A Swiss Alpine Autumn
 

September 29 -

With an 11 am flight from our nearest international airport (DEN), we drove the ~two hours from our home to the Big Smoke, had a leisurely dinner at our favorite Mile High City Mexican joint, and then spent the night in a hotel, an attempt to keep our travel stress to a minimum.

We’d determined that the most economical option for long term parking would be to leave our car at the 61st & Peña parking lot, from which the only transportation service to the airport is Light Rail, available for $10.50 per person for the 11 minute journey. We’d be gone almost a month, so we purchased the 30 day parking pass ($48).

Sept 30 –

DEN-IAD-ZRH – United Airlines

We were up with the birds, and despite taking the longer, slower back route to the parking facility in the thick of morning traffic, we’d parked, taken our first ride on Light Rail and were at the airport 2:45 hours prior to our flight, quite pleased that our low stress plan had worked.

And then things went sideways.

As we scanned our passports at the check-in kiosk, a big red notice came up, advising our flight had been delayed by 90 minutes, giving us all of ten minutes to make our connecting flight in Dulles. United had struck again.

Our options were to 1) take the delayed flight, and potentially spend a night at Dulles, completely screwing up our well laid plans, 2) take the delayed flight and try to get on a Lufthansa flight that would put us in Zurich six hours later than planned (causing us to miss our pre-purchased train to our first destination in Switzerland, or 3) run like hell, try to get through security and to the gate to make a flight to Dulles leaving in 50 minutes (and losing the Economy Plus seats we’d booked six months ago, in exchange for two middle seats and the possibility that our luggage wouldn’t make it). God I hate United. Million Miler status means absolutely nothing.

We chose to run like hell. We made it…just.

The second leg of the trip went better – Dreamliner from Dulles to Zurich, half empty, nice Economy Plus seats, empty seat between us, shortish flight - 7:15. Flight left an hour late (but weirdly, we still landed on time), Entertainment system was not working for either of us, flight attendants a bit gruff, etc.

October 1 –

Hello Switzerland.

We’re not strangers to this beautiful country, but we usually visit in late November/early December or early/late spring, when many Swiss villages are blissfully deserted and near-shuttered.

This year however, we decided to give autumn a go.

And here we are.

The itinerary:

Adelboden – five nights

Grengoils – five nights

Flims – five nights

Soglio – three nights

Scuol – five nights

Erlenbach – two nights

Sorting out the various and sundry Swiss train passes invariably causes head cramps, but we’ve learned from experience that the Half Fare Card works best for us. We purchased two Half Fare Cards online (SBB website, 120 CHF each) two days prior to our trip to prevent having to queue for them upon arrival in Zurich (and there was quite a queue let me tell you).

We’d also saved a fair bit by purchasing SuperSaver Tickets a week before we left home using the SBB phone app, including today’s journey from Zurich to Adelboden.

Having little faith in United, we’d booked a train specific ticket for two hours after expected arrival; a risk, but it paid off (normal fare from Zurich to Adelboden, including bus transfer to the stop nearest our apartment was 84.40 CHF for both with Half Fare Card, 41.20 CHF for both with Half Fare Card and SuperSaver Ticket.

We’re currently ensconced in a lovely little apartment in hilly Adelboden, watching and listening to the tinkling of bells around the necks of two long haired black and white sheep grazing outside the kitchen window (and hoping they’re not nocturnal). We’re going on 30 hours with no sleep, but trying to resist the urge to crawl into bed before it's dark.

Monte Grappa, 537 chf via E-Domizil, inclusive of cleaning, and insurance.

Monte Grappa - Ferienwohnung in Adelboden

Views from our dinner venue this evening (apartment balcony):
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It's dark! I'm going to bed.

To be continued...

Glad you made it to Zurich in one piece ;-) Nice apartment and gorgeous weather!! The apartment is located a bit below the actual village, right?

Looking forward to the next posts!

Btw, snow is in the forecast ...

Gorgeous photo -- I'm looking forward to your TR!

Ingo, yes the apartment is located below the village. As the owner explained when we asked how to get to the Coop..."go up, up, up, up!" This seems par for the course for us in Switzerland.

