Swiss Alps - From the Eiger to the Matterhorn

A dramatic walking route, challenging but worth the extra effort to do the high passes (weather permitting).  I would recommend if you're wanting to do it to get on as more rockfalls/avalanches happen trails are closing and more and more erosion intervention is needed to keep the higher/more popular routes open.

I'd wanted to do this route for a few years, but was put off by the cost of the holiday itself, but decided this year was the year. With 12 dinners included this helped with the budgetting, but with the exchange rate virtually 1-1 it made all extras/lunches/dinners we brought very expensive (recommend Co-op for sandwiches/salad .  Cable cars/cog railways are helped by a Swiss half fare pass, but still expensive, hardly suprising with amazing enginnering and cost of maintenance!  Once we had got our head round the cost and knowing we would probably not be returning we put this aside.

We decided to travel by train from London, once we worked out all the paprework,mainly electronic, this turned out a good enjoyable way to travel, with only one hiccup with a train starting in Italy, on the way home,  being late and having an unexpected change mid route. (let Inntravel know if you prefer FF seats when booking, we got BF on most routes which I don't like). Lots of help/info on the stations throughout the journey.  (with the Swiss point to point tickets you can actually travel on any trains, though times are given on the itinary, on the way outcatching an earlier train than on the ticket meant we arrived early at Meiringnen). Tip: Go to the toilets on trains, good standard, major stations very expensive but you can pay contactless!

Recommend apps: Meteoblue (as suggested by Inntravel) as this has even the small moutain village's forecasts on, fairly accurate; SwitzerlandMobility map app was vital at times to back up/check the GPX routes given by Inntravel (we downloaded the files onto our OS maps but only had the route/arrow where we were but no background, but still helped to check we were on the right route).  It also showed closed paths on it. Both are free.

Bit of info by place/route (Different in places to a review last year):

Mereiringen - Good place to start the holiday, Hotel Victoria lovely, good food, free fruit and chocolate bars all day, afternoon tea of iced tea and cake. Town touristy but worth a wander.  On Day 1 we set off early to Aare Gorge and beat the crowds, worth a visit. Option B not available as public buses no longer run to Engstelensee. Interesting walk, good start for getting legs moving after travel. 

We learnt a valuable lesson re the cost of food/drink at lunchtime, shared rosti/chips, small beer/wine  - over 40CHF francs! After that if we ate at a hotel/refuge we either had soup (usually robust with bread), with snack bars brought from home or late morning if timing fit coffee and shared a huge piece of tart, strudel(delicious). Then had the snacks.  With big breakfasts and evening meals didn't need too much at lunch anyway.

We endorse the Co ops recommendation for sandwiches/salads (reduced late afternoon, bargain for next day!)

Walk Meiringen to Grindelwald: pleasant walking, and some stunning views if no clouds. Poste bus good fun on winding roads, fast journey! Enjoyed visiting the Rosenlaui Glacier Gorge, quiet and nice cafe after for coffee. Ate lunch of soup at  Grosse Scheidegg restaurant, very busy inside.  Stunning viewsint the afternoon and first view of The Eiger (in mist).  Lovely path  across to Gondola above Grindelwald, you could walk down on track and save some money.

Grindelwald was busy, a honeypot, but exciting to finally be there. Upgraded to suite, with balcony opposite the Eiger, (which finally came out of the mist for us!) at Hotel Kreuz and Post, free welcome drink, and staff were lovely.  Food was good and dinner quiet.  Breakfast was very busy. 

Walk Grindelwald to Wengen: The Eiger Trail, was special! Big mountains and Heidi countryside below and in front. Busy trail but still space to walk peacefully and admire all the scenery.  We had coffee/apple cake at the Eigergletscher station restaurant, prices not to bad considering where it is.

Tricky ridge on the moraine walk down from there but you do slide off easily onto path continuing down. Pretty walk, with beautiful flowers, over to Wengen. Long day but worth it.

