Oberland is the most compact volume in Pilgrimage, taking place within the span of less than two weeks that Miriam Henderson spends vacationing in Switzerland, having been sent there to recover from what Dr. Hancock, her employer, perceives as overwork. She leaves London on a Friday night in Chapter One and boards the train to return home ten days later in Chapter Ten.
Chapter 1. Miriam arrives in Paris and boards a night train to Berne. She changes trains and continues into the mountains, sharing the compartment with a family from Croydon. She reaches her hotel by sleigh.
Chapter 2. At tea Sunday evening, she recalls her experiences at a teacher in Hanover at Fraulein Pfaff’s school (in Pointed Roofs). After dinner, Mrs. Harcourt, an older widow, tells her about the hotel’s other guests.
Chapter 3. On Monday, she breakfasts and writes a few letters, which she walks into the village to post. She sees people enjoying winter sports and in the afternoon, rides on a toboggan for the first time. She meets an Italian, Guerini. After dinner, she talks with Vereker, a man from Cambridge and one of the hotel’s guests.
Chapter 4. Tuesday. Miriam encounters Vereker again at Breakfast and is introduced to his friend Eaden. She also meets Daphne, a charming but rather wild child. She goes tobogganing again, then watches the girls from the family from Croydon skate at the rink. At tea, Daphne, Vereker and Eaden are met again.
Chapter 5. Wednesday. Miriam awakes, realizing that her stay has just begun. She recalls her conversations from the evening before, then hikes into the mountains, having lunch and dinner by herself.
Chapter 6. Friday. She talks with two other guests, Maud Hollebone and then Mrs. Sneyde. She learns that there is a ski-fest that weekend.
Chapter 7. Sunday. Miriam comes across the ski-fest. Vereker, considered the best skier among the English visitors, competed with a Swiss champion, Zurbuchen. Later, she talks with Vereker and Eaden.
Chapter 8. Monday. She and Mrs. Harcourt go tobogganing. They go to see Eaden off. In the evening, Miriam has another talk with Guerini.
Chapter 9. Saturday. Miriam’s last whole day.
Chapter 10. Sunday. Miriam departs and descends to the station by sleigh. Boarding the train to Berne, she meets the family from Croydon again.