Switzerland is the country of many lakes. You’ve got the big ones: Lake Thun, Lake Brienz, Lake Lugano, or the Lake of Geneva. But Switzerland’s got many hidden gems, the smaller lakes. Often hidden between mountains, miles up in the sky.

One of them is: Oeschinensee. A pearl up the mountains, just south of Thun and Spiez. It’s one of my favorite places and easily accessible by cable car from Kandersteg. It cost us 40 CHF per person for a round trip.

We planned this hike about two years ago, and now it was finally time to go up again. It’s called the Oeschinensee Panorama Hike, a loop hike that takes you to very high elevations.

It takes you above the lake on the west side.

But first, we got up with the cable car. You enter and get immediately greeted by fresh mountain air and green grass.

The weather was great, which we were glad about. Especially because it was forecast to be raining all week and the night before, there were showers from the heavens, making Kandersteg into a water wonderland.

Then you have to walk about 1–2 kilometers down to the lake in order to start the hike. You go up via the Berghotel (and Restaurant) Oeschinensee. My advice would be to go for a drink and some food after you finish the hike.

That feels much more satisfying.

It starts with an incline bit up. It’s tough, but doable. This isn’t the hardest part of the hike, but you’ll feel it in your legs, and your cardio fitness will be tested.

On this first part of the trail, there are some beautiful views through the trees that reveal the lake from a higher place.

Just look at that lake.

I remembered from last year that this was the spot where we quit and went back because our shoes weren’t able to hike up here. We just had sneakers. Now we brought some proper hiking shoes that could help us get up, as recommended by the signs as well.

The paths became steeper, and the stones became gritty. But the views remained spectacular. There weren’t many other people around either, as we had gone up early to avoid the tourists.

We encountered waterfalls and trees along the way. Occasionally, some cows said hello to us, but otherwise, we only saw beautiful glimpses of the lake.

About a quarter of the way into the hike, we came across a small hut where you could get something to drink or eat. A sign in front of the wooden hut said “self-service.”

No one seemed to be there until suddenly a door opened and a woman appeared to take our order. It was only possible to pay with cash. I had an ice-cold Apfelschörle and my sister had a Coke.

There was also a dog there. An incredibly cute one that has probably greeted hundreds, maybe even thousands of hikers there.

We continued on our route and wondered several times during this hike whether these people lived there all year round. It is a remote place, high up in the mountains.

Later, we found out that they only do this during the summer season. After that, they descend and stay there.

Makes sense.

A little further on, we walked through a gate. In retrospect, this marked the beginning of the most difficult part of the hike. After this, the trail climbed steeply for a while, which demanded a lot from our fitness levels.

We climbed higher and higher. In addition, more clouds appeared. Large white/gray clouds covered our view. At one point, we could no longer see anything. It was quite spectacular.

We took some photos to show how little we could see.

The path narrowed, and the rain that had fallen earlier dripped down. It also got colder. We also came across a waterfall where delicious cold water flowed, which tasted so good during our hike.

And of course, I had to climb onto this rock for the photo.

Shortly after, we came across a small hut with lots of cows, calves, actually. They were so cute and started licking my sister with their rough tongues. So cute.

A few kilometers further on, we approached one of the most beautiful spots on the hike: the viewpoint.

There were already a few people there, and this marked the highlight of our hike. We did it. The Oeschinensee Panorama Hike. It wasn’t an easy hike, but we did it.

We continued walking downhill and eventually ended up back at that nice little restaurant with a terrace. I ordered a delicious beer and then a cappuccino with cheesecake. It was wonderful to relax and enjoy ourselves after our achievement.