Kandersteg/Kiental
Kandersteg owes its development into a tourist destination to its good transport links at the northern entrance to the Lötschberg Tunnel. Here the car can be loaded onto the train in order to roll back off the train at the southern entrance to the tunnel in the neighbouring Canton of Valais. The railway tunnel furthermore secures the connection within the Lötschberg holiday region which, in addition to Kandersteg, includes the Lötschen Valley on the southern side of the tunnel.

Summer
With its extensive network of attractive mountain, hiking and walking trails Kandersteg is a paradise for nature and hiking fans. The most famous routes lead across the Gemmi Pass straight to Leukerbad in the Valais, to Lake Oeschinen or through the wildly romantic Gastern Valley and finally over the 2690-meter-high, historically important Lötschen Pass to the Lötschen Valley. Lake Oeschinen – accessible from Kandersteg by chairlift or along a wide, family-friendly hiking trail – not only offers the idyll of a deep blue mountain lake, but also excites with a fast toboggan run. The Allmenalp via ferrata, undisputibly one of the most spectacular in the Alps, is a particular challenge.

Winter
Kandersteg is a snow-sure cross-country skiing paradise. Over 50 kilometers of tracked trails (classic and skating) are available in the valley floor and on the sun terraces. Downhill skiers are catered for at Lake Oeschinen and at Sunnbüel. The ski areas appeal to beginners, laid-back skiers and families. The Kandersteg artificial ice rink is ideal for skating and curling. Around the village and between Blausee and Gemmi Pass winter walkers find their trail network. For ice climbers there is the Kander Valley and for fishing enthusiasts there is ice fishing in winter.

Highlights

• Lake Oeschinen – wildly romantic mountain lake at the foot of the Blüemlisalp Massif, accessible by a renovated, nostalgia chairlift.
• Blausee – small lake used as a fish farm in the Kander Valley with very clean water which looks deep blue thanks to the refraction of light.
• Gastern Valley – almost closed off valley with a unique flora, hiker’s paradise on the way to the Lötschen Pass; «Waldhaus» candle hotel withouth electricity.
• Gemmi Pass – formerly a historic pass trail which as an important transport route linked the Cantons of Berne and Valais today is one of a very few passes that are passable on foot in winter.
• BLS Railway experience trail – excititng and informative railway experience trail alon ght north ramp of the Lötschberg Railway, a must for railway enthusiasts and families.

Tourist Office Kandertal (at the railway station)
Bahnhofstrasse, 3718 Kandersteg, Tel. 0848 00 48 00, www.kandertal.travel