Walking in the Bernese Oberland. Kev Reynolds

not only first-class toilet and washing blocks, but also provide laundry and drying rooms. For a detailed list of about 350 campsites in Switzerland, go to www.camping.ch. Please note that off-site camping is prohibited in Switzerland.

      Youth Hostels

      Several youth hostels (SJH) in the Bernese Oberland provide reasonably priced accommodation. Affiliated to Hostelling International, they are primarily open to all young people holding a valid membership card. Small dormitories and family rooms are generally available. For a current list of hostels in Switzerland, visit www.youthhostel.ch or contact the Schweizer Jugendherbergen, Schaffhauserstr. 14, Postfach, CH–8042 Zürich.

      Matratzenlagers

      The tiny Berghaus Männdlenen is visited on the Schynige Platte to First walk (Route 9)

      Modestly-priced dormitory accommodation is provided in a number of hotels, mountain inns, restaurants, cablecar stations and farms throughout the region. Variously known as matratzenlager, massenlager, mehrbettzimmer or touristenlager, standards vary considerably. Some have traditional two-tier bunk beds, others consist of large communal sleeping quarters with a long line of mattresses (sheet sleeping bags recommended). Almost all have decent washroom facilities including showers. Meals are also provided. Tourist offices can usually provide a list of such places.

      Mountain Huts

      Huts belonging to the SAC (Swiss Alpine Club) are primarily intended as an overnight base for climbers preparing for the ascent of a neighbouring peak, although a number mentioned within this guide are also used by walkers and trekkers. Most are located in spectacular surroundings far from habitation and give a memorable experience for both the first-time and frequent user. Mixed-sex dormitories are the norm (take your own sheet sleeping bag), and in a few, washing facilities are rather primitive. Where a guardian (hut keeper, or warden) is in residence during the summer months, meals and refreshments are usually available. Some huts can be very busy in the high season, and especially at weekends. Should it be your intention to spend a night in one, you’re advised to telephone ahead to make a reservation. Outline details are given throughout the guide, but for more information, log onto the hut’s website, where one exists, and contact details are given.

      Since several routes in this guide visit huts, a note on hut etiquette may be useful for first-time users. On arrival remove your boots and change into a pair of special hut shoes (clogs or rubber slippers) which you’ll find on racks in the boot room or porch. Locate the guardian to book sleeping space for the night, and any meals required. Meal times are usually fixed, but a choice of menu is not always available. Tea, coffee, soft drinks, beer and wine are usually on sale. As soon as you’re able, go to your dormitory, make your bed and keep a torch handy as the room may be unlit overnight. Payment is usually made in cash the night before departure.

      Should you plan to spend several nights in huts during your holiday, it would be worth buying a reciprocal rights card from the British Mountaineering Council (BMC); 177–179 Burton Road, Manchester M20 2BB (www.thebmc.co.uk) to obtain a discount on overnight fees – but not meals. Membership of other Alpine Clubs also enables you to claim discounted overnight fees.

      Holiday Apartments

      Giving a degree of freedom and flexibility, self-catering apartments are an option worth considering by families or groups of friends planning to stay in one centre. The majority of resort villages mentioned in this guide have apartments or chalets to rent, usually for a one week minimum.

      Hotels and Mountain Inns

      A large number and variety of hotels exist throughout the Bernese Oberland, ranging from small family-run establishments to large 4-star buildings that are part of an international hotel chain. In addition, mountain inns and pensions that may not be star-rated, are located in some of the villages as well as more remote outlying districts. A few mountain restaurants also offer good value overnight accommodation in bedrooms or dormitories.

      Package Holidays

      Holiday packages that provide both accommodation and travel, can offer a useful service at a competitive price for walkers looking for a base in a specific resort. Visit your local travel agent and check the brochures of companies such as Crystal, Inghams, Kuoni, Thomson etc.

Weather

      Mountains make their own weather. This is an old adage that is certainly true of the Bernese Oberland. Since the range more or less faces north and is the first of the main mountain areas to collect the weather patterns flooding in across northwest Europe and the low Swiss plains, it attracts a worse record (so far as rain and low cloud are concerned) than most other Alpine regions.

      Summer thunderstorms are to be expected when precipitation will almost certainly be in the form of rain below 2000m, and possibly snow above that level – the Jungfraujoch, for example, records an annual precipitation in excess of 4000mm (158 inches). However, when the Fohn winds blow there will be clear skies for several days at a time (these may occur two or three times a month during the summer), but this is usually succeeded by more rain. Despite its generally poor reputation, however, my own experience of wandering among the Oberland hills over several decades, has been much more positive, for I’ve enjoyed more good weather than bad, and a reasonable amount that could be considered indifferent. Hardly a day has occurred when the weather was so foul it was impossible to go walking, so do not allow the possibility of a few days of rain dissuade you from visiting these wonderful mountains. If you go prepared for the worst and hope for the best, you’ll not be disappointed.

      Walkers relax below the Grosse Chrinne in a quiet corner away from Grindelwald’s crowds

      Average monthly temperatures and precipitation figures (in mm) for Bern, lying north of the Oberland at an altitude of 510m (1673ft) are shown in the box.

      The Swiss meteorological service, MeteoSwiss, publishes a 5-day forecast which provides a general view of weather trends. The broadcast daily weather report is, of course, more helpful, and a local weather bulletin is usually posted in the window of tourist offices and mountain guides’ bureaux. For an internet report in English, visit www.meteoswiss.ch/en – this gives a daily forecast as well as a five-day prediction. Current weather conditions throughout Switzerland can be checked on www.MySwitzerland.com.

Notes for Walkers

      The majority of walks described in this guide have been chosen with a particular viewpoint, lake, alp hamlet, hut or pass as the destination, while the principal objective is to enjoy a day’s exercise among some of the most uplifting scenery in all the Alps. There’s something here to meet the needs of every walker, at every level of experience and ambition. But in order to gain the most from an active walking holiday in the Bernese Oberland, one needs to be in reasonably good physical condition on arrival.

      These mountains are high, and although this is not a climbing guide, walks to a few ‘minor’ summits are included. Yet even without summits, many of the routes described venture to vantage points at elevations of well over 2000m (half as high again as the summit of Britain’s highest mountain), and some of the trails are both steep and exposed. Of course, there are many walks of a more modest nature, but which also enjoy stunning views. Just avoid being over-ambitious for the first few days of the holiday, until you’re acclimatised and better able to appreciate the Alpine scale of the landscape.

      Walks have been graded into three numerical categories, with the highest grade reserved for the more challenging routes. This grading system is purely subjective, but is included as a rough guide of what to expect. Moderate walks (Grade 1)