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Alpine KANDERSTEG Village
in The Bernese Oberland
HOME AT FIRST’S Kandersteg — extraordinarily scenic alpine village set on a flat, broad river valley, high in the Bernese Alps.
Looking east across the flat valley floor at Kandersteg to the snowcapped Blüemlisalp massif range of the Bernese Alps.
Photo view east from the Kander River by Kandersteg railway station showing a portion of the Bernese Oberland World Heritage Site copyright Home At First.
Home At First’s Kandersteg — a pristine alpine village high in the Bernese Alps — offers hourly express trains between northern Switzerland & Italy, with connections throughout much of Switzerland. We recommend Kandersteg as our top location for visitors looking to experience alpine Switzerland while being able to tour widely throughout the country.
Deep in the Bernese Alps near the western end of the Bernese Oberland, Kandersteg village sits on a high (3,852′), flat plain at the southern end of a “hanging valley” carved out of the Alps by Ice Age glaciers. Surrounded on three sides by snow-capped peaks, the village marks the end of the line for auto traffic driving south from the Swiss capital of Bern.
Stationed on a major railway between Germany and Italy enhances Kandersteg’s visitor appeal. Hourly modern trains provide passenger service to destinations on both sides of the Alps and throughout much of Switzerland. Home At First ranks Kandersteg our top Swiss mountain home location for exploring Switzerland.
But Home At First’s Kandersteg is no mere base camp for day-trips throughout Switzerland. Ten-thousand-feet-high snowcapped peaks surround the village on three sides, providing stunning scenery. Some of the finest cheesemaking alps in the Bernese Oberland bless Kandersteg’s outskirts. The village’s eastern flank offers access to one of Switzerland’s most stunning alpine lakes, Oeschinensee. Kandersteg’s southern limit hides one of its most extraordinary, hidden, natural glacial side valleys, the Gasterntal,
Home At First’s Kandersteg offers excellent walking, hiking, climbing, exploring, and cheese-tasting. The village features a wide range of restaurants, plus two just-large-enough groceries, a sports center, a via ferrata, and, wonderfully, one of the region’s finest cheese shops.
Home At First’s Kandersteg
HOME AT FIRST offers Swiss mountain home vacation apartments in several locations in the alpine village of Kandersteg high in the Bernese Oberland. Although most apartments are decorated and comfortably furnished in traditional Swiss alpine style, a few have modern furnishings. All apartments are clean, well cared for, and well-equipped. All are within reasonable (5-8min) walking distance to the stores, services, numerous restaurants, and to Kandersteg’s train and bus stations.
Home At First’s Kandersteg is surrounded by steep walls of the Bernese Alps on three side and is open only to the north as a classic major U-shaped “hanging” valley carved by repeated glaciations during the Ice Ages. The glaciers scooped out the softer rock of the valley floor, leaving the Kander River Valley at Kandersteg high, broad, and surprisingly flat. Guests to a few chalet apartments in Home At First’s Kandersteg must climb stairs to the second (or even the third) floor, but walking around the village and to and from the village’s five transportation stations is not at all hilly.
Flat walks of 15-30min lead in three direction to the lower stations of aerial cableways from the valley floor on the outskirts of Kandersteg: east to the modern gondola cablecars for Oeschinensee; west to the small aerial cablecar for Allmenalp; and south to the large cablecar for Sunnbüel and historic, north-south, alpine crossing via the imposing Gemmi Wall.
CHALET APARTMENT HOSTING: Each Swiss mountain home apartment has secure entry. Home At First’s Kandersteg is a safe, prosperous, residential community. All HOME AT FIRST Kandersteg apartments come with experienced, caring, English-speaking hosting on-site or very close by.
VILLAGE SETTING & TRANSPORTATION: Home At First’s Kandersteg is a compact village of just 1,250 permanent residents set at the upper reaches of the north-flowing Kander River Valley high in the Bernese Oberland. The village is served by the excellent rail services of the BLS Railway’s scenic Lötschberg Line, operating modern, rapid inter-regional express trains between Switzerland’s capital city, Bern, and southern Switzerland′s Rhone Valley at Brig, and through the Simplon Tunnel to and the northern Italian state of Piedmont at Domodossola, Italy.
