Hi! We are planning a 16 day European adventure and have turned our sights toward a 3-4 day hut to hut adventure in the Bern/Oberland/ Jungfrau regions. We already have flights in to Frankfurt (from Oregon, USA) and are thinking we want to start our journey with the Swiss hiking adventure, and then figure out what's next. We arrive in Frankfurt on July 8 around 1 pm. Some questions:
1. What is the best way to get from Frankfurt to somewhere around Murren? We are up for renting a car or taking the train, but it seems that if we are hiking for a few days, we won't need a car quite yet. Is it more economical to take a train and then hike and then find a car after? We are thinking we'd head toward Austria after Switzerland...
2. Do we need a pass of some kind to take cable cars or lifts in that region of Switzerland?
3. What would you imagine is the best option for hut to hut hiking in the Murren/ Gimmelwald area? And how do we get/ or do we need reservations (it will be July....)? We are comfortable with 4-6 hour hikes per day... Would you advise purchasing a Swiss alpine club membership?
THANK YOU for your help! This is very exciting.