Walking in the Bernese Oberland (International series) Paperback – June 16, 2015

I found this book only moderately helpful for the Lauterbrunnen-Grindelwald area, partly because there is so much online content for these areas. I can see where it might be more helpful for less traveled areas.The hike descriptions are very detailed, and the color pictures are pretty. The distance, gain/loss, and difficulty ratings seem mostly accurate. One problem: the popular hike that everyone refers to as "Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg" is referred to in this book as "Grindelwald (Berghaus Mannlichen) to Kleine Scheidegg". This is misleading, because the hike does not go through Grindelwald.The major problem with this book is that it is mostly text, with only a couple of minimal area maps. They show how far apart the hikes are and roughly their position, but don't allow the reader to see where they intersect, where there are alternative routes, or where you can take public transport. (The last is described in the text, but is difficult to visualize without a map.) There are also no schematics showing the shape of each hike.More helpful resources on the topic can be found by Googling "Jungfrau Wanderkarte PDF" and "Schilthorn Wanderkarte PDF". The free Wanderkartes are panoramic maps showing popular hikes, their altitude and distance, and how they intersect. There are also short text descriptions. You can pick up hard copies of these at the train stations in Switzerland. Just by glancing at these maps, I got a better understanding of hiking options than I did from reading hundreds of pages in the Reynolds book. Sadly, the book didn't even get to go to Switzerland with us.

These Cicerone Walking books are compact and informative. This edition covers Switzerland's Bernese Oberland and includes over 100 walking routes. The book offers an introduction to the area, safety and weather concerns, and tips about the use of buses, trains, and cable cars to access some of the walks. The color photography gives a delicious sense of the scenery.Each route gets a verbal description, and there are generalized schematics of the routes in a given area. These schematics are not adequate for navigation, and the book strongly recommends getting a local map product prior to undertaking most of these walks, even if you intend to use GPS. Well recommended as a planning guide to some fabulous mountain walking in the Swiss Alps.

I purchased this book to prepare for a 12 day hiking journey through the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps in summer 2019. Kev Reynolds knows these mountain trails well, and describes them in excellent detail. We followed many pieces of his guidance, and made adjustments during our hikes based upon his insights. This is well worth the expense, and put on your kindle and put into your hiking backpack to read the night before each day out on the trail in this wonderland of clouds and glaciers and glory. For another book on clouds and glory, the spiritual kind, take a look into CLOUD DEVOTION: THROUGH THE YEAR WITH THE CLOUD OF UNKNOWING (Paraclete Press, 2020), available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Cloud-Devotion-Through-Year-Unknowing/dp/1640604332/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1586923581&sr=1-1

Eh

Exactly the book we needed for our village-to-village trek this summer (Wilderswil-First/Grindelwald/Wengen/Obersteinberg/Murren). Haven't used it in-country yet, but I can tell it will be our bible for the hikes.

Initially this book looked unpromising, but after your first walk you will realize that this book is actually very helpful.Great location, and great book !!

Plenty of hikes with detail....some easy and some all day hikes. Pictures added value to set the stage for a week's worth of excellent hikes.

Easy to carry and read.

Off on a walking holiday in Kandersteg and purchased this. Individual walks are verbally described but are not accompanied by any form of mapping. Useless.I have purchased many other cicerone guides that not only have detailed mapping but also gpx plots available via the Cicerone website.This book dates from 2015 and needs updating with maps and gpx if it hopes to sell manyore copies.Disappointed.

I Ordered two books by this publisher and although different titles basically the same book. It is a good book so I gave this one away.

The book was quite informative with plenty of options but not quite as good as the book of the same series for the Innsbruck area.

There are a lot of walks in all parts of the Oberland. Enough in each area to keep you busy for a week.

No maps, walking suggestions often were along roads, busy tracks or unattractive paths, no digital solution - better to use local internet resources and maps with walks and digital tracking.