Tanzbodeli: Bernese Oberland, Jungfrau Region
An off-the-beaten track hike with some of the best views of the Lauterbrunnen Valley and the Alps of the Jungfrau Region.
Every hike this summer, I proclaimed at the end, “new favorite hike!” But this one. This one really took the cake. This, the last hike of the season, was the very best hike of summer 2019. I loved everything about it: the trail variations, the birds-eye view of Lauterbrunnen valley, the challenging ascent, the rocky scrambles, the feeling of being completely surrounded by glaciers and waterfalls and soaring peaks. I especially loved the unexpectedly poetic name of Tanzbodeli (it means “the dance floor.”). Look at that view. Those mountains. You would dance, too.
The first hurdle is the ascent from Gimmelwald to Tanzbodeli - it is a steeeeep 6 kilometers in two hours. It’s a beautiful climb, though, starting from a valley and weaving up through the forest. The last twenty minutes up to Tanzbodeli is more of a rock scramble than a hike, but it’s not too bad and never that exposed. And once you get to that large grassy plateau, with the 360 degree view of the Jungfrau and the Breithorn, and Wengen, Mürren and Lauterbrunnen…everything just melts away. And we had it all to ourselves. Barely anyone on this trail.
Be prepared to work for it, though. You don’t get a beautiful, empty trail like this for nothing. There’s no gondola at the top, so after Tanzbodeli, you have about 1000 meters of descent to get back down to the valley. At the Obersteinberg hut, there are two ways back down to Stechelberg. The high mountain route is more scenic and shorter, but steeper. The valley route will take you along the waterfall. As usual, there are no bad choices!
Start: Gimmelwald (ride up on the Schilthornbahn)
End: Stechelberg Hotel (take the Post Bus back to Lauterbrunnen for train connections)
Basic Route: Gimmelwald - Tanzbodeli - Obersteinberg - Stechelberg
Length and Rating: 14km, 5 hours. Physically challenging but relatively safe.
