In early September 2025, we booked a self-guided walking holiday with MacsAdventure in which our luggage was transported for us between hotels.
We wanted a true mountain journey, rather than daily hikes from one or two locations, and the Via Alpina West looked like a genuine challenge.
Twenty-five years ago, we hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, 2658 miles from Mexico to Canada, but recently we haven’t carried big packs so we welcomed the idea of having our luggage transported between accommodations. Next year we hope to hike the Tour of Monte Rosa, for which we will have to carry all our stuff, so this was partly a shake-down trip to see how well our bodies performed.
Nevertheless, we had a few concerns even after we booked this trip, principally, would it be too hard for us? I also wondered whether the half-board food would be too “meaty” for us non-meat eaters, and whether incidentals in Switzerland, like buying snacks and drinks, would be prohibitively expensive. We were in Iceland last year and felt our pockets were picked every day.
As it transpired, the prices were reasonable, even at the more up-market hotels (except the last one), and there was usually a Coop where we could buy bread or salad bowls for lunchtime and steal some cheese from the breakfast buffet. Breakfasts and evening meals were superbly catered for our needs, with the possible slight exception of one evening when ‘beetroot risotto’ was the vivid pink colour of strawberry Angel Delight. The hotel owner, delivering it to our table, remarked, “Hmm, that does look strange!”
Difficulty is another matter, and highly subjective. Essentially, you’re going to climb a Scottish Munro (+3000ft) on every day except one. On four of the days, you’re climbing close to the height of Ben Nevis (+4000ft). If that sounds way beyond you, then you’ll struggle on this trip. Take a look at my Komoot map and pay close attention to the elevation changes and daily timings.
Oh, and for goodness' sake, do some training! Don’t think because you’ve done the West Highland Way you’ll nail this - it will nail you. If you do struggle, there’s a ready back-up pla; you’ll simply use a combination of buses and trains, for which Switzerland is rightly famous, to move between hotels. But it would be a shame to miss a moment of this wonderful, challenging hike.
PRE HIKE
The YR weather App is great for watching multiple destinations in advance. In the weeks before our September 2025 hike, I saw lots of rain and was a little worried about the state of the trail. All was well, and the mountains exceptionally green.
As well as the Mapbox routing on the MacsAdventure app, I transferred the route to Komoot. This allowed me to upload it to my Garmin watch for easy navigation on route, and also to scope out alternative routes when the need arose.
Sometimes there are nicer, smaller footpaths than the major Via Alpina route, which often follows ski-pistes.
You don't need sturdy hiking boots, but footwear should be waterproof with excellent grip. I had some Hoka Speedgoat GTX with a built-in gaiter, some Asics trail shoes, and a pair of sliders.
GETTING THERE
We traveled from London (where we left our dog with family) to Grindelwald by train, breaking the journey in Strasbourg. Eurostar was the most expensive and crowded; an Inoui TGV running for SNCF from Paris to Strasbourg was better; the boutique Hotel Tandem in Strasbourg was excellent. A quiet, triple glazed room overlooking the railway station. |
| View of train station from our quiet hotel room |
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| Strasbourg is beautiful but few veggie restaurant |
SBB APP
You will need the SBB app on your phone with a registered credit card and details of the travellers in your party (we’re both over 60). In our experience, you cannot now buy tickets on any bus or train - bus drivers didn’t want to know - but you do need a ticket. On the 8 journeys we took using public transport (4 bus, 4 train) we met 5 ticket inspectors. That’s more than a 50% chance of being caught without a ticket. They’re understanding with tourists who’ve made a mistake, but they will make you pay.Before leaving home, I also booked tickets for the Wengen to Murren transfer and our trip back to the airport from Montreux. I read somewhere that it was cheaper if booked from abroad, but I have no evidence. I used the App time and again while in Switzerland, and it holds all your tickets, even buses, in one place.
ARRIVAL
The 4* Hotel Belvedere in Grindelwald makes fantastic first impression. Pool, hot tubs, sauna, and a free mini bar (2 beers, Cokes, and waters) plus a welcome drink.
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| Eiger view from our balcony |
That’s before we’d done any hiking! I couldn’t help but feel this sort of attention is needed at the end of a week’s walking, not the start.
Grindelwald is as touristy as this route gets. It seems Chinese and particularly, Japanese tourists are attracted here by the story of Heidi, or at least the Anime version. There’s only one thing to recommend the place, and it looms over the town like a brooding giant - The Eiger.
DAY 1 Walk to Wengen
Our route climbed a rather dull, steep path to Klein Scheidegg, with most tourists preferring to ride the cable-car or historic cog railway. It’s an abrupt start to the walk, but my eyes were constantly drawn to the iconic north face, the scene of so many climbing dramas and tragedies. I rarely re-read books, but The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer is an exception, telling the story of the history and first ascent of this epic climb. |
| Eiger North Face with train below |
Most climbers started, and continue to start, from the hotel at Klein Scheidegg, which is now a human sea of tourists, milling around and taking photographs. This is also the starting point for the 1912 rack-and-pinion railway line that climbs a 7km tunnel inside the Eiger and Monch mountains to the Jungfraujoch. No one can accuse the Swiss of treating their mountains with excess sensitivity and respect.
