Switzerland Summer 2013 sightseeing choices

You've got a wonderful trip planned! We go to Switzerland for hiking and have spent quite a bit of time there. I have a suggestion for a place you can visit quite near Thun that provides opportunities for fantastic hiking, biking, and a mountain cheese farm visit. You would want to do those on 3 separate days, or at least two. Kandersteg is a village just 40 minutes south of Thun by direct train (no changes. Walk through town to the gondola and ride up to Oeschinensee, a beautiful alspin lake. www.oeschinensee There are a number of hikes possible there, but the one I recommend (one of my favorite hikes in the whole world) is the hike up to Freuendenhütte, a SAC hut above the lake. The trail ascends the cliff on a good solid trail on ledges, sometimes with a cable to hold for your peace of mind. But is is not technical and even an acrophobic like me loved this hike. Here is a view of the lake from the trail:
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/4054637 At the hut you are near the base of a glacier, but the hut is the end of the trail. You can have refreshments, but don't eat a full meal as I will also suggest that you have a late lunch/early dinner at the Hotel Oeschinensee, the rustic mountain inn on th eshore of the lake. The Wandfluh family runs the hotel and also owns an organic farm which provides some of the meat and most of the veggies served at the hotel restaurant. The food has been excellent every time we have eaten there. but you need to eat early, and the gondola down stops running around 6 pm (at least it did last time we were there). Or you could walk down to town, a descent of around 1600 feet over 2 km, or a good road/trail. I'll continue in a separate post

Oeschinensee also offers a "sculpture path" along the lakeshore, and boats to rent. You can make a wonderful day of a visit there. My next suggestion for Kandersteg would be on a different day. Rent bikes at the train station and bike into the Gasterntal, the next valley over. It is undeveloped, apart from farms and a rustic inn/restaurant or two, and traffic is restricted, so biking is easy and safe. You start on a road hung on the side of a cliff, over the raging torrent of the river below. Mark Twain described this road in "A Tramp Abroad" (which is a fun read if you are going to Switzerland). Then the vallley opens up and you have a nice view of cliffs, waterfalls, and the glacier on top as you cycle. http://www.myswitzerland.com/en/gasterntal.html Then there is a visit to the mountain dairy where they make cheese, Allmenalp. We haven't done this yet but I have seen it mentioned often as an activity from Kandersteg. Most references talk about reaching it from the top of the Allmenalp lift (where you can also watch hangliders take off) but I can't find that now. Here is a site with references to hiking there: http://www.kandertal.travel/en/events/woechenliche_sommer/kaesebesichtigung Another really beautiful hike I can suggest is in a different area, in the Valais. Travel from Thun to Bettmeralp, which is a journey of 1.5 hours and involves a cablecar ride up nearly 4000 feet as the laast leg. The village of Bettmeralp is perched on a bench above the Rhone valley. The ride behind it gives views over the mighty aletschgletscher, Europs longest glaceir, and there are several hiking possibilities here, including a long traverse above the glacier for miles, ending at a lake and hut for lunch. www.bettmeralp.ch

Adding info about our interests: food/wine shopping and preparation (not expensive restaurant meals, love farmers' markest and artisanal foods), mountain hiking & biking, and cities/cultural events (theater, concerts), especially outdoor ones. We will look for open air theaters and may try the Montreux Jazz festival. That might be too crowded for our tastes, though.

Thank you so much, Lola, those are fantastic and specific tips. I'm definitely going to add those to the trip plan. Have you spent any time in cities or larger towns? Any regions or towns you found less inspiring than others?

Hi Nellie-we are usually so eager to get hiking that we don't spend time in the Swiss cities, apart from our arrival and departure nights in Zurich. But I've alwasy wanted to see Basel for the museums and architecture, and Luzern is well worth a visit for cultural activities and sights. If you will be there in early July, you will have a chance to attend Zurich Fest, which they do only once every 3 years. http://www.zuerifaescht.ch/ We were there for the last one; the longest street fair I've ever seen, an amazing air show with helicopters, fireworks, etc. Yes, there were crowds, but they were not unruly and it was a lot of fun for a few hours. Or if you are there eearly August, you may catch one of the "dorfests" in the mountain villages. I think Mürren has one the first weekend in August. I meant to ask about your World Masters Games-what is your event? I was a competitor (and medal winner) in the 1998 World Masters' Games, held in Oregon that year. I would have loved to go to Turin (although not to compete again, just to watch), but we will be in Italy later in the fall and can't go to Italy twice!

Rowing is my passion - see the PM I just sent you. My regular rowing partner also competed in the Oregon games and it's at her urging that we are going. What was your event?

We just returned from 18 days in Switzerland. We liked Lucern quite a bit and enjoyed walking around the Old Town and the Chapel Bridge. We were there during the Lucern Music Festival and went to a Mozart concert in their concert hall, which is very impressive. We did not go to Bern. We were not impressed with Lausanne although we took an afternoon to hike in the Lavaux vindyards above Lac Leman and that is a really beautiful area. I enjoyed that a lot. The Chillon Castle was nice but we spent too mcuh time there. We spent 7 days in the Berner Oberland hiking. You can't go wrong with any of the trails there. My wife really liked the afternoon we spent in Gimmewald. It was here favorite day even though we had an absolutely perfect day on the Schilthorn and a hike we took from there. Another thing we really enjoyed was hiking across a glacier to a mountain hut for lunch from the Jungfraujoch. She also enjoyed our last dinner before heading home in the Niederdorf area of Zurich. Zurich is nice but I would only spend time there if you are flying in or out of there (unless you like cities).

My event was Mountain Biking. There were not many women, but I rode with a delightful woman from Australia who was in the next age group up. Each of us won our age, and we finished together, hands raised and joined as we crossed the finish.

If you'll have a car, a long day trip to Zermatt on a clear would be worthwhile, if only to see the Matterhorn (although you'll have to take a train for the last segment). It really is one of the most stunning mountains in the world.

I completely agree with Tom. The Matterhorn is incredible and I like Zermatt too. It will be a long day from Thun but it is totally doable.
There are so many valleys that are off the beaten path in Switzerland and that are amazing. Two places that I like very much are: the Lotschenthal and the Anniviers valley.

Asking the hotel staff,people that work at the shops and stores and that live near your base, can give you ideas that are nearby and off the beaten path.
Those kinds of places can be added bonuses to your trip.

Hi Nelly I am Swiss and recommend you visiting the Valle Verzasca when you pass the canton of Ticino. You will find various small villages with traditional stone buildings, good restaurants and awesome sights. At the start you will pass the famous Verzasca Dam, where the intro of the James Bond movie "Goldeneye" was filmed. You can of course stand on the top and risk a scary view 220m down one of the highest dams in Europe.
If you have time to enjoy an ice cream at a beautiful place, I would choose Ascona. The town is worth a visit, I guarantee. If you are looking for a nice city, I recommend (agreeing with Steve) Bern and Luzern. In Bern you can not only rent an audio guide at the railway station to discover the whole city on your own but also join an interesting guided tour through our parliament. The chance is very high that you see some popular Swiss politics. Hiking you can experience all over the country. I can't decide for just one tour, there are too many nice trails. I wish you a very nice stay in our country and many unforgettable moments. Regards from Zürich

Val Verzasca is a great suggestion. The village of Sonogno is a place we have longed to visit. There are hiking paths (sentieri) the length of the valley, and a Roman Bridge to see. You would approach this valley from Locarno.

Thank you all! These are wonderful suggestions and some are definitely new ideas that I haven't seen elsewhere before. My list is growing, but is more concrete and specific already due to your help. Ice cream is always on the list...thanks Tobias!