I failed to mention our routing to Adelboden in my exhausted state yesterday - 10:18 am train to Bern, then train to Fruitigen (having to get off the train at Spiez and get back on at the front, after a lovey young conductor told us the train would split and we were at the wrong end!).

And then bus ride from Fruitigen up to Adelboden aboard a rather busy hot bus. Another American couple headed to Adelboden tried to engage me in a long chat, but having forgotten how squiggly the ride was and feeling rather car sick I wasn't much of a conversationalist.

The English speaking daughter of the apartment owner met us at the bus stop and led us to Monte Grappa, explaining it was named after a mountain in the Italian Alps on behalf of her grandfather.

Adelaidean - yes, very green, and surprisingly warm yesterday.

Oooh, will really enjoy your report, as always!!

I am just behind you, will be in Switzerland 26 Oct. But not going anywhere untroden... a few days in Thun, then almost two weeks in Montreux, then a few days in Chur.

Looking forward, and hoping the knee holds up!

s

swandav - any trip to Switzerland is good trip, untrodden or otherwise!

Soooooo true!!! :lol: :lol:

October 2-

Nice quiet night, no sheep bells. We both had a good sleep, and when I got up in the dark to check the clock, it was almost six, so we were spared the usual jet-lag induced wee hour wake-up.

After a leisurely breakfast, we made the trek up to the visitor’s center to look into hiking options. The beautiful sunshine of yesterday was gone, today was bleak and wet.

We managed to miss the 9 am bus to Unter dem Birg by two minutes (we’d decided to take the Engstligenalp Luftseilbahn and walk the gentle loop at the top), so we quickly changed gears and boarded the 9:15 bus to Bergläger, figuring we’d find a walk when we got there.

Our guest card covered the bus as far as Gilbach, from there it was 2.50 CHF each (half fare) to Bergläger. On went the waterproof backpack covers. We set out on the walk up to Geils, me wondering what I might have gotten myself into as we picked our way uphill and across wet rock and slippery tree limbs.

Upon arrival in Geils we popped into the Landler Stubli to warm up with hot chocolate and consult our walking map. A sudden burst of sunshine convinced us to keep walking up to Hannenmoos, but it was gone two minutes later.

The climb to Hannenmoos was a bit steep; there’s a hotel and large cafeteria style restaurant at the top…and probably some spectacular views on a clear day. We had a nice lunch here – pumpkin cream soup, Flammkuchen mit speck, beer, wine and a nice tiramisu – 44 CHF.

Note: A gondola runs from Adelboden to Bergläger, and from Geils to Hannenmoos, but we chose to walk.

As we left Hannenmoos, the rain got serious, so it was back into the restaurant to put on our waterproof pants.

We then walked back to Geils and on to Bergläger, where we briefly considered walking all the way back to Adelboden, but having seen what it looked like from the bus coming up we didn’t think about it long. So we cooled our heels for a bit and then caught the 3:08 pm bus back to Adelboden (5 CHF). We’d logged some six miles and suspect we’ll be feeling those hills tomorrow.

As I sit here in the kitchen and type our neighbors the sheep are doing their thing…baaaa……tinkle….baaaa…tinkle …

And it’s still light outside at 6:30 pm – quite a contrast from our December visits!

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Adelboden
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Berglager
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Adelboden
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Adelboden
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Berglager

To be continued…

Still beautiful pictures despite the rain. You made the best of the day! Is it already the season for hot chocolate? Unbelievable - I had chocolate with ice cream yesterday ;-)

Ingo -

Yesterday was ice cream weather and I was burning up on the bus. Today was definitely a hot chocolate day. Bill has been fussing about not packing his down slippers.

It looks gorgeous!

October 3 –

After a lazy start, we walked up a series of steep winding stairs that led us past front doors, through gardens and alongside parking slots of neighboring chalets, wondering if this is really what our hostess meant when she told us ‘go up’. We couldn’t help but feel like we were trespassing, although no one came out to chase us away with a kitchen knife. We took our recycling with us, and were surprised to find a bin for bread in addition to the usual paper, plastic, various colored glass, batteries, aluminum…and a few bins we couldn’t identify.