The instructions in the App prepared us for the crowds at Klein Scheidegg, but not for the number of eBikes using the Via Alpina at this point, where it followed a partially paved route down to Wengen. This is where my Komoot mapping came in handy. I was able to identify a smaller, single-track path heading in roughly the same direction, which proved a more pleasant descent to Wengen.
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| Descent to Wengen |
The instructions in the App prepared us for the crowds at Klein Scheidegg, but not for the number of eBikes using the Via Alpina at this point, where it followed a partially paved route down to Wengen. This is where my Komoot mapping came in handy. I was able to identify a smaller, single-track path heading in roughly the same direction, which proved a more pleasant descent to Wengen.
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| Hotel Schönegg room |
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| Hotel Schönegg balcony view |
Wengen is car-free, but someone kindly transported our bags to the hotel, where we had a superb dinner. We’d been concerned that the Swiss half-board deal might be too ‘meaty’ and we’d be offered endless omelettes, so we were delighted to find a menu at the Hotel Schönegg with more veggie options than meat.
DAY 2 Train, cable-car, train to Murren then walk to Griesalp
On paper, making these connections sounds rather complicated but in practice it could hardly be easier. Booked in advance on the SBB App, it showed the times of all the connections, even a map to get from one to the other, although that was hardly needed when everyone else was doing exactly the same thing. We had been told the bags needed to be taken to a kiosk, but the hotel receptionist insisted we leave them at reception, “we do this all the time”. She was right, and it all worked. |
| Rotstock Hut |
This was a much better day’s walking, with no ski pistes, just lovely single-track through woods, rising to an alpine meadow. Early morning mist shrouded the valley and kept us cool, parting in time to reveal the Rotstock Hut. Much harder zigzag climbing took us to the Sefinenfurgge Pass, with the first of the wooden steps / ladders that have been built into upper sections of the next few passes to give surer footing on the the loose scree surface. In wet weather they would be valuable.
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| Wooden stair ladders on the Sefinenfurgge Pass |
The descent proved even harder. People often say,”it’s harder going down”, but I’m not convinced. I suspect it just feels that way because their legs have already completed 4000ft of ascent.
Signposts pointed two different directions to Griesalp and we followed the piste version as indicated by the Mac’s App. We just wanted to get there.
There are a few hotels at Griesalp, and our was run by a lovely, if overworked, woman called Teresa. Struggling to get staff, she seemed to run the entire place almost single-handed. Although the rooms of our hotel were quite basic, it shared an amazing outdoor spa with the posh hotel next door.
Incidentally, all the saunas here require you to be naked; you enter clad only in a towel which you open and spread on the wood as you sit down. Fortunately, the lighting is kept very low. You also go naked into the steam room, no towel, but there are spray hoses inside to wash your sweat from where you were sitting.
DAY 3 Walk to Kandersteg
We were asked to get the bags ready early for collection because the road would be closed for an unusual reason. “About 80 cows with flowers in their hair will be coming down from the higher pastures”, Teresa
sa explained, “and I have to offer coffee and schnapps to all the men.” With a roll her eyes she added, “It’s tradition - apparently!”
DAY 3 Walk to Kandersteg
We were asked to get the bags ready early for collection because the road would be closed for an unusual reason. “About 80 cows with flowers in their hair will be coming down from the higher pastures”, Teresasa explained, “and I have to offer coffee and schnapps to all the men.” With a roll her eyes she added, “It’s tradition - apparently!”
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| Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair |
If we were cycling, today would be the Queen stage, crossing the Hohtuerli, the highest pass of the Via Alpina. By now we understood the pattern of each day; walk through woods, then meadows, exposed bands of rock, and finally loose shale-like scree.
This time, as well as wooden ladders, the well made path was cut-into the rock and protected with chains and ropes. I could imagine some people would find this quite precarious in rain.
The pass is a wide saddle and, perched a little further uphill, the Bluemlisalp Hut crowns the ridge. Some of the people we spoke to on the way up were only going as far as this and spending the night. 7CHF to fill a water bottle seemed rather excessive but we needed it.
A (tepid) hot chocolate and a piece of apple cake completed the order, then we were on our way down.After an initial steep start, there’s more gradual descent on this side, again on superbly cut paths. Glaciers hanging off the mountain completed our view, their shrunken remains hinting at former glory.
The mountain lake of Ochensee was the next objective, but we diverted from the recommended Via Alpina route to follow an excellent, high-level traverse.
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| High level traverse above Ochensee |
We’d decided to save our legs by taking the gondola which we booked in advance online for 26 CHF each (it’s private so not on the SBB App). This cut about 1500 feet from descent and saved not only our knees but also more than an hour of time which we could spend relaxing in the hotel after what was still a long day.
The Hotel Bernerhof was another family run business, very friendly, with a superb restaurant. Their tuna was the best meal we ate. After a hard day on the hill, we really would not have wanted to spend time seeking out a restaurant that catered for our needs. Those whose menus we looked at were around £25-£35 for a main course.
Although today was the hardest on the route, it felt easier than the first two days. were getting into a rhythm.
The Hotel Bernerhof was another family run business, very friendly, with a superb restaurant. Their tuna was the best meal we ate. After a hard day on the hill, we really would not have wanted to spend time seeking out a restaurant that catered for our needs. Those whose menus we looked at were around £25-£35 for a main course.
Although today was the hardest on the route, it felt easier than the first two days. were getting into a rhythm.