THE GATE TO SWISS ALPS
One of the most picturesque places in Switzerland, is in Lauterbrunnen Valley - a small village of Lauterbrunnen. This settlement is tucked in between tall granite walls, with waterfalls, green Alpine meadows, and peaks. Just few hours away from Zermatt (and the amazing 25 min ride on Mountain car train), Lauterbrunnen also offers some amazing skiing, hiking and of course the Schilthorn peak at 2970 m (10,000ft) featured in 1969 James Bond’s “On Her Majesty Secret Service”.
We stayed in the cozy Chalet Rosa B&B on main Hauptstrasse. The place offered free continental breakfast, and nearby daily parking (it was free during our stay due to the broken pay station). Lauterbrunnen is fairly small, so all the restaurants, shops and train station were just few minutes away on foot. The nearby Staubbach Waterfall is the main attraction in the village, and the best photo op. You can even climb (and get wet) under the waterfall and feel the power of this natural wonder.
Main attraction of the area is to get to the top of the Schilthorn, a 2970 m peak. The cable car climb starts from Stechelberg (Schilthornbahn) to Gimmelwald, to Murren (a cute small village overlooking the Valley), to Birg and finally to Schilthorn (Piz Gloria restaurant). The Stechelberg is a 1.5 h away by foot through the valley, or just 15min by bus. The return is the same till you get to village of Murren, where you can stop for a quick lunch or just relax with cold local beer, enjoying the views of the surrounding peaks. From Murren, you will take the 30min train ride to Grutschalp, a last cable car stop before going down to Lauterbrunnen. This whole trip was around 104CHF per person, but it was worth it.
After whole day hiking (strolling around) we decided to eat in the Hotel Oberland’s restaurant for a 2019 Europe tour wrap-up dinner. This was highly recommended restaurant, with great local food and beer. We wanted to end the Swiss visit with cheese fondue. This is a very popular restaurant among visitors, so reservation is a must in order to have dinner.
From Lauterbrunnen there is a full day tour to Jungfrau, a 3454 meters top with breathtaking views of Swiss Alps. We did not have time to visit during our short trip to Switzerland, but it is highly recommended. All the information, regarding train ride, tickets and weather can be found at www.jungfrau.ch This is a very pricy tour, but we heard it is worth every penny.
