For this year’s main summer holiday, I headed back to the Swiss Alps for a fortnight based in Kandersteg in the west of the Bernese Oberland. The village is best known for its international scout centre but, never having been a scout, I had not visited before (except once passing through in the car having taken the vehicle train from the Valais).

Breaking with the tradition from past years of heading as far northern France after work on Friday evening, I stayed in Derby, ran a parkrun on Saturday morning and and played in a brass band concert at Horsley on the Saturday afternoon. Then I drove down to Folkestone in the evening and stayed the night in a cheap hotel in town. Meanwhile, Ruth had been out in the French Alps for 10 days with Josh, and drove back north with him as far as the Ardennes region, setting up camp in Charleville-Mézières.

An early-ish start on Sunday got me onto a Eurotunnel train by 7:30am, half an hour earlier than booked, and into France soon after 9 o’clock local time. A morning drive brought me to Ruth and Josh’s campsite by lunchtime. They arrived a few minutes later having been for a bike ride beside the River Meuse. A little later, we walked into town for a lunch of galettes and crepes at a restaurant in the Place Ducale. Ruth and I then took a longer stroll around the town centre, castle and riverside, while Josh got on with a bit of work preparation back in camp. In the evening, we had a barbecue together for dinner.

On Monday morning, Ruth and I headed back south towards Switzerland, while Josh headed north to the tunnel and home. Our journey through Belgium, Luxembourg and France went smoothly, except for one unnecessarily long diversion around a road closure near Molsheim – a small town which I only subsequently realised is the home of Bugatti! We dutifully purchased our vignette (motorway toll sticker) at the Swiss border in Basel, and from there it was only 90 minutes or so to Kandersteg. We went straight to our campsite – ‘Camping Rendez-vous’, despite this being a German-speaking area – and were soon set up on our attractive pitch, near the top of the terraced, grassy site, with excellent views over the valley (but quite a long and steep walk down to the toilet and shower block!).

Once we’d settled in, we took a walk down to town to get our bearings and stock up on provisions for the evening meal and the following day. A convenience of arriving on Monday rather than our usual Sunday was that the village shops were actually open! We spent the evening perusing the map to formulate plans for the next few days – the forecast looked excellent for the first week and then distinctly damp!

For Tuesday’s walk, we started directly from the campsite and headed to the mountain that dominated the view from the tent, First. From a distance, it was difficult to work out how the path marked on the map would make its way through the crags on the lower flanks, but sure enough it zigzagged up various wooded gullies to reach the open alp above. More strenuous climbing led us up to the ridge at Golitschepass, from where we followed the ridge over Stand and around the back of Howang to reach the summit of First, at 2548m. This was an excellent viewpoint over Kandertal as well as west over the Adelboden valley.

Our descent route led steeply down grassy slopes to Allmenalp. From there, we traversed south on tracks to reach another steep footpath down through the woods to Kandersteg, and called in at the Coop for a few more provisions our way back to the campsite.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2011272

Having got hold of the ‘Guest Card’ in exchange for our tourist tax as part of the campsite fee, on Wednesday we decided to make use of the free local public transport it provided by doing a linear walk over to the head of Kiental, the next valley to the east. The first part of the walk was up to Oeschinensee, the most popular tourist sight of the area, which is a high lake surrounded by huge cliffs. We opted to walk up from Kandersteg rather than fork out the 20 Francs or so for the gondola, and took less than an hour to reach the top lift station.

From there, we chose to take the higher of the two paths leading up the valley, as we thought it would give the most dramatic views over Oeschinensee. It seemed a good choice, with spectacular vistas down to the lake and up to the Doldenhorn towering above.

Beyond the lake, the path led past the chalets at Oberbärgli and up the moraine almost to the pass at Hohtürli. There we branched left to take the blue-signed (slightly trickier) path up the Schwarzhorn (at 2785m, our highest point of the trip), which had a short section of fixed cables for security on some exposed ledges. The summit gave awesome views south to the glaciers of Blüemlisalp with the Wyssi Frau and Blüemlisalphorn at the top.

