safariguy

hi, which mountain viewing experience would you do if you had only one day to explore from interlaken, and not interested in hiking. Schilthorn? Junfrau? Grindelwald cable car? Nice towns to walk around would be nice also.

Also, would you prefer this day to be in the Berner Oberland, or going up to Mt. Pilatus, Rigis, or Titlis near lucerne. we have one day to see lucerne, and take a lake cruise, but not enough for a mountain experience as well

gavinp

Hi

Mt. Titlis would be value for money stuff, u get to have a cable car ride, a rotating cable car ride and and excellent view.

GP

PalenQ

My favorite Interlaken excrusion

Interlaken ost train station to Lauterbrunnen - hop the new cable car to Grutschalp - take train along cliff with stunning views of Jungfrau Massif across the Lauterbrunnen Valley - train to Murren - hop cable car to Schilthorn - i guess Europe or the world's longest cableway - to the icy James Bond outpost at Schilthorn and its famous revolving restaurant - a platform lets you walk outside to the ice itself. One of greatest lookout points in Alps.

return to Murren by cable - explore this resort with some of the most appetizing views in the Alps of the glacier-clad Jungfrau Massif - have lunch, etc. Hop the cable way down to Gimmelwald - a farming hamlet lost in the Alps - just you, cows and the awesome glacier-gridled peaks nearby.

Can have lunch in the local hotel here.

Then a thrilling aerail cable car plunges down to the Lauterbrunnen Valley and Stechelberg where you can hop the postal bus back to Lauterbrunnen - look around it a bit - see the graveyard of Alpinists and the nearby waterfall or Trummelback Falls - the water shute that is the sole drain of the Eiger Glacier on Jungfrau i believe - but it's inside the mountain (actually Stechelberg bus would stop here en route to Lauterbrunnen) - return to Interlaken by train.

This whole route is covered in full 100% by a Swiss Pass except for the Schilthorn cable - it gives 50% off on this, a $40 value or more - which you may find useful even for a few days. A 4-straight day pass costs about $156 p.p. on a Saverpass (two or more names on one pass) and would cover all your travels Zurich-Lucerne, Lucerne boats, scenic Brunig Pass train to Interlaken (skirts Lake Brienz- one of the most scenic lines in Switzerland) and back.

You can buy Swiss Passes in Switzerland but they are currently about 15-20% higher than in the U.S. for some reason. In US i always advise BETS (www.budgeteuropetravel.com) for passes for their expertise and willingness to answer any questions. On the site ask for the free European Planning & Rail Guide which has a chapter on Switzerland and more on the excursion i mention. www.swisstravelstyem.com has lots of good stuff on scenic trains, boats, etc. It also has Swiss Pass prices in Swiss Francs so you can see the savings by buying abroad. You can also investigate the Half-Fare card which is only sold in Switzerland. Compare regualr fares at www.sbb.ch to see if a pass is good or not.

safariguy

PalenQ

thanks for some fabulous tips. this sounds like the perfect day excursion from interlaken for us. We'll be there the very end of August, is weather usually a factor, and is Schiltorn still worth going up to if its all clouded in??

Mischka

Wow PalenQ, that sounds like an amazing day trip, thanks for posting. We are hoping to be there at the end of September, any idea of weather then?

Sorry for hijacking your thread safariguy.

PalenQ

i've done this loop several times, including in September and it should be fine. Murren however is i think about 5,000 feet up and one mid-Sep there was a bit of ice on the streets! Not normal i think but bring some wraps in any case at that time.

As for Schilthorn worthwhile if shrouded in clouds? No not at all unless you think being on the world's highest revolving restaurant, altitude wise, in a fog is surreal. No - leave that option in flux. And it's even colder up there and the cable cars are open air partly if i remember. But if clear to me it's more a thrilling journey than Jungfraujoch train which mainly goes in a tunnel the whole six miles or so.

Mischka

Thanks, will keep this in mind. We usually go to Europe in the winter so are looking forward to warmer weather this time round.

sunstar

I agree that the trip that PalenQ posted is super. I have done variations of this many times. Last year I took a lady freind on pretty much that same trip and it was the highlite of her trip. From Stechleberg We took the gondola up to Gimmelwald though. We had coffee at Walter's Mitgahorn hotel. Walter was serving that particular day. We sat outside at those tables just outside Walter's place and we sipped some good coffee. One of the local cats wanted some of our cream from our coffee so we let him have had it. Then we walked up the hill to Murren. Knocked around Murren for awhile before walking over to Winteregg for some lunch and wine. Not exactly the same trip PalenQ posted, but similar and this day was so much fun! I had gone to the Shilthorn on several trips and I really wanted to avoid any crowds, so we skipped that, but by all means please include that portion if you can fit it in to your schedule.

