Читать книгу Walking in the Bernese Oberland. Over 100 walking routes онлайн

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Package Holidays

Holiday packages that provide both accommodation and travel, can offer a useful service at a competitive price for walkers looking for a base in a specific resort. Visit your local travel agent and check the brochures of companies such as Crystal, Inghams, Kuoni, Thomson etc.

Weather

Mountains make their own weather. This is an old adage that is certainly true of the Bernese Oberland. Since the range more or less faces north and is the first of the main mountain areas to collect the weather patterns flooding in across northwest Europe and the low Swiss plains, it attracts a worse record (so far as rain and low cloud are concerned) than most other Alpine regions.

Summer thunderstorms are to be expected when precipitation will almost certainly be in the form of rain below 2000m, and possibly snow above that level – the Jungfraujoch, for example, records an annual precipitation in excess of 4000mm (158 inches). However, when the Fohn winds blow there will be clear skies for several days at a time (these may occur two or three times a month during the summer), but this is usually succeeded by more rain. Despite its generally poor reputation, however, my own experience of wandering among the Oberland hills over several decades, has been much more positive, for I’ve enjoyed more good weather than bad, and a reasonable amount that could be considered indifferent. Hardly a day has occurred when the weather was so foul it was impossible to go walking, so do not allow the possibility of a few days of rain dissuade you from visiting these wonderful mountains. If you go prepared for the worst and hope for the best, you’ll not be disappointed.