HHT10-5E Bernese Oberland Traverse East 5-day Itinerary

Accommodation

The accommodation options along the Bernese Oberland Traverse range from up-scale hotels to simple mountain hotels. There are at least two nights along the route in villages where we use hotels, or in some cases, hostels for the Ultralight Package.

While this route has many great characteristics, one of the favorites is the access to accommodation with private rooms. It is possible to do the entire route in private rooms, and the availability for private rooms stays open much longer into the booking season than it does on other tours.

Meals

Breakfast and dinner will always be available at, or near, your accommodation. It is not necessary to carry your own food for these meals. There are three nights (two for the Ultralight Package) in villages on this tour, where we do not include dinner. This is because most hotels don’t offer dinner as an option and because we want you to be able to choose your own restaurant according to your preferences. For the nights in mountain hotels, they allow us to book half-pension for our customers, which includes a multi-course set menu for dinner (usually with a vegetarian and non-vegetarian option) and breakfast. Drinks are never included.

Read about dietary restrictions at the huts

For lunches, there are a couple of options:

1. There are so many stops along the way, that depending on your itinerary, you’ll likely have options to sit down for a warm lunch on each day. While this sounds appealing, it is also very expensive and time-consuming. This is not a great option on long hiking days or for slower hikers who are already concerned about covering the planned route. In addition, some of these stops are closed on certain days of the week as their “rest day,” so it’s not always a guarantee that each stop will be open.

1. You can bring your own food for lunch. This is a great option on this route because you go through three villages where you can stock up on supplies. This is our favorite option.

This section of the Bernese Oberland Traverse is hikeable from throughout the summer, from the beginning of June through the end of September. The optional hike along the North Face of the Eiger may have problematic snowfields on it until mid-July, and may remain closed in the early weeks of the hiking season. 

Here's what conditions to expect at different times of year:

June: Huts are open and routes from the valleys to the huts are clear. Problematic snow may still remain at higher elevations. Snow conditions on the trail are determined by snowfall in the late Spring and by the temperatures in the weeks leading up to the hiking season. It is not possible to predict what trails are going to be like in June until one or two weeks before. This is true even after a winter with low snowfall.

July and August: Problematic snow can remain on The Eiger Trail (an alternate option) through the second week of July, but it is less likely than in June. Summer settles in and days are usually mostly sunny with an afternoon thunderstorm or two. These thunderstorms rarely interfere with hiking itineraries and are not usually problematic. Of course, thunderstorm safety should be practiced. The wildflowers at the higher elevations should be all out by mid-July. Hiking conditions during this time are often favorable, and it’s a great time to be on the trail.

September: The first snow of the winter usually falls in the first week of September. The snow rarely sticks around for more than a day, but the visibility can be very low, making navigation problematic, and maybe even impossible, on this one day. Most days in early September are beautiful and perfect, and the thunderstorms are less, but there is a higher risk of snowstorms and conditions that may prevent you from completing your hike during this time. Many hikers have incredible weather in September, but some do not. It’s simply a matter of luck. The later you push into September, the higher the risk that unfavorable conditions (usually snow, but sometimes extremely cold temperatures) can interfere with your hiking itinerary. We notice that customers who are on the trail beyond September 15^th are much more likely to quit their hike early due to conditions. In early September, the wildflower season is mostly over, with the exception of brilliant bursts of fireweed that mark the end of summer.

In all months, it’s reasonable to expect 1 to 2 rainy days on the trail.

To research more detailed information about average temperatures, precipitation, etc., we recommend checking Meteoblue (go to “History & Climate” and then “Climate (modelled)”) for Kleine Scheidegg.

Read more about Understanding the hut-to-hut hiking season in the Alps.