Don’t miss these autumn highlights

It’s get­ting cool­er and the sun more gold­en: Autumn is arriv­ing in Switzer­land. No sea­son is as colour­ful as this one – so get out­side! But where? We asked mem­bers from the mar­ket­ing team for some autumn high­lights to save you the research:

Linda’s tip: Golden hike along the bisses in Crans-Montana

Biss­es are his­tor­i­cal irri­ga­tion chan­nels that still exist today – and you can walk along them. My per­son­al favourite is the hike along the «Bisse du Tsit­toret». The 3.5‑hour tour begins with an ascent. Make sure to take some breaks and admire the mag­nif­i­cent panora­ma – and keep an eye out for the world-famous Mat­ter­horn! Treat your­self to a break in the ham­let of «Hameau de Colom­bire». Here you can see how the peo­ple of Valais once lived.

The best is saved for last: Enjoy the view as you walk along the bisse down­hill along a wood­ed slope until you reach the Tièche val­ley with its many water­falls. After­wards, enjoy the sun­shine on the ter­race or on your pri­vate bal­cony at Crans-Mon­tana Youth Hos­tel.

Good to know: If you’re out and about with chil­dren, you can also do only part of the hike.

How to get there: Either a 35-minute walk from Crans-Mon­tana Youth Hos­tel or bus 432 from Lac Grenon to Ver­mala Cervin. To return, take bus 431 from Aminona to Lac Grenon. The Explor­er Card lets you use pub­lic trans­port for free!

Evelyn’s tip: High-alpine Indian summer in Saas-Fee

In autumn, Saas-Fee is trans­formed into a colour­ful par­adise. The high-alpine land­scape reveals itself in bright shades of yel­low and orange, as the larch forests in the val­ley are illu­mi­nat­ed by the sun. Togeth­er with the snow-capped peaks, this cre­ates a con­trast that makes this time of year par­tic­u­lar­ly love­ly. So off you go!

Before you can relax at wellnessHostel4000, head out into the great out­doors. The pic­turesque chapel trail, for exam­ple, takes you from Saas-Grund to Saas-Fee, past charm­ing chapels and impres­sive van­tage points that stand out in the autum­nal colours. Always in view: the alpine panora­ma.

Your extra dose of vit­a­min D awaits on the Han­nig. Thanks to its loca­tion, this moun­tain is par­tic­u­lar­ly sun-drenched and the view of the high-alpine glac­i­ers is bril­liant. My favourite spot for a break is the Café Alpen­blick, halfway to the Han­nig. It is the per­fect place to stop when walk­ing from the vil­lage. Treat your­self to a cof­fee with home­made cake or a tra­di­tion­al Valais plate.

Good to know: Includ­ed in the price from the very first night, the Saastal­Card gives you access to numer­ous attrac­tions and you also ben­e­fit from free trav­el in the Post­Bus. The cable cars are also includ­ed in autumn!

How to get there: You can start your hikes to Café Alpen­blick and the Han­nig right from the hos­tel. Sim­ply fol­low the yel­low hik­ing signs.

For the Kapel­len­weg chapel trail, take the Post­Bus to Saas-Grund and start on foot towards Saas-Almag­ell via the Kapel­len­weg camp­site to Saas-Fee.

Joel’s tip: A journey through time under the open sky in Interlaken

It’s high time for anoth­er trip to the Bal­len­berg Open-Air Muse­um in glo­ri­ous autumn weath­er. It’s due to close at the end of Octo­ber. Look for­ward to an excit­ing jour­ney through the past with more than 100 orig­i­nal, cen­turies-old build­ings from all over Switzer­land. Watch peo­ple work­ing in dif­fer­ent pro­fes­sions, learn how cheese is made and explore the diverse flo­ra and fau­na. Guar­an­teed fun for young and old alike!

