South Coast Walks & Historical Sites
Bring intriguing coastal trails and history alive in South Hampshire
The world's more beautiful on foot...
Call us on 01707 331133
Or, email us at info@ramblersholidays.co.uk
Call us on 01707 331133
Or, email us at info@ramblersholidays.co.uk
If you long for spectacular Alpine walking on easy trails, reliable systems of cable cars and mountain trains then Wengen is the perfect place for you, a car-free village perched above a magnificent valley. Ride up, ride down, and stroll through the meadows in between.
Switzerland
Jun
Jul
Aug
Tour codes: 53000
Our range of Adagio leisurely walking holidays and sightseeing tours are designed at a slower pace than the average Ramblers Walking Holidays, perfect for those who would like to slow things down but keep active.
Our Adagio Plus holidays are great for those seeking a more active holiday experience, with slightly more challenging terrain, but in keeping with our easy-going Adagio pace.
Overview
Anyone arriving in Wengen thinks that heaven probably looks something like this. A car-free village perched above a valley. The sparkling mesmerising face of the Jungfrau. If you have ever longed for spectacular Alpine walking on easy trails, a reliable system of cable cars and mountain trains, then Wengen is the perfect place for you. Ride up, ride down, and stroll through the meadows in between - this continues to be one of our Adagio best sellers.
Our holiday is based in the beautiful village of Wengen high in the Bernese Oberland. Only accessible on foot, by train or cable car, it is a magical place. Whilst tourism is the main source of income, farming still plays an important part in village life. From all around there are stupendous views of glaciers tumbling off the Jungfrau and other 3000m plus mountains. During our week here a superb network of trains and cable cars allows us to explore paths high above the valley floor with relatively little effort. We use this transport network to explore the Jungfrau region, visiting a different area every day. All the journeys and walks from start to finish are spectacular – so sit back and enjoy the mountain views as the trains and cable cars take the strain!
If you have never visited the Alps, the flowers will be a revelation.
Click the button below for a detailed Holiday Information Sheet containing all the particulars about this trip.
NOTE: Itineraries and Holiday Information Sheets can vary by a specific date chosen
Adelboden is a Swiss delight, set at the foot of the dramatic Wildstrubel and surrounded by the Bernese Oberland Alps. It is the perfect setting for an unforgettable summer venture – with 300km of hiking paths, remarkable views of the magical alps, plus a network of cable cars for access to some superb high level mountain walking.
Departure dates
Itinerary & Travel
Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the outlined itinerary and advertised programme, local conditions can change due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. This may mean that routes and timings need to be amended or the order of days may change, sometimes at short notice.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we may unfortunately need to withdraw a tour that is currently confirmed to operate and we therefore reserve the right to cancel your booking. We would always do our utmost to give you plenty of notice should we have to do this. Selected elements of this tour, including local attractions and restaurants, may change at late notice. Please ensure you have valid insurance cover before you travel.
Accommodation
Below is the accommodation featured on this holiday across all departure dates. Please refer to the Itinerary for more detail about each night's accommodation for each departure date.
Wengen has all the facilities you would expect from a village which has been welcoming lovers of the mountains for over 100 years. The Hotel Belvedere is a couple of minutes’ walk away from a supermarket, bakers and plenty of other small shops. There is a bank, post office and several cashpoints. There is an open air swimming pool about five minutes from the hotel. The village has plenty of bars to visit in the evening.
The three star Hotel Belvedere is of a traditional Art Nouveau style lying at 1275m above sea level. The hotel was built in 1912 but has recently been refurbished and still captures a traditional Swiss atmosphere. The charming Hotel Belvedere is located within a 5 minute walk from the Jungfrau railway station and the Mannlichen cable car station. This makes the location of the hotel ideal as you can enjoy the areas many mountain hikes within moments. The Hotel Belvedere will welcome you with its traditional open fireplace and alpine ambience. Its rustic bar and cosy lounge allow you to relax in its peaceful atmosphere whilst enjoying the spectacular views of the famous Jungfrau, its surrounding mountains and the Lauterbrunnen Valley.
Most of the bedrooms have partial views of the Breithorn chain or the scenic car free village of Wengen. We stay in twin/double bedded rooms and single bedded rooms. Some rooms have traditional lower ceilings decorated with wooden beams. Rooms have fly-lead USB connection charging points but adaptors are available for hire from reception at a refundable charge of CHF20.00. The bedroom facilities include:
Trip Information
On an Adagio Plus holiday, there is more emphasis on getting out into the countryside with days having more of an active content, although the walks will be on unchallenging trails and at an undemanding pace. You will need to be able to walk for longer periods than on a standard Adagio holiday. Adagio Plus holidays, in general, have less sightseeing days and are more about being out in the open countryside.
