Berner Oberland

Our personal travel and photo guide for Switzerland

Only after our extensive travels abroad did we start to discover the beauty of our own country - Switzerland. When Clare decided to engage in a new education in animal-care and veterinary-medicine in a little town near our very pretty capital "Bern", I realised I wanted to use this base as a perfect spot to start exploring and photographing more of this beautiful country. Many of the photos in my 'Switzerland Portfolio' were taken on these trips. For a traveler in Switzerland seeking the great outdoors and beauty of nature, the great advantage is that there are walking paths to almost everywhere and hardly anything is fenced in or closed off to the public. In this blog I can now share some of my favourite photo locations that I discovered in Berner Oberland:

Lobhornhütte

For myself as a photographer seeking amazing scenery off the beaten track in Berner Oberland, I avoided the tourist hotspots with Interlaken, Grindelwald und Jungfrau Joch being the main attractions. In these locations you will definately see many more tourists than Swiss people. A better way with a much better angle and view to see the famous Eiger Northface or the Jungfrau is from the Lobhornhütte. You need to take the old cablecar from Isenfluh to Sulwald, put your snowshoes on (in winter) and walk for 1.5 hours. In the end, you reach an alpine hut with food and drinks and if you like there are some basic rooms to stay a night, too. The tour and the views are simply amazing!

Niederhorn

Not far away from Interlaken you can take a cablecar that takes you up to the top of the Niederhorn. From there enjoy the awesome ridge walk with fantastic views to lake Thun and the full panorama of the Bernese Alps. On top, you will have a great chance to see a chamois or a an ibex or more since this is a protected wildlife area and therefore the animals are very calm.

Simmental

Sparenmoos is a hidden gem close to Zweisimmen. I did this trip in winter and there is bus to the restaurant and back where you can hire a sledge. I decided to test our Mini Countryman and drove up the snowy piste - what fun that was! On top you find walking paths in the snow and absolutely spectacular scenery. And you will be mostly just alone because most people go for cross country skiing or for the sledge adventure.

Another amazing place for snow walking is Lenk. Take the Gondelbahn Betelberg and go to the top called Leiterli - the end of the ski lifts. From here you can walk on a prepared piste to an surreal mountain scenery. 

Gurnigel

Another highlight is called Gurnigel. From the top of the pass at 1608 meters above sea level you can see a truly magic mountain called Gantrisch. Sunrise from this place is amazing and when you have finished photographing and taken in the view, you can enjoy breakfast at the restaurant.

Kandersteg

We did several trips to this village from where you have many beautiful trekking opportunities. One very popular day trip destination in summer is to one of the prettiest mountain lakes in Switzerland: Oeschinensee. The first part up is certainly strenuous but the view from the top is simply spectacular. The mountain in the back is the beautiful Blüemlisalp range which is a challenging climb. But also in winter you can get up from Kandersteg to Sunnbüel and walk towards the Gemmipass on well prepared winter walking piste.

Lauterbrunnen

Finally, a must-do visit in the Berner Oberland is the Lauterbrunnen valley. Clare and I stayed in the village of Lauterbrunnen and started an early walk up to Wengen where the famous and longest downhill race ends. Just past the train station in Lauterbrunnen there's a beautiful view of the valley and the waterfalls (see top picture). Another spectacular place to see are the Trümmelbach Falls. There are 10 waterfalls in the centre of the mountain - this is a really awesome natural wonder.

Watch out for my next blog where I will move on to a mountain range called Jura. 

Our other published locations cover the following areas (with links):

Part 1: Berner Oberland

Part 2: Jura

Part 3: Lake Luzern

Part 4: Engadin

Part 5: Appenzell

Part 6: Aargau

Part 7: Emmental

Part 8: Romandie

Part 9: Valais

Part 10: Uri, Schwyz, Glarus

Part 11: Rhein

Part 12: Zürich

"One crowded hour of glorious life is worth an age without a name"

(The Call - Thomas Osbert Morsdaunt, 1730-1809)

Travel blog and travel guide by Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker

© Aaron Matzinger & Clare Walker

#Switzerland