My stomach is growling at 9:30 am as I hike up a narrow mountain ridge. Swiss Alps. To my left, ripe berries and clusters of wild berries sparkle in the August sunshine. To my right are the valleys of Gstaad Saanenland. Once described by Julie Andrews, as “the final paradise in this crazy world”, they seem to have remained untouched by the passage of time. I’m not in the Bernese Oberland to simply enjoy the scenery or forage. I’m here to experience Switzerland‘s cheese trail, a collection dozens of mountain paths that lead to traditional alpine milkeries.
The sound of cowbells tells me that I am close. I see it, a wooden cabin tucked away in the hillsides. Alp Gfell. The outside fridge is stocked with cheeses and sausages that hikers can purchase using a piggybank. The most sought-after wedges include alpkäseThis traditional Swiss cheese is only made during summer in high-altitude milking operations, with cows grazing on alpine meadows. The result is a hard, nutty cheese with a butterscotch flavor.
“Grüezi!” beams Michael Schläppi, a third-generation cheesemaker who greets me in Swiss-German. The cheese trails offer more than just the chance to help yourself kas. They also provide a great opportunity to meet the farmers who are keeping alive these centuries-old practices. Schläppi invites me in to meet his 36 cows—each of whom he knows by name. His favorite, Tania, is no longer around; she was 18 when she passed away in 2023, but not before introducing Schläppi to his girlfriend: Katja, a veterinarian. They spend around 100 days each year making alpine cream cheese at 6,000 ft. on a verdant slope. SeptemberWhen the cows descend into greener pastures beneath. “It’s not me who decides when the cows go down into the valley—it’s the grass,” Schläppi says, as he heats milk in a copper cauldron over an open fire.
As with the paths that lead to chalets, nature and tradition dictate each season’s cheesemaking. Guests who plan their visit to the Gstaad ZügleteThe trail of a cow-parade festival, held in September, may be shared by flower-crowned animals wearing handcrafted bells. The wildflowers growing in the meadows can affect how each cheesemaker makes their batch. Come winter, many, including Schläppi, swap cheesemaking for ski instructing.
After watching Schläppi separate the whey and press the curds into wheels, which will be aged for at least 18 months, we step outside so I can sample a selection of his finest cheeses. My favorites are the delicate rolls of Bernese Hobelkäse, an extra-hard alpine rendition that’s spicy, tangy, and as fragrant as the meadows around us. The perfect mid-hike snack, this is a roll with milk from the farm and a cup coffee.
The route I’m on—which travels from the Horneggli Mountain cable car station to the Gfell slope and back—is a moderate three-mile loop, but cheese trails across Switzerland range from short and sweet self-guided journeys like this, to multi-day treks like those on the Via Le Gruyère The trail network starts in the vicinity Lake Geneva.
