Pauline
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We’ve been spending 2 - 4 weeks in summer in Lenk for the past 10 years. This year we decided to stay in a nearby town - Zweisimmen.
There are a lot of vacation rentals in Zweisimmen. They are priced similar to Lenk and less than Saanen and Gstaad which are better known resorts. Use the Gstaad.ch tourist website to book rentals.
One benefit of Zweisimmen over Lenk in previous years is that the guest card is part of the Gstaad/Saanen area (Lenk has its own card) and you get discounts on the mountain gondola/chairlifts in that area. But that changed this year! Now, as in Lenk, the guest card gives you free bus (including mountain buses) and trains for the Lenk/Gstaad/Saanen area but no discount on gondolas/chairlifts, which can be quite expensive. For example, the chairlift from Schoenreid to Hornburg costs 36CHF per person. (This is cheap compared to the mountain rides in Grindelwald.)
Zweisimmen is not as dramatically beautiful as the other towns in the Simmental because it is not as close to the mountains. It is a wide valley of green mountains with a distant view of the rocky peaks behind Lenk. If you want dramatic Swiss mountain scenery Kandersteg, Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald are better options, but they are more popular with tourists. This area is a popular area with mostly Swiss and German visitors. It doesn’t get crowded. And it is a great area for hiking at lower levels or higher up.
Zweisimmen is a lovely town. We never took the time before to explore it before, it was just where you turn left to go to Lenk. There are many old houses. The residential streets run up the mountainside but are not steep like those in Lenk because the valley is not as steep. There is a weekly fruit and vegetable market, several supermarkets, two cafes, and a few restaurants. Everyone is friendly and many speak English.
On one of the hot days we drove to Lenk to do the river walk. It was strange visiting Lenk but not staying there, so we extended our trip by 10 nights and are moving to Lenk tomorrow. Then we can compare the towns!
We can’t do the long hikes that we used to do for two reasons - I’ve been sick for the past 2 1/2 years (recovering now) and the corticosteroids that saved my life also ate away at my strength. Second reason - we are getting older! Steve turns 78 this year, I turn 70 next year. Steve’s in good shape, it is me slowing us down. But I’ve done well on this trip which is why we are staying longer. We go for walks most days and rest when I need to, much like our trip to Lenk last September. You don’t have to be a top level hiker to enjoy this area.
We both like the apartment we rented. It is a new chalet with six apartments, two on each level. We are on the middle level in a two-bedroom apartment. There are large windows, a big balcony in front and a large ground level terrace on the side (the building is built into a hill). Roomy and bright, well equipped. The only problem is the scented sheets and towels but I brought our own sheets just in case. Usually sheets are not scented in Switzerland. I asked about it and they said they could do something about it next time (what?). We will stay here again and I’ll come more prepared.
Also they locked the streaming channels on the smart TV (why? no explanation) but I travel with an old AppleTV cube thing that you attach and it does the streaming. Or you can use your computer.
We love the cafe in town - much better than the ones in Lenk. It is a local chain called Early Beck and they are the best. They have cafes in Saanen and Gstaad too. They have the best quality bread. We’ve used the cafe here frequently. For breakfast sitting on their terrace with coffee and gipfel or croissants, to get sandwiches for lunch, afternoon coffee and pastry, and to buy bread. It is a 10 minute walk to the cafe.
Next post will be photos. I’ll post again from Lenk.
Location - Simmental
The Simmental (Simmen Valley) is 30 miles long and runs south following the Simmen River from Lake Thun ending up in the mountains at Gstaad and Saanen. Zweisimmen is 20 miles up the valley. From Zweisimmen a side valley runs to Lenk, nine miles away.Zweisimmen
Zweisimmen is a good location because you can quickly drive (or train) to several towns - Gstaad, Saanen, Lenk, Boltigen. All of these towns have mountain rides or buses to good hiking destinations. The train to Lenk runs between Zweisimmen and Lenk, so you have one less train to take if based in Zweisimmen.There are a lot of vacation rentals in Zweisimmen. They are priced similar to Lenk and less than Saanen and Gstaad which are better known resorts. Use the Gstaad.ch tourist website to book rentals.