Hotel Alpenrose was beautiful with lovely balcony views, but wine/beer is extra expensive and a glass is a small not great quality bottle.  We didn't like the "holiday camp' style of dinner, all in between 7-8, told where to sit, in rows almost, food came thick and fast, and was average, not much choice, if any, for different diets.  Good cheese buffet at end though.  Breakfast freer, buffet and busy. We were glad we had not booked an extra night!

Walk Wengen to Mürren: Lovely descent down to Lauerbunnen, though the route meant we didn't actually see Wengen village. We dedicded to walk upto Grütschalp rather than use the cable car as a shorter day, it was steep and hot! Good cafe at Grütschalp cable car station.  The Mountain View Trail is lovely, passing through a number of cows, just one small detour for a grumpy one! Amazing ski area above Mürren, with James Bonds Schilthorn and an enjoyable wander down (albeit in rain)

Hotel Eiger was lovely, though we were a bit disaappointed with room, no views except of a path with views into our room as no net curtains. Breakfast was excellent, views of the Eiger/mountains from the window, great array of food. We did not eat dinner in the hotel as it was expensive.  We ate both nights at the Eiger Guesthouse virtually next door - pizza/pasta was a cheaper option and good, very friendly staff too, but book as it can get busy.

Day walk to Sefinental was a lovely walk, we went early, which meant we had the stunning Chilchbalm mountains at the end all to ourselves. Ate lunch at the Mountain Hostel at bottom of the cable car in Gimmelwald, good food.

Day Mürren to Griesalp via Sefinafurgga Pass:  Firstly our bags were taken to Griesalp, despite what the notes say (hopefully they will be updated!).  This was a challenging day but again worth the efforts, though we didn't stay long at the actually pass, up and down quickly, as the route was loose, There is an obvious path and wooden steps up and down over the top. We agree bad weather as the notes say,  would make it difficult, though we set off in the rain it cleared by the time we got to the pass as forecast. Lovely coffee/best fruit tart was had at the Rotstockhütte on route up. Long walk down from the pass to Berggasthaus Golderli, but rewarded by a lovely guesthouse, with alpacas in the adjoining field! Hosts were lovely, very accomodating. Showers downstairs good and toilet/sink just outside the comfortable room. Food was good mountain food, veg/meat lasagne and apple pie. Worth checking route with them for next day.

Day Griesalp to Kandersteg via Hohtürli:  Another challenging day, with a longer path up and down, but worth doing.  The mist swirled all the time on the route up but once at top the weather over the other side was clear and sunny. Quite a busy route, (you may need to queue at sections if slower walkers in front as times overtaking difficult). The top was well marked, with wooden steps at times.  The Blüemlisalp hut is a stunning building up on the top  and worth a stop! Route down is well marked, steep small trod/path, again having to wait to pass others or for others coming up.  You arrive down to the hut mentioned, just drinks/confectionary available at the lower one and it was busy.  Track then down to Lake Oesschinensee was very busy and the lake itself heaving with families/groups.  We got the gondola down from there, quite a walk from the Lake to station, although there were numrous paths, but the notes and map app both showed many closed in places.Though people were still heading off down them. 

Hotel Bell Epoque Victoria building cannot be missed, in the middle of Kandersteg.  Old Victorian elegant decor, especially  in dining room and bar.  The room was a little bit scruffy, with a unfriendly concrete balcony  but spacious and clean. We appreciated the bath, and had a nice dip in the indoor pool after a hot day. The food here was great, good options, unlike in previous review.  Staff friendly and couldn't do enough for you.  The kitchen happy to alter dishes if needed.  Breakfast again great choice and good quality.

Day walk in the Uschene Valley, gave us a welcome potter after two hard days, and we were back for nice lunch in the hotel public restaurant. Pretty views on the walk, though we didn't visit the waterfall before the Allmenbach cable car, as we could see it from the road and diggers were moving earth at the bottom!