We will be walking at a high altitude on many of the walks featured in this programme, three of our walking days will take us up to around 2500m and on two days at around 1600m. The Jungfraujoch is up to 3500m.
We use a mix of privately hired vehicles, taxis, and public transport which gives us some flexibility in our itinerary. We have a wonderful programme of walking, sightseeing and visits planned to let you fully experience the area along with opportunities to relax at our wonderful hotel and enjoy your surroundings.
Holiday Budgeting
Local transport costs, entrance fees and tips to local providers are included in your holiday price. You may wish to budget for any meals and drinks not included in the holiday arrangements, non-included entrance fees and any optional excursions you may choose to participate in locally. A general guideline for lunches and drinks is £10-£20 per person per day.
Jungfrau Pass
We include the six day Jungfrau Pass, a local cable car and train pass that provides reduced fares and free unlimited travel on all the local trains and cable cars used in our proposed itinerary. For more information, please see the Jungfrau Rail Pass Website.
Currency in Switzerland
The currency in Switzerland is the Swiss Franc. The euro is widely accepted in Switzerland, however occasionally change may be given in Swiss Francs. ATMs are widely available in most towns and villages throughout Switzerland.
Tipping
We include tips in the holiday cost and your Adagio Leader will take care of making sure tips are given to hotel and restaurant staff and to local guides and drivers. If you feel that someone has gone out of their way to make your holiday enjoyable or help you in anyway, please feel free to give a personal tip to the person should you wish. If you are having an independent lunch or other service not included in the holiday arrangements, tipping is at your own discretion.
Leaders Evening Briefing
Your Adagio Leader will discuss the programme for the following day with the group at each evening briefing. This will be your opportunity to find out more details and ensure the planned activities suit your walking ability. Also, if you have any questions or concerns on clothing or lunch arrangements, this can be discussed then. If you wish to opt out of the organised group programme, this is fine, just let your Leader know.
Group Size
We believe that the best things come in small packages, and our Adagio holidays prove just that. We limit our groups to a maximum of 18 persons, plus the Adagio Leader, so that everyone has the opportunity to mix, share their love of travel and return home with new friendships. Small groups also have less detrimental local impact, allows us to use public transport on some days, eat at small local restaurants and, we believe, offers a better experience.
Your Leader
An Adagio Leader will accompany you throughout the holiday. They are all experienced travellers with a love for exploring and will help capture the true essence of the destination with their stories, knowledge and insights. They are well-organised, pay great attention to detail and enjoy being with people. They are there to help make your holiday as enjoyable and stress free as possible.
Luggage Allowance & Tickets
When booking a flight or rail inclusive holiday with us, details of your travel arrangements and baggage allowance will be confirmed in your travel documents, sent to you approximately 10 days prior to departure.
Personal Details Check
Please ensure that the personal details we have on file for you are up to date and that you have provided the information we need to secure your holiday travel and accommodation arrangements.
Please check your passport details, date of birth and any other important details necessary for us to accurately manage your holiday booking are correct at the time of booking (including health and dietry requirements). You can view and update information already provided, and add details not yet asked for, by using the Manage My Booking facility on our website www.adagio.co.uk, or by calling our Sales and Reservations team on +44 (0)1707 386700. When you receive your booking confirmation please check the details as soon as possible.
Getting to your Holiday
We fly from London to Zürich and return. The flight takes about 1 hour 45 minutes.
Our transfer from Zurich Airport to Lauterbrunnen is by private coach and will take around about 3 hours. We then take a train to vehicle free Wengen taking around 15 minutes. During the week we’ll travel on foot, by cogwheel-railway and cable car.
If you intend joining and leaving the party in Wengen, we assume unless you have advised us otherwise, that you will meet and leave the party at our hotel. If this is not your intention, please let us know in writing at least 5 weeks before departure.
Booking Your Own Travel Arrangements
If you wish to organise your own flights from either a non-UK or UK regional airport, or travel by rail or car to your holiday destination, 'land only' reductions are often available. If you choose to do this, before finalising any independent travel arrangements, please check with us first - especially if doing so 12 weeks or more before your intended date of travel. If you do intend to join your holiday locally please do tell us at least 14 weeks in advance.
