My Switzerland itinerary, part 2

My sister and I spent 8 days exploring Switzerland. Here's part 2 of our full itinerary, including where we stayed and what we did.

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My sister texted me in early May: “Is there any chance you can get time off in mid-June to hike in Switzerland?” It was short notice, but the timing worked, and we’d been trying to plan an Alps trip for years.

We decided to spend our first four days in Wengen—you can see that itinerary in Part 1. The next three days, which I’ll detail here, were based in Kandersteg, in the Bernese Oberland region. (The fourth day was a travel day to Zurich, to catch our flights home the next morning.)

🇨🇭 BONUS 🇨🇭 Don’t forget to read 10 Things I Wish I Knew Before Coming to Switzerland for my best tips and must-haves.

Travel Guide: Kandersteg, Switzerland

Kandersteg is a beautiful mountain village sitting around 3,900 feet (1,200 meters). It’s famous as the home base for one of the most beautiful hikes in all of Switzerland—Oeschinensee (Lake Oeschinen). Though it’s not car-free, it is smaller and quieter than Wengen, with fewer amenities.

We wanted an Airbnb so we could have shared space and a kitchen, but a 2-bedroom with 2 bathrooms proved difficult to find on such short notice. Then we stumbled across the “premium apartment with balcony” attached to the Hotel Ermitage—and it was absolutely gorgeous (albeit big for just two people).

Note, the Hotel Ermitage Kandersteg website is not great, so this is the only place I can find photos of the listing (scroll all the way down to “apartment, balcony”). You can also see my video of my room and the views here. The apartment had four bedrooms; three with queen-sized beds and one with six twin beds (obviously the kids’ room). There was no laundry, so we hand-washed stuff in the downstairs bathtub. There is a second bathroom upstairs with the tiniest shower I’ve ever seen (but the water pressure was great). There were also stairs—one flight to enter the apartment, two flights to get to three of the bedrooms. (Something to note if you have heavy suitcases.)

The hotel had a restaurant which served a robust breakfast every morning, and a delicious burger for dinner. (We only ate there once.) Having that attached to the apartment was nice, and the hotel staff were all lovely.

The hotel was located at the base of the gondola heading up to the lake, which was convenient for our hike, and a 15-minute walk from the train/bus station. The down side (I suppose) was walking in and out of town every day to catch the train or get groceries—but it was such a pretty walk. The gondola gets exceptionally busy, especially on weekends, but as we were gone all day hiking, the crowds never bothered us.

Day 0, arrival

Getting from Wengen to Kandersteg was a slog, requiring five trains and (we thought) a bus from the Kandersteg train station to the hotel. Unfortunately, we arrived around 5 PM, which was after the last bus, so we had to schlep all of our gear 15 minutes to the hotel. It was hot as hell, but the views on the pedestrian path were unreal, boasting mountains, a picturesque church, and two waterfalls in the distance.

Early morning views from the Kandersteg pedestrian path

Day 1, Kandersteg → Oeschinensee Loop

We knew we wanted to hike Oeschinensee ASAP, especially as it’s less crowded on a weekday. This hike leaves from the cable car just outside of Hotel Ermitage, and takes you up to the lake. (You’ll also pass the stop for mountain fun—you can take a zipline, paraglide, or take the mountain coaster! We did not do this, as all we wanted to do was hike, and these attractions can stack up a long wait time.)

From the cable car, you’ll hike down towards the lake. To do the Panorama Trail, split left at the first junction, then left again at the next Y. (If you go straight, it takes you right to the lake. This is what most people do.) You’ll then see a big wooden arch off to the left—take the path under the arch. This gets you onto the Panorama loop going counter-clockwise—which is the way to go, trust.

The loop climbs for the first 2.5 miles, in a moderate fashion. As you get higher, the views above the lake are just stunning. There are a few small offshoot viewing areas—take these! You’ll pass a few small waterfalls, then hit the bridge over a waterfall. This is close to the apex of the hike. You’ll see more waterfalls, fields, and green pasture ahead.

You’ll hit the restaurant, where you can stop for a drink and food. If you continue on the trail past the restaurant there’s a fresh water refill trough too. After the restaurant, there is one really steep, kinda long section heading down; poles helped a lot. You’ll then continue on down through the cows, which were charming and gorgeous with the mountains and lake in the background. (Note, there is no shade from this point on.)

