Oeschinen Lake is a stunning mountain lake west of Interlaken. In winter, this lake freezes and you can often walk on the ice on a designated path. You can reach the lake with a gondola ride and 30 min walk on a snowy path, no snowshoes required.
On the ice, they prepare an "Ice Walk" loop, with sticks in the ice indicating the safe areas for walking. Check current status.
The lake is often covered with snow during winter. But it had rained when we went, so the lake was covered with about 1-2 inches of water (about 3-5 cm) and had beautiful reflections of the mountains it the water.
We saw two people skating on the lake, but they do not rent ice skates on site.
How to get there
Oeschinensee is located near Kandersteg. The gondola station is located at Öschistrasse 50, 3718 Kandersteg CH.
There is metered parking next to the gondola station.
By train, ride to Kandersteg. Then about a 12 min walk to the gondola station. Follow the signs to Oeschinensee and the other people walking there. It's quite popular. If you get lost, stop by the tourist info office on the main street (see on map).
Cost
You'll need a round trip gondola ticket to reach the trail. In 2024, this costs CHF 34/adult.
Discount for children, Swiss Travel Pass, SBB GA and Half-fare. Children under 6 and those with SBB Junior Card ride free.
Opening times
The lake is usually frozen from early January through late March. They monitor the thickness of the ice and post the status on the "Ice Walk" on their website and interactive map on site.
If temps are too warm, the ice walk may not be safe enough for walking. Check current status.
What to wear
The surface can be slippery. We recommend wearing waterproof winter boots with good tread. We found hiking sticks helpful in keeping our balance.
Since there was a lot of water on the lake when we went, we were very happy to have very waterproof boots, otherwise our feet would have been soaked.
We were warm from hiking up to the lake. But after just a couple minutes walking on the lake, we got really cold and wishing we had put on our gloves, which were in our backpacks on the lakeshore.
Snowshoe alternative
If you are sporty, you can skip the gondola and hike up to the lake on a snowshoe trail. We did this on our last visit and really enjoyed views and calorie burning on the way up.
Snowshoe trail: moderate • 2h30 5.2 km • 480m up
See trail map
When we went, there had been warm temperatures for awhile. So there wasn't snow on about the first hour of the trail. But when we reach the ski hills, we did need the snowshoes for the rest of the trail to the lake.
