Postautotour Grimsel-Furka-Nufenen
Description
The pass tour by mountain bike and post bus is something for early risers: it starts at 7.30 a.m. on the Grimsel Pass, but with an immediate highlight. The singletrail descent to Oberwald is one of the finest the region has to offer. 8.45 a.m. in Oberwald is the next fixed point. Only a few post buses ride up to the Nufenen Pass each day, so you have to catch this connection. From the Nufenen Pass, you then head into the descent through Ägenetal, which is extremely challenging at first. If you don't want to take on this challenge, ride down a short stretch on the pass road. At the little road towards Griessee, the trail branches off to the right, which is increasingly flowy and fun to ride. You pass the alpine farms and the trail becomes smoother with every meter until it finally ends as a veritable flow trail at Ulrichen. Now it's on to the Furka Pass, with the Postbus riding out of Oberwald at 12.35 pm. From the top of the pass, you climb up a cart track to the Bidmer with its fantastic views of the Bernese and Valais Alps. The descent is initially not as thrilling as the panorama. The path leads through meadow terrain, is deeply cut in places and difficult to ride. After Alp Gand, the route descends for a good stretch on an alpine road due to a lack of alternatives, until there is another beautiful singletrail just before Oberwald. You have to be back at the station by 3.30 p.m. at the latest, then the last Postbus connection takes you up to the Grimsel Pass, where the brilliant final stretch to Innertkirchen awaits. The path winds its way through the high alpine terrain - a highlight for good bikers. After the large power station, you ride past Gutannen to Innertkirchen on an alternation of pass road and gravel paths. From here, take the train back home to Meiringen.
Tip: Travel to Innertkirchen the day before, then take the Postbus to the Grimsel Pass and stay overnight in one of the hotels. The Hotel Grimsel Hospiz is particularly recommended.
Important: Before the tour, check whether the PostBus connections have changed or whether they are in operation on the days in question. It is also advisable to register your bikes for the PostBus journeys. Timetable: www.sbb.ch; Postbus: www.postauto.ch/berneroberland
Timetable:
07.30 departure Grimsel Hospiz
08.45 Postbus Oberwald-Nufenenpass
12.35 Postbus Oberwald-Furka Belvedere
15.30 Postbus Oberwald-Grimselpass
Option - final stretch with end of tour in Airolo (for return journey to Zurich/Lucerne):
15.25 Postbus Oberwald-Nufenenpass
16.05 Departure Nufenenpass-Airolo, then by train to Zurich or Lucerne
Map & GPX-Track
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Details of the tour
54 km
2645 m
2615 m
1370 above sea level
2212 above sea level
1 day
Oberwald
Innertkirchen
1402
well suited
More tours nearby
User comments (11)
About the author: Thomas Giger
Note: This content has been automatically translated from German. Please report any incorrect translations.
Very beautiful and eventful tour, ridden on 20.09.2025. Varied trails on all routes with more difficult (up to max occasional S3 sections) but also flowing sections, always with top panoramic views. The easiest trail is the new Furka Trail with its great views (max S2, and only occasionally).
We spent the night in an apartment in Obergesteln (a village to the west of Oberwald) and so arrived stress-free in the morning for the 8:30 bus towards the top of the Grimsel pass. The first bus also has a bike trailer with around 20 spaces, unlike the buses during the day, which only have the normal rear rack with 6 spaces. The early bird version therefore gives the option of the northern descent to Guttannen and then by bus at 11:15 back up to the Grimsel, then, after a lunch break at the pass, the southern descent and the last bus at 15:30 to the Nufenen to collect the descent there back into the Rhone Valley before sunset. We did the Furka Trail the day before to get used to it. As reservations are compulsory on all PostBus lines in the area, the logistics are a little more challenging, meaning you have to get seats on all three lines. On the Furka Pass, only the morning tour, which only goes as far as the top of the pass, has a bike trailer. All other trips with the final destination Andermatt only have the normal 6-seater rack in the rear. The reason for this is the ban on trailers on the Uri side, which in turn is due to the tight serpentine bends.
The descent to Guttannen took much longer than expected (>2 h), which meant we were pressed for time at the end - but the normal road parallel to the trail allowed us to reach the bus at top speed from the pre-reserved Guttannen bus stop. However, this meant we missed out on the playfully flowing forest trails in the lower section. The descent to Oberwald, on the other hand, was shorter than expected at around 1 hour, similar to the Nufenen.
Overall conclusion: A trail combo that is highly recommended because it is full of adventure and variety. Enjoy!
I changed the tour a little, spread it over two days and hitchhiked up twice myself. First up the Nufenen - as there was little traffic, it went well if you take it easy. The descent was great, even the first part was OK as the path had recently been improved. In the late afternoon we took the post bus back up to the Grimsel and in the evening sun made the descent to Oberwald as described. Really great! The following day, we climbed the Grimsel again, this time by muscle power and the described route to Innertkirchen through the magnificent rocky landscape past the Grimsel reservoir and then down into the forest. I completely forgot about lunch because of all the trail riding ;-)
Checked 2023
Cool!
The descent from the Furka Pass is not via Bidmer, but directly down via Oberalpe - Gletsch. This is a top trail, a bit rutted at first, then increasingly flowing and faster to Gletsch. From Gletsch to Rohnequelle on the pass road (the other side of the valley is difficult and not recommended) and then from Rohnequelle back on the trail to Oberwald, which is flowy and varied.
The descent from the Nufenen has been renovated from the Griessee access road (as of summer 2023) and it seems that the trail builders have a biker's heart: Top trail from top to bottom, sometimes a little more technical, sometimes fast, but always nice and flowy to ride! Highly recommended.
I completed the tour over three days using muscle power. I found the trails from Grimsel and Nufenen into Obergoms super beautiful and varied. The trail from Furka is a panoramic highlight, but a lowlight to ride (as the description says). All in all, three great days of mountain biking!
We rode the Postuato Tour on 20.7.21 in beautiful weather. There was still snow in some places.
Due to the timetable, we started from Airolo. At the end we added the Griesspass and rode from San Giacamo to Ossacco. The timetable is tight and you can't afford to have too many breakdowns.
Nufenen Pass - Oberwald 1h 20 min
Grimsel Pass - Oberwald 1h
Furka - Oberwald 1h 30 min
Nufenen Pass - Griess Pass - Ossasco - Airolo 4h 30 min
Timetable
Airolo from 08.10
Nufenen Pass arrival 08.53
Oberwald from 10.30
Grimsel Pass arrival 10.56
Oberwald from 12.50
Furka Pass 13.41
Oberwald from 15.30
Nufenen Pass arrival 16.05
There were still some snowfields on the northern slope of the Tällihorn (Furkapass descent) yesterday, so it took a while to cross them. Together with the many photo stops (the view is really gigantic), we had to step on the gas on the descent to Oberwald to catch the next bus to the Grimsel Pass.
Nufenenpass descent: turn-off pass road (altitude 2303) road towards Griesssee / Stocklamme closed due to acute rockfall. Alternative excellent via Rossbode.
If you don't start/finish the PostBus tour in Innertkirchen, you can confidently end the descent from Grimsel to Innertkirchen in Handegg (1401m) and get on the PostBus there. There is a restaurant in Handegg and a small mountain pub 200m behind it.
and yes, not the variant via the Gale... it's really bad to ride!!!