Hiking in Switzerland with Untours

By Cindy Ross

Hiking in Switzerland The Wetterhorn
Hiking The Wetterhorn

Something is calling me awake my first morning in Switzerland, something big and very special. I sit up in bed and look out the window of our Swiss chalet and gasp. Across the valley, the snow-covered peak of the Wetterhorn is bathed in rosy morning light, its hulking shape chiseled, clear and brilliant against the deep blue sky. It looks like a stellar day and I want to be hiking in the Alps, where my head can scrape heaven.

They don't make mountains like these in Pennsylvania and they are the reason why my family has taken this hiking vacation in Switzerland. We are cozy in our apartment here in the Bernese Oberland Heartland area in south central Switzerland. We have food in our fridge, clothes in the dresser drawers, and our shoes are lined up at the door. We know the bus and nearby train schedule, we can find our way around the neighborhood and we have new friends, (our host and hostess, Hedi and Heinz Neiger) living downstairs who speak marvelous English and are happy to assist us. We feel like we live here and indeed we do for the next two weeks.

Our family has enjoyed many outdoor trips but they have always been in the United States and they have always been on our own. We are not tour group-minded people, but neither did we have the confidence to just come to Europe and wing it on our own. We heard of an alternative, and it is an innovative travel company called "Untour," whose slogan is "independent travel with support." The best way to know a people and a culture, they say, is to live in that country for a spell. But since most of us do not have the luxury of time, the next best thing is Untour. With them we will actually live in a European community and see Swiss life as an insider. By placing you in an apartment or home in the European country of your choice, they give you the opportunity to experience a foreign country and a culture at your own pace, free from the restrictions of scheduled tours.

For 33 years Untours has been the leader in independent travel to Europe, traveling to 43 destinations. Included in your adventure are two weeks in a clean and comfortable flat, farmhouse, or cottage; air and transportation (car rental or transportation pass); and on-site support services, including transfer assistance. Meals are not included but you have your own private apartment with a well-equipped kitchen. And one of the best parts -- accommodations for children under 16 is free.

Hal Taussig and his wife, Norma, as a way to introduce Americans to a deeper way of experiencing Europe than the standard superficial bus tour, founded this innovative company in 1975. Taussig gives nearly all of Untour's profits to the foundation he created, the Untours Foundation, which provides low-interest loans here and abroad to individuals and organizations in order to create jobs, build low-income housing, and support Fair Trade products, all through the most environmentally-friendly ways possible. Their interest rate is one of the lowest in the world and through giving loans, not grants, the foundation provides a "hand up" not a "hand out." Untours was the recipient of the 1999 Newman's Own/George Award for "The Most Generous Company in America." Paul Newman said, "Untours giving is creative in every sense of the word. Their low-income loans literally create jobs among the hardcore unemployed and housing in decaying urban centers."

My family feels very proud to be traveling with such a fine company.

When an Untour traveler first arrives at their destination, a group orientation is held your first day in your new country, along with other Untour American travelers. Here, they teach us to read the bus and train schedules and plan our outdoor excursions before setting us loose on the most wonderful hiking holiday.

Because Switzerland is a country of superb hiking, there are abundant lifts, cable cars and trams throughout the mountains that are a great advantage to the hiker. Why struggle all day to gain thousands of steep vertical feet when you can zip up effortlessly in a matter of minutes? Then we can spend our energy walking miles of breathtaking ridges with drop-dead views around every corner.

Fortunately for us, our landlord, Heinz, is a lift engineer and he knows the mountains in the Swiss Heartland intimately. He helps us plan our hikes according to the weather, saving the exposed high ridge walks for the days of stellar weather. Just within Hasilberg and surrounding area, we could be kept busy for weeks. Our favorites are the long walks above tree line, like the 8-mile ridge from Planpatten to Balmereggen, with the snow-covered Alps as a constant stunning backdrop. There are some cable handrails for the faint-hearted, which add to my children's excitement. We never have to walk far in these mountains, however, before reaching a Swiss hut or restaurant.

We come across them smack in the middle of "nowhere," offering anything from full-course dinners to the finest lager and wine. The Swiss know how to live!

On rainy days we visit the spectacular Aareschlucht Canyon and Rosenlaui Canyon, formed when glacial rivers cut implausible clefts through the mountains. Hikers negotiate the narrow vertical canyons on tiny footbridges and catwalks and follow the mint green foaming river through dynamited passageways in the rock. Another day we visit the famed Eiger, a sought-after peak for many mountain climbers showcased in the film "The Eiger Sanction." The Eiger Trail traverses around the base of the peak, a stone's throw from the massive glacier. When we witness a thundering avalanche right before our eyes and hear a native Swiss hiker yodeling as he walks along, we begin to feel like "we aren't in Kansas anymore."

