TOUR Special: Bern - Interlaken region: summit meeting in the Bernese Oberland

On a balmy summer evening, Interlaken's promenade, the Höhenweg, is as international as Berlin's Alexanderplatz. The restaurants and bars are filled with Indians, Chinese, Japanese and Arabic guests. Those travelling from so far away to little Interlaken usually want one thing: to marvel at the famous Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains and take the cogwheel railway to Europe's highest railway station (3,454 m), the Jungfraujoch.

Racing cyclists may not be able to follow them there, but there is hardly any other region in the Alps where they can get as close to the glaciated giants as in the Bernese Oberland - and on small roads, some of which are closed to motorised traffic. One of these climbs from Meiringen to the Grosse Scheidegg (1,962 m). At first, the forest provides welcome shade, and in between there are mountain pastures where cows graze for a short rest. The last few kilometres to the top of the pass are dripping with sweat. The Wetterhorn to the left becomes ever mightier, on the Grosse Scheidegg its crazy west face has an eerie quality. From the top of the pass, you look down to Grindelwald and straight ahead to the Eiger, which resembles a shield that has been rammed into the ground at an angle by a giant; behind it, the Mönch shines snow-white.

Tour character

Interlaken is situated between two lakes, Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, but sporty cyclists only cycle briefly by the water. They are drawn to the high Alps, to the alpine meadows in front of the walls of the three and four thousand metre peaks. Some of the roads up there are closed to motorised traffic and lined with steep ramps, for example over the Grosse Scheidegg or up to Männlichen. They are the silent preparation for the crowning glory for pass drivers: the triumvirate of the two-thousand metre Alpine passes Grimsel, Furka and Susten.

Information on the Interlaken region

Journey

Railway: Until Bern see Bern region. ICE and other trains continue to Interlaken-Ost in one hour.

Car: Motorway to Bern (annual toll sticker 38.50 euros). From Bern, continue on the A6 and A8 motorways to Interlaken. If you are travelling via Bregenz, take the A 14
(the 10-day vignette in Austria costs 8.90 euros), and A 13 to Sargans, then via Lucerne via A 2 and A 8 (not directionally separated and often single-lane) over the Brünig Pass to Interlaken.

Flight: SkyWork Airlines flies from Berlin (Tegel), Hamburg, Heringsdorf (Usedom), Cologne/Bonn and Munich to Bern-Belp. Taking a bike costs the equivalent of 56 euros per flight.

Info & Accommodation

Interlaken Tourismus: Höheweg 37, CH-3800 Interlaken, telephone 0041/(0)33/8265300, www.interlaken.ch

Interlaken Youth Hostel: Untere Bönigstrasse 3a, telephone 0041/(0)33/8261090 www.youthhostel.ch/interlaken
An overnight stay in a shared room including breakfast and bed linen costs from 33 euros, a double room from 117 euros.

Interlaken-Ost and Bönigen: TCS-Camping, telephone 0041/(0)33/8224434 (Interlaken) and 0041/(0)33/8221143 (Bönigen near Interlaken), www.tcs-camping.ch
Campsite for two people per night from 35 euros.

Bike service

Matten bei Interlaken: Riem Bike, Wychelstrasse 6, phone 0041/(0)33/8236960, www.riem-bike.ch

Maps

"Neue Reisekarte Schweiz", 1:200,000, Hallwag-Verlag 2014; 18 euros.

VCS cycle maps no. 8 "Bernese Oberland East - Goms" and no. 16 "Bernese Oberland West - Simmental", both 1:60,000, Kümmerly + Frey, 26 euros each.

Bike festival

Swiss Cycling Alpenbrevet: After the start in Meiringen, this popular classic offers a two-pass tour and three different circuits on the seven passes of Grimsel, Furka, Gotthard, Nufenen, Lukmanier, Oberalp and Susten: 68 kilometres/2,381 metres in altitude, 132 km/3,875 metres in altitude, 172 km/5,294 metres in altitude and 276 km/7,031 metres in altitude. The registration fee for all four variants is the equivalent of 93 euros. The roads are shared with motorised traffic. Info at www.alpenbrevet.ch
Date: Saturday, 26 August 2017

Tour 1: Great sea voyage

104 kilometres, 2,600 vertical metres, max. 14 percent gradient (25 percent to Griesalp)

Challenging climbs, fantastic views of Lake Thun, narrow, partly car-free roads, plus a short boat trip - this tour is hard to beat for variety. And if you want, you can make it more leisurely: If you skip the detour to Griesalp (1,408 m), you save 35 kilometres and a 25 per cent steep ramp. Or, at the end in Habkern, you can forgo the 500 metres up to Lombachalp, but then miss out on one of the most beautiful moorland landscapes (Habkern-Sörenberg) in Switzerland.

Tour 2: At the foot of the mountain giants

109 kilometres, 2,820 vertical metres, max. 18 percent gradient

You can't get closer to the Bernese Alps by road bike than on the pass road over the Grosse Scheidegg (1,962 m) and the cul-de-sac to Berghaus Männlichen (2,223 m) - and on roads that are mostly closed to motorised traffic. The view of the mighty faces of the Wetterhorn, Schreckhorn, Fiescherhörnern, Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau is unrivalled. However, both climbs require great climbing skills. While the route to Grosse Scheidegg, which is dotted with steep ramps, also offers recovery phases, the gradient towards Männlichen usually fluctuates between 10 and 15 per cent. For those who dare, choose the alternative at the start on the southern shore of Lake Brienz. The cycle path adds an additional 300 metres in altitude and leads over gravel and roots in two places (2 km in total); more for technically experienced cyclists.

Tour 3: Pass classics

131 kilometres, 3,740 vertical metres, max. 18 percent gradient

Grimsel-Furka-Susten: this is the name of the Swiss classic for pass lovers. The north side of the Grimsel Pass (2,164 m) leads through a barren, glacier-carved granite landscape and, at 1,550 metres in altitude, is one of the great Alpine climbs. The following western ramp to the Furka Pass (2,429 m), which winds its way out of a seemingly hopeless basin in a few hairpin bends from Gletsch, is not too difficult at 672 metres in altitude. The east side of the Susten Pass (2,224 m) doesn't seem difficult either, with a maximum gradient of nine per cent. However, the 1,308 metres in altitude can really hurt when the afternoon sun beats down on the Meiental. The reward: the roaring descent past the Sustenhorn and Steingletscher. Take the train for the 30 kilometres from Interlaken to Meiringen and back.

Downloads:
GPS data: Switzerland, Canton of Bern