If you are joining and leaving your holiday overseas we assume, unless you advise us otherwise, that you will join and leave the holiday at the hotel. Although airport/train station transfers are not included for those making their own independent travel arrangements, if you wish to join the group at the overseas airport/train station, depending on your flight/train arrival time, you may be able to be included on the group's transfer. Please contact us at least 5 weeks before departure for more details.
Please note that your flight/train must arrive within 30 minutes of the group flight/train to be able to join the group transfer. We also need your flight/train number, arrival time and departure point so that your Adagio Leader is able to meet up with you.
General Passport Advice
It is a good idea to carry photocopies of the personal details pages of your passport page (with your photo on). Should you lose your passport, this may assist with the issue of replacement documents and your return to your home country. Passport and visa requirements can change at any time. It is your own responsibility to ensure that you inform yourself from a professionally qualified source on, and comply with, such requirements. General passport advice for UK nationals on the UK Government website.
Brexit Passport Advice
If you are planning to travel to an EU country (except Ireland), or Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, San Marino or Vatican City, you must meet the Schengen area rules.
Your passport must meet 2 requirements. It must be:
The guidance for Schengen border guards may not be updated until the spring of 2022. Until then, for some Schengen countries your passport may need to be less than 10 years old during your whole visit, and the 3 months at the end of your visit may need to be within 10 years of your passport’s issue date.
Check both the issue date and the expiry date in your passport. If you renewed your passport early, extra months may have been added to its expiry date. This could affect the requirement for your passport to be less than 10 years old.
Non British Passport holders should consult the host country’s embassy for applicable passport and visa entry requirements.
We eat a large buffet breakfast and four course dinners in the hotel. On one evening we will be treated to dinner in a traditional Swiss Forrest Hut. This evening is relatively informal so you can sit back and relax whilst being served traditional Swiss delicacies such as fondue cheese, sausage, bread, potatoes and fruit. We don’t include lunches in the price of the holiday – normally these can be taken as a picnic or in a mountain cafe.
Footwear
Comfortable, broken in, walking boots or shoes with a good sole are recommended for this holiday. Walking shoes or other comfortable footwear will be suitable for sightseeing days.
General Kit List
We recommend you bring the following items with you:
Water To Go
An alternative to bottled water from single-use sealed water bottles is filtered water from a refillable bottle containing its own water filter such as a Water-to-go bottle available from www.watertogo.eu. Just fill up from any water source and save the environment from disposable plastic bottles.
We have negotiated an exclusive 15% discount with our partners Water-to-Go for you as a thank you for helping the environment. Please go to their website at www.watertogo.eu and enter the code RWH17 when ordering. In addition, Water-to-Go will match the discount with a donation to our charity, Heart & Sole, which will allow us to continue to make a difference in the countries you visit on our holidays.
Travel Document Checklist
To ensure your holiday gets off to a good start, please make sure that you bring the following documents and information with you:
Electricity in Switzerland
Electricity in Switzerland is supplied at 230 Volts. If you wish to use electrical equipment you will need a two prong round pin continental pug adapter which will fit into any three prong receptacle. More information can be found at www.power-plus-sockets.com.
Ideal Maps & Guidebooks
Many local libraries stock a selection of travel guides and books which may offer you more information. Apart from any books available in local libraries, the internet is now an excellent resource for information about holiday destinations. You may find the below websites, books and programmes useful.
Maps of the areas we visit (1:200 000 scale) are available locally and at specialist map shops in the UK.
The best map of the area, and one which covers all of our walks, is the 1:25,000 scale Swiss Topo Map 2520T ‘Jungfrau Region’. This is available in Wengen for about 30 Swiss Francs. There is a cheaper 1:40,000 map available locally, which also covers all the walks, but not in as much detail. The tourist office in Wengen also has a map of the area immediately around Wengen for 5 Swiss Francs.
The Rough Guide to Switzerland has about 30 pages on the Jungfrau area and lots of other in-depth information about the country.
The Wengen Tourist Office has lots of information on all sorts of things in Wengen itself, and links to the other villages in the area. Their webcams, accessed via the ‘News’ tab, are particularly good.
