A visit to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland is super accessible from Interlaken and it looked like many people were taking advantage of that opportunity and coming in only for the day. But we chose to spend 2 nights there in that gorgeous valley, at the pleasant Valley Hostel. This was the view from our room.
At the very end of April, it was definitely shoulder season in town and some restaurants and hotels were not open. Also some of the lifts and trains were closed, but we had no problem finding something to do. The first evening, we had dinner at Hotel Oberland, which was just fine and then took a walk along the valley floor admiring the many waterfalls as the sun set.
The next morning we had a very hearty and fortifying bowl of porridge at Airtime Cafe and then walked nearly to the end of the valley, past many waterfalls cascading over the cliff, to Schilthornbahn in Stechelberg. This is the lift station that goes to the top of Shilthorn at 2970 meters. Note, this is not fully covered by any rail passes, but I think you can get a discount, if you have one, and it is pricey, but I think worth the view. To get to the top, four different lifts are connected with stops in Gimmelwald, Murren, and Birg.
At the top, at 2970 meters or 9744 feet, it’s a bit of a tourist trap, with a gift shop and a restaurant. There’s plenty of room to stand inside and enjoy the view, or an outside viewing platform, if it’s not too cold.
On the way up, we were encouraged to keep going all the way to the top. But on the way down, it’s easy to get off and explore. We exited at Birg, which is still pretty high up and cold with more great views along with the Skyline Walk.
It was time for lunch and the next stop below, Murren, which is a small mountain town, we found Hotel Edelweiss. Despite the chill, we sat outside, although I did have hot chocolate and tomato soup, along with the Swiss Rosti.
From Murren, we walked down to Gimmelwald.
One of the most exciting parts of the day was the self serve dairy cases that we found along the way. Below in the valley, the first one we saw, was a pretty fancy vending machine style that even had wine. In Murren and Gimmelwald, they were just a fridge on someone’s porch with cheese and butter and eggs. So after the third one, we decided it was a good idea to buy some eggs, butter, and cheese for our breakfast the next day. And it was probably the best butter I’ve every had.