Day Kandersteg to Leukerbad: bus was free with hotel guest pass, but Sunnbüel cable car expensive. Weather not great all day but we still stuck to the route in notes, which was pleasant walking and atmospheric in the mist.  First part of the route also followed a Gnome trail and a couple of art installations.  Coffee/tart at Hotel Schwarenbach was good and a break from the weather. Wet grassy trails from there but again pretty in mist, watch out for the Alpine Salamanders, that do not move, so careful not to tread on them. Follow notes and path markers carefully, path unclear at times in the mist. (ignore GPX round Lake Daubensee unless updated, follow notes). The weather cleared so we came down the Gemmi Path, not for fainthearted and takes a long time to descend, but well built path all the way!

Hotel Quellenhof, Leukerbad, was disappointing. Room and view good but the hotel felt least welcoming of all accomodation. Despite notification of being non meateaters, and stating in notes there was no choice for dinner.  The waiter had to go off to ask about alternative main.  Vegan, no vegetarian or fish alternative on offer.  It was plant based processed meat in a schnitzel and I found it unpleasant, and obviously unplanned! Breakfast was a buffet but again food not great.

Walk Leukerbad to Salgesch: Very attractive walk, different trails/views/terrains, not too taxing. Pension Rustica not open as suggested, but lovely old station shop. Good lunch spot above cliffside path, views down into the Rhone Valley. Pretty walk down through the vineyards. Lots of signposts on way down,  one or two not mentioned in notes, so be careful when to turn. Paths you want in notes are obvious by their description (i.e. water pipe turn).

Hotel Arkanum, Salgesch: we arrived early but they were happy for us to go to our room, pretty old part in the village for a wander but not much else besides a supermarket. Another friendly hotel, good food (chosen from menu on arrival), with  free winetasting with the meal.  We had 5 different glasses of wine each (not just tastes) , recommend all of the wines. They also accomodated us with early breakfast (as a Saturday and usually not until 8am) so we can co-ordinate the train to Turtmann Staiton and the cable car there without any wait (though you may need to walk fast between them).

Walk Salgesch to Gruben (Hotel Schwarzhorn) : This is uphill followed by uphill, through woods and fields.  We found it tough with all the walking in our legs, and we carried what we needed for the night so heavier packs!  We had a little detour due to frisky cows after Griebjini Oberstafil, GPX was useful getting us back on the path. Once up the walking was more pleasant but still taxing , lovely places for picnics as stated in notes. Notices about Guardian dogs but we saw none. Long contour across the hillside  and then track down until you could cut off at signpost. Once in the Gruben valley we crossed the river, same side as village and avoided a longer path as in notes.

Hotel Schwarzhorn, is where our route meets the Haute Route, so it is busy with groups. Lovely room with sink, radiators worked to dry our wet socks from today's descent. Good shared showers. Food was ok,  mountain food, substantial 4 courses, main choice was limited chicken or vegan "chicken' with rice !

Early breakfast at 6.30am was busy , but we were on our way by 7.20am to beat the crowds, all heading to Zermatt.

Day walk Gruben to Zermatt: Uphill start but the paths gradient (and the views) make it feel not too steep. Steady gradient continues virtually up and over the Augstbordpass. Very windy at the pass, as notes state, so did not linger.  The walk down is technical, loose stone, and long.  The path continues on stone slabs but interrupted/diverted at times by small rock falls as you contour round. Slowly the stunning snow capped mountains come into view and the walk continues down to Jungerstuebli, lovely pinic spot with benches/tables round small pond. We continued the pleasant longish walk down to St Niklaus Station after lunch, to catch the train up the valley to Zermatt. In Zermatt we  found the instructions to the hotel in the notes difficult to follow as could not see any road signs, but basically turn left out of station, right before supermarket to river and just across is the Hotel.

Hotel  La Ginabelle - lovely busy hotel.  Room was great with a balcony and stunning view of the Matterhorn, the first time we walked out! Classic shot and that was the last we saw of it as it clouded over by the evening and only once fully came out of the mist the next day, so take a photo as soon as you can if its on show! The dinners were excellent, set menu with a theme, but there are options on all courses if you prefer.  Breakfast was also excellent, could have sat and grazed all day! A lovely place for our last nights.

