The Simmental ( en, Simme Valley) is an alpine

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...

in the

Bernese Oberland The Bernese Oberland ( en, Bernese Highlands, german: Berner Oberland; gsw, Bärner Oberland; french: Oberland bernois), the highest and southernmost part of the canton of Bern, is one of the canton's five administrative regions (in which context ...

of Switzerland. It expands from

Lenk Lenk im Simmental (or simply Lenk) is a municipality in the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Lenk is first mentioned in 1370 as ''An der Leng''. The oldest traces of a settlement in th ...

Boltigen Boltigen is a municipality in the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. Boltigen is a mixed community, with traits both of a burgess community and a village community. Beside it, there is also a refo ...

, in a more or less south-north direction (

Obersimmental Obersimmental District was one of the 26 administrative districts in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland. Its capital was Blankenburg in the municipality of Zweisimmen. The district had an area of 334 km² and consisted of 4 municipalities A m ...

), and from there to the valley exit at

Wimmis Wimmis is a municipality in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Wimmis is first mentioned in 994 as ''Windemis''. The oldest traces of a settlement in Wimmis include the Mesoli ...

near

Spiez Spiez is a town and municipality on the shore of Lake Thun in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss canton of Bern. It is part of the Frutigen-Niedersimmental administrative district. Besides the town of Spiez, the municipality also includes ...

it takes a west-east orientation ( Niedersimmental). It comprises the municipalities of

, St. Stephan,

Zweisimmen Zweisimmen is a municipality in the Obersimmental-Saanen administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Zweisimmen is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Duessimenes''. In 1257 it was mentioned as ''Zweinlixhenun''. The olde ...

, Oberwil, Därstetten, Erlenbach, Diemtigen and

. The Simme flows through the valley. Some villages play a role in the

winter tourism Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures de ...

of the region of Bern, such as Lenk or Zweisimmen. From Zweisimmen the resorts of

Gstaad Gstaad ( ; ) is a town in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Bern in southwestern Switzerland. It is part of the municipality of Saanen and is known as a major ski resort and a popular destination amongst high society and the inter ...

and

Château-d'Œx Château-d'Œx () is a municipality in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is in the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut. History Château-d'Œx is first mentioned in 1115 as ''Oit'', ''Oyz'', ''Oix'' and ''Oyez''. Prehistoric settlements Dur ...

can be reached. Further up is the

Jaun Pass Jaun Pass (German: ''Jaunpass'', French: ''col de Bellegarde'') is a high mountain pass (el. 1509 m.) in the Swiss Alps linking Charmey and Jaun in the canton of Fribourg with Reidenbach (part of the municipality of Boltigen) in the canton of ...

, which is crossed to go from

Bulle Bulle (; frp, Bulo ) is a municipality in the district of Gruyère in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. In January 2006 Bulle incorporated the formerly independent municipality of La Tour-de-Trême. History Ancient times Bulle is first ...

Fribourg , Location of , Location of () () or , ; or , ; gsw, label=Swiss German, Frybùrg ; it, Friburgo or ; rm, Friburg. is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), ...

, as well as the Hahnenmoos, which links

with

Adelboden , neighboring_municipalities= Diemtigen, Frutigen, Kandersteg, Lenk im Simmental, Leukerbad (VS), Sankt Stephan , twintowns= } Adelboden is a mountain village and a municipality in Switzerland, located in the Frutigen-Niedersimmental admi ...

References

{{Coord, 46.55, N, 7.36, E, source:dewiki_region:CH-BE_scale:400000_type:landmark, display=title Valleys of Switzerland Bernese Oberland Valleys of the Alps Aare Landforms of the canton of Bern