One of the things we marvel at are the beautiful Swiss brown cows that dot the mountainsides and fill the air with the music of ringing bells. The land, remarkably, never looks disturbed by their presence. Our children are able to go up and pet a few ladies who are resting while enjoying a marvelous view.

It is clear how their docile and reserved personality contributes to the excellent cheese that is made from their rich, creamy milk. They are one the things we have come to associate and love about hiking in the Swiss Alps.

Because our landlord and landlady are particularly fond of children, they have become quite taken with our family and invite us to dinner at their private hut in the mountains. After a day of hiking on their favorite trails, while holding hands with my kids and giving them piggyback rides when they grow tired, Hedi finishes off the day with a perfect traditional dish --macaroni, potatoes, ham, bacon, mushrooms, and, of course, rich Swiss cheese and cream. We witness a spectacular thunder and lightning storm in the mountains across the valley, and as the day and our two weeks draw to a close, we have certainly begun to feel at home in Switzerland, thanks to the hospitality of the Neigers, and the marvelous program of Untour.

PLANNING YOUR OWN HIKING TRIP

When I think of hiking, I immediately think of freedom. The actual walking sets my spirit free, but planning the trip and being in charge of how we cover our miles is a big part of it. Unlike most families, we like to cover long distances over whole mountain ranges on our "walking vacations." We even led our small children down the entire 3,100-mile Continental Divide Trail on the backs of llamas. So when we planned to go to Europe and walk Switzerland for a month, we couldn't give up our love of independence and relinquish it to a tour company. Our solution was Idyll Untour, a custom-trip planning company that provides independent travel with support. By placing you in an apartment or home in the European country of your choice, they give you the opportunity to experience a foreign country and a culture at your own pace, free from the restrictions of scheduled tours. We planned to spend our first two weeks with Idyll Untour, and our second two weeks as the footloose savvy travelers we hoped to become.

Before we chose Untour, we looked at some of the other tour companies that offer hiking holidays, such as Mountain Travel-Sobek and New England Hiking Holidays, but we feared their schedules might be a little too rigid for children or independent spirits. With Untours, we would actually live in a European community, which would enable us to see Swiss life as an insider. They helped us select the right area of Switzerland for our family-- the Hasliberg area in the Heartland of the Alps -- and sent us Idyll publications describing all types of hikes and activities accessible from our apartment.

Phone contact with Untours reps is available throughout your stay and a few special group activities are planned (optional). Then we were turned loose on the most wonderful hiking adventure. In no time, we were hopping on trains, taking lifts to the glorious heights and walking across the rooftops of Switzerland, feeling as comfortable as residents, all made easy by Untours.

Untours has apartments or homes in 11 European countries and schedules trips from February to November. Besides your apartment, their very economical price includes round-trip airfare from New York or Boston and a Swiss Rail Pass.

After our two weeks with Idyll, we were ready to leave our apartment and head out to explore the rest of Switzerland on our own. Before we left the United States, we purchased hiking guides to Switzerland, studied them and learned which areas we wanted to experience. We contacted Switzerland Tourism in New York and had them send us detailed material and maps of these particular areas, along with timetables for public transportation and lift and gondola schedules. Once we got a rough itinerary, the N.Y. office contacted the individual Swiss tourism regional offices for us, and helped us make our accommodations and connections. For example, the tourism office told us of a Swiss program called "Sleeping in the Straw," which greatly interested us. These are working goat and cow farms high in the Alps that offer overnight accommodations in their clean barn. Guests can enjoy a real Swiss farm alpine dinner and breakfast and perhaps assist in the milking or cheese making come morning. Some of these rural people do not speak fluent English so the tourism office was particularly helpful in making the reservations so there were no communications gaps.

We learned that all European tourism representatives speak English and are available for help over the phone (bearing in mind the six-hour time difference). This is particularly helpful once you narrow down your plans, for they are experts in their particular region.

The tourism board can get you particular hiking maps of the specific areas you wish to walk in. There are all sorts of individual factors to consider, i.e. the Swiss measure their hiking distances in HOURS, never miles or kilometers. Learning the elevation of the hike, the amount of ascending/descending, knowing when the last bus leaves so you can make it back to the hotel, even familiarizing yourself with trail markings and foreign names (i.e. "wanderweg" means a gentle trail) will all help make your trip run smoother. The more you educate yourself on what you want to do and how you want to do it, the better job the tourism board can do.

-- Idyll Untours, P.O. Box 405, Media, Pa. 19063, 1-888-UNTOUR-1, www.untours.com.

-- Untours 1-888-868-6871, www.untours.com.

-- Switzerland Tourism in New York, 1-877-SWITZERLAND.

-- www.MySwitzerland.com.

Travel | Hiking in Switzerland with Untours