Hiking in Switzerland

Living in Lausanne, I have had the chance to go on a number of hikes in the Swiss mountains. Hiking was undoubtedly the best thing to do during the weekends of September and October whilst the weather was still nice and the snow hadn't built up too much yet.

Oeschinensee Lake

Oeschinensee Lake is one of the most popular hiking destinations in Switzerland and for very good reason. The vibrant turquoise blue alpine lake is surrounded by incredible mountains. It is very easily accessible: you can take the train to Kandersteg which is a village in the "Bernese Highlands", about an hour from Bern. From there, the walk up to the lake takes about an hour and a half. It is a good path but quite steep in places. On first sight I have to admit that I wasn't particularly blown away by the lake itself - the water didn't look nearly as turquoise as I'd seen in pictures. However, we ate lunch by the shore and admired the surrounding scenery which was very pretty.

From the lakeside there is the possibility to continue on up into the mountains overlooking the lake. As we started walking round the lake and climbing up above it, I finally saw the breathtaking aqua colours that I had been waiting for. The further round we climbed the more spectacular the views became and they far outdid any photos I'd seen. The top of the mountain had snow on it, even in September, but luckily we got a beautiful sunny day for our trip. We were able to do a round loop up above the lake. The climb up was challenging but, once you reach a certain point, the path levels out and you walk across the mountains before descending back down towards Kandersteg. This loop totalled about four hours.

Rocher de Naye

Rocher de Naye is a mountain in the Alps near to Montreux. There is a train which runs all the way from Montreux up to the top of Rocher de Naye with stops along the way so you can get off wherever you like, depending on how long you want to hike for. On the day I went it was very cloudy so when we got off the train, about half way up, we were in the clouds and could hardly see a thing. The majority of the walk was a gentle ascent on a very good path which worked its way around the mountain. Eventually we began to see rays of sun breaking through and we emerged from the mist to spectacular views of mountain peaks above the cloud line. Although we couldn't see all the way down, the layer of cloud created a really cool effect which made for an experience that was just as good, if not better than we could've had on a clear day. The final wee stretch of the climb up to the top where the train line finishes was steep and more challenging but well worth it. The summit was dusted with snow and the panoramic views were incredible.

Aletsch Glacier

Aletsch Glacier is said to be the largest glacier in the alps at over 20km long and is part of a UNESCO world heritage site. We started this walk from Bettmeralp in the canton of Valais. The village can be reached by cable car and from there we did a 12km walk alongside the glacier. Being in the mountains means great views are pretty much guaranteed and we were once again lucky with the weather so it was a really nice walk. The route was significantly easier than the others because it did not involve climbing up a mountain and then coming down again, but rather walking across the mountain going up and down all the way. The return section of the circular walk brought us through a forest and along the ridge of a mountain looking down onto the glacial valley below. Whilst is was a very nice view, it was a little sad to see how much the glacier had retreated in recent years due to global warming.

Overall, three incredible hikes in the Swiss mountains. For me, Oeschinensee remains unbeaten as my favourite trip in Switzerland so far and it would take something really spectacular to beat it. The views over the lake were just phenomenal. If I ever get to be in Switzerland in the summer again there are many more hikes that I would love to try.