The day looked suspiciously promising after the forecast of five days of rain. Optimists that we are, we popped into the Visitor’s Center to inquire about a two day cable car/gondola pass.

The young woman who had helped us so much yesterday was manning the desk and advised that because today was a market day, the gondola to TschentenAlp was only 5 CHF each return (normally 19 CHF return after discount for Half Fare Card holders). It was one of the gondolas we wanted to take anyway, so we scratched the two day pass idea and walked over to the station and took the 9:40 gondola up.

It had snowed overnight – those vibrant green mountains were now bright green at the bottom and white at the top – beautiful.

The views from TschentenAlp were spectacular, all the more so because wispy snippets of cloud rose from the valley and floated directly in front of the mountains.

We wandered around the top for a bit, and were joined by four little boys, who excitedly exclaimed “schnee!” as soon as they walked out to the viewing area.

We explored a few tracks and tried to determine if the trek down to Adelboden was as innocuous as it looked. Normally, we’d have gone for it, but we wanted to make hay while the sun was shining and fit in a second cable car trip, so instead we sat on the sun terrace of the self-service restaurant with a mug of hot chocolate, enjoying the sunshine and those gorgeous views while awaiting our return gondola to Adelboden.

Back in town, and with time to spare before our bus to Unter dem Birg, we wandered the streets, elbow-to-elbow with seemingly every resident of Adelboden and Frutigen. The streets were alive with people, music, and vendors selling all manner of goods. Sausages sizzled, balloon toting kids ran about and everyone seemed to be having a great time and enjoying the beautiful day.

I’ve since learned that this event is known as Märit Autumn Fair.

We eventually worked our way to the bus station and took the busy 12:20 bus to Unter dem Birg (free with guest card). Once there, we boarded the cable car to Engstligenalp (16 CHF each return, with Half Fare Card and filled to the brim) and were whisked up the side of the mountain. We only got a quick glimpse of the waterfalls as we worked our way to the top – too many heads in the way - but the views from the top were pretty impressive.

We were half-starved (and regretted not partaking of some fair food), so we worked our way to the closest restaurant (there appeared to be three up here) and settled in for a self-service lunch of Apfel Makkaroni on the sun terrace (not the best we’ve ever had but probably the most expensive at 18 CHF each).

Stomachs happy, we set about to explore the series of gentle walking paths. Bill was intrigued by the 5.5 hour walk to Lenk via Hannanmoos, but no way, no how was I going for that after yesterday’s adventure (not to mention there just wasn’t enough daylight left).

Instead we settled for walking the longer Rundweg (estimated at 60 Swiss minutes, but taking 1:15 Bill and Mel photo-snapping minutes), walking up to the viewpoints and watching some intrepid golfers negotiate one of the strangest golf courses we’d ever seen (with the notable exceptions of the golf courses in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Coober Pedy!).

Without meaning to we managed to walk over five miles and thoroughly wear ourselves out.

We took the 3:50 cable car back down to Unter dem Birg and had to wait 40 minutes for the next bus (only one per hour and we’d failed to check the schedule before we went up) plenty of time for a drink, but alas both restaurants were closed.

The sun went behind the mountains at exactly 4:10, sending us digging for our fleece hats. It gets cold in a hurry when that sun disappears.

Then it was back to sunny and warm Adelboden, on to the Coop for provisions and then down the never-ending stairs to our apartment.

To be continued...

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TschentenAlp
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TschentenAlp
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TschentenAlp
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TschentenAlp
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Engstligenalp
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Engstligenalp
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Skinny Adelboden garage

All are lovely pictures but that first one just brings on a smile! I'm enjoying your trip report, so signing on here.

I love looking at your photos and Adelaidean's photos!

Thanks for tagging along. Just finishing up the breakfast dishes and deciding how best to spend the day - a bit gloomy out there at the moment, but so far, it's dry.

Great stuff Mel, signing on as well. I like to read about parts of Switzerland that I know nothing about, which is virtually all of it.

I also enjoy it when there is a fresh dusting of snow on the mountaintops and some wispy clouds floating around.

We saw that accident avoidance poster on my recent trip, in Verbier I think (?). Someone in our group had a surprisingly similar story.