We continued along the easier ridge to the Bundstock – a very flat-topped mountain in comparison – where we paused for lunch before starting the big descent via Bundalp to the village of Griesalp. It was about half an hour’s wait for the next bus which, disappointingly, proved not to be free in this upper section of Kiental, but only below Kiental village. Anyway, having paid handsomely for the first stage, we enjoyed our free ride the rest of the way down the valley to Reichenbach where the bus being a few minutes early and a 50m jog onto the railway platform meant we just caught an earlier train than planned back up Kandertal to Kandersteg!
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2011282

For Thursday’s walk, we took the local bus from Kandersteg a couple of miles up to the head of the valley at Eggeschwand, the bottom of another gondola. Again, we chose to walk up rather than taking the lazy option. A long set of zigzags through the forest led up to Sunnbüel and a sunny traverse from there below large cliffs onto the ridge of the Gällihorn. A few sport climbers were tackling some routes on the east face. Before long, we reached the summit, at 2282m, which gave impressive views down Kandertal and of the high peaks of Altels and the Rindenhorn to the east.

After a snack break, we dropped back down to the traverse path along the Üschenegrat ridge, descending a bit below the crest before climbing back up to the summit of the Wyssi Flue (2470m), from where we enjoyed hazy views over the Daubensee lake and Gemmipass to some of the Valais peaks, most prominently the Matterhorn and Dent Blanche.

We dropped back down to the appropriately named Schwarzgrätli (little black ridge) and from there followed an exposed ledge path below the cliffs of the Felshorn to reach Tälli. There, the ground became easier, over lots of moraine in a big zigzag up to the higher ridge at Chindbettipass, where we stopped for a lunch break with views over Adelboden and the Gemmipass.

The continuation, north along the ridge, was fairly flat to our high point for the day (2659m) a short distance south of the towering pinnacles of the Tschingellochtighorn, which definitely didn’t look like it offered an easy walkers’ route! We followed the footpath around the base of the cliffs to regain the ridge beyond, and then descended fairly steeply to the farms at Inner Üschene, and the track down the valley from there to Usser Üschene. That just left a final steep descent back down to Eggeschwand and the short bus ride back to Kandersteg.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2011292

On Friday, we fancied a change of scenery, so got up early and caught the bus around to Adelboden (a direct service, down Kandertal to Frutigen and back up Entschligetal). A smaller, connecting service took us up the side valley to the village of Schermtanne, right at the foot of our objective for the day, the Albristhorn. As usual, the route started by zigzagging up through forest to reach higher alpine pastures, but this time with new views over the head of the valley and up to Hahnenmoospass. We paused by the chalet at Furggi for a snack, then continued up to reach the ridge at Furggeli and gain views into the Lenk valley (Obersimmental).

The next few miles were along a well-defined, rocky ridge, uphill initially with some easy and enjoyable scrambling to the summit of the Albristhorn (2762m), with dramatic views behind us to the adjacent peak of Gsür. We continued south, with a couple of exposed sections of ledge path, over a few subsidiary peaks and down to Laveygrat. Ahead, we could see the high, flat Glacier de la Plaine Morte and, to the left of that, the peaks of the Wildstrubel massif.

The descent was on much busier paths, down the ridge to Sillerebüel, the top station of a popular gondola, then more steeply down to the valley and Adelboden. We caught the bus back around to Kandersteg and, as usual, shopped at Coop before returning to camp.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2011299

The fine weather continued on Saturday, so we tackled another of our bigger objectives for the week, walking up hidden Gasteretal to Lötschepass. This was a more repetitive there-and-back route, but seemed a worthwhile destination and, despite being very nearby, at the head of Kandertal, would give largely new scenery mostly out of sight of the surrounding ridges we’d already explored.

As we had a few days earlier, we caught the local bus up to the head of the main valley at Eggeschwand. The first part of the walk was up an impressive gorge, deep in shadow at that time of day, with little clue of what lay ahead. After half an hour or so, we broke out into the flat, open meadows of Gasteretal, 150m above the main Kandertal valley. Looking around, it appeared that the pastures were fully enclosed by steep mountains and cliffs, with no obvious route out for the river. The next few kilometres were on fast and easy footpaths, crossing the river a couple of times and heading up through protected woodland to Brandhubel. There the going got much steeper as we turned towards the side valley of Schönbüel. Part-way up, we passed a private hut owned by the scout centre; later would would catch up with some British scouts who had stayed the night there before continuing their expedition up to the pass.

The path continued to wind its way up, taking to the west side of the valley to get past some crags, down which an impressive waterfall flowed. We could also look up to the head of Gasteretal, where the Kanderfirn glacier ends and, above that, a glimpse of the Jungfrau. Above the crags, we reached the foot of the Lötschegletscher, or what remains of it! The great majority of its surface is now covered in moraine, presumably left behind on top as the ice carrying it has gradually melted. The route ahead was well marked with painted stakes, crossing over the stone-clad glacier to reach the lateral moraine on the far side.

