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Guided Best of the Bernese Oberland

This guided tour covers our favorite hikes across the Bernese Oberland, our home region in Switzerland.

Guided Best of the Bernese Oberland

This guided tour covers our favorite hikes across the Bernese Oberland, our home region in Switzerland.

    Support
  • Guided Group,
    Style
  • Inn-To-Inn,
    Activity Level
  • Moderate to Challenging,

The Bernese Oberland, the land of fairytales, waterfalls, soaring mountains and fields of wildflowers.

Stay in car-free villages clinging to the clifftops while you walk among the clouds. Hike all day, stop for a midday hot chocolate at a high mountain hut, and then hike some more. Your cozy alpine chalet will welcome you in the evening. Clean air. Pure mountain streams. Trails forever.

If you don’t have time for the full Bernese Oberland Traverse, at least make time for this shorter version, a 6 night tour exploring the Eiger-Jungfrau region- the heart of our favorite region in the Alps. We’ve kept our favorite detour to remote Obersteinberg, a stop that absolutely should not be missed. This tour is short and sweet, but still has it all… jaw-dropping alpine scenery, remote inns, quaint villages, and quiet trails.

Our guided tours are all guaranteed…sign up and you are going. Our guides are experts at finding the right pace for you and are happy to talk about the culture, the flowers, the history. Plus they make great lunches! If you want to truly relax and not worry about a thing, a guided group Best of the Bernese Oberland is the perfect tour.

 

See our Self-guided version

    Length
  • 7 days, 6 nights
    Departures
  • Jun 25 – Jul 1, 2024
  • Jul 8 – Jul 14, 2024Sold Out!
  • Aug 13 – Aug 19, 2024
  • Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2024Sold Out!
    Cost
  • $3995 Per Person
  • $650 Single Room

Itinerary At a Glance

Days 1-3

Schwarzwaldalp to Wengen

We start out in the heart of the Alps, at a cozy mountain inn surrounded by mountains and wildflowers and the sound of cowbells. Hike to the Eiger-filled views of Grindelwald, then under the North Face of the Eiger to car-free Wengen. Mountains don’t get more stunning than this.

Day 4

Obersteinberg

Our favorite stop might be your new favorite too. Obersteinberg is a rustic inn and working farm tucked at the far end of the Lauterbrunnen valley. Time forgot about this place, but you definitely won’t. This is really getting away from it.

Days 5-7

Murren

Next it’s on to Murren, our home away from home in the Alps, a hiker’s paradise. Quiet trails into forgotten valleys, a car-free village with stunning views. It’s the perfect finish to a great tour.

Included

Your tour will be led by an experienced Alpinehikers guide, with guided hikes daily. All transfers to and from trailheads are included. You’ll stay 4 nights in 3-star village hotels and 2 nights in cozy mountain inns. All breakfasts, picnic lunches, and dinners are included. Luggage transfers to all village hotels are also part of your tour, 5 of 6 nights.

Train travel to and from the region is not included. You can buy tickets when you arrive, or ask about adding a rail pass to your tour.

Full Itinerary

Day 1

Schwarzwaldalp

Arrive in Switzerland, and transfer by train to the quiet town of Meiringen to start the Bernese Oberland tour.  From here, a scenic bus ride takes you up and up, deeper into the Alps.

We’ll meet at the friendly and rustic Schwarzwaldalp inn.  You’re really in the heart of it already. Waterfalls and imposing mountains watch over us, with happy Swiss cows munching in the meadows all around.

Arrival: Zürich or Geneva. Plan to arrive by the day your tour starts. There is a train station in both the Zürich and Geneva airports, with hourly departures for this region. Travel time, 3:45 hrs (Zürich) or 4:30 hrs (Geneva).

The last bus to the inn departs Meiringen for Schwarzwaldalp at 16:20. Your flight should arrive by 12:00 (Zürich) or 10:30 (Geneva) to expect to make it on time.  Otherwise, plan to come a day early.

Schwarzwaldalp Inn
  • Dinner

Day 2

Grindelwald

After a hearty breakfast, we’ll hike over the Grosse Scheidegg Pass.  The mountains up to the pass are impressive enough, but your first views of the Eiger and of the Grindelwald Valley are guaranteed to take your breath away.

With 10,000 vertical feet separating valley from peak, Grindelwald sits at the base of one of the most impressive vertical mountain walls in the world. If the day is clear, we’ll detour via the postcard-perfect Bachsee Lake before winding down to the glacier village of Grindelwald and our lovely 3-star hotel.