The Lötschberg Line offers smooth, comfortable, modern north-south trains hourly in both directions connecting at major Swiss Rail junction points 45min south in Brig (connections to Italy, The Glacier Express, St. Moritz, Zermatt, the Valais, Montreux, Lausanne, Geneva, and France); 30min north in Spiez (trains to Gstaad, Montreux, Interlaken, Mürren & the Jungfrau Region, Brienz, Meiringen, Luzern, and Zürich); and 70min north in Bern (trains to Geneva, Lausanne, Basel, Alsace & Paris France, Germany, Holland, Zürich, eastern Switzerland, Münich, and Austria). Home At First’s Kandersteg offers one of Switzerland’s finest locations for visitors wanting a Swiss mountain home in a village in the Swiss Alps without limiting touring opportunities throughout Switzerland and beyond.
VILLAGE SERVICES: Despite Kandersteg’s small size, there are a dozen or so restaurants in town and on the surrounding cheese alps (Oeschinensee, Allmenalp, Sunnbüel) and in the wild, romantic Gastern Valley, ranging from snack bars to 4-star dining. The village also has two churches — one Protestant and one Roman Catholic (small chapel). Near the rail and bus stations is Kandersteg’s Alpine Center, focusing on mountain sports: climbing, skiing, biking, & snowshoeing The Alpine Center offers training, equipment rental, and guiding services. A modern chalet just north of the town center house Kandersteg’s well-staffed Tourist Information Office, where reservations can be made, inquiries can be answered, and information can be gathered in paper and verbal forms. Kandersteg has a handful of shops offering souvenirs, and sporting goods and fashions for sale & rental (including boots & poles for hiking and skiing, and mountain bikes). Among these is the Kandersteg train station, part of the Swiss-Rent-a-Bike network which makes cycling in Switzerland easy: coast & brake downhill and bring the bike home on the train. Visitors can swim at the large village pool. Kandersteg has year-round doctor’s and physicians, and a small drugstore. Prescriptions will need to be ordered from a larger locale: Spiez, Thun, Interlaken, or Bern. Kandersteg’s branch of the BKB (Cantonal Bank of Bern) has banking hours 6 days a week. For currency exchange, the ticket window at the train station offers good rates 7AM-6PM daily (7 days a week!).
Hourly Southbound Express Arriving at Home At First’s Kandersteg — Touring Hint: If one day the weather isn’t perfect in Kandersteg, take a southbound express through the Lötschberg Tunnel 15-45 minutes to the south side of the main spine of the Bernese Alps. On the south side, the weather can be sunny and warm when the north side of the Alps is cloudy, cool, and wet.
Home At First’s Swiss Mountain Homes in Kandersteg
What are Home At First’s Kandersteg chalet apartments like?
Each is unique. They come in all sizes and shapes. Almost all feature Swiss chalet style furnishings — lots of blond spruce — although some are traditional and others modern interpretations. Some have several bedrooms and baths; others may have a single bedroom and bathroom. Almost all have terraces or balconies. Many feature balconies with very impressive alpine views. Many have balconies and windows with window boxes full of blooming geraniums in a rainbow of bright colors. (You will be invited to water the plants!) Others may have furnished patios or gardens. All are secure private quarters with private bathrooms, and all must meet Home At First standards of quality and equipment:
• HOSTING: All Swiss mountain home chalet apartments in Home At First’s Kandersteg have friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, accessible hosts. Hosts may be the lodging owners or their representatives. Most live in their independent apartment in the same chalet or a neighboring chalet. Hosts will welcome you, show you around the apartment, explain its workings, and be on-call if questions, problems, or emergencies arise. Otherwise, you can expect to see a familiar, friendly face from time-to-time during your stay, working in the garden or stopping by your apartment to see how you are getting on.
• KITCHENS: Full kitchens or practical kitchenettes with at the very least: fridge, coffee maker, tea kettle, stove top range, oven and/or toaster oven and/or microwave. Most have additional counter appliances. Many have dishwashers as well as clothes washer/dryers. All kitchen and bath towels & linens provided.
• BEDROOMS: Most bedrooms have twin beds. Some twin beds can be secured and made-up together to form a large double bed. A few multi-bedroom lodgings may have a queen-size or king-size bed in one of the bedrooms, but these are rare. Larger family-size lodgings often have one bedroom with bunk beds.
• BATHROOMS: Most bathrooms have a shower stall or a bathtub with overhead shower. Some few bathrooms may have a bathtub with hand-held shower, or a bathtub for bathing only.
• LAUNDRY FACILITIES: Those apartments without clothes washer/dryers will have a common laundry room in the chalet, or you may use your host’s laundry room.
