Our Berner Overland Itinerary

I think I would take out the caves on day one. Unless you run into some really bad weather, you are going to want to be outside, not stuck in a cave.

How are you getting to Switzerland? Your placement of Lucerne seems odd to me. It usually works best at the start or end of a trip as it’s so close to the Zurich airport.

My favorite in 2 trips is the cable car from wengen to mannlichen. And then the walk down to kleine scheidegg. I also love the walk from murren to gimmelwald.

Good decision to take out the Junfrau. I was so disappointed in it and much prefer Schilthorn.

Where are you staying? I ask because Kandersteg and Bern in one day is a long haul if you are in the Lauterbrunnen area for lodging.

I just saw your hotel and located it in Grindelwald. It is nearly 2 hours to Kandersteg, an hour to Bern from there, and another 90 minutes back to Grindelwald. Going up to Oeschinensee will take a couple of hours even if you use the electric shuttle bus instead of walking to the lake. Many people choose to have lunch at the lake and it is a nice option.

I would do Kandersteg or Bern, not both in one day.

Definitely not sure what we are able to fit in one day. We are pretty early risers. So that’s not an issue.

You're planning to do Luzern as a (half) day trip from the BO? Seems very inefficient to me. It takes a lot more time to get around these parts than it might seem from the map.

You have to make your plan flexible to deal with weather. For example, don't put off Mürren/Schilthorn to the last day. You need to monitor the situation and go all the way up on a sunny morning.

Hello Sean,

As far as the “must see’ things in the area, you have most of these in your itinerary already. The Golden Pass line is so beautiful, and Kandersteg/Oeschinensee is a real favourite of mine.

You might find that your Day 1 is a little light, especially compared with the other days. Obviously you can mix and match your days depending on weather, etc. and this could be a good slower day, but I think you could also easily include a ride on the Lake of Thun here instead of Day 4.

In my opinion Harder Kulm does not take a lot of time. Only a ten minute ride up, walk to the viewing platform and look around. Unless you plan on hiking, or eating in the restaurant, you probably won’t spend a lot of time here.

Another really nice option (rather than Harder Kulm) is to go up the Niederhorn. If you want to combine it with a boat ride on the Lake of Thun, you can get off at the Beatenbucht (See) stop, the funicular is right there.
https://www.niederhorn.ch/?lang=en



There is no ‘wrong’ choice here, it’s all beautiful and I am sure you will have a wonderful time!

I just noticed that spell check changed Oberland to Overland, lol.

Like I was saying this is just tentative. Nothing is set in stone. Between the weather and other possible issues, our plans could change at the last moment. As far as Lucerne goes, we are only doing about 1.5 days in Zurich and Lucerne would be able to be added to this days. I expect to have more than a half day in Lucerne. Get up early and go. For Bern I am really only interested in the Einstein stuff and the boat ride on Lake Thun. If we can't get to Bern then that is ok. We can still take a boat ride on Lake Thun. Just gotta see where the day takes us.