Hike with summit happiness – Niesen

On weekends, I’m a breakfast fetishist. Nothing beats a hearty breakfast – preferably in buffet form. Since I was finally out and about in my beloved “home” this weekend, I spontaneously thought of one item on my to-try list on Friday: Breakfast on the Niesen Kulm. Immediately sent an e-mail with a reservation request to the Niesenbahnen and received a reservation confirmation two hours later. Here’s how.

The Niesen is a truly perfect mountain and is affectionately marketed as the “Swiss Pyramid”. The mountain restaurant is located almost on the summit at around 2,300 m above sea level. You can reach it either on foot (by the way, there are numerous people who run up there every day – please understand literally) or with an impressively steep funicular, which runs every half hour (.00 /.30) from the Mülenen valley station. We chose the more comfortable option. After all, you shouldn’t start a Saturday morning with high-performance sports, right?

Even before breakfast, however, the panorama had to be admired. From the mountain restaurant, a short path leads up to the viewing platform, which offers a phenomenal view far over Lake Thun and Lake Brienz to the Swiss Plateau. Definitely a promising start to the day.

Afterwards we went hungry for the breakfast buffet. From Monday to Saturday the motto is “Bärgzmorge”, on Sunday there is a brunch. The Bärgzmorge fully lived up to its name (and my expectations): many different types of bread, an unbeatable selection of cheeses (which even turned me into a cheese fan) and a homemade muesli. The ambience is also harmonious. The modern, transparent restaurant pavilion forms a beautiful contrast to the barren mountains and offers panoramic views. There was also an alpine procession placemat as a plate base. Oh yes, I liked it.

After breakfast we made our way back. The plan was to take the train again. However, the idiosyncratic timetable threw a spanner in the works. Full of conviction that the funicular also starts at .00/.30 above, we were taught better. She drove away in front of us, as the departure times on the summit are set at .15/.45.

Well, that’s how it happened that we tackled the way down to the middle station (Schwandegg) on foot and devoured some calories we had consumed. This hike takes about 1h – 1.15h. Since it is a marked mountain trail, you should also have appropriate footwear and note that it goes down quite steeply in between. The route is definitely more recommendable uphill than downhill.

Have you ever had a summit breakfast and if so, where and how? :)