I am loving your mountain photos; the Smokies are lovely, but just not the same. Just curious, what inspires your (seemingly regular) visits to Switzerland? We loved the mountains in Austria and could never really get into visiting our neighbor.

Thanks for tuning in! Thought I'd try to post real time for a change.

Nelson - I hope there's a trip report in the making?

fourfortravel - yes, we've been visiting Switzerland on a pretty regular basis since the mid-90's.

We've been asked that same question by a few Swiss - it's hard to explain.

We live in the mountains of CO, but it's just not the same. Sure, we've got the elevation, but the mountains here in Switzerland are glacially cut and steep - the valleys impossibly deep, the landscape a glorious green.

We love the civilized way of hiking - taking a gondola up a steep mountain and then hiking to a beautiful bergrestaurant with lovely food and fabulous views - sitting on a sun terrace - preferably in winter - taking it all in and then setting out to hike some more.

It's the complete opposite of what's on offer at ski resorts in CO - we have very little public transportation, uninspired mass produced crappola in a handful of ski areas, a complete lack of groomed winter walking trails, etc. Ski resorts are for skiing. Sledging is practically unheard of. As is taking a cable car up simply for the views. Bergrestaurant with wine cellar? Ha!

We love the Swiss respect for the environment, the organization, the abundance of small, quiet villages, and the natural beauty around every corner.

Switzerland has always spoken to us. It appeals to our sense of order, our need for calm and our insatiable hunger for the outdoors.

October 4 –

We stepped outside our apartment door, walked about 25 feet…and the skies opened. So, it was back into the apartment to put on our waterproof pants. We then climbed the steep meadow behind the apartment up to the village – trading stairs and private gardens for a sheep poop minefield.

Adelboden was sleepy. The only evidence of yesterday’s festivities an abandoned beer mug sitting on a curb.

We popped into the church – eerily dark and vacant – startled when we suddenly heard organ music coming from the depths of the church. A woman was high above, practicing in the dark. We admired the stained glass windows Ingo had mentioned, struggled to find the door, and were on our way.

We walked all the way through town and continued up to Restaurant Hotel Schermtanne for lunch (~90 minutes from Adelboden); the place was hopping.

As we settled in, the couple next to us zeroed in on our English and offered to help us with the menu if needed, a kind gesture. When I asked the waiter what the house made soup was, both he and the couple struggled to find the word they were looking for.

They settled on “small grain” which I assumed meant barley, although when I said "Gerstensuppe" I was met with blank looks (I’m sure my pitiful pronunciation had nothing to do with it!). Sure enough the nameless soup was one of my Swiss favorites. Barley soup, Rosti mit speck, a glass of wine each and we were set (41 CHF).

We found the trail we’d missed on the walk in, and returned to Adelboden via the path alongside the river, which as luck would have it put us right at the cemetery. I have a thing for Swiss cemeteries. They're gorgeous no matter the time of year.

Then it was back to the apartment to figure out how to work the washing machine – always a challenge.

Later in the afternoon we climbed back up to the village to try the goods at Bäckerei Haueter. I’d never tried Swiss Vermicelles and figured it was high time I did – cooked chestnuts pureed with sugar, vanilla, milk or butter and pressed through a perforated plate, piled high on a meringue base and topped with whipped cream. Hmmmm….let’s just say that once was enough. No complaints about the house made hot chocolate though.

To be continued…

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Sleepy Adelboden
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Schermtanne
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Adelboden
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Adelboden cemetery
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Adelboden cemetery
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Sugar fest
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Had Vermicelles once in Sent, a much bigger portion than yours, and once was more than enough ;-) Ahh, the hot chocolate ... Yum! Glad you got your barley soup in Bernese Oberland, too.

Beautiful pictures as usual.

Thanks fro the report.
Thursday was nice. I hiked in the mountains of Leuk, at altitudes of some 2400 metres (7900 ft). Nothing but sun until 6pm and a snow line around 2800 metres (9200 ft).
But todayy, the only decent thing one can do from Adelboden is to go to sunny Piedmont:
Adelboden dp 7.52 - Domodossola ar 9.54 (change from bus to train at Frutigen) and to enjoy the big Saturday marked of this town, may be followed by a bus ride (Domo dp 11.30) to the mountain village of Bognanco San Lorenzo and a hike back along the sunny trail via Monsignore - Monteossolano.
....or a train ride to Lake Maggiore, Domodssola dp 11.58 - Stresa ar 12.34

I would probably head to Thun, has plenty to do also in the rain. Lots of castles in town and along the lake, Romanesque churches, a bit shopping, hot chocolate ...

