Looking for help on planning 4 day hiking trip

Hi All - I am trying to plan a 4 day 5 night hiking trip in the Bernese Oberland and am looking for some advice. We are looking to hike up to 15 kilometers per day and want to make best use of the availible time. Currently we are thinking of starting in Meringen and going to Schwarzwalpalp, Grindelwald, Wengen and ending in Murren.

Any suggestions for changes or improvement would be appreciated.

roy

Hi Roy,

Switzerland is a very vertical country. Therefore, it is not the distance that matters but the vertical ascent. It is quite a different matter to hike 15 km on flat vs elevation gain of 500, 100, or 1500 meters. Please advise as to your hiking experience with elevation gain AND at altitude.

Prior to your reply, I will say that the hike from Meiringen to Grosse Scheidegg is one of the most spectacular in the region and one of my all time favorites (16 times in the region). It is about 16 km and 1350 meters of vertical ascent. Can be assisted by bus transfer as several points along the way. Schwarzwaldalp is about 300 meters lower than GS so a bit easier to reach.

Also, based on your description it sounds as though you are planning to hike from Schwarzwaldalp to Grindelwald, which usually encompasses the short uphill from S'alp to Grosse Scheidegg then the very long downhill (over 1400 meters) to Grindelwald. That's a recipe for beating up your knees, there are much better alternatives.

Hi Kim - thanks for your reply. To answer your questions we have done quite of higher altitude hiking in the US and Canadian rockies, the Sierra's, Kilimajoro, etc. With that said.... we are looking for relatively moderate difficulty on this trip. We are really looking to enjoy the senery and experience the people and livestyle as much as getting a good hiking workout. You seem to have extensive experience hiking in this area so please make whatever recommendations you think best for the 4 day and 5 nights. I don't think our experience will be a limiting factor but again we're not looking to do 4000' vertical and 20 mile per day hikes on this trip.

I have booked hotels but they are changeable and frankly I was doubtful about the Schwarzwalp to Grindelwald portion to the trip. I undertand that it is relatively crowded in the late summer and would like some portion of the hikes that are not in the high traffic areas. Also I have purchases a few Bernese Alps guide books and am looking for good quality hiking maps. Your recommendation for those would be appeciated.

Looking forward to your response and again thank you for your valuable input.

Hi Roy,

It sounds like you want to do point-to-point vs. staying in one base and doing day hikes from there. Is that your preference?

And since you mention existing hotel reservations, can I assume that you are okay with inns in small villages rather than preferring to stay in huts? Hut to hut hikes can be done in the region but limit your choices.

I have a 40+ page guide to the region with lots of day hikes as well as two four day point-to-point hikes. That would be a good place to start. If you would like a copy send me a private message with your email address.

You can buy high quality (expensive) detailed hiking maps even in pretty small villages. If you want to buy them ahead you will, of course need to plan out your route first then get the appropriate maps. One top brand is Kummerly & Frey. I've only found these in the UK; a google search will yield a number of on-line vendors that will ship them to you. For most of the hikes in the BO you really don't need detailed maps as the ways are pretty well marked.