A walking holiday in the Bernese Oberland

Pros - incredible mountain views, great paths, efficient transport when using buses and trains. We had one really good meal at the Victoria which was a fancy barbecue for Swiss National Day. The Alpenland also worked hard to adapt their tasty menu and accommodate our fish eater. Cons - It is hardly Inntravel’s fault but due to the weak pound this seemed a very expensive trip. The cable cars in Kandersteg are ridiculously expensive even with a Swiss half fare card. Wine was upwards of £40 a bottle so we just drank a few beers here and there. Above all we felt this trip was missing the “inn” in Inntravel. A really important part of these holidays for us is relaxing over good local food and wine in the evenings and discussing the walks. This was spoilt for us by the general prices and one very poor meal at the Hotel Adler. What does it say about a place when the non-meat menu choice on half board is Quorn curry? The meat offering was scarcely any better. In short, if we go back to Switzerland it will be self catering only.

A well organised walking holiday, in fantastic mountains with great wildflowers.

Swimming down the clear Aare river around the medieval heart of the city of Bern was an unexpected delight.

This is a demanding set of walks but quite doable. Walking poles are a signficant, if not essential, aid. We used walking shoes and got away with it. All Swiss Germans were walking in boots. You need two water bottles. Interesting to hear from the hotel in Lauenen how it likes its relationship with Inntravel, very positive.

Great way to experience the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. There is nothing better than a strenuous day of hiking followed by good food and drink, and a really comfortable bed in a nice lodge. Perhaps the one of the more notable things about our trip was the quality of the hiking trails, trail markers, and the overall scenery. Strongly recommend this type of trip for anyone looking to forget the world’s issues, all while being close to nature and experiencing the friendliness of the locals.

Overall, it was very well organized and the directions were almost always perfect. We did not do the walk from Kandersteg to Adelboden because it was on the road a lot and very long and we were afraid of thunderstorms, but the bus worked well and allowed us more time in Adelboden and time to see the waterfall. The hotel in Lenk was unimpressive and I would suggest another hotel. Because it was on a Sunday and the hotel was not serving dinner, we had a very mediocre meal at a nearby restaurant. The only negative part was the 1/2 board - we felt like gastronomic second-class citizens and it was not worth it. One highlight was the walk up the mountain before Lenk, though it was very tiring. The walk to Lauenen was equally beautiful, and we also loved the Gasternal Nature preserve. 

An excellently organised walking holiday with some outstanding alpine scenery and flowers. Some of the walks were quite challenging but with the option of using the cable car were managable. We paricularly enjoyed swiiming at the Wallbach Bad in Lenk which we spotted on the descent into Lenk from Adelboden. It was good to have the first 3 nights in Kandersteg to find our feet.

A superbly-organised holiday in which the detailed and accurate instructions complemented the breathtaking scenery. Accommodation, catering and travel arrangements were of universally high quality. A pleasurable and memorable experience. ence.

This was our first trip with Inn Travel, and it was a great experience. The representatives were so helpful from the beginning of the process and the combination of itinerary, hotels, hikes, food was the best. Switzerland was as beautiful as we had imagined and the hospitality along the way surpassed out expectations. We are already starting to think about our next trip with Inn Travel.

My husband and I are in our sixties and we had a wondeful time hiking in the Swiss Oberland (often opting for the shortened versions of the hikes). Inntravel was extremely helpful, responsive and attentive. All arrangemnts were expertly made and there were no hitches at all in the itineary. We would definitely use this company again for future hiking.

Beautiful scenery with wild flowers and some snow. Fun! Interesting mountain villages. This was an excellent holiday as usual (our 5th!) if challenging because of the heat wave. On this trip we emphasized the “holiday” rather than the “walking” (but we did walk over 50 miles en route). We chose to use (ski) lifts and twice went up and explored the upper edge of the route one day and the next day used the excellent Swiss bus system to the next inn. It was wonderful to rely on Inntravel for the hotel arrangements, luggage transfers, and routes. It's a great way to still enjoy the mountains and grade 2 & 3 walks even when we can't walk them entirely.

Lying in the soothing warm bubbles of the outdoor pool in Adelboden after a day of delightful walking from Kandersteg is right at the top of my most memorable moments from this wonderful holiday.  So too was the cable car ride up from Gstaad to the heavenly grassy ridge of Hohi Wispile where an idyllic walk surrounded by awe-inspiring views was accompanied by only the sound of cuckoos and cowbells...not to mention the Lenk to Lauenen walk through flower-filled alpine meadows, over glorious mountain pastures and the Truttlisberg pass.  We had to keep stopping ourselves from breaking into a rendition of "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music"!    Every day brought new challenges and achievements, unbelievable vistas, excellent food and comfortable beds...thank you Inntravel for another first class walking holiday.

There were many highlights - the views, the solitude in some places and the sense of achievement in some parts where conditions were challenging.

