Brienz, Rothorn, Schynige Platte & Hooters
 

Just back from 4 days in Berner Oberland.

Itinerary:
Day 1: Drive from Lucerne, Fleamarket on top of Brünig, Hotel Lindenhof in Brienz, Meiringen, Giessbach Falls and Folklore Evening in Brienz
Day 2: Drinking wine and talking to Rick Steve's friends on the way up to Brienzer Rothorn, shopping for a cuckoo clock in Brienz and dinner at Lindenhof
Day 3: Gorgeous Schynige Platte, Shopping in Interlaken and howling in Hooters
Day 4: Drive back over Susten Pass to Central Switzerland

More to come.....

Day 1:
We drove from Lucerne to Brienz over the Brünig Pass. Insider tip: stop at the flea market on top of the Brünig Pass. There's an excellent collection of antique Swiss memorabilia at reasonable prices. The merchandise is a blast to the past, the building smells musty from all the antiques and the owners are Polish. It all doesn’t matter because my Kiwis and Swiss in the group were equally entranced by the selection of goods. One man bought an old jazz LP and I bought some old Swiss jugs. Well worth the stop.

We continued our drive to Brienz where we stayed at Hotel Lindenhof. A lovely hotel a bit above the town (10 min walk) with an excellent restaurant and even an indoor swimming pool.

We then went back to check out the town of Meiringen, had one of their famous meringues and then took off to Giessbach Falls. Wow! The waterfalls are well worth the drive and walk and the hotel is certainly one of the most romantic I’ve ever seen. The views are unbeatable and the stuffy Victorian charm really sets the place apart. I thought the lobby smelled rather musty and a friend mentioned she found the hotel almost creepy but this hotel is definitely worth a visit.

We then drove back to Brienz for one of the best folklore evenings for tourists that I’ve ever seen. The local yodel group yodeled, the local folk’s costume dance group danced, the alphorn blowers blew, the flag throwers threw and the local brass band played. It was a 1.5 hour venue and all for free. Definitely worthwhile.

Day 2: Today we took the steam train up to Brienzer Rothorn. There was a special offer today of a steam-cooked wurst with apple juice and delicious bread.

Our group got on the train in Brienz but had to split up due to lack of space. Sometimes it’s worth splitting away from the group because you can meet new people. My Swiss friend and I sat with a group of older locals who were going up to the Rothorn for a class reunion. They all had plastic glasses in their hands and bottle of white wine in their backpacks and were celebrating the day – all before 10 in the morning. Now all of them were senior citizens, locals and just wanted to have an enjoyable day. We got talking (ok, more like fun flirting) with them and soon we had a glass of white wine in our hands too. Someone mentioned he was from Gimmelwald and then the fun began. I had my Rick Steve’s Switzerland book with me and took it out. The man and his wife knew Rick Steves personally and we all raved about how he had put Gimmelwald on the Swiss map for Americans. Very few Swiss know where Gimmelwald is. The man talked about Rick’s visits and his impact on the local economy. They took the book and showed it to the other locals who knew nothing about Rick Steves. It was one of those moments where the Swiss learned from a Gimmelwalder and an American-Swiss.

After stopping for our rather greasy wurst, scrumptious bread and nice apple juice, we continued our train ride to the top. The views are grand, the alps are divine but it was sadly a cloudy day so the far away mountains played peek-a-boo with the low lying clouds. It would have been a warm day but the cloudy cover made us glad that we had brought along a windbreaker. After a walk to the top, we went back down and decided it was time for shopping.

Brienz’s best souvenir shopping is at the east end (Interlaken end) side of the town. They have a lovely Kirchofer store with nice Swiss-made Lotscher cuckoo clocks. The sale people were knowledgeable and there were no tour groups in the store so we could look around to our hearts content. If you are looking for a cuckoo clock (Swiss-made), I’d recommend this store over the Interlaken one because of it’s bigger selection and expertise.

