Location: Kandersteg
Top Things to do in Kandersteg
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10 Things to Do in Kandersteg That You Shouldn't Miss
Kandersteg is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located along the valley of the River Kander, west of the Jungfrau massif. It is noted for its spectacular mountain scenery and sylvan alpine landscapes. Tourism is a very significant part of its economic life today. It offers outdoor activities year-round, with hiking trails and mountain climbing as well as downhill and cross-country skiing.
Restaurants in Kandersteg
1. Oeschinen Lake
Overall Ratings
5 based on 418 reviews
Oeschinensee is accessible by foot from Kandersteg within 1.5 hours. The cable car operates in summer and winter season daily from mornings till evenings - non stop. In summer enjoy swimming in the lake, boat rides on the blue and clear water or just have fun with the toboggan run at the top station of the cable car. Several hotels around the lake offer rooms in summer. Restaurants are open in winter and summer. The region belongs to the Unesco heritage Jungfrau-Aletsch.
Reviewed By mmmill - Glasgow, United Kingdom
We visited Oeschinensee in mid-October, and were lucky to have a clear sunny day. We took the train from Thun to Kandersteg early in the morning to beat the crowds (which was a good choice), and then got the cable car up to Oeschinensee as soon as it opened. We walked down to the lake from the cable car, and walked all around the area for a few hours to admire the amazing views. Then we headed back to do the toboggan run (it was great fun!) before heading back down to Kandersteg. I would definitely recommend for a day trip!
2. Nature Park Blausee
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 264 reviews
Reviewed By Cathy C - Hong Kong, China
We drove from Zurich, and the free parking in front of the entrance really comes in handy. The park is absolutely beautiful paired with the fall leaves! Bring your own picnic food if possible, it's a great place to have picnic with the right weather. Really worth the drive!
3. Adelboden
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 214 reviews
Reviewed By QuinLabRat - Reading, United Kingdom
Hidden in the Bern countryside half way up a mountain (literally) is the touristy village of Adelboden.
It's an all year round attraction - hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter. It caters mainly to Swiss families who have been visiting for generations.
There are bars, cafes and cake shops galore as well as sporting shops and a good size coop supermarket.
4. Gemmi Pass
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 124 reviews
Reviewed By Debra G - Springboro, Ohio
This is a moderate hike with a good combo of both ascending and descending climbs. Be sure to take water with you! We took bus from the Kandersteg Bahnhof (free with hotel discount card) to the Sunnbuel lift and then over to the Gemmi pass. We saw all ages of hikers, strollers, and wheelchairs along the way. As a novice hiker, there were some tough up hill climbs but nothing insurmountable, especially with my hiking poles. We stopped at the Wild Struebel above Leukerbad for lunch and a Cardinal before taking the lift down into town. This is a stunning place for photos. If you have a Swiss Pass, you can have a 50% discount on the lifts. We then took the bus to Leuk, train to Visp, Brig, then back home to Kandersteg. Beautiful views all the way!
5. Tschentenalp
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 55 reviews
Reviewed By FloopySandlet101 - Basel, Switzerland
Allthough we are commenting to the topic of Tschentenalp in general, we thought it worthwhile to mention how nice the sledging was.
There are two slopes, one for beginners (#7) and for intermediates (#8). Both offer a fun and not too long / not too short experience, which is a definite recommendation in case you are in the area.
Last, but definitely not least: the guy at the rental place was very friendly, who offers to try all sorts of fun-looking stuff besides sledges as well. Maybe next time!
6. Skigebiet Oeschinensee
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 61 reviews
Reviewed By Kevin O - Glasgow
Take the cable car, unless you are bonkers, and a 20 minute walk down the lake and the most incredible view awaits you. If you are unfit there is a little electric bus that will take you back to the cable car every half hour.
