Grimsel Pass

In Innertkirchen, which is situated at the beginning of the Gadmer Valley and extends up toward the Susten Pass, the route follows the Aare River and turns off onto Grimselstrasse. Warm up your muscles on the first few kilometres along the gently rolling road up to Guttannen. The route continues to follow a more or less straight line to Handegg, where the valley station of the Gelmer Funicular can be seen on the left (with trips up to spectacular Lake Gelmer).

And now the thrills begin, slowly but surely: a vertical rock face rises up on the left and a shimmering green rocky landscape covered with delicate lichen stretches through the valley on the right. A few more twists and turns and a few more metres uphill lead to Lake Räterichsboden (1767 metres above sea level), where you can enjoy an impressive view from the wall of the dam. Cycle along Lake Räterichsboden to reach majestic Lake Grimsel. The road zigzags up the mountain until the deep blue of Lake Toten suddenly appears after one last turn on the pass summit. The strenuous ascent to 2164 m above sea level is certainly exhausting. Only the heartiest treat themselves to an exhilarating jump in the cold lake. And a brief stop for some refreshment in one of the restaurants is certainly well-deserved. Invigorated for the challenging descent that begins shortly after the border of the cantons of Berne and Valais. On an arduous, winding, typical pass road, the route drops 400 metres in elevation down to Gletsch, which is the halfway point of the descent.

We cover another 400 meters on the way down to reach our destination in Oberwald, but the road from Gletsch is somewhat unspectacular and mostly straight. The route then largely follows the banks of the Rhone River, finally arriving in Oberwald in the canton of Valais. 

You can hop on the PostBus line anywhere along the route.