Visit Kandersteg, Switzerland For Action and Beauty in Winter and Summer
If you've heard of, or visited, Kandersteg, Switzerland, consider yourself fortunate. Unlike St. Moritz, Davos, Gstaad and other haunts of the "Rich and Famous" (although all of these places can be visited for less with a little time and effort), Kandersteg is usually under the radar of visitors to Switzerland other than Europeans. It's not too late for Winter plans in Kandersteg or too early to begin thinking about Summer.
ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I have spent a considerable amount of time in Kandersteg during Winter and Summer. I came across Kandersteg strictly by "happenstance" back in 1991 while browsing areas to settle into for 10 days and hike. The Kandersteg Tourismus mailed me brochures and information. Do you remember having to write away from information, wait for a response and then write again? How the Internet has changed my life! Struck by the gorgeous setting and that there are over 550 km/341 miles of marked walking, hiking and mountain trails around Kandersteg, we promptly made reservations.
Kandersteg is very easy to reach by train (almost always our choice for inter-Europe travel) from Zurich. It may require a change of trains but that too is easy in tourist-friendly Switzerland. Off the train in Kandersteg, it's a short two block walk to the main street with the majority of hotels leading in all directions. And the first views of Kandersteg are stupifying. Green pastures and forested mountains in front of you with high, snow-topped mountains, alpine huts perched on lofty crags. Hikers with backpacks and walking sticks ascending and descending the trails while parasailers floating above.
In the Summer, you can swim, mountain bike, paraglide, go climbing both indoors and outdoors, sign up for tours or just take a cable car up the mountain and enjoy the incredible view. Kandersteg usually offers a guest card during the Summer that entitles you to special perks and discounts. We instantly fell in love with Kandersteg's "Awe factor," ambiance and beauty and revisited in the Winter.
The Winter season in Kandersteg brings cross-country and downhill skiing, snow boarding, tap your inner child and go sledding, and ice climb in this ideal sports area. Just walk outside your hotel door and the fun is right there, only a few footsteps away. How ideal is that!
The following series of articles will give you just a small sampling of the hiking and cross-country skiing that we did in the Kandersteg area plus what is available for hardier people than us. I just hope that my poor words will convey a small bit of Kandersteg's allure, entice you into visiting and prepare to greet each and every infallibly polite person on a trail with a warm Gruezi, "hello" in German-Swiss...