• PARKING: Home At First’s Kandersteg Swiss mountain home lodgings usually (with rare exceptions) have 1 or 2 designated private guest parking spaces, most commonly off-street by the chalet. NOTE: Although Kandersteg can be reached by road from the north, the only way to cross to the south side of the Alps from Kandersteg by car is via the auto carrier trains that operate several times daily. We recommend taking advantage of the excellent public transportation service available in Switzerland and avoiding driving on mountain roads in alpine weather conditions.
• ELECTRONICS: Apartments have televisions, usually the flat-screen, cable variety. Most have free WiFi, although service can be spotty away from the chalet. Few apartments come with telephones. Bring or rent a cell phone for your trip, but remember that service can be spotty in the Swiss Alps. NOTE: WiFi service is available on some trains.
• PROXIMITY TO RESTAURANTS, STORES & SERVICES: All Swiss mountain home apartments in Home At First’s Kandersteg are within short walking distance to stores, services, and transportation. Opening times for stores varies by season, with long opening hours most days during the high seasons.
CHALET APARTMENT LODGINGS
SAMPLE SWISS MOUNTAIN HOME APARTMENTS in KANDERSTEG
Detailed descriptions of several of our favorite chalet apartments in the Bernese Oberland village of Kandersteg. To see the illustrations in larger format on your PC, “right click” on the image, then click on the “View Image” menu item in Firefox or click on the “Open image in new tab” menu item in Chrome.
Chalet Altels
Home At First’s KANDERSTEG
Two Swiss-quality apartments that make ideal touring bases
TWO 1-BEDROOM, 1-BATH,
3rd Floor Apartments
CENTRAL KANDERSTEG
BERNESE OBERLAND
Chalet Altels offers two 1-bedroom, 1-bath apartments with geranium-bejeweled balconies on its third (top) floor. The western third of this attractive chalet is of rounded, white masonry with bay windows. This rounded architecture graces the balcony of the western guest apartment, while the eastern guest apartment is traditionally rectangular.
Both apartments have single twin bedrooms. Both use blond spruce for walls and ceilings. The bathroom of the east apartment has a shower only, while that of the west apartment has a tub/shower combination. Kitchens, living rooms, and dining areas, while laid out differently, are furnished in similar style. Both apartment living rooms have working fireplaces, and both balconies are furnished with sitting areas to enjoy the sensational alpine views south toward the main spine of the Bernese Alps, which includes Altels, at 3630m (11.910′) one of the principal peaks on the horizon, and the namesake of the chalet.
Capacity of each apartment is 1-2 persons.
Chalet Altels is 6-8 minute flat walk to Kandersteg’s railway and bus stations. Kandersteg’s 3 cablecar stations are 10-20 walking minutes from the chalet. Local bus service to the Sunnbüel (for Gemmi) cableway is reached at a stop two minutes away. Buses for the Oeschinesee cablecar and the remote Gasterntal valley are boarded at Kandersteg bus station at the train station plaza.
A popular pizzeria and tea room/bakery are the closest eateries to Chalet Altels: a 1-minute walk, just around the corner on the lower main street of Kandersteg. At least a dozen restaurants are within walking distance of Chalet Altels.
ARRIVAL NOTE: Guests arriving in Kandersteg by train will be picked up by their host/hostess at the train station at a set arrival time and transported with their luggage by car to the chalet. At the end of their stay, guests and their luggage will be taken by car back to the railway station.
ENTRANCE NOTE: The common chalet entrance is on the north side of the house. Two sets of approximately 15 stair steps (30 total) lead to the individual apartment entries on the third floor.
ELECTRONICS: Flat-screen cable TV. Secure WiFi (free).
LAUNDRY: Guests may use the hostess’s laundry facilities at Chalet Altels.
Your Hostess at
Chalet Altels
Franziska, the English-speaking owner-hostess of the two Chalet Altels apartments, lives on-site in her own apartment in the chalet. In addition to being the owner and hostess at Chalet Altels, the very busy Franziska holds down a day job with her husband that takes her away from the chalet several days each week. Franziska is normally at home in the evening and available for questions. She enjoys getting to know her guests and visits you occasionally to see how you are enjoying your stay and ask if you need any assistance.
Chalet Balmhorn
Home At First’s KANDERSTEG
Three Swiss-quality apartments that are great touring bases
TWO 1-BEDROOM, 1-BATH APTS.
on the 2nd & 3rd FLOORS
CENTRAL KANDERSTEG
BERNESE OBERLAND
ALSO: ONE 3-BEDROOM, 2-BATH APT.
on the 3rd FLOOR & LOFT
CENTRAL KANDERSTEG
Large modern duplex chalet with two identical 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartments on the 2nd floor and 3rd floor of the smaller, east portion of the chalet. A spacious, 3-bedroom, 2-bath apartment occupies the 3rd floor and loft of the adjacent west portion of the duplex chalet.
