This might qualify as a trip report but I am posting it here as more Switzerland-bound folks might stumble across it.
We just spent 3 nights in Kandersteg. This was our second 3-night stay as we visited last year as well. We are smitten and have already planned 5 nights there next September. As is so often the case, a return trip yields a depth of knowledge, things discovered that we missed the first time through, and a list of “gotta-dos” and repeats for the next time.
There is lovely scenery, a calmness not found in the Lauterbrunnen Valley at this time of year, great easy hikes (our specialty) as well as hike to challenge the most energetic and fit twenty-somethings. It is a sweet village that feels like a great place to live.
The hotel we stayed at, the Hotel Blümisalp, offers incredible hospitality and phenomenal optional half-pension dinners as well as a stellar a la carte restaurant. (Husband is an award-winning chef.) There is fabulous as-good-as-Italy pizza at the Hotel Chalet Adler, and a to-die-for bakery, the Marmotte, in town.
The Berner Oberland Regional Pass covers all buses, trains, and lifts here, but you will also receive two “gifts” from participating hotels, a Guest Card good for buses and trains from Reichenbach to Kandersteg and Adelboden (not as nice as Kandersteg, IMO), plus a lift card good for the 3 cable cars that run out of Kandersteg.
Kandersteg would be a great stop for 3 or 4 nights on your way to-or-from the Lauterbrunnen Valley. We won’t stop going to Lauterbrunnen but we will tack on time in Kandersteg every year.