wrenwood

A few years ago we were in Zermatt and the Engadine in mid June, and the wildflowers were amazing!

I'm wondering if the timing would also be right for the BO? Somewhere I had read about a lovely easy hike outside Murren with wildflower meadows. I'm thinking we might stay in Murren.

I'm also curious about Kanderstegg, is the hiking easy there? How does it compare to Murren/Grindelwald area?

bilboburgler

BO?

adrienne

BO = Bernese Oberland

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernese_Oberland

bilboburgler

and they call it BO? ;-)

Ingo

Yes, mid June is a very good time. Maybe late June is even better, but it depends on the weather in the previous months.

I like Mürren very much, although it is not as conveniently located as, say, Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald. But it's car-free, relatively quiet, still offers everything you need in regards to hotels, restaurants, shops.

Kandersteg is different. The hiking options are not exactly as good if you stay a little longer. Very convenient for day trips, since it is on a major rail route.

judyjayp

Hi wrenwood,
I'll be staying in Lauterbrunnen in Mid-June too. Can you give me more info about that wildflower hike near Murren you mentioned?

wrenwood

Don't know judyjayp, I read about it somewhere and was hoping it would ring a bell with a Fodorite

Hi Ingo, long time! I did pick Murren because last time we were in the BO we stayed in Grindelwald. We really enjoyed it, but though Murren was charming and love the car-free towns/villages. We would probably have 2 weeks, so 5-6 days in Murren and 5-6 days somewhere else. Kandersteg came to mind because I remember someone talking about the hiking and the beautiful lake.

michele_d

We took a hike from Allmendhubel (take the funicular from Murren up to Allmendhubel) back down to Murren. It was a great walk though open fields. I would imagine it would be beautiful with the wildflowers in bloom.

Ingo

Hi wrenwood!

Beautiful lake(s) around Kandersteg, yes: Lake Oeschinen and Lake Blausee (unbelievable blue colour). But that's not enough for 5-6 days. There are still two or three other valleys/hiking options but you would have to do day trips from there. It's a quick train ride into the canton Valais (Lötschental e.g.), Adelboden is nearby (Engstligen waterfall), or the very beautiful wooden houses with carving decorations in Simmental (Erlenbach, Boltigen, Diemtigen e.g.)

No matter where you go in the mountains in Switzerland, it's beautiful everywhere.

wrenwood

Thanks Ingo, I'll look into those places. If we stayed in Kandersteg for only 2 nights or so, I know I can find other places for a day or two. We should have 16 days, so 13 days without airport travel.

We were in Sils September 2011 and had a surprise snowstorm, it was magical. Will send you some pics.


I have found these references to hikes, curious if anyone is familiar with them?

.......the North Face trail. It is called this because of the view of the north side of the Alps, and especially for the views of the north side of the Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau mountains. I've never seen so many beautiful and colorful wildflowers

........After spending two weeks hiking through the Alps, my personal favorite was from Gruetshalp to Murren. In the Untours hiking guide it is not specifically listed although it parallels the Grandfathers Walk. Instead of following the railroad right of way, take the Mountain View Trail. The trail is a bit strenuous at the start with a steep climb, however, the rest of the walk to Murren is stunning. I have never hiked a more beautiful trail!! I am not sure of the wildflowers during August as I hiked this trail in late June. During that time we walked through field after field of alpen rose and other wild flowers. Ending the hike in Murren is really nice.

wrenwood

I have found another refernce to a hike ~ anyone?

Once we arrive in Murren we will have a choice as to how to make our way up to Blumenfeld (field of flowers). A vigorous hike or a leisurely cogwheel ride! Once at the top you will have a spectacular view of Mt. Jungfrau, Monch and Eiger. Your choice again, either a brisk hike back down to the bottom or return by large cable car to the town of Stechelberg at the upper end of Lauterbrunnen Valley.

nukesafe

Your profile does not say where you are from, Wrenwood, but in case you wonder why you got the questions/snickers about your use of "BO" early in your post; in the States, the letters "BO" are used colloquially for "Body Odor".

Ingo

Wrenwood - the immediate area around Mürren, where all these trails are, is not really large. Mürren sits on a rather small terrace above the Lauterbrunnen valley as you certainly know. All these hikes offer the views of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. All these hikes lead right through fields of blooming wildflowers. Ideally you can take the Allmendhubel funicular, then walk down towards Grütschalp, from there walk along the cliffs and the train route via Winteregg back to Mürren. The next day you can take the Allmendhubel funicular again, turn left and walk down via Blumental. This is VERY short, so you could easily add a walk in the other direction, to Gimmeln or Gimmelwald and beyond.

wrenwood

Nukesafe, I do know what BO stands colloquially for, but didn't think it would occur to anyone on a question tagged Switzerland. Out of curiosity I did an adavanced topic search (topic and replies) tagged Switzerland for BO and came up with pages of postings.

Ingo, how many days would you plan to be there? We stayed in Grindelwald the last time we were in the BO and did the Mannlichen/Kleine Scheidegg walk and also the First/Bachalpsee hike. We would probably want to do those again, and also Schilthorn, so does it look to you like we would want a full week to also include Murren?

Ingo

Yes, a full week sounds reasonable. You must always calculate one or two days with not so good weather, so that leaves four or five days for hiking.

Are you sure you want to do those hikes again? There are others, similar ones in the area that are *slightly* different, especially on the First/Bachalpsee side of Grindelwald. You could walk from the lake to Grosse Scheidegg. Or from Bussalp via Faulhorn to the lake and First. And so on.