Jungfrau Region (BE) · Loop
First to the Bachalpsee
Bachsee
From the First gondola to the Bachsee and back
The gondola is the whole logistics problem: first up at 08:00, last down at 18:00, and it closes for the season on 25 October 2026. Mornings are calmer, both for the light on the lake and for the crowds.
The short walk everyone does from First, and with reason: a broad path leads in about an hour to a lake that holds the Schreckhorn and the Wetterhorn on its surface when the air is still. There and back on the same path, on one gondola ticket, with a restaurant at the start and the finish.
Getting there and back
The lifts and stops this walk depends on
Firstbahn, Grindelwald to First
Gondola, about 25 minutes · Jungfraubahnen
- Season
- Runs to 25 October 2026; closed for overhaul 26 October – 27 November
- First up
- 08:00
- Last down
- 18:00
- Fare
- from CHF 38
Read 20 September 2026
At the start
- bus stop bus stop, 43 m away
- cable car cable car, 95 m away
- First (Oberjoch) cable car, 223 m away
At the finish
- bus stop bus stop, 43 m away
- cable car cable car, 95 m away
- First (Oberjoch) cable car, 223 m away
Stops and stations come from OpenStreetMap, measured from the ends of our line. Times and seasons come from each operator's own page, on the date shown. Check them for your date.
On the way
Where you can stop
Berggasthaus First
Mountain restaurant, at the start and the finish · 2,167 m
- Open
- Closed 27 October to 27 November 2026
- Food
- Restaurant and self-service
- Phone
- +41 33 828 77 88
Read 20 September 2026
How hard it is
Grade, and how long it takes
“Good underfoot, but this is a basin at 2,300 m with the weather that goes with it.”
| Swiss signpost time | 1 h 55 | The official hiking-time method, on our line |
|---|---|---|
| At a running pace | 1 h 03 | Our estimate; the grade does not change because you run |
No operator publishes a distance for the out-and-back, so the figures here are our own: 6.6 km and 222 m of climb, measured on the line we publish. Most people take about an hour each way with stops.
Conditions
What it is like right now, and month by month
Weather this week
Loading the forecast for low point (2,161 m) and high point (2,285 m)…
Weather this week
Loading the forecast for on the trail (2,223 m)…
Weather by month
Typical weather First to the Bachalpsee, around 2,161–2,285 m. Select a month to see why it is rated as it is.
| Month | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weather | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Poor | Good | Good | Good | Good | Mixed | Poor | Poor |
| Day / night | -3°/-9° | -3°/-9° | -1°/-7° | 2°/-5° | 6°/0° | 11°/4° | 13°/6° | 13°/6° | 9°/3° | 6°/0° | 1°/-4° | -2°/-7° |
| Rain, mm | 95 | 82 | 90 | 91 | 122 | 129 | 128 | 122 | 97 | 113 | 109 | 110 |
| Snow at high point | Likely | Likely | Likely | Likely | Likely | – | – | – | – | Possible | Possible | Likely |
| Daylight | 8 h 56 | 10 h 17 | 11 h 49 | 13 h 32 | 14 h 59 | 15 h 49 | 15 h 31 | 14 h 16 | 12 h 38 | 10 h 59 | 9 h 27 | 8 h 35 |
Source: TerraClimate 1991–2020 monthly averages. Averages for the area at each point’s elevation (4 km grid, corrected for height). Not a forecast or a report of current trail conditions. Snow at the high point is estimated with a simple snowpack model from these temperatures and precipitation, not observed; steep islands and high summits can hold more snow than it shows. Daylight is for the 15th of each month. Hut, transport and park seasons are separate: check them for your dates.
Before you go
What could stop you
Busy, and better early
This is one of the most walked paths in the Bernese Oberland. The first gondolas of the day are the quiet ones, and the reflection needs still air, which usually means morning.
Still a high mountain basin
At about 2,265 m the weather turns quickly and snow lingers into early summer. The path is broad, but the ground either side is not.
Season: While the First gondola runs: to 25 October 2026, then closed for overhaul until 27 November. Snow can lie by the lake into June.
Make it your day
Shorter, longer, or at a run
Carry on to the Faulhorn
From the lake the path climbs to the Faulhorn and its Berghotel at 2,681 m, and can be walked on to Schynige Platte as the full high traverse.
Walk down instead of riding
Descend by Waldspitz or Bort and take the gondola from there — a long way down on tired legs, but a different afternoon.
For runners
Twenty minutes of easy running each way from the top station, at altitude. It is also the first stretch of the Faulhorn traverse, which is what most runners come for.
Keep it on your phone
Offline maps
Keep your route and maps on your phone for places without a signal. For multi-day trips, prepare them in the installed TrailSplits app.
- Open this trail in the app. Install TrailSplits, then open this trail there. On iPhone, downloads in a browser may not be available in the installed app.
- Choose your route or stages. Choose Prepare offline above. Wait for the route and maps to finish downloading.
- Try it before leaving coverage. Switch offline, close and reopen the app, then use My Hikes to start navigation. Repeat for every part you will need.
Saving a bookmark is not a map download. Storage can be cleared by your device; keep a backup map for remote trips.
Route and sources
What we checked, and when
No official route line exists for this walk, so we built ours between the places the operator names, on OpenStreetMap paths.
- Climb read from a 30 m terrain model along our line, smoothed; an operator's figure will differ
- Built on 2026-09-20
- Jungfraubahnen: operating data for the Firstbahn read 20 September 2026
- Berggasthaus First read 20 September 2026
- swisstopo gazetteer: the lake is the Bachsee read 20 September 2026
- OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) the paths our line follows