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I’m trying to plan a hut to hut hike in the Bernese Oberland.
Here’s the plan:
Start the hike mid-day on Sept 10 somewhere not far from Grindelwald and end hike on Sept 13 with enough time to make a train for Geneva arriving late afternoon. My girlfriend and I are in good shape and able to hike some difficult trails although beautiful scenery is more important. I’ve been reading that some of the huts are starting to close in September. Also, I’ve read a few of the threads below and recommendations seem to focus around 3 one day hikes. I’d really like to do 3 days of hut to hut hiking. I’ve also looked up a few of the web sites recommended and it seems difficult for me to plan this out.
Any help would be GREATLY appreciated as the time is approaching.
Thanks,
JR
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Just noticed a past post with this itinerary:
Grindelwald to Wengen
Wengen to Oberstienberg
Oberstienberg to Murren
Murren to Kanderstieg
Can anyone comment on this route? Difficulty, scenery, heavily traveled, which huts and are they open?
Thanks,
JR
Hi JR! The trails you selected are quite challenging, but if you’re indeed in good shape and experienced with mountain hiking, you should be fine. I don’t think that your suggestions are easy to plan in 3 days though.
- Grindelwald-Wengen: you’ll pass Kleine Scheidegg on your way and splendid views are guaranteed. It’s about 3,5 hours uphill and you’ll pass the foot of the Eiger massif. Details are here. Kleine Scheidegg-Wengen is another 2 hours downhill;
- Wengen-Obersteinberg can be divided in several sections. First you’ll descend over rather steep path to Lauterbrunnen in 1 to 1,5 hours. Then you’ll have a flat 1 to 1,5 hour hike through the valley to Stechelberg, where your ascent to Obersteinberg (2-3 hours) starts off.
- I’m not familiar with the trail Obersteinberg-Mürren. As far as I can tell it’s not an easy route, but very scenic;
- if you want to plan Mürren to Kandersteg on your last day and still have to head for Geneva,that’s too much for one day. Adding it to the same day as the Obersteinberg-Mürren leg wouldn’t be possible either. Only Griesalp-Kandersteg takes about 8 hours and you’d still have to get from Mürren to Griesalp first.
Most huts will still be open by begin September. You can best search for information on the specific huts you’ve selected through SAC.
If you find it difficult to plan, you may want to hike a few legs of one of the well marked national routes instead. Great information, including height profiles and overnight suggestions, is available at the Wanderland website. Consider leg 11, 12 and 13 of the Via Alpina for example: three full days of challenging hiking and a 4th day to travel to Geneva. Mind that you’ll be starting quite late on September 10 for your first leg. You may want to take a shortcut by train to Kleine Scheidegg.
I hope this helps you out a bit. Have fun preparing!
Annika,
Thank you so much for your reply. One thought I had was to skip section 10 of Via Alpina since we will have spent the afternoon on the train of the Jungfrau, then maybe hiking down from Kleine Scheidegg and this seems to be quite popular, and instead add on section 14 on the last day which seems a little more remote. Can you comment on this option:
Sept. 17: Stage 11
Sept. 18: Stage 12
Sept. 19: Stage 13
Sept. 20: Stage 14.
Then take the train to be in Geneva by evening of the 20th?
James.
Hi James! I’m not sure if I understand your idea on skipping section 10 correctly . If you want to walk the ‘highlights’ of the Bernese Oberland, starting at stage 11 would be a good idea anyway. Stage 11 still includes the hike down from Kleine Scheidegg, but I assume you don’t mind this? By the way, mid-September is no longer high season, so even popular routes won’t be crowded.
As for your last day: note that the trip from Adelboden to Geneva still takes 3h30 (the timetable provides details). If it doesn’t matter how late you arrive you’ll be fine of course, but if you’re in any way time dependent this trail might be too long. Hikes can alway take longer than estimated due to several circumstances, and you don’t want to rush down to Adelboden to catch a train. Other than this, I think you picked some gorgeous routes. If weather is good, you’ll have an amazing hiking experience!
Annika,
Thanks again for your input. One more question–we’d like to stay at mountain huts/refugios rather then in the towns. Can you recommend an itinerary with the names of the refugios for this 3day 3 night hike. Day 1 we would start in Lauterbrunnen.
Hello James,
You can best take a look at the SAC website Annika referred to. All hut details, including contact information to book them, can be found there.
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