Day walk was the Lakes walk as weather too bad for Matterhorn Glacier Trail we had wanted to do. It was a pleasant walk, quiet at the start from the cog railway where you get off.  Quite a lot of track, as there is a hidden quarry up there. Notes a litte confusing, lots of paths and signposts. It was busy as lots of cable cars/gondolas to get folk up and down, onto tourists trails. Highlight was the very friendly, cute  Switzerland Valais Blacknose sheep They loved being photographed and stroked! Good lunch of soup at the Fluhalp restaurant.  Classic view supposedly of Lake and Matterhorn but not the Matterhorn we did not see all day apart from 5 mins glimpse back in Zermatt)! We followed the quieter smaller path down from the busy Lake, as in the notes, ignoring signposts for other bigger tracks down to Sunnegga. Amazing ride down on the gondola railway, feat of engineering, dropping down to Zermatt in about 3 minutes!

Zermatt was busy as expected but plenty of places to relax in the hotel bar, or one of the 3 pools.

This lived up to all my expectations, and I recommend, despite the cost, to do it sooner rather than later.  The mountains were as  stunning as expected.   Although busy in places,  there are lots of times you are away from touristy routes and the honey pot towns.

On the whole another well organised trip from Inntravel, with great accomodation and food. Notes were as detailed as ever, heed warnings to check routes/weather especially on high passes days.  Its a trip we will talk about for a long time!

We loved this hiking holiday that includes a blend of challenging high passes and some easier days. While the overall cost is high the half board provision at all but one of the hotels means that other spending is reduced - and Swiss prices are high. We made good use of the Swiss Travel Pass for half fares. The standard of accommodation and hospitality was very good, with some outstanding cuisine. 

We found Grindelwald to be rather busy and commercial but the whole area is outstanding. We had an extra night at Hotel Alpenrose (Wengen) and it was a highlight. We also had an extra night in Zermatt at the superb Ginabelle Spa Hotel.   

Overall we had good weather, but we also made adjustments to walk options to avoid threats of afternoon rain storms. The scenery and hospitality were consistently at or beyond expecations making for a very memorable holiday.

The Bernese Oberland portion is breathtaking. The Valais is less dramatic.

14 days was bit long. Given the amazing Swiss rail system, I wished we had done the Bernese Oberland hike and then trained to another area for 3 days of hiking and then to some where else for 3 instead of 14 days in the same area.  Other travellers told us the Engadine Valley was beautiful. Or do a week hike in Switzerland and another week in another country. Everything is so close. It was great to see the Matterhorn but Zermatt is jammed with tourists and we perfer to be more remote. 

The hiking on this trip is absolutely stunning and should be a must do by anyone who loves hiking in the mountains.  We've done 8 European self guided hiking holidays since 2022 and this is currently our all time favorite.  Inn Travel does a good job of providing challenging routes, inter-mixed with hiking days that are still delightful hikes but not as challenging.  We would rate this trip as a 2/3 trip (not a 3 overall, as rated by Inn Travel), as not all days are level 3.  We trained quite a bit over the summer hiking in the mountains of California for a trip in September and found the uphill sections to be completely do-able if you are fit.  The downhills were the most challenging part, as our knees took a beating (63 & 65 years old knees).  Appreciated the cable cars/gondolas to reduce the downhills where possible.

Highlights and Tips by day: 

1. Around Meiringen: We arrived early enough in Meriringen on day 0, that we were able to do the Aare Gorge/Reichenbach falls hike that day.  The Aare gorge was underwhelming, as super crowded and not the most scenic gorge we've ever visited.  Once we escaped the slow, crowded slog through the gorge, the rest of the hike was lovely.  One tip, is to keep on the dirt path to Reichenbach falls vs turning down the road as indicated in the trip notes/GPX. That will bring you in higher up the hill next to the falls and you will get 3 view points to see the falls as you hike down to meet the Inn Travel route. 

