Source of the Aare

This multi-day route starts in Meiringen at the train station and leads along the Aare Gorge to Innertkirchen. Along the old mule track, you pass ornate stone arch bridges, stairs carved out of rock, wild streams, and endless photo opportunities. Along the way, food, drink, and overnight stays can be had in Innertkirchen, Guttannen, or Handeck. Next follows the ascent to Lake Räterichsboden. Or you can take the adventurous Gelmerbahn up to Lake Gelmer, from where the view sweeps over the granite landscape of the upper Aare valley, and the path first descends. Past Räterichsboden, it goes up to the historic Alpine hotel Grimsel Hospiz on Grimsel Nollen.

Here the two paths separate. The lower source of the Aare lies behind the six-kilometer-long Lake Grimsel at the Lauteraar Glacier, and the Lauteraar hut waits above the valley. Far in the distance from here, you can see the Finsteraarhorn, the highest point of the Aare and thus of the Rhine catchment area!

The upper source of the Aare can be reached by the Sidelhorn cable car or on foot via Lake Trüebten and Lake Oberaar to the Oberaar Glacier. At the Oberaar mountain hut with a view over the lake to the source, the hike can end before you glide back to the Hospiz with the Oberaar cable car in alpine flight.