Bern Canton, Bolligen
Distance: 6.12 km.
Walking time: 1h 35 min.
Elevation gain: 242 m.
Highest point: 947 m.
Access: Car.
Parking: At Parkplatz Cholgruebe (Bantiger) - 46.974124, 7.541592
It is a nice escape to nature for people living in or around Bern. The hill is only accessible by car, making it a less popular area. We enjoyed this walk and apart from the last, short section before reaching the viewing tower, it was an easy hike. We came across a number of hikers, dog walkers, runners and cyclists.
There is a large BBQ area with provided wood chunks about 40 min into the hike (starting from the right side). The top offers picnic opportunities. This is also where we found a vending machine, next to the viewing tower. There are a few benches on the way to the top and at the top itself. There are no restaurants directly on this route.
There are many walking possibilities around Bantiger, so it is easy to mix and match the paths, depending on the preferences. The route we chose, started with a forest way, which was changing in width. Later, we started walking between the fields and seeing nice views with the viewing tower itself. Here, the route varied between a tarmac road, gravel road and a thin, grass path. Before reaching the viewing tower, there was a choice of two paths to go to the top - we chose the faster and steeper one. It appeared being a lot of steps, which were quite exhausting. I imagine that the longer path would have been much easier to climb. The views were already pretty without climbing the tower, but I would recommend going to the top. The tower pioneers above the trees and the views are even better; overlooking into Bern, surrounding towns and fields. It was quite a clear morning when we hiked and we managed to see quite far.
More information about hiking routes can be found on SchweizMobil website here. A live round camera view is available through Swisscom here. Another hike to the top of Bantiger, but with an arrival by pubic transport and doubled elevation gain is described on Wanderungen website here.
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