You’ll slog for quite a bit, descending down towards the lake. Once we hit the lake, we doubled back on the lakeshore for about a mile, to find a quiet place to swim. The coast is rocky but we managed without shoes; we did bring suits and a small towel. The water was surprisingly not that cold! (Refreshing, but not icy.)

Views from the Panorama Loop trail! We were still climbing here, but this was an awesome overlook point.

We then hiked the mile back to the trail, then continued another mile back to the gondola. Be warned that the lake itself is Disney, as is the last mile of trail. Also the last mile is all uphill, in full sun, which is rude. We then took the cable car back down to Kandersteg.

Note, as bucket list as it is, you don’t have to do the Panorama Loop! You can just take the cable car and hike straight to the lake, if you want something more accessible. The Panorama Loop wasn’t hard, though, with only moderate elevation gain. We added 2 miles to the 6-mile loop to swim, but you could easily swim from a more accessible point too.

See this hike on Instagram, and find this trail on AllTrails. Buy your cable car tickets online, as lines for the on-site machines get busy. The car starts running at 8:30 AM, which is when I’d recommend starting. That way, your uphill hiking has some shade, and the cable cars are far less crowded. Do this hike counter-clockwise—otherwise you start at the lake instead of finish there, and you’ll have a much steeper climb.

Day 2, Kandersteg → Thun → Spiez → Kandersteg (“town” day)

The only reason we had this day was because I saw a random video on Instagram, showing her day trip to Thun. I realized it was just a 45-minute train ride from Kandersteg, so we did our “town day” here. It was one of my favorite days of the whole trip.

The swim park in Thun, right in the River Aare!

Thun is a medieval city (truly!) where the River Aare flows out of Thun Lake. Attractions include the river and lake, charming covered bridges, Castle Thun, a beautiful church, and a charming Old Town. (Old Town is two levels! Designed during the late Middle Ages, the street features a lower level with shops and boutiques, and a pedestrian walkway upper level, accessing more shops and residences.) Also… there’s a Starbucks just outside the train station. We were giddy at the idea of an iced coffee.

We walked about a mile along the lake before doubling back and heading up to the church and castle. We then wandered around the shops in Old Town. We knew Thun was a big swim town—we saw plenty of locals floating in the river, some “commuting” with dry bags! We looked around the shops for a bathing suit, and found some bikini bottoms and small towels on clearance at the local Coop. (This Coop was more like a Super-Target.)

We wandered some more, then my sister spotted what looked like a swim park. For around $5 USD, we bought ourselves access to the Schwäbis River Pool. There was a restaurant, bathrooms and showers, a huge grassy area, and the river. Think of it like a ride at Disney—you’d walk a ways up the river, jump in off the bridge or stairs, then leisurely float back down to your starting place and do it all over again. The river was bracing but not freezing, and they had red tubes anyone could use.

This was the coolest experience. The river current was solid but not scary, and where else can you jump right into the river for a swim? (The Hudson could never.) We were there for a few hours, swimming, lying in the grass, and reading. The park started to get busy around 1 PM, so we left to find food.

We had tacos at a Mexican-inspired place called CHAS TexMex (a welcome change from cheese and fried foods), then wandered back through Old Town again. At this point, we planned to take the train back to Kandersteg. However, we started talking to a woman from Singapore, who told us the boat cruise on Thun Lake from Thun to Spiez was a gorgeous experience. We knew we could take the train back from Spiez, so we bought tickets.

Views from our cruise from Thun to Spiez

The boat was crowded, but for $16 we were able to upgrade to the first class upper deck, which was less busy. We found a seat in the shade (you’ll want to sit on the LEFT side of the boat, if you’re facing the front, for the best views) and thoroughly enjoyed the cruise to Spiez. We made a lot of stops along the way, giving people the chance to jump on and off, and the sights were spectacular.

We landed in Spiez, where the line to get on the boat was insane. We then walked a mile (all uphill) to the train station, where we took the train back to Kandersteg.

See our Thun photos and videos here. Your Swiss Half-Fare card works on the boat too! BYO bathing suit and towel.

