! Interested in anything from easy hikes up to more difficult day hikes - probably topping off around 20km/1,000m elevation gain. We’ll have the Swiss Travel Pass and are happy to add on a gondola ride or other non-included transportation as needed. We also have several days planned in the Lauterbrunnen - Mürren - Grindelwald area, and those hikes are all generally planned (thanks in part to many of the posts in this forum!), so just looking in the Kandersteg area. Thank you in advance for your suggestions!
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
12256 posts
We have visited the area 3 times and here are couple of starter ideas for you. Know we are “easy hikers” these days so 20km/1000m elevation change is not on my list with wonky knees and aged hips.
Arvenseeli https://outdoor.meine-berge.ch/mobile/en/tour/hiking-trail/arvenseeli/51554012/ is a short, picturesque loop hike. A local told us it is popular to carry on over the Gemmipass to Leukerbad https://leukerbad.ch/en/tour/gemmipass-sunnbuel-57524090 but we have not as the descent would put me in traction, LOL. (Downhill is evil!)
The Gasterntal is not difficult but is a treat, requiring some arrangements for access so it keeps out the hoards. Still, our bus was full and without a reservation made the day prior, we would have been out of luck. I wrote about it here https://girovaga.com/2023/09/08/checking-things-off/.
It is a beautiful area and at least during our visits in September, not horribly crowded,
Posted by
OP
Colorado, US
2 posts
Thanks for the suggestions! The Gasterntal looks really cool and maybe a bit different from some of the other hikes we're doing. I'll have to look into the bus situation a bit more - looks like it might (?) be only on weekends in September and sadly we'll be there only weekdays. If there's no bus, perhaps we could do an out and back hike into the valley. Sunnbüel to Gemmipass also looks like a good option - and I agree about downhill, we'd probably take the cable car down to Leukerbad from Gemmipass!