Trip plan help for Bernese Oberland and Valais

  • Removed user
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    2 February 2018 at 15:11:14 #814225

    thanks for all the great advice in planning our 2 week trip next year

    have all most got it planed .have decided not to do the bernie express this time but concentrate in the Bernese Oberland and valais region.

    flying in to Zurich in aug.train to zerrmatt for 5 nights,(train looks quicker than from Geneva or would you recommend due to better scenery )

    train to leukebad for two nights for more hiking and relax in spar

    train to wengen for 4 nights. before getting train back to Zurich

    that gives us 2 or three nights spare so question to all is ,should we extend stay in one of these places or stay in anther venue .

    opsions I thought of were

    1/ going to kandersteg for two nights (looks quite scenic

    2/. staying in sass fee

    3/staying at brienz after wengen

    4/ as I want to hike to the trift bridge near meiringen is it best to do from winged or stay in meiringen.

    have stayed in zerrmatt twice before and love it but just wondered about seas fee.

    thanks in advance

    shaun

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    Removed user
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    3 February 2018 at 2:49:36 #875515

    Hi Shaun,

    >> flying in to Zurich in aug.train to zerrmatt for 5 nights,(train looks quicker than from Geneva or would you recommend due to better scenery )

    Zürich to Zermatt is indeed the fastest route (about 3.25 hours), because you spend about 35 km of the trip in the Lötschberg-Basistunnel (and therefore miss a lot of beautiful scenery)!

    Geneva to Zermatt is the next fastest route (3.5-3.75 hours). There is some lovely scenery between Geneva and Montreux, i.e. the sector along Lac Léman (lake Geneva) and past the Lavaux terraced vineyards. Between Montreux and Visp you travel along the floor of a broad valley with larger towns and cities, in which modern buildings and commercial and industrial activity feature prominently. But it is a pleasant enough journey nonetheless.

    If you have time for a longer scenic trip, starting from Zürich, there are two main options:

    1. Incorporating part of the Golden Pass scenic route, plus the Lötschberg scenic route (about 6.75 hours)

    • Normal train Zürich-Luzern
    • Golden Pass scenic route Luzern-Interlaken Ost (Luzern-Interlaken Express)
    • Normal train Interlaken Ost to Spiez
    • Lötschberger scenic route Spiez to Brig (put via Kandersteg into your timetable search to get this route, avoiding the Lötschberg-Basistunnel)
    • Glacier Express route (on a normal train) Brig to Zermatt

    2. Incorporating the full Golden Pass route (Luzern to Montreux) is also an option, but would take over 9 hours:

    • Normal train Zürich-Luzern
    • Golden Pass route Luzern-Interlaken Ost-Spiez-Zweisimmen-Montreux
    • Normal trains Montreux-Zermatt via Visp

    >> staying in sass fee

    If you are interested, I have written trip reports (including photos) about Saas-Fee and some nearby mountain attractions, which might help you decide whether to stay there:

    Saas-Fee

    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/saas-fee-in-mid-september-2016

    Mittelallalin

    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/saas-fee-mittelallalin

    Hannigalp

    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/saas-fee-hannigalp

    Hohsaas & Mattmark Dam

    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/saas-fee-saas-grund-hohsaas-and-mattmark-dam

    Alpenrose

    Removed user
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    3 February 2018 at 12:29:31 #875516

    thats very interesting ,information for thought ,thank you

    any thoughts on weather to stay longer at leukerbad or go to kandersteg or which place would you consider better.

    while in zermatt we want to hike to top of blithorn from Klein matterhorn.i see you need a guide ,where best to book one

    Removed user
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    72625 posts
    4 February 2018 at 9:51:19 #875517

    Hi Shaun,

    I don’t have any personal experience with hiking guides, but Zermatt tourism has details on hiking guides, and a lot of other hiking information on their website here: https://www.zermatt.ch /en/hiking

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