Grindelwald hiking book
 

Is anyone out there aware of a hiking book for the Grindelwald area. My wife and I are going in August for 4 days and I would like to plan a few hikes. Thanks, J

Yes, I bought the Swiss Bernese Oberland - A travel guide with specific trips to the mountains, lakes, and villages by Philip & Loretta Alspach. It's a nice, handy little book. It was recommended here on Fodors.

With all the literature there is in Grindelwald, we discovered a couple other pleasant walks. ((b))

The best guide I have is The Bernese Alps by Kev Reynolds issued by the Cicerone Press. Reynolds' book has a little age on it, but the trails have not been reloacated to any appreciable extent since he issued it.

There are others around, but his is the most complete. I am not sure than any one book is definitive, but there are more hikes there than you will do in over a month of constant walking.

Of course some of them are extremely steep! This physical barrier alone may discourage many people.

If you want the king of them all without climbing, tackle the Schynigge Platte to First hike. You will need more than 7 hours for this trek unless you are a fast walker.

On a lesser scale, the Eiger North Wall trail from Alpiglen to the Eigergletscher station on the Jungfraujoch line is a good one. It gives an up close and personal vies of the Eiger.

Another good one is from First (gondola station) over to the bus stop near the restaurant at Grosse Scheidegg. From the restaurant stop, the bus takes passengers back to Grindelwald.

From this route you get a more panoramic view of the giants of the Berner Oberland without much climbing at all.

For a view of the inner mountain glacial world, take the cable ride to Pfingsteg and then turn west and then south along the glacier to the site of the former restaurant. (I understand that the restaurant was removed. That fact is unverified by me personally.)

If you continue beyond the area, the trail gets more difficult to navigate. You must cross a deep gully cut into glacial till and, if you go farther, you scale the cliffs of the Rots Gufer. Most people reverse their path at that barrier.

There are several others in the area that are quite nice, but those offer a range of challenges, from difficult to easy.

Here's a thread on the subject:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34791677 ((b))

>>><<<If you want the king of them all without climbing, tackle the Schynigge Platte to First hike. You will need more than 7 hours for this trek unless you are a fast walker.<<<>>>>>

On a lesser scale, the Eiger North Wall trail from Alpiglen to the Eigergletscher station on the Jungfraujoch line is a good one. It gives an up close and personal vies of the Eiger.>>>>>><<<<< >>><<<<<

Get started early on the Schyngge Playe hike.

On the Noth Face hike. This can be done several ways.

#1 You can start at Alpligen and walk up to Eiger glacier station area.

#2 Or my favorite is to start hike at Wengenalps station. Walk in the direction of Eiger glacier. Then you can walk back down to Alpligen. The bad part is the downhill trek is murder on the knees.

I have done it both ways and they are much fun. This is a great hike!!!

There are several books. Someone gave me the Untours walking guide a few years ago, but I do not know where that thing is. That book had walking hikes all over the Jungfrau, Merrigen, Kandersteg, Fruitigen areas. Just go to tourist office in Gridlewald and get a good map that details good trails in the area.

When you get to Gridlewald, go to the train station and get the free map first. You might want to spend about 10 francs and get the map that details more hikes