You get the same views of the mountains that PalenQ spoke about , but instead of being on a train, we were walking over to Winteregg. The views from the Shilthorn are just super. Again, if times allows, please take that cable up to the Shilthorn from Murren.

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sunstar

I was in Murren in 1996 and I remember Murren received a prety good snowfall that year in mid september. Also in 2001 on a stay in Wengen, I remember the area above Wengen getting almost 1 foot of snow. As I looked across the Lauterbrunnen valley over to Murren-Winteregg, I saw where Murren had gotten some snow as well in mid sepetmber. In Wengen we just had soaking rain. Most years though, mid Sepember weather is very good.

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Mischka

Sunstar your route sounds good too, thanks.
Snow in September.... brrrr..... oh well I can handle that, as long as the sun is shining in London.

Budman

Take the funicular up to Harder Kulm. On a clear day you'll have beautiful views of all the mountain areas. Also a nice place to have lunch.

PalenQ

The 'stroll' Murren to Winteregg that sunstar mentions and then on to Grutschalp for the cableway to Lauterbrunnen parallels for the most part the train line - and thus is one of the very most awesome hikes in the BOB - as from this perch near a ledge thousands of feet above the Lauterbrunnen Valley you get a neat view of the whole Jungfrau Massif.

The restaurant at Winteregg, with the ubiquitous outdoor 'sun terrace' gets good reviews.

They are especially famous for their filling Alpine breakfast.

This is an easy basically flat walk.

PalenQ

another short but not so easy walk is to go between Murren and Gimmelwald on the paved path. It's not more than a few miles but is steep at places and going down, due to constant braking, can be as hard on body parts as going up.

Yet a neat walk again with stimulating views. The cable also goes between the two of course.

escargot

On PalenQ advice (and most wonderful recommendations for our Switzerland vacation) when we got to Stechelberg, two of the family did take the bus back to Lauterbrunnen but my son and I opted to walk back, and that walk was beautiful also if still have energy !

escargot

PalenQ that might have read wrong- not that you actually advised the two of us to walk back, but you gave such good advice overall for our entire trip - it was the son that said 'let's keep walking!'

PalenQ

snail - thanks for nice comments. Isn't that a wonderful excursion and yes i always walk back from Stechelberg - along a gurgling brook and flat and it's often near sunset and so surreal. Just a few miles. Thanks for reminding me of how nice that stroll is. Glad your son said keep going.

escargot

PalenQ - it was amazing- it was Christmas when we did it and just as we neared Lauterbrunnen the church bells started ringing, it was like a movie - no, better than a movie !

PalenQ

snail - i've never been there in winter - must be awesome what you describe. Was there snow on the ground in the Lauterbrunnen Valley or just in the 'hills'?

PalenQ

For more serious hiking one can walk down to the valley and Stechelberg from Gimmelwald - but this is a long steep hike - not sure how long it would take but 2-4 hours i suspect. And as i haven't taken it you may need some better hiking shoes than the sneakers only needed on other hikes mentioned here. But reports are that it is a totally awesome hike.

PalenQ

Lots has been writ about Gimmelwald of late and this unique farming hamlet merits at least a brief look - if only for the startling views over nearby glaciers across the valley.

Said to be one of many places 'discovered' by Rick Steves when he ballyhooed it in one of his first Back Door books, this caused many Americans to end up here to sleep either in the Bohemian Mountain Hostel or the neighboring Guest House, at least formerly run by a cranky local when i stayed at the Hostel but ate a meal in the Guest House, where non-Hostelling friends were staying.

The lure is a totally isolated from modern world (except e-mail and Internet) stuck up here just admists stunning views - traditionally a farming village with herds of cows. When the cows go up to higher climes in the summer the village now caters to tourists and several B&Bs, pensions have opened doors to guests seeking something different and totally quiet.

At night, if clear there will be more stars in the sky then you ever imagined.

Stroll thru the tiny lanes of the hamlet, admiring the wooden chalet-style houses and their small kitchen gardens.

A novel place to sleep is Sleep in the Straw - a cow barn that when the cows leave for the summer is cleaned up and folks sleep in the straw there dorm style.

Anyway so rather than doing the Murren-Stechelberg cable non-stop, get off at Gimmelwald for something memorable. (Or walk down here from Murren, not more than a few miles uphill.)

Actually the cable is built in stages and you have to change gondolas in Gimmelwald so easy to wait for the next one and have a putz around the village.