It was then not much further, up a small cliff band with the help of a couple of fixed cables, to the head of the valley at Lötschepass (2689m), giving views into the Valais Alps. The Weissmies, Dom and Weisshorn dominated the scene, with the large snowy plateau of Monte Rosa also visible (but looking lower due to being a little further away). We had lunch near the Lötschenpasshütte and chatted to the scout group mentioned earlier, before returning by the same route all the way back to Eggeschwand. The main difference going down was that the extra meltwater in the heat of the afternoon made the river and waterfalls more impressive, particularly in the final gorge section.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2011300

Sunday looked like it could be the last day of sunny weather. After five big walks, we fancied something a little easier, so decided to take a circular walk from the campsite up to the Doldenhornhütte. After initially struggling to find a way across the river where it appears the mapped bridge and waymarked footpath no longer exist, we managed to improvise a route and reach the bottom of the popular zigzagging path up through the forest. Further up, we traversed left across ground with only young vegetation, which we concluded must have been swept clear by a big landslide a few years previously. The mountainside above certainly looked loose!

Soon we were at the hut, which offered views up the valley over Oeschinensee. After a snack break admiring the scenery, we continued, taking the traversing blue route below the big crags of Wandbirg, then an easier red route down into Kandersteg. We had a leisurely afternoon in camp.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2011302

Monday had been forecast to be wet from mid morning, but began with mostly blue skies. We opted for a run, as a change from all the hillwalking, picking a traversing route down the east side of Kandertal to Frutigen, around 13km away. This had larger and steeper undulations than we’d realised – actually more than 300m ascent despite the net descent of around 300m to Frutigen! The trail gave pleasant running though, with views up and down the valley, and a very runnable, long final descent into town.

There, we parted company as I set off to run back up the lanes and tracks on the west side of the valley, while Ruth caught the bus. This proved a pretty tough additional 11km, unrelentingly uphill and particularly steep for the final few kilometres back to Kandersteg. I was happy to make it back to the campsite without walking, even if my average pace had been pretty slow on tired legs. As it turned out, the weather actually stayed dry pretty much all day, with just one brief shower at teatime.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2011311

Tuesday was another sunny day that we had earmarked for a linear walk to Frutigen, parallel with the previous day’s outward run but heading higher up the mountains to Giesigrat and the Gehrihorn. The first few kilometres were a repeat of our running route, before we turned right on a very steep path, winding up through meadows and forest to the chalets at Undere Giesene. We watched a helicopter mysteriously moving logs from one area high on the mountain to another area a bit lower down, unable to explain how these particular logs were so important that they justified such expensive transport!

The gradient the eased a little, but it still felt like a long way further up, through Obere Giesene to eventually reach the main ridge at Giesegrat (2306m). This opened up some unfamiliar views to the east and northeast, dominated by the Dreispitz on the other side of Kiental. As we continued north along the narrow arete, you could also see the Schilthorn (with its revolving summit restaurant) and the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in the distance.

After a while, we passed the Grathütte, from where it was just a short final climb back up to the Gehrihorn (2129m), with a bit of easy scrambling in places and a couple of fixed cables. We had lunch just beyond the summit, overlooking Frutigen, then followed the footpaths pretty directly down through pastures and forests to the valley. We only had to wait 20 minutes or so to catch the bus back up to Kandersteg, where we shopped as usual before returning to camp for the evening.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2011315

Wednesday’s forecast had initially looked poor, but had gradually improved over the past couple of days to be dry until early afternoon. We decided to make the most of the morning sunshine with a walk a bit further north, up the Morgenberghorn (2249m), which looked like it would have good views over the twin lakes of Thunersee and Brienzersee. With no free bus or train service available to the start point in Aeschiried, this was actually the first time we had used the car since our arrival in Kandersteg nine days earlier!

Aeschiried proved to be a more touristy place than we had expected, with no free parking available. We only had enough change to pay for four hours in the central car park, and the signs estimated it would take 4h25 just to ascend the Morgenberghorn. Nothing like a challenge, so we set off to see how far we could get in the available time! The climb was initially quite steep, up onto the ridge at Spitz, with improving views of the two lakes and of the Niesen on the other side of Frutigtal, with its astonishing funicular railway climbing directly all the way from valley to summit, a climb of almost 1700m!

