MT02: Bear-Trek

“We had a fantastic time while visiting Switzerland. The Bear-Trek walk was an incredible experience. Faulhorn was a highlight for us. The views were spectacular and it was just ourselves and a few other people to enjoy them. The accommodations were all very good. We also had a wonderful time!”

Day 1: Interlaken. Fly into Zurich and travel by train to Interlaken a lively and beautifully situated small city between the shores of two lakes.

Day 2: Interlaken – Faulhorn. Start your day with a slow, but spectacular train ride from Interlaken via Wilderswil to the top of the Schynige Platte. Here you are so close to the gigantic trio of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau that you can almost touch their icy surface! Enjoy the unobstructed views on your walk on the high route to the mountain guesthouse on the peak of the Faulhorn (no luggage transfer).

Day 3: Faulhorn – Grindelwald. After a hearty breakfast, you have the choice of several alternatives to walk from the Faulhorn down to Grindelwald, your destination for tonight. The most leisurely possibility will take you down the slope with the help of a cable car, the most challenging one will take you first to the mountain pass of Grosse Scheidegg, from where you walk down to Grindelwald, a walk that takes about 6 hours to complete.

Day 4: Grindelwald – Wengen (standard) or Kleine Scheidegg (upgrade): Of course, there is the possibility to travel from Grindelwald to the Kleine Scheidegg by train, but it’s definitively more rewarding to tackle this ascent by human power, as it gives you so many more opportunities to stop and marvel at the tremendous, black North face of the Eiger, towering above your heads. On your walk to Kleine Scheidegg, you also have the possibility to walk along the “Eiger Trail” which takes you particularly close to the foot of the Eiger North Face. If you have booked the standard itinerary of this walk, you board a train on Kleine Scheidegg and travel down to Wengen, a train ride of approx. 30 minutes (included in the price). In the upgraded version, you spend the night in an historic 4-star hotel on the Kleine Scheidegg, which is also the base for mountaineers attempt-ing to climb the famous and challenging Eiger North Face.

Day 5: Kleine Scheidegg / Wengen – Mürren. From the Kleine Scheidegg respectively from Wengen, you walk down to Lauterbrunnen directly, or you follow the more spectacular route which leads you downhill close to one of the highest waterfalls in the region. Either way, you then follow the bottom of the valley to Stechelberg, from where your climb up to Mürren starts. Again, a cable car is a welcome alternative to get to Mürren. The village of Mürren is big enough to offer some enter-tainment and small enough to still be very cosy. It is also one of eight Swiss villages which are free of motor traffic.

Day 6: Mürren – Griesalp. The first part of your walk takes you over Alpine meadows and past the Schilthorn, a mountain which has become famous all over the world, albeit under the name of “Piz Gloria”, when sequences of the film “On her majesty’s secret service”, starring George Lazenby as James Bond were shot up here. You gain altitude quickly then on your steady climb towards the “Sefinefurgge”, the mountain pass that opens to the neighbouring Kiental, where the Griesalp is located, your destination for the day.

Day 7: Griesalp – Kandersteg. Dwarfed by the huge mass of the Blüemlisalp, another 4000er of the Bernese Oberland Alps, you ascend to the “Hohtürli” pass (2778m), a saddle which offers you again a fantastic view of the impressing panorama with the white, ice-covered mountains the surround you. Through a rocky, wild landscape, past the tongue of the Blüemlisalp glacier, you descend now into the neighbouring valley and reach the shore of the very lovely Lake Oeschinensee. Its waters are cold but still make for a nice and welcome stop to cool off your feet, before you walk (or take the cable car…) down to Kandersteg, a charming village with lots of wooden chalets, for which this region is famous for.

Day 8: Return.