Kandersteg

June to October is the best time for hiking and for the lake. Snow can block high paths until late June. December to March is the season for skiing, sledging and winter walks. Spring and November are quiet, and some lifts and hotels close.

• Oeschinensee is a lake in a bowl of cliffs, reached by gondola and a short walk. You can swim, row or walk around it.
• Gasterntal is a wild valley south of the village, reached by a narrow road or a cable car.
• Altels is a high peak with a glacier, seen from the valley.
• Seilbahnmuseum shows the history of local cable cars.

• Take the gondola to the lake and walk around it.
• Swim or row on the lake in summer.
• Hike in the Gasterntal.
• Try cross-country skiing or sledging in winter.
• Visit the cheese dairy or cable car museum in the village.

• Spiez is on Lake Thun, about 30 minutes away by train.
• Frutigen is the small main town of the valley.
• Adelboden is a ski resort in the next valley.
• Thun has a castle and a lakeside old town, about 50 minutes away.
• The Gemmi Pass path leads from the Oeschinen area towards Leukerbad in the Valais.

• Frutigen and Adelboden are the nearest villages in the same region.
• Spiez and Thun are on the lake to the north.

• By air: Zurich and Geneva are the main airports.
• By train: Kandersteg is on the line from Bern and Spiez to the Valais. Check times on SBB.
• Trains from Bern take about 1 hour.
• A car train carries vehicles through the Lötschberg tunnel to the Valais.

• The village is small and easy to walk.
• A gondola leaves from the village for the lake.
• Local buses and trails link the nearby valleys.
• A path leads along the stream to the lake. It is steep in parts.

• A car is not needed for the village.
• The Lötschberg car train runs through the mountain to the Valais.
• Parking at the gondola is limited in summer.

Try rösti, cheese fondue and raclette in the mountain restaurants. The lake has a mountain inn with simple dishes. Local cheese comes from alpine farms.

People speak German with a Bernese dialect. English is widely understood.

• Kandersteg is very safe.
• Mountain weather changes fast. Check the forecast before a hike.
• Do not walk on snow slopes or glaciers without a guide.
• Rockfall can occur on steep paths.

Kandersteg was a small farming and pass village for centuries. Walkers crossed to the Valais over the Gemmi Pass. In the 19th century visitors began to come for the mountain views.

The Lötschberg railway tunnel opened in 1913 and made the village a stop on the north-south route.

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