Be aware that the bus for Option B hike to Engstlensee-Planplatten stops running in mid August and does't resume until late September, so hike B isn't an option if you travel during that period.  We spoke to the hotel and Tourist Info and found a great alternate hike for Day 1.  Take the 3 trams from Meiringen up to top of Planplatten (Alpen Tower).  See the views off to the right of the tram building as you disembark, but then commence hiking out the left of the tram building to Haaggen and Hochstrasse (maps available at hotel).  Seeing distant views of the Eiger on Day 1 of our aptly named Eiger to Matterhorn Hiking Trip was a highlight.  We then hiked from Hochstrasse down to Kaserstatt and across to Magisalp, from where we took the 2 lower trams back to town.  Be aware that Hotel Victoria has extremely small rooms, we upgraded to a larger room and it was still quite small.  

2. Meiringen to Grindelwald: This is a fairly easy pass crossing over Grosse Scheidegg.  Well graded, without any challenging uphills.  Definitely stop at the Rosenlaui Gorge, which is much more scenic than the Aare Gorge and not overwhelmed with people, thus much more enjoyable to visit.  Be aware that Grindelwald is pretty much a tourist town, which we didn't expect.  Hotel rooms at Hotel Kreuz & Post have good views of Eiger.  Be sure to go up on hotel roof deck with a drink for post hike relaxation and even better Eiger views.  

3. Grindelwald to Wengen:  When we were there the train line was under construction, so either had to walk or take bus to get to the cog wheel train to Alpiglen.  Easier just to walk in reality if you face this situation - hotel can give you walking directions to the cog railway as Inn Travel doesn't mention the train isn't running.  The Eiger trail up to Eigergletscher Station is a great hike, not too hard but the up hill will get your heart pumping.  This day had a very long downhill that seemed to go on forever before we reached Wengen, most of the later part in the woods so not particularly scenic.  However, seeing a Mountain Ibex with hugely long curving horns in the woods made up for the knee pounding downhill. Hotel Alpenrose was lovely - we were in the auxillary building with great valley views and cute Alpine furniture.  A bit old fashioned, but a great room, great staff and excellent dinner.

4. Wengen to Murren: This was a rain day for us, with higher elevations socked in with fog.  Hotel Alpenrose was super helpful in suggesting that we instead walk in Lauterbrunnen Valley.  We took the train down to Lauterbrunnen, then hiked part way up the Inn Travel route to get to some viewpoints over the valley, then hiked on both left and right sides of river down to the Stechelberg cable car to Mürren.  We also walked over to the waterfall/gorge midway down the valley, but it had so many tourists in line that we feared a repeat of the unpleasant experience at Aare gorge, so we skipped this and continued on to the cable car.  This alternate hike route ended up being a really good choice, as the heavy rain up high was just a light mist with some clearing in the valley and the waterfalls and mist were very scenic on the walk down the Lauterbrunnen Valley.  Ended up being a very nice day of walking with paved walking path or hard packed earth paths. 

Unfortuntely, Hotel Drei Berge was one of the most disapointing hotels on the trip.  Lacking in customer service with poorly trained staff.  Lost our room reservation and luggage didn't arrive, with hotel unwilling to try to find our luggage.  Eventually got a room for the night, which apparently was an upgrade.  Rooms are very dark and small, even with upgrade.  Dinner was pretty disappointing, but they did have a very nice breakfast buffet with much better staff working at breakfast.  Great chocolate chip cookies offered at breakfast buffet that we ate for lunch.

5. Murren to Griesalp: This is definitely a grade 3 day!  Stunning hiking, with views of Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau behind you as you climb up to Sefinental pass.  One of the highlights of the trip.  The last climb to the pass is on super steep steps (almost a vertical ladder) and then there is a narrow spine with a couple of benches where you can take in the views.  Vertigo sufferers beware.  Hotel Golderli was lovely for a rustic mountain hotel.  Alexandra, the owner, is a lovely person.  The dinner was the best we had so far on the trip, despite being a rustic, mountain hotel.  Rain was forecast later the next day, so Alexandra suggested an early breakfast at 6:30 am so we could get an early start and make it over and down most of the pass before the rain started.  Super kind of her.  The rain pretty much held off until we were along the shores of Oschinensee lake.

