Berner-Oberland - 2017

I'm now running about a month behind on my Switzerland postings. I suppose better late than never.

Bern to Berner Oberland

Not McDonalds, but a Pay Toilet
at the Bern Rail Station (about $2USD)

In the morning, we had time to visit the Bern Historical Museum. It was only a five minute walk from our hotel and we had time to squeeze in a visit before starting our noon rail trip that would bring us to Lauterbrunnen.

This museum has a terrific permanent exhibit of Einstein’s work and life through two floors. It also continued with exhibits focusing on Switzerland accomplishments through the early 2000s. The exhibits displayed public and personal artifacts from Einstein’s life. For non-physicists, I enjoyed the simpler multimedia explanations of his physics theories.

Arriving back at the Bern train station, we appreciated the many retail offerings in large Swiss rail stations  - especially the take-away food selections. We purchased a couple of sandwiches and Sprungli Luxemburgerli (macarons) to enjoy during our 60 minute train trip to Interlaken OST. Once at the Interlaken OST rail station, we switched to a cog train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen. We chose Lauterbrunnen for our hotel stay as it provided easy access to other areas and villages we wanted to visit while in the Swiss Alps.

Our lodging for three nights was at the 35-room Silberhorn Hotel, about a five minute walk from the Lauterbrunnen rail station. We had a valley view room at the Silberhorn and enjoyed the view of Staubach Falls from our room balcony. We used our Sunday afternoon to walk through the town of Lauterbrunen, past the flower-filled town cemetery and a visit to the Staubbach Falls at the end of our walk. Dinner for the evening was at the restaurant in the Silberhorn Hotel.

View from Our Room Balcony

Up to Jungfrau
The next morning, we headed out at 9:15am for the train to Jungfrau. The rail trip from Lauterbrunnen to Jungfrau took about 90 minutes, with one cog rail change in Kleine Scheidegg. Our pre-purchased reserved train tickets had a return time of 2:15pm, so we knew that we about three hours for our Jungfraulock visit. At the mountain peak area, we found much of Jungfrauloch is tourist oriented – ice sculptures, dioramas, a large Lindt chocolate store and Tissot watch store.

Once off the Jungfrau cog train, we went up to the Sphinx observation deck to get a 360 degree view of the mountains. There were quite a few visitors up on the deck – some taking photos of the scenery and others taking selfies. One way to enjoy the scenery and get away from the crowds is to hike, 2.5 miles round trip, to the Monchsjoch Hut for lunch. This gradual hike over a snow covered path, from 11,300 feet to 12,000 feet, took us about 55 minutes. The high altitude takes a toll on walking speed and the ice at the foot of the hut required some careful footing. Note that there are rooms at the top of the hut that can be reserved for overnight stays and meals.

Once at the hut, I order two boiled ham and bread plates, sparkling water and a small beer for about $42USD. Service was kind of slow given the few people in the hut. It appeared our server was eating lunch at a back table when I inquired at the counter how much longer it would take for our lunch to be ready. Boiled ham was essentially a couple of ham slices placed in boiling water to warm – not a very difficult dish. The server was indignant and told me that the hut didn’t serve ‘fast food.’

Sphinx Observation Platform

Path to Monchsjoch Hut

Monchsjoch Hut

On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at the Airtime Cafe to pick-up a couple of meat pies. We met a hiker the day before that suggested we try them. We made it before 5pm, just before the cafe closed. While we enjoyed the smaller number of tourists in the alps during the Spring shoulder season, one disadvantage we learned was that some restaurants are closed or close earlier in the day during the month of May.

A Day Trip to Gimmelwald and Murren

The next day we planned a visit to two villages above Lauterbrunnen. Despite the previous evening weather forecast for possible rain, the skies were actually pretty much clear in the morning. Wanting to take advantage of the early morning clear skies, we decided to reverse our previous plan to start the day trip in Murren and, instead, start in Gimmelwald. The cable car at Stechelberg provided a five minute ride to Gimmelwald.

Walking around the small village of Gimmelwald with no other visitors in sight, we enjoyed the quietness of the morning and the surrounding views of the mountains and lush green valleys. We walked past the closed honor-system cheese store, water trough, former school house and barns with goats, horses and cows. Leaving Gimmelwald, we started our walk along a paved path to Murren. In this walking direction it is pretty much a moderate uphill walk all the way to Murren. An easier walking direction would be from Murren to Gimmelwald.

Anti-Avalanche Controls, Simple but Effective

Reaching Murren, we made a quick decision to take the next cable car from Murren to Schilthorn Piz Gloria. This destination is about 10,000 feet in elevation, less than Jungfrau but still spectacular views. Here is where the our Swiss rail passes provided a discounted fare of $42USD per person versus a $82USD full fare.

The cable car stopped for a car change at Birg and we then continued our ascent. During this second cable car trip, we could see remnant of a trail up the mountain, but the trail was uneven and, at certain points, covered with snow. Crampons, poles and a bit of luck would be needed to attempt such a walk up the mountain at this time of year.

Once again, we found the terminating cable car stop a bit focused for tourists. Disembarking the Schilthorn Piz Gloria cable car, our first stop was the “World of Bond” exhibit. The exhibit shared background of making the 1969 movie, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” This was the sixth Bond film and a portion was filmed in Switzerland, in particular at the Piz Gloria Restaurant atop the Schilthorn facility. The Schilthorn was still under construction during filming. A note to movie fans, the structure was destroyed in the movie.

This restaurant was destroyed in the Bond Movie

Obscured View of The Eiger, 13,020 Feet in Elevation

Down to Murren

View of Lauterbrunnen and Valley from Cable Car

The weather at the top was about 42F, but it was sunny and with little breeze. The previously forecast clouds were few and rain didn’t appear likely until much later in the day. With just a long-sleeved shirt and fleece vest, I was plenty warm. The view was clear, but we could see clouds over Jungfrau and Eiger peaks. We were lucky that we chose to go to Jungfraujoch on the previous clear day.

Returning to Lauterbrunnen via the cable car, we walked through the town of Murren towards the rail station. While we enjoyed the views of the mountains, hills and Swiss hotels and residences, we decided that we found greater enjoyment of the solitude and remoteness of Gimmelwald. In the latter, one could experience a village that has likely changed very little over the past years.  

Back to Lauterbrunnen

We made it back to our hotel around 3pm, just in time to visit the local Lauterbrunnen hostel laundromat to wash some clothes that were too large for handwashing. For those interested, a wash or dry machine cycle is about $5USD. 

We had a Swiss inspired dinner on our final Lauterbrunnen evening at the Hotel Oberlund, a few doors down from our hotel. My wife ordered a cheese fondue dinner with salad and I had a bratwurst with Rossi (delicious) and a salad for dinner. Dinner was well-priced at about $60, including drinks.

Our next stop - Zermatt