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Can anyone comment on our four night five day hiking itinerary below? We are a fit brother and sister late 40’s and 50’s traveling with our kids for some hiking and Swiss Alps experience. Our kids are hardy as are we and we are runners and climbers. We are arriving from Chicago and Toronto to Geneva.
August 23rd – Arrive Geneva train to the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Do the waterfall walk and then take cable car up to Murren for our fist night at The Eiger Guest House.
August 24th – Hike from Murren to Gspaltenhornhutte via the Siffenenfurgee Pass (2612 Meters). We’ll plan to stop at Rotstckhutte (2039 meters) by noon and have lunch then continue on to reach Gspaltenhornhutte by 5pm where we’ll sleep for the night. Total hiking time: about 5 to 5.5 hours. I’m told we should plan to make a detour to Schiltap, a cheesemaker’s settlement where we can get snacks coming out of Murren. I’m unsure of whether the kids will be okay on this route given a few blogs I’ve read about the Siffenenfurgee Pass itself so we have an alternate plan hiking from Murren to Obersteinbreg and staying at the Obersteinberg Mountain Hotel. I’m told the route is from Murren to Obersteinberg via Gimmelwald and Tanzbodeli is about 4 hours.
August 25th: Gspaltenhornhutte to Oeschinensee. Our plan will be to stop at Blüemlisalphütte for lunch and rest to break this section up. The morning of August 26th we can then descend to Kandersteg via cable car and take the train to our next spot to hike by noon.
August 26th – We have several options below.
Do we take the train to Zermat today and plan some hiking and stay in the shadow of the Matterhorn? Is this too far and/or not really that different than the area we’re already in?
OR
Take the train in Kandersteg to Grindelwald (1.5 hours) and then do the hike to the Eigeralp Farm (4 hours) for an overnight? This puts us in close proximity to First and I’ve heard the cliff walk at First is really neat so should we definitely plan to do this?
OR
Take the train to Stechelberg and hike up to The Obersteinberg (Candle light hotel) (Takes about 2.5 hours) and stay here for the night. Are there hot showers here? If not, is there another option someone can suggest where we will have a hot shower?
August 27th – Plan to make our way to Geneva departing around 10ish do non-hiking activities along the way or go right to Geneva and do some sight seeing there.
Lastly, do you think we should do the Jungfrau somewhere in here? It is quite expensive. What about the Via Ferrata? Did I miss anything?
Thanks in advance for any input!
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Hi RheaCam and welcome to MySwissAlps!
You seem to have a well thought out hiking plan! I haven’t done those hikes so I will save any comments from experienced hikers on this forum.
For Aug.26: I’m sure the Matterhorn is different that the mountains you will see on this trip on the days before. However, if seeing the Matterhorn itself isn’t a priority for you then I wouldn’t go that far for more hiking.
As for the Candlelight Hotel Obersteinberg, Stechelberg:
There is no electric power in Mountain Hotel Obersteinberg – candles only. No running water is found in the 15 double rooms.As for hiking in the Jungfrau region, we have some hiking suggestions here including the hikes with descriptions around First.
I hope that helps a little! I am sure other members who have hiked in that area can offer more details and insight. 🙂
Cheers,
LucasOther posts and comments here and on TA directed me to put together this intinerary. As well as an abundance of online resources from SAC and other Swiss maps and blogs. A special thank you to all in advance for posting such great information as a resource. I will be posting a trip report so others can benefit from this learning.
Hi RheaCam,
The First Cliff Walk is a tourist attraction for the “average tourist” and may not be that exciting after all the strenuous and wonderful hikes you’ve planned. If you want to experience something like this you can also consider the “Thrill Walk” at Birg, a cableway station between Mürren and Schilthorn. That’s much closer. The Grindelwald area is wonderful though, but I doubt if experienced hikers as yourself should go there for First.
If you decide to stay in the Jungfrau region it might make sense to start in Grindelwald and work your way west via Mürren to Kandersteg and end your hike there. Logistically that’s slightly easier.
I’m looking forward to the trip report!
Hi RheaCam,
You have chosen a couple of the more strenuous, if satisfying hikes in the Oberland. The Sefinenfurgga pass is OK. There is a long, tiring scree scramble up to the pass itself and I understand it is now recommended to do it from east to west for some reason. I did it many years ago in the opposite direction without any trouble. I had planned to walk to Kandersteg, but had to cut it short due to snow (in August) and as I was hiking alone, it was better to play it safe.
I know everybody has a GPS in their phone these days, but it’s hard to beat a map and compass to know where you are going in the higher areas where route marking is a bit sketchy. Also useful is a pocket altimeter. If you know the altitude of your starting point, you can navigate in bad weather by following contour lines (map needed for this). Trails are well marked and sign posted at lower altitudes. As you go higher, paths are marked with white-red-white stripes painted on rocks. Harder/higher paths have white/blue/white stripes. (some scrambling/climbing maybe needed). Extra care needs to taken on these paths. Keep a look out for small stone cairns that may be used as route markers. They’re sometimes put up by hut wardens, or even individual hikers. They’ve become a bit of a “Thing” in recent years. All the other normal precautions apply. Wear good boots, have full wet weather gear and food and water and a hiking stock (or 2. Your preference). If you are taking your cell phone, put the emegency numbers in before you go. http://www.erstehilfe.ch/
As far as doing a Klettersteig, there is a great one in Kandersteg called the Allmenalp. My avatar is me on it. A real hoot! http://www.allmenalp.ch/aktiv itaeten/klettersteig/
There is also a Klettersteig called the Rotstock (not to be confused with the Rotstock near Muerren), which is a bit easier, on part of the Eiger. Originally built in the 1800s, it was rediscovered and rebuilt in the late 1990s and is a mixture of old and new. You could say you’ve been on the Eiger! http://www.summitpost.org/eig er-rotstock/739476
Have a great trip!
alan
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