All 3 apartments have furnished balconies with an outstanding views looking south into the high Bernese Alps, including the Balmhorn (3699m; 12,136′), after which the chalet is named.
The delightful, English-speaking host couple own the chalet, and reside in the lower two floors of the larger portion of the duplex.
This chalet is 3-5 minutes flat walk from the center of Kandersteg, its two grocery stores, shops, and several restaurants.
Capacity of each of the one-bedroom apartments is two persons. Capacity of the 3-bedroom apartment — which is ideal for families — is 4-7 persons, employing 2 twin bedrooms, and a triple bedroom.
Chalet Balmhorn is 6-8 minute flat walk to Kandersteg’s railway and bus stations. Kandersteg’s 3 cablecar stations are 10-20 walking minutes from the chalet. Local bus service to the Sunnbüel (for Gemmi) cableway is reached at a stop two minutes away. Buses for the Oeschinesee cablecar and the remote Gasterntal valley are boarded at Kandersteg bus station at the train station plaza.
A popular pizzeria and tea room/bakery are the closest eateries to Chalet Balmhorn: a 1-minute walk, just around the corner on the lower main street of Kandersteg. At least a dozen restaurants are within walking distance of Chalet Balmhorn.
ARRIVAL NOTE: Guests arriving in Kandersteg by train will be picked up by their host/hostess at the train station at a set arrival time and transported with their luggage by car to the chalet. At the end of their stay, guests and their luggage will be taken by car back to the railway station.
ENTRANCE NOTE: once at the Chalet Balmhorn, the chalet’s entry hall provides indoor access to the 3 apartment entries. Please note that there are approx. 15 stair steps to the 2nd floor apartment, and approx. 30 stair steps leading to the 3rd floor apartment entries from the ground floor main entrance.
ELECTRONICS: Flat-screen cable TV. Secure WiFi (free).
LAUNDRY: Guests may use the hostess’s laundry facilities at Chalet Balmhorn.
Your Hostess at
Chalet Balmhorn
Petra, the English-speaking owner/hostess of the three Chalet Balmhorn apartments, lives on-site in her own apartment in the duplex chalet. In addition to being the owner and hostess at Chalet Balmhorn, the very busy Petra is also a working mother whose day job takes her away from the chalet a few days each week. However, she is normally at home in the evening and available for questions. She enjoys getting to know her guests and visits you occasionally to see how you are enjoying your stay and ask if you need any assistance.
Chalet Doldenhorn
Home At First’s KANDERSTEG
2-bedroom chalet apartment in the quiet center of Kandersteg
ONE 2-BEDROOM, 1-BATH APT.
3rd Floor West • Furnished Balcony
CENTRAL KANDERSTEG
BERNESE OBERLAND
Spacious two-bedroom, 1-bath apartment on 3rd floor of small chalet-style apartment building. Twin beds in each bedroom means 4-person capacity. Well-equipped kitchen with dishwasher. Bathroom has a tub/shower. Sizable, open-plan living room and dining area has access to the furnished balcony with fine view south of the main spine of the Bernese Alps.
The very pleasant English-speaking owner/hostess lives nearby in her own chalet.
Chalet Doldenhorn is 5-minutes flat walk uphill from Kandersteg’s main street, the town Tourist Information Office, the nearest grocery store, and several restaurants.
Kandersteg’s busy railway station — with excellent hourly train service on a very scenic, important secondary main line — is 10-12 minutes flat walk from the apartment, making Chalet Doldenhorn an ideal base for conveniently exploring much of Switzerland and even parts of northern Italy.
Chalet Doldenhorn is 10-15-minutes walk (or free 5-minute local bus ride) from the Oeschinensee cablecar station on Kandersteg’s southeast end. Stores, shops, and restaurants are 3-8 minutes walking distance. A charming forest path leads to a playground and family picnic ground 5-minutes away.
Kandersteg’s other aerial cableways — to Allmenalp (20 minutes walk) and to Sunnbüel (30 minutes flat walk or 10-minute bus ride) — and its private bus service into the remote, romantic Gasterntal valley add dozens of hiking possibilities through through local cheese alps dotted with mountain restaurants.