Cicerone guide to Alpine Flowers. We like this pocket-sized book on the 230 Alpine flowers you are most likely to come across on a holiday in the Alps. There’s a really interesting introduction to the properties flowers need to survive life at altitude and good clear photos with short descriptions arranged according to the predominant colour of the flower. Order it from Cicerone directly and quote code RAMBWH for a 25% discount.
Furthermore, the Jungfrau website provides some great live links to many of the places we visit on this holiday.
The Map Shop
If you cannot find the maps or books locally we recommend:
The Map Shop
5 High Street
Upton upon Severn, Worcs
WR8 0HJ
England
Tel: 01684 593 146
Website: www.themapshop.co.uk
E-mail: themapshop@btinternet.com
If you key many of the local places mentioned in this holiday fact sheet into YouTube, you will find a vast array of spectacular footage of the area.
Health Advice for Switzerland
No compulsory immunisations are required for visits to Switzerland.
You should be up to date with the usual immunisations recommended in the UK.
You may wish to consider immunisations against Tetanus and Tick-borne Encephalitis.
Further Health Advice
For further advice please visit:
You might wish to take a small bottle of antibacterial hand gel with you for times when you're unable to wash your hands.
EHIC Cards
Please take your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) with you; it will help you in the event of you needing medical assistance during your holiday. Please note that the EHIC has an expiry date, so please check that your card is valid for the duration of your holiday. Please note however the EHIC should not be considered a substitute for medical or travel insurance.
For more information please visit ehic.org.uk.
Travel Insurance
It is a condition of booking with Adagio that you have adequate valid travel insurance. It is your responsibility to arrange appropriate travel insurance and ensure you have read and understood the full terms and conditions of your travel insurance policy to ensure that you are covered for all activities you intend to undertake whilst on the trip, including all optional activities.
Your travel insurance policy must fully cover you for medical expenses and emergency repatriation. Please ensure your policy covers the entire duration of your holiday. If you are walking at altitude please ensure that there is no upper altitude limit which may limit or exclude cover for your trip. Medical and repatriation insurance cover are not mandatory for UK residents who are travelling on trips within the United Kingdom.
Whoever you insure with, please ensure that you take full details, and ideally the policy itself, with you on holiday and provide our tour leader with your insurer's name, the policy number and emergency assistance contact numbers.
Please note that it is very difficult to obtain travel insurance once your holiday arrangements have started.
Looking for travel insurance cover?
If you have not already arranged cover, please visit SunWorld who offer travel insurance.
SunWorld policies include cover for COVID-19, subject to applicable terms and conditions.
Height
It is important to ensure while purchasing insurance that you are insured for guided walking up to 2500m. If you plan to go to the Jungfraujoch, you need to be insured to up to 3500m.
Responsible Travel
We're committed to operating responsible tours in all our destinations as best we can. Our holidays are designed for you to discover the essence of the country you are visiting. Travelling in small groups not only gives you an up close and personal experience of your destination, but minimises your impact on the immediate environment. We feel that the most important starting point to protect the environment is to be out in it. For more details visit our website.
Heart and Sole
We appreciate that we are in a fortunate position to be able to use our profits to help make a difference to people's lives. Heart & Sole is a venture managed by our office staff, whose aim is to reach the heart of the communities in the countries we visit. Through Heart & Sole, we hope to make more of a long term, direct impact to these communities, particularly in less developed countries where even a small amount goes a long way.
Ramblers Holidays Charitable Trust
Unlike many tour operators we have our own trust through which RWH Travel Ltd’s (inc Adagio) profits are channelled back into a variety of outdoor, walking-related or environmental conservation projects in the UK. The focus of the Trust’s financial support is Britain’s leading walking charity, The Ramblers, and their role in promoting the benefits and importance of walking to the British public.
In addition the Trust welcomes applications for small grants from local organisations in the UK who need support for walking-orientated activities. This includes the establishment of footpaths and bridleways, funding for rebuilding bridges and renovating huts, as well as bursary funding for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for children who could not otherwise afford to do it. Please visit the ‘About Us’ section of our website and click on the Charitable Trust link for more details.
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January
Avg. Rain: 80mm
February
Avg. Rain: 75mm
March
Avg. Rain: 83mm
April
Avg. Rain: 94mm
May
Avg. Rain: 114mm
June
Avg. Rain: 121mm
July
Avg. Rain: 115mm
August
Avg. Rain: 125mm
September
Avg. Rain: 99mm
October
Avg. Rain: 93mm
November
Avg. Rain: 97mm
December
Avg. Rain: 86mm
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