More than once I\u2019d had to remind myself to keep my eyes on the oft-narrow trail, lest I roll an ankle gawping at the scenery. That\u2019s Switzerland<\/a>, though. You can stand in the midst of its landscapes and still be convinced it\u2019s fake; a geographical steak too juicy, a lover too handsome.<\/p>\n Roughly 15 minutes and two cable cars later, our group had descended to 1,981 feet and trundled safely into the valley station of Mettlen. I took the edge off my adrenaline spike with a half-squished protein bar I fished out of my bag \u2013 my anxiety came more from a fear of unexpected drops than from exposure to heights \u2013 and geared up for round two of my Buir\u00e4b\u00e4hnli Safari.<\/a><\/p>\n Engelberg-Titlis Tourism has curated a variety of themed hikes and this one \u2013 the farmer\u2019s cable car safari \u2013 links the region\u2019s scenic trails by way of small cable wagons that were historically used to transport goods to and from farms with limited road access.<\/p>\n While they are still useful for this purpose, today the cable cars function largely as a cultural touchstone and an additional income for the farmers who keep them operational for hikers to use. A Buir\u00e4b\u00e4hnli pass <\/a>costs CHF47 (\u00a343) covering single journeys on eight different cars, but one must be careful not to lose it because the paper tickets must be torn off and handed directly to the farmers.<\/p>\n Up next was the Spisbahn, where I tried (and mostly failed) to parlay my grasp of High German into comprehension of Swiss German, but was nevertheless charmed by Josef Durrer. At a 3,937ft elevation, Spis is the alpine farm where Durrer grew up and his love for the two cable cars he operates \u2013 one from Fell to Spis, the other from Spis to Sinsg\u00e4u \u2013was evident.<\/p>\n \u201cCome,\u201d he said with a grin, waving me into his control room and proudly pointing at a small screen where I watched a (safe but admittedly dodgy looking) red cable car glide into port, depositing the first three of our small group at the top of the hill.<\/a><\/p>\n All too soon it was my turn, and once I was back on solid ground I waved an enthusiastic thanks at the camera I knew Durrer was watching from below.<\/p>\n We set off on foot towards Chr\u00fczh\u00fctte Bannalp, where we took a break for a fridge-cold beer (CHF* via honesty box) and the company of curious free-range chickens. Another hour\u2019s push spent overlooking Bannalp Lake and crossing a lingering snowfield took us to our idyllic accommodation at Alp Oberfeld.<\/a><\/p>\n Situated in a meadow at a 6,102-foot elevation, flanked by the Nidwalden mountains, this working farm was an alpine dream. It\u2019s operated by the K\u00e4slin family, who spend May to October, weather permitting, tending to their 100 goats.<\/p>\n Trudi K\u00e4slin showed us to our newly renovated dormitory room, where a bed cost CHF65 (\u00a360), with breakfast, and comfortably slept six. It was so fresh, in fact, that were it not for the steady shuffle of hooves and bells below I would have had no idea we were sleeping above the goats.<\/p>\n While no shower facilities were available, the flushing toilet was a welcome upgrade from the fragrant, basement-dwelling compost toilets I faced on a previous Swiss<\/a> hiking excursion in Saas-Fee. Sleep came easily that night, lulled as I was by the goats and my 30,314 step count.<\/p>\n The next morning\u2019s descent via the 6.8-mile Walenpfad trail was an absolute pleasure. Renowned for its beauty (as if the rest of the region is ugly), the Walenpfad was one big panoramic view after another, along a just-right trail that never seemed too steep nor too flat.<\/p>\n Though we had rarely encountered other humans during our Buir\u00e4b\u00e4hnli Safari, the early portion of the route was shared with countless goats, one of which took such a liking to me I could scarcely rip myself away from her sweet nuzzles to continue in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n My final day in Engelberg called for one more hike, though this one involved no dramatic elevation changes nor hair-raising cable car transfers.<\/p>\n The \u201cLittle Patagonia\u201d route was a gentle half-day outing from Engelberg\u2019s F\u00fcrenalp station, with a collection of peaks resembling Chilean Patagonia\u2019s Torres del Paine. Adding to the romance of the day was our picnic lunch from Restaurant F\u00fcrenalp<\/a>: a backpack loaded with white wine, iced tea, local cheese and sausage, fresh bread, roasted nuts, pickles and homemade almond croissants (CHF77\/\u00a371 for two people).<\/p>\n The evening finished with cold beers (from CHF6\/\u00a35.50) and quesadillas with Sbrinz cheese and jalapeno (CHF8\/\u00a37.30) at Ski Lodge\u2019s Brasserie Konrad<\/a>, proving once again that Switzerland doesn\u2019t have to be a budget buster. For those willing to ride the old rails and sleep among the goats, it\u2019s a real bargain.<\/p>\n How to get there<\/p>\n Swiss<\/a> flies from the UK to Zurich and a Swiss Travel Pass<\/a> (from CHF253 for three days, second class) offers unlimited use of the rail, bus and boat network. Engelberg is about two hours from Zurich by train, with one change.<\/p>\n Staying there<\/p>\n Hotel Bellvue-Terminus<\/a> in Engelberg has doubles, with breakfast, from CHF110. More information<\/p>\n The writer was a guest of Switzerland Tourism<\/a>, Engelberg-Titlis Tourism <\/a>and Travel Switzerland<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cCable car\u201d seemed like a generous term for the contraption that was suspended before me. A blue metal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[3579,5684,32657,17,1063,26616],"class_list":["post-119542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-europe-travel","tag-iweekend","tag-summer-holidays","tag-switzerland","tag-travel","tag-walking"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/117148759195801188","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Switzerland](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SEI_308303148-e1787337676147.jpg\")
Summer Rylander enjoyed hiking in Switzerland (Photo: Summer Rylander)<\/p>\n![\"Switzerland](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SEI_308303137.jpg\")
Take a cable car in Switzerland (Photo: Summer Rylander)<\/p>\n![\"Little-Patagonia](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/SEI_308913077.jpg\")
The Little Patagonia route (Photo: Engelberg Titlis)<\/p>\n
Alp Oberfeld <\/a>on the Walenpfad trail has dormitory beds, with breakfast, from CHF65.<\/p>\n