�Nooooo, not another walking holiday!!� exclaimed Daniel and Jack in unison when we revealed at the airport that Interlaken in the Swiss Bernese Oberland region was our holiday destination.
For, Teresa and I (and the boys when they actually get there) love active holidays and visiting this part of Switzerland had long been on our bucket list. So, when a combination of cheap flights from Edinburgh to Geneva via EasyJet and discounted accommodation via Travala.com (I paid and saved over £200 with this emerging and price beating booking platform on the Interlaken hotel!) presented themselves, we immediately started to plan our excursions from Interlaken.
Interlaken
In hindsight, our excellent mountainside side Dorin Hotel in Beatenberg was slightly too far out from Interlaken and our day trips did tend to start slightly later than we would have wished. Although it was possibly worth waking up to this view every day from our bedroom window
And for the opportunity to take the ferry on Lake Thun most days
That’s not to say that we didn’t pack a lot into our days with our adventures in Interlaken possibly worthy of a separate blog post. However, one day in particular stood out and even impressed the boys.
One Day In Lauterbrunnen
Nestled between the peaks of the Bernese Alps lies Lauterbrunnen Valley; gateway to the mountains of Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch but also home to one of the most scenic and wondrous family walks that we’ve ever experienced.
The three mile long and relatively flat Lauterbrunnen Valley walk starts as soon as you step off the train from Interlaken Ost in the centre of Lauterbrunnen and catch a glimpse of the stunning Staubbach Falls.
What you also notice are the imposing but majestic rock faces looking down upon you from both sides and the snow capped peaks in the distance.
As you approach the 300 foot high Staubbach Falls, its power and beauty is something to behold and yes, I did take about 30 pictures of it and those I share still don’t do it justice.
Once past the falls, the relatively gentle and flat(ish) walk continues past many of Lauterbrunnen Valley’s 72 waterfalls; past cows lazing in the sun, with their cowbells providing a relaxing and fitting soundtrack to the walk, and past to die for properties with their cute and amusing post boxes
And then the cable cars ascending from Stechelberg come into view and your journey into the clouds begins with the peak of Schilthorn the final destination (or so we thought).
Both the train to Lauterbrunnena and the Cable Car to Schilthorn are included in the cost of the Swiss Pass (it’s a must if travelling by train, ferry, bus or cable car in Switzerland) and children under 16 years of age travel for free with the accompanying Swiss Family Pass and the cable car to Schilthorn includes a few stops worth er, stopping at.
On the way down, that is, because we were advised that it is better to reach the peak in the morning when the clouds and crowds are at their lowest.
Schilthorn
With our later start and three mile walk that included dozens of stops for photographs, we arrived at the Schilthorn Station at around about 11.30am and the view, even with the clouds, was mesmerizing.
Eiger, Junfrau and Monch were all within sight and Mont Blanc in France was even visible to the south east. The vista was incredible and other than a few other tourists, it was for our eyes only.
Anyone who recognise that James Bond pun and the James Bond gun barrel might be interested to know that Schillthorn was the location of the inevitable Bond vs Bond villain clash at the latter’s base in the George Lazenby fronted “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service†and wow, even 50 years later, this fact isn’t forgotten. It serves as the theme on the viewing platform, in the revolving Piz Gloria restaurant and even in the toilets.
We hadn’t booked for the revolving restaurant and with travel groups descending upon tables, we were lucky to get a window facing table. Hungry after our walk, we ordered a few bowls of tasty fries. These were only around 8 Swiss Francs each which is very reasonable given that it is Switzerland and that we were a captive (thankfully not by Blofeld) audience and a round of drinks at a price worth paying for the experience.
One experience we did avoid was the highly recommended Thrill Walk at Birg station just below Schilthorn as it was enveloped with clouds and with time against us, we wanted to explore the charming mountain village of Murren and fit in another walk.
Murren
Murren offers several short (in Swiss terms) and accessible walks including the Flower Panorama but we are practical people and decided to forego the train and instead decided to walk along the ridge to Grutschalp, above the Lauterbrunnen Valley and down to Lauterbrunnen itself via another cable car (much to wee Jack's displeasure- he hates cables cars).
This was another relatively gentle walk and at times the views were breathtaking, especially if you look behind you
But maybe it was because the earlier walk along the Lauterbrunnen Valley spoiled us or because we were getting tired, but with the walks available in this region, I would maybe only include this one if you were staying in the area for a few days.
A combination of weather and Teresa demanding that we also see the Matterhorn on this holiday meant that we only had one day to explore the Jungfrau region and as we stood in the Lauterbrunnen station waiting for the train back to Interlaken, Teresa
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