Day 3: Kandersteg → Sunnbüel → Daubensee → Leukerbad → Kandersteg

This was a planes, trains, and automobiles day, replacing “plane” with “bus.” Daubensee and the Gemmi Pass offer a totally different lake experience than Oeschinensee. We took a bus from Kandersteg to the cable car, then rode the cable car up to Sunnbüel. We started our hike to Daubensee (Lake Dauben) at 6,400 feet (1900 meters). The first part of the hike was pleasant, through a rolling valley and a big herd of cows. Then, we started climbing.

Daubensee, sitting underneath the Gemmi Pass

It was hot as balls. There was no shade. And we climbed for 4 straight miles. It wasn’t steep, just relentless. But we knew the lake would be worth it! And it was! We hiked along the lake (the right side) until we found a quiet spot towards the far end to swim—and swim we did! (We were the only people swimming, and everyone hiking by us asked how cold it was.) It was very cold, but absolutely gorgeous. We swam, read, ate snacks, and then continued the hike up to the Gemmi Pass, wanting to arrive well before the predicted 3 PM thunderstorms.

The hike to the pass was also a climb, but there was only one steep section. At the top of the pass, you’re looking down over the town of Leukerbad—and it was stunning. There is also a Via Ferrata course on the mountains at the top of the pass. (There was a suspension bridge at the overlook that looked wild.)

We took in the sights, then took the cable car (stunning views) down to Leukerbad. We originally thought we’d stop at the hot springs and baths for which Leukerbad is famous, but it was way too hot, and we were exhausted. We walked through town, grabbed a pizza to go, then took two buses and two trains back to Kandersteg.

The hike itself wasn’t my favorite (it was about 6.5 miles total), but the lake was gorgeous, as were the views, and if you had time, the hot springs in Leukerbad could have been really cool. (Note, you can also start in Leukerbad, take the cable car up to the Gemmi Pass, then hike a short descent to the lake. This is a much shorter, easier hike.)

See this day on Instagram. See this trail on AllTrails.

The Gemmi Pass, looking down into Leukerbad

Dining in Kandersteg

Reminder: Food in Switzerland is expensive. Kandersteg has two grocery stores, the Coop and Volg. Volg opened early (7 AM), so I’d often walk down in the morning and pick up snacks for the day. We had dinner at Hotel Ermitage once, grabbed pizza in Leukerbad once, and ate girl dinners for the rest of our stay. Coop had a few pre-made salads, we bought olives and cheese, chips, crackers, and anything else that caught out fancy. (We also maintained our PB&J daily tradition on the trails.)

There were a decent number of restaurants in Kandersteg, though the downtown is quite small. We were so tired after our days of hiking, however, that we just wanted to get home, shower, and fall into bed.

Downtown Kandersteg Switzerland

Notes on Kandersteg

• The town doesn’t have a pharmacy. In fact, you can’t even get OTC medications like Advil, allergy meds, or Pepcid. Bring anything you might need.

• The town is much smaller than Wengen. There are fewer restaurants, shops, and amenities. The Coop wasn’t as big as Wengen, but had everything we needed.

• We stayed by the gondola, which was quiet outside of weekends. During the weekend it was a madhouse, with parking and tourists riding the gondola. We didn’t mind the walk into town, and there is a bus stop right at the gondola, which we used to get us and our bags down to the train station when we left.

• Riding the bus around Kandersteg is free if you’re staying in the area. Your hotel will give you a travel card to show the bus drivers.

• We rode buses here more, as the train system wasn’t as connected here as it was in Wengen. The bus station is just outside the train station, though, which makes it easy.

• The town was very quiet… until the weekend, when it exploded with people. Cars were parked everywhere, every restaurant was packed, and the gondola was slammed—all driven by Oeschinensee. Plan your hikes accordingly.

• We saw far more cows in Wengen than Kandersteg. Just sayin’. (Although they do a sheep procession across the Gemmi Pass in September each year, which would be so fun to see.)

Final thoughts on Switzerland

We loved our Switzerland trip. The point-to-point hikes, well-organized train systems, myriad small towns, stunning Alps, and outdoor culture was everything we hoped it would be. Yes, it was expensive (I don’t even want to add it up), and no, we didn’t love the food, but this was a bucket-list trip for sure.

Would I go back? Probably not—at least not in the near future. There are so many gorgeous areas to hike, both here in the US and abroad. (And if we did go back, I’d go to areas we didn’t visit on this trip.) If you have Switzerland questions, leave them in comments!

XO, MU

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