7. Kandersteg-Allmenalp Klettersteig
Overall Ratings
5 based on 24 reviews
Reviewed By Adrian F - Bethesda, Maryland
This via ferrata or klttersteig is justly famous for its spectacular location and length. There are pretty good views across and up the valley into the Oberland peaks proper, but this is not a route for the distant vistas. The view of the air below your feet is remarkable and sustained. The actual length of the via ferrata proper is listed as 350 m, with 550 m elevation gain, and the recommended time is 3 to 3.5 hours. My impression is that most parties who do not do the two Tyrolean traverses (this can be dangerous without proper training and equipment beyond the standard vie ferrate gear) do the route in about 2 hours. Access is very easy. Take the train to Kandersteg, walk 10 minutes north to the base of the obvious waterfall in the true left side of the valley just west of the cable-car. When you finish the route, walk uphill for 10 minutes and catch the cable-car back to town. The Kandersteg train station has a set of luggage lockers. When I visited on a Saturday mid-September, about half were available. If timed right with the trains, can be done in half a day from Bern. It is not really mountaineering, but it is steep, exposed terrain, and it is great fun when time or weather does not allow for actual climbing. Standard equipment (via ferrata slings, harness, helmet, gloves) is needed, and because escape mid-way is not easy or possible, I suggest bringing basic foul-weather gear, water and some food (you need to decide which of the 10 essentials are really essential - I always carry a headlamp, for instance). The start of the route is protected somewhat sparingly (potential for long falls), presumably to discourage novices. So beware. There is a restaurant/bar by the Allmenalp cable-car station at the top. This is not a hard route (for instance the "downtown" Grenoble via ferrata is more physical, and the Innsbruck klettersteig is more exposed to the elements), but because it is long and quite committing, previous experience is a must. Guides and instruction are available locally, as well as equipment rental. The cable-car is very popular with parapenters, there is a school locally, and that might make a spectacular way to do the descent.
8. Trummer Woodcarving
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 23 reviews
Reviewed By KimM750 - Exeter, United Kingdom
Part of my annual return holiday to Adelboden always includes a visit to the woodcarving shop (the life size Bambi and eagle in the shop window are truly incredible) where I'm greeted like an old friend. This year I also made the effort (minimal with the glorious views, or you can get the bus to Nueweg and walk a shorter distance!) to visit the workshop a little out of the town.
I was delighted that I did, as you get to watch the family members of wood-carvers at work - if you find glass-blowing of interest, you'll love seeing flat pieces of wood being carefully transformed into, on my visit, marmot fur! Amazing!
Just to clarify, you are politely asked not to touch the items because any handcream or suncream can adversely stain the wood and mean the item can no longer be sold.
A trip to the wonderful house next door for tea, gorgeous homemade cake or soup is also a fascinating experience. It is a family home where they have added a small room onto their kitchen and offer refreshments. You get a real feel and insight into Swiss family life.... nothing like the large, somewhat impersonal restaurants at the top of Mountains.
Another wonderful visit to my favourite Trummer family!
9. Bluemlisalphutte SAC 2840m
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 16 reviews
Reviewed By Rainmelk
From the Oeschinen See Lake it's a 3:30h hike if you go fast. The hike is amazing and you have a view on the lake for a while. In late June there was still much snow for the last 200 metres before the hut so it's good to have hiking poles and gaiters. Once at the hut, you can sleep there, it's very luxurious. From it, you can access a few summits at 3600 metres but you need crampons and ice axe.
10. Kandersteg Loipennetz
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 6 reviews
Reviewed By Melissa_Global - London
This was our second visit to Kandersteg for the cross country skiing. We came back because it is undoubtedly a beautiful location and also has downhill skiing close by (which my partner does). However, the ski loops are very limited - okay for beginners (which I was last year) but fairly monotonous after a few days for anyone intermediate level and above. The snow was poor this year which didn't help. Many of the longer, more challenging loops were closed. Also, while the tourist information boasts a certain number of kilometres of track most of these are loops within other loops (so, for example, the green, yellow and black runs are in fact the same loop except for occassional extensions). But most difficult is how the runs are taken over by events on the weekend during the season. This happened both last year and this year's visit even though I'd tried to get a weekend where there was nothing advertised as happening in the village (it turned out there was, it just hadn't been advertised on the website events page). The loops can be closed for the entire weekend or, as this weekend, a central loop is closed off which means we have to stop, get off the loop, walk a few hundred metres, and find another loop. Surely better organisation would be to move the event to the edge of the village or a loop so as not to interrupt the rest of us that still want to ski. More annoying is the lack of attention to the trails even on weekends. They don't seem to be regularly groomed. Perhaps resources get diverted to the events rather than general trail maintenance. I can see these events may bring people to the village for a weekend but they don't seem to do much to fill the tables of restaurants during the rest of the week. The guests who stay all week try to do that but unfortunately we won't be back again as weve feel we lost two days of skiing each year. We're heading back to Scandinavia where the runs are really long and uninterrupted.
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