6. Griesalp to Kandersteg: Another grade 3 day, so two hard hikes in a row!  More stunning hiking over Hohturli Pass.   Downhill after the pass is one of most difficult downhills of the hike, with lots of loose rock to negotiate.  Be aware that if you have bad weather and can't do Hohturli Pass, that the Inn Travel notes for Route B are completely out of date according to Alexandra at Griesalp.  Hopefully Inn Travel gets those updated soon. 

Belle Epoque Hotel Victoria in Kandersteg - this is a large hotel that seems to cater to tour groups over individual guests, with several large tour groups there during our two nights at the hotel.  Makes meals less enjoyable and seemingly resulted in lower quality of food - worst dinners of the trip.  We upgraded to mini suite, which gave us a nice large room with a large walk in closet.  That was nice, as we did lots of laundry and had space to hang it all to dry.

7. Around Kandersteg: Another rain day for us, so waiter suggested there was no need to do the van trip to the hike option A and that we instead just walk from hotel up the Kander Gorge and turn around whenever the rain got really bad.  We got caught in some heavy rain on the return, but it was still a lovely walk.

8. Kandersteg to Leukerbad: Another fairly easy hiking day over to Gemmi Pass.  Oddly, Inn Travel hike directions don't include route notes/GPX to get to top of Sunnbuel even through cable car tickets are not included, at the end of the hike they have hike directions/GPX down to Leukerbad even though cable car ticket is provided.  A bit odd.  This was a pretty easy, short hike day, so it would have been nice to have the option to hike to the top of Sonbuel vs taking the cable car up. We did the high route above the lake, which seemed to be the more interesting route.  Note that in one spot the GPX doesn't follow the recommended Inn Travel route in an area where Inn Travel warns of hazards if you don't take the alternate path.  Keep track of the hike notes if you take the high route as you get closer to the lake, just in case the GPX doesn't get updated to match the walk notes.

9.  We added an extra night in Leukerbad as a rest day, but given bad weather forecast for the days we were to hike to Gruben and over Augstbord Pass, we chose to hike in Leukerbad and switched our rest day to an extra night we booked at the last minute in Salgesch.  We highly recommend the hike from Leukerbad, up through the river gorge, up to Majingsee, continuing along the side of Majingalp, and up to Fluealp and Fluekapelle.  We then returned downhill through Clabinalp and Balies to Leurkerbad.  Made for a great loop hike, with great snow capped mountain views and even some glacial ice to hike across.  

10.  Leukerbad to Salgesch - an easy hiking day down into the wine growing area of the Wallis/Valais.  Completely different scenery (and great wines - try the Heida white wine and Cornalin red wine - our 2 favorites from the area).

11.  We spent an extra night in Salgesch (arranged and paid for on our own 2 days earlier), as we ddin't want to get stranded in Gruben with 20 inches of snow and high winds in the forecast.  This allowed us to take 1.5 hour train straight from Salgesch to Zermatt instead of a 4 or 5 hour multi step trip from Gruben to Zermatt.

12.  Zermatt was a bit of a shock to the system at first, as it is a super busy, densely built town with lots of tourists compared to all the small towns we'd been in during the prior hiking days.  The hiking is fabulous, though, and we loved our time in Zermatt and were super glad we added 2 extra nights in Zermatt.  We stayed at Hotel Christiania, as Hotel La Ginabelle flooded in May and closed for the season.  We had upgraded to a Matterhorn view and Hotel Christiania did not disappoint.  Fabulous views from our room and the dining room.  Given that La Ginabelle is at bottom of the hill there doesn't seem to be any way their view can compare to what we had Hotel Christiania.  Hope you can stay at Hotel Christiania too!

We loved the following hikes in Zermatt:  Day 1: Challenging hike up Wissenhornweg (#32) to Trift Hutte, then continued on Eidelweissweg (#30) and back to Zermatt (made up for missing the challenging hike over Augstbord Pass!);  Day 2: Matterhorn Glacier Trail, hiking up to Furi before getting on cable car, Day 3: Gornergrat Railway to the top and then hike down to the Monte Rosa Glacier Trail and hiked out to the glacier.  Probably saw 4 people on this trail. (skip the hike to Riffelsee and the lower unnamed lake as swarming with tourists), Day 4: Easy day hike up to Furi, to the hanging bridge and Glacier Garden and back to Zermatt, before we caught the train to head on to the rest of our holiday.  Based on feedback from the hotel and other hikers, we avoided the 5 lakes hike as it is reportedly very crowded.  Fabulous Matterhorn views from all our hikes.

