Lenk is a historic tourist town thanks to the mountains, natural hot springs and, more recently, the exceptional ski area. It has around 2000 permanent residents and 8000 bedspaces for visitors. The local town has gift and sports shops, cinema, bars and restaurants. Next to the lake is an excellent children's play park. Events are scheduled throughout the year, the Lenk tourist office has more information.
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Summer. This is a great location for hiking, biking and paragliding. Ski lifts run in summer for easier access to the mountains and you can hire mountain carts to zoom back down. There are also activities on the valley floor such as the pump track and tennis courts. There’s a little train that runs around the children’s play park and a café which is open when it is sunny! Events include the Jazz festival in July and the Switzerland Day celebrations.
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Winter. Part of the Adelboden-Lenk ski area, this is an incredible location for skiing, snowboarding, sledging, ski touring, hiking and paragliding. Don’t miss skiing the World Cup piste on the Adelboden side. There are sports activities on the valley floor, such as the ice skating rink, e-snowmobiles and cross country skiing routes. Events include the New Year celebrations in the town centre.
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I recommend the swimming pool and wellness spa. The main attractions are the big outdoor pool with inflatables in the summer and the outdoor warm bubbling pool in the winter. The waterslide and wellness spa, which has two saunas, a steam room, a plunge pool and a relaxation area, are open in the summer and winter.
There is a local bus service which runs along the valley, to the ski lifts and Simmenfalle at the end of the valley. This is free to use with the Simmental Card which is available with the apartment. The nearest bus stop is at the end of Rainstrasse and the bus station around 100m beyond that. There is a wanderweg (hiking path) accessible from the footpath leading the Chalet Chez Teddy.
There is paid parking available in town, 15 minutes walk from the chalet. There is usually paid parking at the top of the access road but this must be requested and arranged in advance.
Most cafes and restaurants in Lenk have a number of options for vegetarians, including traditional Swiss foods such as rosti, fondue and raclette. Options for vegans are very limited but a detailed list is in the guest handbook.
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Local food shopping
There is a large coop supermarket in town (15 minutes walk). This has loose fruit and vegetables and a reasonable vegetarian and vegan section. You can buy meat replacements and alternatives, including tofu, tempeh, a range of burgers, sausages and plant-based alternatives to chicken (including Beyond Meat and the excellent Swiss companies Green Mountain and Planted). For dairy alternatives, there is an extensive range of plant milks as well as ice creams, yoghurts, mayonnaise and butter (Flora, unsalted, no palm oil). You cannot buy plant based cheese or cream cheese in Lenk....yet!
There is an Aldi in Zweisimmen. You go through Zweisimmen on the way to Lenk. It is 15 minutes by train or car. Aldi is much cheaper than coop, especially for fruit, vegetables and specialist vegan foods. Aldi sell plant based meat and fish products and, weirdly, some excellent vegan sushi! I also recommend the wonder burgers (unless you don't like things which are similar to meat!). They also sell plant based milks, yoghurt, ice cream, cheese, cream cheese and the same Flora butter.
Coop in Zweisimmen sells New Roots Fondue.
To sample good Swiss vegan cheese, go to www.fabulous.ch/veganshop and www.vegusto.ch. Vegusto make and sell their own vegan cheese and seitan-based meat alternatives. Their raclette is excellent as is their no-moo piquant hard cheese which has a strong cheese flavour and slightly grainy texture. Fabulous is an online vegan supermarket that sells a wide range of products. I recommend everything made by New Roots, a company in the nearby town of Thun, but especially their camembert alternative. You can also buy from New Roots direct at www.newroots.ch
