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In late May / early June we spent 2 weeks staying in Kandersteg in the Bernese Oberland Switzerland on a walking holiday. I first went there in June 1976 on a school trip and always had a yearning to go back so we have in recent years taken holidays there on a few occasions.
This time we went earlier in the year hoping to see some wildflowers on our walks - we saw many. We also decided to travel the whole journey by rail - we took a local train to London, Eurostar to Paris, the TGV "Lyria" to Basel then Swiss trains to where we were staying. We left London St Pancras at 8am and arrived at our hotel at 9pm - it was a long day travelling!
Due to travelling by train and having to carry all our luggage I took just the OM-1 with 2 lenses for photos - the 12-100mm f4 and the 17mm f1.8. I never used the 17mm lens, it was on the camera initially to make it easier to pack in my rucksack but after we arrived the 12-100mm stayed on the camera the whole time!
Here's a view of the Kandersteg rail station taken on our first day which was rather cloudy
The town is at the end of a valley and from here you can put your car on a train to travel through the 9 mile Lötschberg Tunnel to the neighbouring canton of Valais, we often saw these transporter trains being loaded up on our walks. I got many chances to try out the OM-1 train subject detection AF!
Here are some views from walks around the centre of town
The walking routes are very well sign posted both at high level and lower levels. At the main start points or destinations you get the altitude and rather than the distance you get the approximate walking time which is useful. This sign was in the centre of town, we walked to several of these destinations (sometimes taking a cable car up some of the way though!)
Our hotel was a bit further up the valley out of town in a quieter spot surrounded by meadows with trees above
On one of our easy walking days staying at a low level in the valley we had a picnic at this lake not far from our hotel, I took a series of shots and stitched them to make a pano
When we did a walk taking a cable car up an alp, I took this HHHR shot that shows the picnic lake and our hotel on the right of the photo
Allmenalp Walk - Kandersteg by Bill Dennis, on Flickr
I also got some photos of the whole valley from up there showing the layout of the town. The blue alpine lake just visible near the top right is Lake Oeschinen, a popular tourist destination in the area. We did do some higher level walks up there. You can see that the town is quite dominated by the railway, but it is not really a problem. The river flowing through is not surprisingly called the Kander - it is fast flowing and comes down into the valley through a steep gorge further up to the right of this photo.
Allmenalp Walk - Kandersteg by Bill Dennis, on Flickr
I'll post some more photos from the trip here if it's of interest - I have a lot to sort out!
Bill
This time we went earlier in the year hoping to see some wildflowers on our walks - we saw many. We also decided to travel the whole journey by rail - we took a local train to London, Eurostar to Paris, the TGV "Lyria" to Basel then Swiss trains to where we were staying. We left London St Pancras at 8am and arrived at our hotel at 9pm - it was a long day travelling!
Due to travelling by train and having to carry all our luggage I took just the OM-1 with 2 lenses for photos - the 12-100mm f4 and the 17mm f1.8. I never used the 17mm lens, it was on the camera initially to make it easier to pack in my rucksack but after we arrived the 12-100mm stayed on the camera the whole time!
Here's a view of the Kandersteg rail station taken on our first day which was rather cloudy
The town is at the end of a valley and from here you can put your car on a train to travel through the 9 mile Lötschberg Tunnel to the neighbouring canton of Valais, we often saw these transporter trains being loaded up on our walks. I got many chances to try out the OM-1 train subject detection AF!
Here are some views from walks around the centre of town
The walking routes are very well sign posted both at high level and lower levels. At the main start points or destinations you get the altitude and rather than the distance you get the approximate walking time which is useful. This sign was in the centre of town, we walked to several of these destinations (sometimes taking a cable car up some of the way though!)
Our hotel was a bit further up the valley out of town in a quieter spot surrounded by meadows with trees above
On one of our easy walking days staying at a low level in the valley we had a picnic at this lake not far from our hotel, I took a series of shots and stitched them to make a pano
When we did a walk taking a cable car up an alp, I took this HHHR shot that shows the picnic lake and our hotel on the right of the photo
I also got some photos of the whole valley from up there showing the layout of the town. The blue alpine lake just visible near the top right is Lake Oeschinen, a popular tourist destination in the area. We did do some higher level walks up there. You can see that the town is quite dominated by the railway, but it is not really a problem. The river flowing through is not surprisingly called the Kander - it is fast flowing and comes down into the valley through a steep gorge further up to the right of this photo.
Allmenalp Walk - Kandersteg by Bill Dennis, on Flickr
I'll post some more photos from the trip here if it's of interest - I have a lot to sort out!
Bill
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