Review
Best trip of my life
Classic Bernese Oberland Self-Guided
Reviewed by: Vanessa
I have been on many international trips for outdoor experiences (trekking, trail running, rock climbing, surfing, mountaineering, etc) but this was the best trip I have been on to date. Of course, I already knew that the views and mountain experience of the Swiss Alps are beyond compare. But it was so wonderful to have the itinerary planned out for us and made me confident that we were getting to experience the best local trail options. And it was incredibly luxurious to not have to worry at all about the logistics, but spend our days running in beautiful areas and then simply arrive at a new hotel that knew who I was, already had my luggage waiting for me, and fed us delicious dinners and breakfasts. It allowed us to truly focus on the natural beauty and on our training.
Run the Alps did an amazing job start to finish, from helping us choose which tour was best for us, answering all our little questions before we left, and then providing a plethora of information to use day-to-day and on our runs. It offered me great peace of mind to know that if something went wrong, we had access to a whole team of their staff to help us. But because they plan out everything so well, everything went perfectly and we didn’t have to ask for help along the way even once.
I highly highly recommend this tour and am already planning out our next Run the Alps tours, in addition to texting my friends and family that they should join us for the next one.
Why
We knew that we wanted to do another trail running trip in the Alps to take advantage of the beautiful views and steep elevation changes. But when we did our own trip, we wasted time trying to find the best trails, figuring out how to get to the trailheads, and linking different trails together.
For our next trip, we chose to go with Run the Alps because it was so convenient to have all the trails chosen for us, our accommodations booked, food included, and luggage transfer. We loved not having to take a day off just to travel to a new village. Instead, we got to explore multiple villages, valleys, and mountains every single day, but because we used our legs to travel from one area to another.
Advice
- Download the GPX tracks and put them on your running watch. This was incredibly helpful to have while running.
- Bring your own sunscreen from home, as it is pricey to buy these items in CHF. And don't forget your hat and sunglasses!
- Pack two pairs of trail runners so you can switch between them, especially if one gets wet in rain. And bring a pair of comfortable sandals (e.g., Tevas) to wear around town and at the hotel after your run. Sandals will allow your feet to air out and help prevent further maceration that can lead to blisters.
- If you are going to travel to the Swiss alps multiple times, consider getting the tick-borne encephalitis vaccine in Zurich. This is recommended by the Swiss health authority for locals and since you will be trail running in the mountains, you will be at risk for tick bites. It is much cheaper than in North America. You will have to get multiple doses though.
- Supplement your diet by going to local supermarkets (Co-Op or Migros) to get prepared sandwiches or bowls if it is a long time until your hotel's dinner. They even have ready-made vegan options.
- If you're vegan, some of the hotels may be hit or miss on how much protein you will get with your dinner. If so, get a block of baked tofu at the supermarket and bring it to dinner. There are surprisingly a lot of options.
Highlight
The three highlights of our trip
- The views from Schynige Platte (above Grindelwald) were incredible!! It seemed fake how beautiful it was.
- Running hard and climbing through a rainstorm to the Obersteinberg mountain hut above Lauterbrunnen. The rain made it feel like an adventure and when the sun came out, we saw the most beautiful rainbows and everything was glistening.
- The dinner at the hotel in Wengen was incredible. We decided that would be our celebratory dinner for our anniversary (even though it was a few days too early) and the waiter even tried to bring us extra cake to celebrate, but we had to decline because we were already so full.
