Hiking in Switzerland
 

My wife and I would like to do some hiking in Switzerland in late August. We will fly into Zurich and need to get back to Zurich in 3 or 4 days. We like the outdoors, not cities and being in our 60's are not interested in nightlife. It should be a place resonably esy to get to by rail. I've been thinking of Engelberg. Any comments or suggestions for other locations?

Why not consider also the Berner Oberland?

In June 2002, we hiked in Murren, a village in the mountains in the Berner Oberland. Wonderful views, miles and miles of hiking trails at all experience levels. It was absolutely heaven. The mountains are right in your face.

How is Murren in mid-August, is it really crowded, hard to get inexpensive(relatively) hotel reservations? I was there once in mid-Sept and loved it, thinking of going for a few days in August...

Thanks!

Another vote for the Berner Oberland.

There are excellent hikes of all levels throughout the area.

By train, you can reach Interlaken in about three hours, depending on connections. From Interlaken you can continue to Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Grindelwald or Murren.

There are ample hiking opportunities from any of these locations.

Just back from my 3-week trip to Europe. We spent 2 nights in Murren and took several hiking trails. We arrived Zurich in the early morning and then took the Golden Express from Luzern to Interlaken.

All the hiking trails we took have excellent view and suitable to most people. Of course, there are some other more series trails in that area. Just pick up the free map at the Tourist Center.

Thanks to all. The Berner Oberland sounds like the place to go. Now I have to figure ot the rail connections and times.

Anyone done any hikes in Gstaad?

To get from Zürich to Interlaken, there are numerous trains by way of Bern and by way of Luzern.
You can travel from the train station in the airport directly to Interlaken without changing trains. Departures are at 8:40 and every hour thereafter until late in the afternoon, 6:40 pm (18:40)
There are many more connections that involve a change or two.
To reach Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen, you take a BOB train from Interlaken Ost. The trip takes 20 minutes to Lauterbrunnen.

You can read schedules yourself at www.sbb.ch. The captions are in four languages: German, French, Italian, and English.
Click on the English words for the English captions.

The system is very complete and gives all intermediate stops and times of arrival and departure if you drill down far enough.

There are several good walks. I like two in particular. One, take the gondola up to First (means ridge in German) and walk to the Faulhorn. A little steep toward the end, but still beautiful. The other one is to go to the restaurant at Stieregg and look at the tumble of ice that comes off of the mountain. if you care to negotiate the gully south of the restarurant, you can scramble to the cliffs of the Rots Gufer.
That is where I stop because going up that slope hanging onto ladders and cables is not something that enable me to make for 70 years.
There are other walks in the area, too.

And of course if you have the budget, there is the excursion to the Jungfraujoch. Fun, but pricey.

Another beautiful hiking area is just south of Appenzell in the mountians. It's easy to hike several hours from inn to inn. We're doing it next week.

Paul, I'd be very interested on how your Appenzell Inn to Inn works out

virginiagentleman: I wholeheartedly vote for Engelberg!!!Just back 3 weeks ago from Brienz in the Berner Oberland, but absolutely loved this town!!!It reminded me of Kandersteg (to the south, if you've never been there). Wonderful hikes available from Engelberg itself, and from the town of Stans, about 20 minutes away. Engelberg excursion up to Mt. Titlis, with a stop-off halfway for a picnic lunch at Trubsee (a mountain lake with the snow-capped mountains mirrored in its peaceful waters), is not to be missed! On Mt. Titlis, there is a snow park with tobogganing available and a four-story lookout/restaurant. Only drawback is that rail connections are slightly more inconvenient than the Berner Oberland (only adds about 45-60 minutes though.)Stans is a real beauty as well, with the Stanserhorn being ITS local mountain (great hikes here too). Day trips to Lucerne for a taste of the city can be accomplished in about 90 minutes by rail. Engelberg has a HUGE office for tourism (mostly the swiss and germans), to assist with hikes. A Coop market in town had a self-service cafeteria to keep meal costs down. Numerous restaurants in town with outdoor seating and a nice selection of DELECTABLE eats (have the Alplermagronen with a side of Apfelmus). I am already investigating vacation apartments to book for NEXT year in Engelberg. And by the way, day trips to the Berner Oberland are completely accessible--about 2 to 3 hours away.

Hi Rach, I live in Stans so I'm pleased that someone else appreciates this lovely area. Yes, there are tons of hikes around the Engelbergertal. I'm never bored. Be sure to do the hike towards Blackenalp up the valley towards Surenenpass next time (starting from the Fürenalp cable car, have the rösti at the Alpenrösli) and the hikes around Klewenalp/Emmetten and Niederrickenbach. The hike from Jochpass-Engstlenalp-Hasliberg or Melchsee Frutt is a long day but fabulous (take cable car-train back from Meiringen or bus/train back from Melchtal). Did you know there is a regional pass for central switzerland? http://www.tell-pass.ch/home_en.htm