We love the Swiss respect for the environment, the organization, the abundance of small, quiet villages, and the natural beauty around every corner.

Switzerland has always spoken to us. It appeals to our sense of order, our need for calm and our insatiable hunger for the outdoors.

Everything we loved about Austria, too. Except at lower prices. Though the Smoky Mountains don't quite compare to the Austrian Alps, it does feel good to "Climb Every Mountain" (pun intended) on our weekends. :lol:

mel, your description of why you love Switzerland resonated with me as well, and was about to quote the same two sentences that fourfortravel quoted in the above post. Sure we have big mountains here in Colorado - some corners of RMNP as wild and beautiful as anywhere I've seen - but it's not the same as sitting down to a nice meal and drink in a Swiss mountain inn or hut surrounded by that scenery. Nicely written.

I'll try to cobble together a short TR and post some photos from my trip, but it will be a few weeks out before I can hope to get to it. Meanwhile it will be fun following you and Adelaidean around the Alps. Thanks.

neckervd - just now saw your post! Where were you when I needed you?:)

October 5 –

Last night when I went online to find the name of the river we’d walked alongside yesterday, I stumbled upon the privately owned Hängebrüggbeizli, one of Europe’s longest suspension bridges – 153 meters high and 38 meters above the Engstlige – and not far from Adelboden.

https://www.adelboden.ch/en/s/suspension-bridge

We had a plan.

So this morning we walked down to the Mineralquelle bus stop below our apartment to catch the #230 bus. As we stood there waiting, the bus went sailing on by – completely full. The driver made a hand gesture that looked an L – (loser?) made with extended thumb and forefinger. The other people waiting didn’t seem bothered, and we assumed that they were either waiting for a different bus, or the gesture was Swiss for “another bus is coming”. Sure enough, a few minutes later an empty bus came by and we were on our way (5.20 CHF each with guest card and Half Fare Card).

We got off the bus at Holstaden and set across the bridge (1 CHF per person via honesty box, or purchase of a beverage at the restaurant across the bridge – we did both - plus some). The bridge and are owned by the same family who also run a small farm and offer eggs for sale.

What a great little find! We settled in at a picnic table and ordered a 5 dl bottle of Johannisberg (Sylvaner) Riesling (19 CHF). We were told they’d be catering for a group of 10 in a few minutes, but were offered the last two seats inside a small warming hut reserved for the group.

It was just too warm inside, so we retreated to an outdoor table. As we sat and sipped, we were entertained by the resident ‘killer’, a cat who captured a tiny mouse, and once bored, moved on to a slug, leaving both disabled, but still alive.

As platters of food passed by our table, I decided further investigation was in order. I went back to the tiny food/drinks shed and asked the young woman about what we’d seen go by…locally made cheese, regional dried meats and house made bread - and promptly ordered a platter for two. An excellent idea indeed (28 CHF).

We finally dragged ourselves away and followed the pretty 3+ mile ‘sculpture trail’ down to Fruitgen – just in time for the skies to open. The path follows the river, leads past a picnic and camping area and is dotted with various wood sculptures.

Once in Fruitigen we continued walking to the Bahnhof, egged on by the sudden burst of sunshine, thinking we might head to Kandersteg and take the Luftseilbahn Allmenalp.

Bill had gone up to the Allmendalp two years ago when we’d based in Kandersteg for several nights, but I had missed out, thanks to a problematic knee.

The once hourly train to Kandersteg arrived just as we reached the ticket machine; there was no way we were going to make it, but we noticed that a bus was leaving two minutes later, so we bought a ticket, located the bus and hopped on board for the 30 minute ride to the Kandersteg Bahnhof (5.60 CHF each with Half Fare Card).

