The Hearth of the Swiss Alps hiking tour
Some hiking tours show you one valley. This one shows you the whole spine of the Bernese Oberland and Valais, one high pass at a time.
Over seven hiking days, the route strings together some of Switzerland’s most storied mountain villages — Grindelwald, Wengen, Mürren, Kiental, Kandersteg, Leukerbad, and finally Zermatt — following trails that traders and herders have used between these valleys for centuries, much of it along the Via Alpina. Each day ends somewhere new, so there’s no shuttling back to a base: just pack, walk, and arrive.
The scenery does a lot of the work. Day one climbs to Schynige Platte with the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau filling the skyline; day two skirts below the Eiger’s north face via Kleine Scheidegg to the car-free villages of Wengen and Mürren; later days cross the wild Sefinenfurgga and the 2,779 m Hohtürli above the turquoise Oeschinensee, then follow the historic Gemmipass trail down into the thermal town of Leukerbad. The final days approach Zermatt through high alpine lake country, with the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa growing larger with every pass.
This is a genuinely demanding trekking tour: expect around six hours of walking most days, roughly 1,000 meters of climbing, and terrain that shifts from meadow to rock to the odd early-season snowfield. In return, you get one continuous, physically earned line across two of Switzerland’s best-known mountain regions — sleeping in small hotels and guesthouses along the way, with half-board and a local UIMLA-certified guide throughout.
Not a tour for a first alpine trip — but for hikers who’ve done a few big days before and want to link the Bernese Oberland to the Matterhorn on foot, it’s hard to beat.
This is a demanding trekking tour where you should be able to hike for 6hrs each day on well maintained mountain trails. We climb about 1000m up each day and often descend the same distance. Each day we walk between 10 – 17 km. The trails can be rocky, lead over grassy meadows and there are sections with many steps. In June we might find some snow fields on the higher passes.
Meet your certified hiking guide in Interlaken for a welcome dinner and orientation about the tour.
Night and dinner at Interlaken
A cogwheel train lifts you straight onto the balcony trail at Schynige Platte, with the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau filling the skyline from the first hour. The trail then drops along the ridge above Lake Brienz before descending into Grindelwald.
Hike: 16.9 km · 825 m ascent / 789 m descent
Overnight and dinner at Hotel in Grindelwald.
Up past Kleine Scheidegg, directly beneath the Eiger’s famous north face, then on to the car-free village of Wengen and across the Lauterbrunnen valley to Mürren — another car-free village, perched on its own balcony above a 300-meter cliff.
Hike: 12 km · 1,200 m ascent / 270 m descent
Overnight and dinner at Hotel in Mürren.
The wildest day so far: up past the Rotstockhütte and over the Sefinenfurgga, a high, quiet pass well off the tourist trail, before a long descent into the pastoral Kiental valley.
Hike: 16 km · 1,050 m ascent / 1,200 m descent
Overnight and dinner at Hotel in Kiental
A short transfer up-valley to Griesalp starts the toughest and highest day of the trip: the climb to the Hohtürli (2,779 m), with the Blüemlisalp glacier close overhead, followed by a dramatic descent to the turquoise Oeschinensee and down into Kandersteg.
Hike: 14 km · 1,150 m ascent / 1,450 m descent
Overnight and dinner at Hotel in Kandersteg
A shorter day on one of the Alps’ oldest trade routes: up to the Gemmipass, then down the sheer face above Leukerbad into Switzerland’s largest thermal spa village — a good excuse to soak tired legs before the final push toward Zermatt.
Hike: 8 km · 500 m ascent / 100 m descent
Overnight and dinner at Hotel in Leukerbad
A transfer around to Täschalp, near Zermatt, puts you back on the trail for a crossing of the Pfulwe Pass through high alpine lake country, with the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa now dominating the horizon.
Hike: 12 km · 380 m ascent / 878 m descent
Overnight and dinner at Fluhalp, above Zermatt. (No luggage tonight)
A final, lighter day among Zermatt’s chain of alpine lakes, with the Matterhorn reflected on still mornings — a fitting last look at the mountain that’s been growing larger for two days.
Hike: 10 km · 450 m ascent / 150 m descent
Overnight and celebration dinner in Zermatt
Costs are based on double en suite rooms
Organisation, local UIMLA-hiking guide, all accommodations with half board, all cable cars and transfers during the trekking tour, luggage transfer for most nights
Picknicks and lunches, drinks, personal insurance, personal equipment, travel to Interlaken and back from Zermatt, extra activities not mentioned in the program
Why Choose Us
Insurance
Travel insurance is not included in our adventures.
We strongly recommend that you purchase insurance to cover cancellation, medical expenses, personal accident, personal baggage, money and public liability.
Accident or injury. Unexpected medical expenses. Unplanned incidents are rare but can crop up when you travel.
Gift vouchers
Give the gift of adventure with a Patagoniatiptop GmbH Certificate! Perfect for a mountaineering gift for your son’s birthday, a ski weekend for your best friend or a skitouring trip for your wife. Or … why not invite yourself?
How it works
Contact us and let us know how much you would like to spend. Let us know who is the lucky person to receive the voucher. We will then send the voucher to you or to the address you tell us.