The next section was gentler, undulating through woodland to reach the Brunnihütte in around 1h20. The sign said it was still two hours to the summit, but we knew it was only about 1km and 600m climb so that seemed very unlikely! Sure enough, a quick march got us up to the top in just 45 minutes, only having used slightly more than half of our four-hour parking window! We admired the views as we took some refreshments for ten minutes, then began our descent by the same route back to Aeschiried, arriving after a total of 3h55. Very efficient use of time!

We returned to Kandersteg for lunch in the campsite, then pottered down to town for provisions. Later on, we sheltered in the tent, reading for a couple of hours as some light rain passed over, but were then able to cook our dinner in dry conditions – a real bonus on what we’d expected to be a wet day from morning onwards.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2011318

A few hours of rain passed over in the night, to leave a fairly bright Thursday morning. Ruth had spotted on the map a waterfall that seemed worth visiting above Adelboden, and this seemed the best day for it after a bit of rain. We again took the bus around from Kandersteg via Frutigen to Adelboden, then a connecting local bus up to Unter dem Birg. A short walk led to the base of the Entschligefall, apparently the second highest in Switzerland. It was clear that a lot more water flows down when it’s in spate, but it was still an impressive sight after the overnight rain and a dry preceding fortnight.

Once we’d taken in the scene, we took the steep path up through the crags and forest to the upper falls – a wider cascade – and then up to the unusual, flat basin of Läger, which felt like it ought to contain a lake but we were not sure if it ever had done. The cloud was gradually dropping, and was not that far above us by this point.

To make a circular route of it, we took the high level traversing path around the back of the Bündihorn and across several branches of the Artelebach (stream), before zigzagging back down to Unter dem Birg. As the mist had dropped further, it didn’t seem worth taking the high route via Laueli to Adelboden, so we took the valley path beside the river. That just left the bus journey back to Frutigen, where we changed onto the train for a quicker journey back up Kandertal to Kandersteg. After a quick call at the Coop, we made it back to camp just as a little light rain was starting – again, a better day than expected from the forecast.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2011323

The first part of the night was dry, but heavier rain had returned by the small hours. By mid morning, it was showing no sign of relenting, and the forecast didn’t show it improving all day. We’d already visited all the main places we’d been keen to see on the trip, so weren’t very motivated to turn out for a walk in the rain just for exercise’s sake. So we made the decision to pack up a day camp earlier than planned and start the long journey home. It looked like we would find sunshine by going as far as Alsace. We found and booked a HotelF1 for the night in the village of Saverne, and soon had packed up all our stuff into the car, paid for the camping and checked out.

The drive north was only around three hours, the rain gradually easing as we approached Basel and turning to sunshine as we continued north into France. Ruth identified some ruined castles that would offer an afternoon stroll close to Saverne. Well-marked trails, including part of the GR53 long distance route, led us up to the Château de Haut-Barr, which had various ruins and refurbished buildings atop an impressive rock outcrop. A good defensive location, you’d have thought, but the castle had not lasted very long in military use! Further along the forested ridge, we passed the ruined remains of two more castles, Grand Geroldseck and Petit Geroldseck, then doubled back on a lower, traversing path back to the car.
Route map: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/2015439

We then headed to our hotel and relaxed there for a couple of hours before going out for dinner at a nearby restaurant that seemed to get good reviews – a one-man operation with the owner doing all the cooking and service! The food was good so it seemed a real shame that only one other group turned up on a Friday night.

Saturday was mostly spent driving. With little to choose between them on time, we took the more easterly route through Luxembourg and Belgium to avoid most of the road tolls that you’d pay going via Reims. We paused for lunch and a short explore in the town of Tournai, which was rather disappointing, not helped at all by the two biggest attractions – the cathedral and ‘Pont des Trous’ bridge – both being largely clad in scaffolding. The wooded avenues beside the river were pleasant though.

A couple more hours brought us to another HotelF1 in Coquelles, just outside Calais. We relaxed for a bit, popped out for dinner at the grillhouse across the road, then returned for our traditional final-Saturday-night dose of Fort Boyard on the television until bed.

On Sunday morning, it was only a few minutes’ drive to the Eurotunnel check in. Again, we had a smooth passage through check-in and customs, and caught a train around half an hour ahead of our booking. That meant we were back in the UK by around 8am and back at my house before midday – a stress-free end to a fantastic fortnight away in the exciting mountains of Switzerland!

A lot more photos are available in my full photo album on Google Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ncPH92rjzm3rhag67