Naturally by the time we reached Kandersteg the sun had disappeared again, so instead of going up to the Allmenalp, we poked through town, stumbled upon a gorgeous garden, explored a wanderweg and added another 3.5 miles to our daily total – and then headed to the Hotel Adler bar for some local Pinot Noir.

We were greeted with a big “Hello”. When I asked our waitress if we just screamed “tourist”, she explained that she only spoke English and was finding German hard to learn (I can relate to that). She was from Hungry (so obviously spoke Hungarian as well), and was on day four of her winter work contract in Kandersteg. Note: On our last stay in Kandersteg everyone we met in the hospitality industry was from Portugal.

After a chat and some pretty good Pinot, we called it a day – we walked back to the Bahnhof and returned to Adelboden on the 4:58 bus (9.30 CHF each with Half Fare Card – Adelboden guest card covered the section between Hirzboden and Mineralquelle – journey took about an hour with a short stop in Fruitigen).

To be continued…

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Hängebrüggbeizli
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Hängebrüggbeizli Restaurant
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Walk to Frutigen
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Kandersteg garden
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Kandersteg garden
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Kandersteg

ROPE BRIDGES
The suspension bridge starting at the valley station of the Fuergangen - Bellwald cableway (20 min by cog wheel train from Grengiols) is much longer.
https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/...ge-near-ernen/
The Aspi - Itter suspension bridge, some 3 miles north of the mountain station of the Fuergangen - Bellwald cableway is as long as the Hostalde bridge at Frutigen, but much more spectacular.
Aspi-Titter Hängebrücke

Other popular suspension bridges in Switzerland:
Aletschji Bridge: Riederalp - Belalp trail (Aletsch Glacier area), 407 ft long
Charles Kuonen bridge, above Taesch (Zermatt Valley), 1621 feet long
Trift Bridge (Oberhasli/Meiringen area), 558 ft long
Lauitobel Bridge, mountain station of the revolving gondola Sattel - Hochstuckli (Voralpen Express line), 1227 feet long
Gummischlucht Bridge, Sigriswil (Lake Thun), 1111 ft long
Ossone Bridge, Val d'Herens (Sion area), 436 ft long
Carasc Bridge, Vineyards trail (Belllinzona area), 886 ft long
Leitereweideni Bridge, close to the former spa of Weissenburg (Simmental), 364 ft long
Traversinersteg: kind of suspended bridge with stairs where the southern end is 72 ft higher than the northern one,Viamala Gorge, close to Zillis, 200 ft long

Fair enough neckervd, I was merely quoting the literature. I've just researched the Kuonen Bridge and I think we'll give that one a pass - as much as I'd like to see it, the hike to get there might be a bit much for my decrepit knees.

And you were right about the walk up to the village of Grengoils - not that I doubted you, but it wasn't fun at all with luggage! We arrived in Grengoils just this afternoon.

The descent from Kuonen Bridge is the hell for all people with knee problems.

But the 3-4 miles hike from Lax or Fiesch Feriendorf via Aernerfeld - Ernen - to Muehlebach (both unspoiled villages) and over the suspension bridge to Fuergangen railway station could be a good solution if the weather doesn't allow trips to the glacier area.

The weather should get better tomorrow afternoon, however.
https://www.meteoswiss.admin.ch/home.html?tab=overview
If the forecast is correct, a trip to the Aletsch glacier area should be possible.
Last departure of the gondolas down to the valley:
Moosfluh: 16.30
Bettmerhorn: 16.30
Fiescheralp: 18.10
Bettmeralp: 22.50
Riederalp West:: 20.03
Riederalp Mitte: 21.03
After 10pm, the trains Brig - Moerel - Betten - Grengiols - Fiesch may be replaced by bus

Great suggestion neckervd - we're not too fussed about the weather either way, but is the route you suggested one of those covered by the hiking pass or is it strictly train/bus and walking?

Mel, we crossed the Kuonen Bridge on my trip last month. From the Randa train station to the bridge in U.S. units is about 1.5 miles, and 2,100 feet of climbing. From the south it's a bit longer, maybe 2 miles with the same climb, so not as steep. That's where most day hikers were coming from. A pleasant forest walk with great views if it's clear - it wasn't for us. Anyway FWI, have a great trip. Good luck with the weather!

Edit: Cross posting, sorry...