ARRIVAL NOTE: Guests arriving in Kandersteg by train will be picked up by their host/hostess at the train station at a set arrival time and transported with their luggage by car to the chalet. At the end of their stay, guests and their luggage will be taken by car back to the railway station.
ENTRANCE NOTE: once at the entry hall of Chalet Doldenhorn, approx. 24 indoors stair steps lead up from street level to the apartment entrance door.
ELECTRONICS: Flat-screen cable TV. Secure WiFi (free).
LAUNDRY: common laundry facilities are available on the ground floor at Chalet Doldenhorn.
Your Hostess at
Chalet Doldenhorn
Franziska, the English-speaking owner-hostess of the Chalet Doldenhorn apartment, lives nearby in her own Kandersteg chalet. In addition to being the owner and hostess at Chalet Doldenhorn, the very busy Franziska holds down a day job with her husband that takes her away from the chalet several days each week. Franziska is normally at home in the evening and available for questions. She enjoys getting to know her guests and visits you occasionally to see how you are enjoying your stay and ask if you need any assistance.
Chalet Blüemlisalp
Home At First’s KANDERSTEG
2-bedroom chalet apartment in the quiet town center
ONE 2-BEDROOM, 1-BATH APT.
Ground Floor with Furnished Patio
CENTRAL KANDERSTEG
BERNESE OBERLAND
Traditional wooden Bernese chalet (built 1905) with a spacious, modern 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom apartment on the ground floor. The apartment comes with a furnished patio with a fine view south to the snowcapped peaks of the Bernese Alps, and a glimpse to the east of the Blüemlisalp, king of Kandersteg’s high alps, after which this chalet is named.
The apartment has a large, open-plan main room comprised of the modern kitchen, large family dining table, and comfy living room with satellite TV and an operating Franklin-style wood stove. There are electric heat registers in all rooms.
Capacity of the Chalet Blüemlisalp apartment is 2-to-6 persons and is ideal for couples or families. The two bedrooms are: one twin-bedded double, and one family room with twin beds and two bunk beds. A single large bathroom features a Jacuzzi spa tub and a Scandinavia-style shower.
The semi-covered patio is furnished with a second dining table ideal for dining al fresco in the warm twilight of summer and early autumn. Across the way from the patio is a private terrace with a BBQ cooker for outdoor cookouts.
The delightful native-English-speaking owner/hostess lives in her own apartment in the upper floors of the chalet with her family, and is often available for guest questions. She takes an active interest in seeing to the comfort and enjoyment of her guests, and offers suggestions for day-trips, hikes, restaurants, activities, and how to get the most out of their Swiss holiday based in Kandersteg.
Chalet Blüemlisalp is a 2-minute flat walk from Kandersteg’s main street with two groceries, Kandersteg’s Tourist Information Office, and at least five restaurants within 5 minutes walk.
Kandersteg’s busy railway station — with excellent hourly train service on a very scenic, important secondary main line — is 5 minutes flat walk along a scenic, cinder, riverside trail from the apartment, making Chalet Blüemlisalp an ideal base for conveniently exploring much of Switzerland and even parts of northern Italy.
Chalet Blüemlisalp is 10-15-minutes walk (or free 5-minute bus ride) from the Oeschinensee cablecar station on Kandersteg’s southeast end. Almost all of Kandersteg’s stores, shops, cafés, and restaurants are 3-8 minutes walking distance. Families will enjoy swimming at Kandersteg’s large public pool (2-minutes from the chalet), and taking a charming forest path leading to a playground and family picnic ground 8-minutes away.
Kandersteg’s other aerial cableways — to Allmenalp (20 minutes walk) and to Sunnbüel (30 minutes flat walk or free 10-minute local bus ride from the train station plaza) — and its private bus service into the remote, romantic Gasterntal valley add dozens of hiking possibilities through through local cheese alps dotted with mountain restaurants.
ARRIVAL NOTE: Your hostess or her representative normally meet guests at the chalet at an appointed arrival time. New arrival pick-up service at Kandersteg train station by special request.
ENTRANCE NOTE: once at the Chalet Jungfrau, the chalet’s entry hall is reached via approx. 12 uncovered stair steps up from street level.
ELECTRONICS: Flat-screen satellite TV. Secure WiFi (free).
WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBLE: the entire apartment is on the ground floor and is wheelchair friendly.
LAUNDRY: the apartment comes equipped with a clothes washer and a line to hang dry the wash.
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Contact HOME AT FIRST: (800) 523-5842 (toll-free USA & Canada) • +1 610 543 4348 (worldwide) • info@homeatfirst.com