HIKE: 6-8 hours, 10.5 miles; Elevation: 3400 ft. up, 3030 ft. down.

Hotel Gletschergarten or Derby
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

Day 3

Wengen

Today we’ll explore the Grindelwald Valley and hike to the famous Kleine Scheidegg Pass. The entire day is dominated by great close-up views of the Eiger North Face – perhaps the most notorious climb in the Swiss Alps.

Kleine Scheidegg itself is a bustling and historic hub.  After a quick break, we’ll descend on a favorite hidden trail with incredible vistas all day.  We’ll finish in the quiet village of Wengen for a restful night.

HIKE: 6-8 hours, 11.5 miles; Elevation: 3380 ft. up, 4490 ft. down

Hotel Schönegg or Alpine
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

Day 4

Obersteinberg

We’ll enjoy spectacular views of the Jungfrau and surrounding mountains on the way down from Wengen. Our trail winds through flowery meadows and dense woods to the lush Lauterbrunnen Valley floor, famous for its U-shaped glacially carved walls and – it’s claimed – 72 waterfalls cascading down.

The Lauterbrunnen valley was the inspiration for JRR Tolkien’s Rivendell.  You will see why.  After a break for lunch, we’ll hike to a wild and isolated corner of the Lauterbrunnen Valley for a memorable night in a remote mountain inn in one of the most spectacular corners of the Bernese Oberland.

HIKE: 6-8 hours, 10 miles; Elevation: 3440 ft. up, 1800 ft. down

Obersteinberg Inn
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

Day 5

Mürren

We have a couple of trail options today – the first, a panoramic climb over a high ridge with breathtaking views in every direction, the second, a beautiful wooded hike filled with waterfalls.

Both are spectacular, and both lead through sleepy Gimmelwald to the car-free village of Mürren, with its unparalleled cliffside views of the surrounding mountains, where we stay in a comfortable 3-star hotel.

HIKE: 4-6 hours, 6 miles; Elevation: 2120 ft. up, 2590 ft. down

Hotel Edelweiss or Bellevue
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

Day 6

Mürren

There are numerous dayhike possibilities around Mürren. One beautiful trail leads up to the scenic Lobhorn hut, for postcard-perfect views of the entire region, and maybe a quick dip in a cold alpine lake!

Or feel free to just unwind in one of the most scenic and relaxing villages in the Alps. The Schilthorn cable car is a big draw, with a revolving restaurant on top of Mürren’s local mountain. Or the Winteregg restaurant is perfect for an easy walk to a relaxing restaurant terrace.

HIKE: 5-7 hours, 8-10 miles; Elevation: 3050 ft up, 3050 ft down

Hotel Edelweiss or Bellevue
  • Breakfast
  • Lunch
  • Dinner

Day 7

depart

Today we say good-bye to the Bernese Oberland and depart for our post-tour destinations.  There is a train station in Mürren for easy departure.

Departure: Zürich or Geneva. It is 3 hrs from Mürren to Zürich airport, or 4 hrs Geneva.  Trains start at 6 am if you need an early start, and leave frequently throughout the day.

  • Breakfast

Tour Options

Guided Best of the Bernese Oberland

Inn-To-Inn

  • All departures guaranteed. No minimum group size.
  • Great options for easier days – our most flexible tour
  • A moderate inn-to-inn with 5 stops in 6 nights
  • Private rooms all nights and luggage 5 of the 6 nights
  • Enchanting stops like Obersteinberg and epic mountains daily
  • Everything… this is fairytale Alps
  • $3995Per Person
  • $650Single Room

Guided Classic Bernese Oberland Traverse

Inn-To-Inn

  • Great options for both harder and easier days
  • A moderate inn-to-inn with 8 stops in 10 nights
  • Private rooms every night, and luggage 8 of the 10 nights
  • Enchanting remote finds like Obersteinberg and Gasterntal
  • Wildflowers, mountains, waterfalls, cows, cheese, chocolate!
  • All departures guaranteed. No minimum group size.
  • Our top choice for a first trip to the Alps
  • $5195Per Person
  • $850Single Room

Guided Deluxe Bernese Oberland Traverse

Inn-To-Inn

  • All departures guaranteed. No minimum group size.
  • Great options for both harder and easier days
  • A moderate inn-to-inn with 5 stops in 8 nights
  • Luxurious hotels (and 1 mountain inn), luggage every night
  • Eiger and Jungfrau mountains, plus hidden surprises
  • This is our favorite region in the Alps, in style!
  • $6695Per Person
  • $1350Single Room

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