Remaining tips: 

Load the following apps on your phone: MateoBlue - best weather app for hiking in Switzerland (provides better detail than MateoSwiss), Peak Finder - tells you what peaks you are seeing by using your camera (nominal fee for this app).

Expect varied weather.  We had everything from 30C (85F) weather to having to change our route due to snow and gale force winds - all within the first 2 weeks of September.  Until we got to Zermatt, we mostly hiked in long sleeve hiking shirts and hiking pants, except for 2 rain days.  Zermatt was the exception where the weather had really cooled down and despite sunny days we wore our down jackets and light weight gloves all but one day. 

Highly recommend this trip.  it is fabulous to do the full 2 weeks at once and really see a broad swath of the swiss alps.

This was our most challenging walking holiday to date. You do need to have a very good level of fitness and we did make use of the cable cars, where possible on the desents to save our knees. Having said that, the scenery and the views make the efforts all worth while and this will be one of our most memorable walking holidays.

All the hotels were great and our best meal was at the Hotel Quellenhof.

We did the Aare gorge walk but rather than retrace our steps after the first view point we continued up and over the falls to pick up the trail again at the bottom on the other side of the falls using the GPX.

In Murren, the Eiger guesthouse did a fabulous meal on our second night.

We went to the Alpentherme baths in Leukerbad which we thoroughly enjoyed (if you get the ticket from the hotel its a bit cheaper)

The Uschene valley walk in Kandersteg was delightful and relatively easy as well, it is worth either having lunch or at least a drink in the mountain restaurant Lohner.

We used the GPX and set off quite early on most days so we were not under any time pressures, I also had walking poles to take the pressure off of my knees when descending. All our picnics, except the included ones, were purchased at the supermarket, mostly the Coop. We only had one day of mist/rain so we were very lucky. I recommend downloading the Swiss travel app as this was very useful.

In summary there are 4 or 5 very demanding walks, with long sustained ascents & descents but the scenery is spectacular and we absolutely loved this walking holiday.

For experienced and fit mountain hikers, this is a great trek and is very well organised. Weather always influences the safety of high routes so it's useful to have the alternatives already mapped out. The accommodation, food and baggage transfer is just what you need after a long day in the mountains. The views at times are stunning.

Great holiday, as always Inntravel produced great notes, guidance and travel assistance. We felt safe and well looked after. The level 3 walks were challenging and quite hard in places but as we got fitter they became more easier, 100% recommend investing in a GPS device that you can download GPX maps on, fellow travelers got lost a few times but we followed notes and GPS and did absolutely fine. The hotel were amazing and a great rewarding experience after a hard day walking. 

We particularly enjoyed the first hotel, the food was amazing as was the hotel in Zermatt. The biggest disappointment was the hotel at Kandersteg, the meals were very poor particularly the Saturday buffet which was more like motorway service food, also the room was quite shabby with very stained soft furnishings and dirty shower screen. All the other hotels were pleasant although the one in Salgesch was pretty basic but the staff were lovely.

The quality of the holiday was exceptional; from the walking descriptions/instructions, transportation, luggage transfer, and quality of hotels/meals.  We really enjoyed the routes and scenery of the selected walks from town to town.  Inntravel made things very easy and we will be using them again for future trips!

We are both in our early 60s. We enhanced our trip adding in additional night stays to break up the longer walks, see more and use the facilities (e.g. the spa at Leukerbad) in the areas we walked through. This made the holiday all the more enjoyable and special for us.

Excellent walks and hotel variety. Would recommend the glacier walk in Zermatt which was a fantastic experience (and worth paying to go up to the Matterhorn Galcier paradice first). The walk to Chilchbalm was stunning. 

This was a superb holiday with highlights throughout.

Having an extra night in Kandersteg and in Zermatt helped to have a relatively relaxed middle and end to the holiday.