In keep­ing with autumn, there’s some­thing to cel­e­brate: on 6 Octo­ber, the Tici­no Fes­ti­val is com­mem­o­rat­ed with «bel­la musi­ca» and deli­cious risot­to. You’ve already found your per­fect base at the ultra-mod­ern Inter­lak­en Youth Hos­tel. What are you wait­ing for?

Good to know: Until the end of the sea­son, you will receive a 25% dis­count when you book your tick­ets online.

How to get there: Rail pas­sen­gers can take the Zen­tral­bahn from Inter­lak­en direct­ly to Brienz or the Brünig Pass. A reg­u­lar bus ser­vice runs from Brienz and Brünig sta­tions to the Bal­len­berg West and Bal­len­berg Ost entrances.

Nina’s tip: Chestnut season in Locarno

Have you ever heard of the «bread tree»? The peo­ple of Tici­no used to call the chest­nut tree this because the fruit pro­vid­ed food for the whole win­ter. The chest­nuts and asso­ci­at­ed tra­di­tions are aplen­ty – and they are still of great impor­tance to the region today. That’s why an autumn vis­it to Tici­no is dou­bly excit­ing! The Chest­nut Fes­ti­val takes place in Ascona on 12 Octo­ber. Look for­ward to what are prob­a­bly the most deli­cious hot chest­nuts and a roman­tic autumn mar­ket by the lake.

If you pre­fer to gath­er and pre­pare chest­nuts your­self, make sure to fol­low the Col­li­na Alta panoram­ic trail. Along the way, you can gath­er as many chest­nuts as you can car­ry. You will be enchant­ed by the chest­nut for­est, the view of Lake Mag­giore and the impres­sive don­key bridge. Fun for all chest­nut fans!

Good to know: When you stay at Locarno Youth Hos­tel, you get a Tici­no Card and can use pub­lic trans­port free of charge through­out the can­ton.

How to get there: There are reg­u­lar bus con­nec­tions to Ascona from Piaz­za Castel­lo, just a stone’s throw from the youth hos­tel. Or you can hire a bicy­cle from our part­ner «Rent a Bike».

A bus takes you to the start­ing point of the hike from Cinque Vie (right by the youth hos­tel) to Mon­ti del­la Trinità.

Patricia’s tip: Dining and swinging in the Principality of Liechtenstein

Have you ever been to the Prin­ci­pal­i­ty of Liecht­en­stein? Not only is this home to our only youth hos­tel abroad, but this small coun­try also offers culi­nary high­lights and swings at lofty heights. But one thing at a time. 😊

On the Food­Trail Liecht­en­stein, you can enjoy dis­cov­er­ing the nation and its typ­i­cal spe­cial­i­ties at six stops. There’s some­thing deli­cious to try every­where! The adven­ture starts at the Liecht­en­stein Cen­ter in Vaduz, where your doc­u­ments and the first rid­dle await you. Can you find all the stops and the way to Schaan?

You can also mar­vel at the coun­try from swings. Yes, that’s right. Mal­bun has a swing trail. After a short chair­lift ride, you reach the start­ing point at the play­ground at the Sareis moun­tain sta­tion. Then you hike from swing to swing, each one unique, until you reach the end point in Mal­bun. Have a good swing!

Good to know: The Sarais chair­lift will remain in oper­a­tion until 20 Octo­ber 2024. The Liecht­en­stein Adven­ture Pass (sub­ject to a charge) includes a ride up and down and gives you access to 30 free expe­ri­ences in the coun­try. Plus you trav­el free of charge on pub­lic trans­port!

How to get there: From Schaan-Vaduz Youth Hos­tel, take bus 13 from Schaan Quad­er to Vaduz Post and you’re prac­ti­cal­ly in front of the Liecht­en­stein Cen­tre.

For the swing trail, take bus 44 from Vaduz, Schulzen­trum to Vaduz, Post. There is also where the con­nec­tion bus 21 to Mal­bun, Zen­trum leaves from.

Alpine magic on four paws

Would you like to explore the impres­sive nature in Brienz togeth­er with your faith­ful four-legged friend? Then let’s go!

Dis­cov­er now