That night we ate dinner at Lindenhof, which was delicious and the best cooked meal we had in Berner Oberland. The waitress was adorable too.

Day 3:

We woke up to a gorgeous, clear blue sky day. We grabbed the local train and went up to Schynige Platte (changing trains at Interlaken Ost and Wilderswil). The quaint mountain train chugged up the mountains, taking us closer and closer to the heart of Berner Oberland. And soon we saw them: the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. Incredible views with pristine alpines, grazing cows and alpine flowers. We reached the top and decided on doing the 1.5 hr hike, starting from the alpine garden. The alpine garden was interesting but it’s not for someone who has mobility problems. We continued our hike and was blessed with mouth dropping views of Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and the beautiful mountains all around. The lake of Brienz was speckled by the reflection of some clouds. Everyone was in awe, the Swiss, the Germans, the British, the New Zealanders and everyone else we briefly encountered. I took photo after photo, with each photo being more beautiful than the one before.

We ended our hike down at the restaurant, where a Japanese film crew was filming for a Unesco Heritage show. We were filmed about 5 minutes long and told just to look at the mountains. We tried to be as natural as possible but I doubt if they can use any footage. None of us were born actors. Two local alphorn blowers stood before the restaurant and played. Really, it was quintessential. I would recommend Schynige Platte highly.

We went back down to Interlaken for more shopping. I thought there would be more souvenir stores than there were but there are still enough. Lots of Chinese groups in many stores. My Swiss friends didn’t know hooters and the Kiwi friend had never been either so we decided to stop. Yes, the food was medicore but the waitresses lived up to expectations (which weren’t that high to begin with) and we enjoyed being in an American restaurant in the middle of Interlaken talking Swiss, Kiwi and American English. Oh the joys of travelling and being international.

We went back to Brienz for a nice meal and mean game of Swiss Jass (a card game). We stayed til closing hours and then strolled back to our hotel.

Day 4:

This was basically just an enjoyable drive over the Susten back to the Innerschweiz (Central Switzerland). The Susten is an interesting pass that connectes Kanton Bern and Kanton Uri. There are lots of motorcycles and bicyclists to contend with so there was definitely an element of danger and adventure. There's a restaurant on the top where we had Cafe Zwetchgen and enjoyed the views. The restaurant is hidden from the road and you need to get off the main road, drive past the restaurant next to the tunnel and continue til the road ends. There you'll find a quaint restaurant where the prices are reasonable, the fireplace is going and the service is friendly.

Make sure you buy some cheese somewhere along the way. Alpkäse is really delicious and the prices are reasonable.

Hope you enjoyed the trip report. We sure enjoyed the trip.

Thanks for your report schuler. We spent 8 days in a chalet at Brienz in 2007 and woke up each morning to the amazing views across the lake.

We spent a wonderful day in Meiringen too, breakfast up at the Alpen Tower then the train to Aare Gorge and followed the board walk to the end, we then walked to the Reichenbach Falls. Bus back to the town where we hooked up with the Postal bus and took the "Romantic Route" u to Grindelwald.

Thanks so much for bringing back some wonderful memories.

Thanks Maudie. It's nice to know that someone read my trip report.

Schuler - i read it too.

i liked your description of the ride with the locals, and the walk down from the Schyddige Platte.

thanks for posting.

oops - Schynige Platte, of course.

Nice report Schuler!
How many people did you have in your group?
Spent 10 days in a Fewo in Brienz several years ago. Nothing like 'living like a local,' drinking a Weizen on my balcony each evening while gazing across the lake to Giessbach and being serenaded by the crickets...ah, memories!
Have been back to Brienz 3 times since (daytrips) and even named my german shepherd Brienz!
So many people miss Reichenbach Falls out of Meiringen...it made a nice trip last year!

So glad you liked the Schynige Platte. This place is a favourite of mine.

I leave for Switzerland in 13 days. I plan on taking the boat cruise on Lake Brienz and stopping at the creepy Hotel Giessbach.

Pippy