A perfectly organized holiday from start to finish and sumptous meals to look forward to at the end of every walk. We had an absolutely wonderful holiday and would highly recommend it to others, and look forward to our next walking holiday with Inntravel. 

We are very happy customers. I have already recommended your company to my brother-in-law and we are looking at your vacations for our next break. 

Fantastic holiday! We really felt like we got to know the Bernese Oberland area in a unique way. The logistics were well organized and Inntravel picked some lovely hotels.

Beautiful scenery. Excellent accomodation and food at all the hotels.

Second time with Inntravel, second time having a completely wonderful experience and discovering beautiful parts of the world in safe hands.

The sense of achievement by walking to Adelboden via the Bundechrinde pass was huge but maybe expect a longer day.

Hotel Adler our favourite and breakfast on the balcony very special.

The Bernese Oberland walking holiday is magnificent. I don't think Americans are very familiar with walking holidays (at least I wasn't), but I will be telling all of my friends about them. There is a terrific variety of landscapes in the Bernese Oberland walks. Most of the walks have various options for shortening or lengthening which we took advantage of (the Heuberg extension at Oeschinensee was particularly great). The meals were very good and the hotels excellent. Also the service at Inntravel is outstanding.

We visited the Bernese Oberland during July and the wild flowers in the alpine meadows were wonderful, so many different varieties, so many of them, so beautiful.

The route was spectacular with great accommodation along the way. Two problems were encountered. The late winter and heavy snow in Switzerland meant that the pass from Kandersteg to Adelboden (Bunderchrinde) was closed and likely to remain so for some weeks (Tourist Office). Our only alternative was via Frutigen.

Secondly, the vast majority of the lifts, bus services and mountain restaurants did not open until the 16th of June which was when we had finished our holiday. Consequently, none of the various options in the walk notes were available to us. Since the 16th was the seasonal opening date and nothing to do with the severe winter, it would seem appropriate that you did not sell this holiday before this date. It was somewhat annoying to find that everything opened the day after we left.

Every day the scenery was outstanding and different. The variety in the snow covered mountains and green valleys was amazing and after a good day's walking to arrive at excellent hotels was perfect.

This was our sixth holiday with Inntravel, with them, you know they'll take care of the details, your luggage, everything, to ensure you have a great holiday of which there is a great selection on offer!

Our holiday in Switzerland surpassed our expectations. We have done walking holidays in other countries with other travel organizers and we will definitely book our next walking holiday through Inntravel. The staff responded to all our enquiries in a timely and professional manner. We found the accommodations that were chosen for us to be excellent. Thank you for making our holiday so memorable.

Our 3 favourite walks were: Oeschinensee to include Heuberg & Oberbargli; Lenk to Lauenen; Lauenen circular via Gstaad.

We had a consistently delightful holiday, walking excellent routes for ten days in the Bernese Oberland - Swiss Alps. The combined careful engineering of paths without scarring the countryside plus the deep insights of the Inntravel team and their Swiss advisors delivered outstanding and very varied walking every day - gorges, rivers, waterfalls, meadows, mountains, lakes, mountains and passes. The times and grades matched our expectations. The hotels, particularly Hotel Victoria in Kandersteg, were wonderfully hospitable, extremely comfortable, very helpful and offered delicious food. Extra nights in Kandersteg, Adelboden and Lauenen were very worthwhile. We would have loved to stay longer; there were always more enticing routes to explore. Swiss transport and luggage tranfers were so reliable you could set your watch by them. Everyone we met added to our enjoyment by being well informed and helpful.

So many fantastic views and such varied walks. Lake Oeschinsee in the sun was so beautiful, it didn't surprise us that we had to share it with a lot of other people; however, on other days we hardly saw a soul. Sitting outside the last hotel in Launen with a drink at the end of a long day, looking at the amazing views (when the clouds lifted) was a great way to end the trip. 

This was a fantastic holiday. The routes were actually more hiking than walking, but this was to be expected for the area. The lodging and meals were top notch, and we received excellent service throughout our trip. The Hotel Adler is a step above as far as services, so this might be a nice choice to stay more than one night and take full advantage of the hotel.

Page 31 of the notes says "The hotel can provide a tourist pass at around CHF20 per adult".  However, this is a deposit! We used it on the Engstliglenfalle walk, then the next day, when were were going to Lenk, the hotel explained that we could use it on the cable-car and if we gave it back at the top cable-car station, we would get our CHF20 back - which we did. So the pass was actually free. It was a glorious day and a lovely cable-car ride, for us it would have been worth the money anyway, but even better being free!

This was our second year with Inntravel.  Both trips were well planned with plenty of options to modify thanks to the excellent maps.  I would not have wanted to miss a single day.  The hotels, especially in the Engadin, exceeded all of my expectations.  The travel arrangements and time tables were clear.  We hope to take more trips with Inntravel next year. 

The walks were well planned to give a variety of experiences from walking to a glacier to enjoying the the flowers on another walk to taking in an upmarket ski resort on another.