One benefit of Zweisimmen over Lenk in previous years is that the guest card is part of the Gstaad/Saanen area (Lenk has its own card) and you get discounts on the mountain gondola/chairlifts in that area. But that changed this year! Now, as in Lenk, the guest card gives you free bus (including mountain buses) and trains for the Lenk/Gstaad/Saanen area but no discount on gondolas/chairlifts, which can be quite expensive. For example, the chairlift from Schoenreid to Hornburg costs 36CHF per person. (This is cheap compared to the mountain rides in Grindelwald.)
Zweisimmen is not as dramatically beautiful as the other towns in the Simmental because it is not as close to the mountains. It is a wide valley of green mountains with a distant view of the rocky peaks behind Lenk. If you want dramatic Swiss mountain scenery Kandersteg, Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald are better options, but they are more popular with tourists. This area is a popular area with mostly Swiss and German visitors. It doesn’t get crowded. And it is a great area for hiking at lower levels or higher up.
Zweisimmen is a lovely town. We never took the time before to explore it before, it was just where you turn left to go to Lenk. There are many old houses. The residential streets run up the mountainside but are not steep like those in Lenk because the valley is not as steep. There is a weekly fruit and vegetable market, several supermarkets, two cafes, and a few restaurants. Everyone is friendly and many speak English.
Weather
The weather has been great but you wouldn’t know that from looking at the weather forecast. It always shows rain! The rain either doesn’t happen or comes in late afternoon. We had two hot days at 80F but there are shaded walks along the river for those days. Mostly it’s been in the high 60sF sunny or some cloud. Several days in the low 70sF. A few heavy overcast days that turned into rain late afternoon.Bugs
Flies! Just a few in the apartment because I keep all the windows open and there are no screens. Not as many as we’ve had some years in Lenk. I got a good fly swatter from the Coop so we are set. Last September in Lenk we were in a chalet surrounded by farms and we had a lot of bugs. This year we are staying in town and are not getting the bugs.Our Trip
We’ve been here two weeks (just about to leave) and have had a great time. We’ve taken the Rinderberg gondola from Zweisimmen to do a middle level hike back to Zweisimmen and the Hornberg chairlift (my favourite) from Schoenreid to do a nice hike at a higher level. All the other walks have been along the rivers here or up to nearby villages.On one of the hot days we drove to Lenk to do the river walk. It was strange visiting Lenk but not staying there, so we extended our trip by 10 nights and are moving to Lenk tomorrow. Then we can compare the towns!
We can’t do the long hikes that we used to do for two reasons - I’ve been sick for the past 2 1/2 years (recovering now) and the corticosteroids that saved my life also ate away at my strength. Second reason - we are getting older! Steve turns 78 this year, I turn 70 next year. Steve’s in good shape, it is me slowing us down. But I’ve done well on this trip which is why we are staying longer. We go for walks most days and rest when I need to, much like our trip to Lenk last September. You don’t have to be a top level hiker to enjoy this area.
We both like the apartment we rented. It is a new chalet with six apartments, two on each level. We are on the middle level in a two-bedroom apartment. There are large windows, a big balcony in front and a large ground level terrace on the side (the building is built into a hill). Roomy and bright, well equipped. The only problem is the scented sheets and towels but I brought our own sheets just in case. Usually sheets are not scented in Switzerland. I asked about it and they said they could do something about it next time (what?). We will stay here again and I’ll come more prepared.
Also they locked the streaming channels on the smart TV (why? no explanation) but I travel with an old AppleTV cube thing that you attach and it does the streaming. Or you can use your computer.
We love the cafe in town - much better than the ones in Lenk. It is a local chain called Early Beck and they are the best. They have cafes in Saanen and Gstaad too. They have the best quality bread. We’ve used the cafe here frequently. For breakfast sitting on their terrace with coffee and gipfel or croissants, to get sandwiches for lunch, afternoon coffee and pastry, and to buy bread. It is a 10 minute walk to the cafe.
Next post will be photos. I’ll post again from Lenk.
