Hiking with kids: Adelboden

Idyllic mountain village Adelboden is a famous winter resort in the middle of the Bernese Alps. It is a winter sports paradise (we have already been both skiing and sledding here), as well as hikers’ paradise (we made a hike from Sillerrenbühl to Oey). This time we headed up north of Adelboden, and during our hike, we enjoyed great views of the Allenbach valley and the Engstligenalp massif.

How to get there

From Bern, you can reach Adelboden by car in about an hour. Just set your Sat Nav to the center of Adelboden, to the Parkhaus Zentrum. This multi-story covered parking lot is paid (> 4h – 6chf, 5h – 7chf, 6h – 8chf). The lift takes you out of the parking lot in front of Restaurant Adler.

There is a cheaper parking lot (but uncovered), a bit farther at Sengistrasse.

Trail

As soon as we got out of the parking lot by Hotel Adler, which is right in the center of Adelboden, we headed for the Dorfstrasse. We passed the local Dorfplatz square and after about 300 meters we turned right to Sengistrasse.

Following the tarmac road, we set off walking up between typical alpine chalets with wide façades and low saddle roofs. In the gaps between houses, we began to enjoy views of the surroundings.

About a kilometer away, the tarmac road turned into a stony dirt path and we finally got to nature.

Lookout Taubenfels

At the Uelisgraben signpost (1,515 m.a.s.l.) we decided to make a small detour. We headed right towards the Taubenfels lookout (it was written Taubenfels on the signpost, “Daubenfels” on the spot – who knows what´s correct 😉 ). After about 5 minutes walk, a gorgeous view of Adelboden from a bird’s eye view opened. And thanks to the binoculars, we could also explore the Engstligen waterfalls at the Engstligenalp Massif on the opposite side of the valley.

We went back to the signpost and continued on (direction Fluhweid/Schärmtanne). On the way, we passed a wooden fountain. Here we refilled our water bottles and put the change in the outstretched wooden hand.

Hiking up the narrow path, we reached the highest point of our trail (1,624 m.a.s.l.). It took us about an hour and a quarter since we left Adelboden.

A little further, we had a snack and once again enjoyed breathtaking views. And the kids were excited because they knew we would just go down now 🙂

The last section of the way to the valley we passed the Stigelbach creek. We walked out on the tarmac road, we crossed it (we did not turn right to the Schärmtanne restaurant), and continued along the creek (which was flowing into the Allenbach river a few tens of meters further) until we arrived at Brätlistelle where we planned to have our picnic.

From here, it was just over two kilometers back to Adelboden.

Our impressions

We found the inspiration for our trip on the website Wandermagazin Schweiz. What I like is about the interactive map that you can see an elevation of the trail and what kind of paths you will be hiking on.

The trail, according to the description, measures 8.4 km and you should handle it in 2.5 hours. It took us about 4.5 hours. Because the pace of children and adults hiking uphill can differ, we also made a detour to the lookout, we collected strawberries along the way and we also had our picnic.

The undisputed advantage of this trail is that you do not need to use the cable car, so there is nothing to pay for except the metered parking lot (of course, it is up to you if you choose to have something tasty in one of the many local restaurants;) ).

PS: If someone found a thin black Gore running jacket on the steps of the Adelboden parking lot, please let me know! It was my favorite jacket, and it probably slipped out of the pile of other jackets that my husband was carrying into the car. Thank you in advance!