We want to talk about walking in Brand.
Sure, you can go there to do lots of other things that are done perhaps equally well down in the flatlands. But in summer (when we go), the best thing to do in Brand is walking in the mountains (why we go). Take along your hiking boots and clothes (and your appetite -- You can eat well in Brand,too) and leave your golf clubs and tennis racket and all that stuff at home. In our opinion, any sport involving a ball or a wheel (or set of wheels) doesn't belong in the mountains.
We've been to Brand over 20 times, from 1980 thru 2000, with a few
years out for other
things and a few visits. We're not great athletes and we usually show
up out of shape, so we haven't made all the walks (in particular, the
famous Leibersteig), but we've
done all the easy ones and lots of the others and we love the place. For
diversity
and number of beautiful walks within easy access of downtown, we don't
know any place
like it.
The valley itself is gorgeous -- V-shaped and slightly winding
between steep sides that
keep the sun from waking you too early in the morning or keeping you
awake too late
at night. At the end of the valley, slightly to the right, Mottakopf
looms up in front
of the background, because of its proximity, not its size. Behind it
and to the left,
is the circus, the semi-circular wall of cliff forming the end of the
valley; standing out above it are the three beatiful peeks,
Zirmenkopf, Wildberg, and Scesaplana.
You can sit on the balcony of your room and just watch it all day,
which is a good
thing, since you'll probably have to some days, either because of bad
weather or
because you're tired or sore. At least, that's been our case.
We love it and so we'd like to present our favorites among the many
walks available in the Brand Valley, the Brandnertal. If you like the
looks of them, go there and try them. Just tell them Siv and John sent
you.
We offer two ways to get to the descriptions of the walks:
Both include links to descriptions of (most of) the walks.
Enjoy!
