Help with July Swiss adventure

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.

<<"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.">>

The best way to get to Mürren is to fly to Zürich directly from the USA, rather than to Frankfurt.

The Swiss Rail timetable will help you understand the timing, which includes about 4 hours on the train from Frankfurt to Basel, before you continue to Mürren.

This website gives you a link -

www.myswissalps.com/ti metable

but, the SBB web site has a menu with a place for "via" which helps you work out options.

http://www.sbb.ch/en/h ome.html

The forum moderators (Annika and Arno) are experts on relative benefits of different modes of travel. And, whether a particular pass or card is a good idea. Perhaps they came jump in.

You can use the time table to experiment with travel by train to Austria to help make a decision about a car or train.

1./2. Flying into Zurich is indeed a good idea. That saves you at least 2.5 hours or traveling. Basel airport is an option too, although I don't think any flights from the US arrive there. In either case a Swiss Transfer Ticket is an option to look into. Whether this is the best option depends on where you'll travel next, and which cable cars you plan to use. Definitely don't rent a car before you're finished hiking as you'll be paying for a car you won't use: Mürren is car free, so you'd have to park it in the valley (paid). Plus, your hike will probably end in another valley, not near the car. You may rent a car after you hike. Take into account that trains are the way to go within Switzerland, unless you have some very specific plans in remote areas. Dropping the car in another country is pretty expensive, so renting one near the border once you leave Switzerland might be the best option.

3. There are several threads on hut to hut hiking:

• myswissalps.com/ forum/topic/ hut-to-hut-in-berner-oberland
• myswissalps.com/ forum/topic/ sept-3-day-3-night-hut-to-hut-hike-bernese-ober
• myswissalps.com/ forum/topic/ wengen-to-kandersteg-to-hike

A SAC membership is not required, but hut reservations are highly recommended. Please see www.sac-cas.ch.