Switzerland travel notes: our short vacation in Bernese Alps, plus more: Aletsch glacier, Mont-Blanc and Geneva.
Planning.
My wife wanted so much to see Swiss landscapes that we decided to plan a short visit to Switzerland for summer vacation. I already checked this possibility before, but then it was winter, and we decided it didn't make much sense and it was too expensive. This time, having got some useful information from my colleague, I booked five nights in a hotel in Swiss Alps, the famous Jungfrau region. It was going to be a known tourist place, Grindelwald. We've checked the possibility going to Switzerland by train, but we would be tied to public transport then, and with kids, i.e. without being able to walk relatively long distances in acceptable time, it would be difficult. Going by car would be twice cheaper, including the highway pass (vignette), and as we would of course be more flexible.I have found two good hotel offers at HRS, one in Grindelwald, and one in the village Lauterbrunnen, both very known as tourism destinations in Swiss Alps. Both were about 120 Euro per night including breakfast, which is kind of cheap for Switzerland. The one in Lauterbrunnen was directly in the village, and the information page said that the hotel is centuries old building. I don't know whether that was right, maybe the Alpine air preserves the buildings for longer (and as we of course experienced later, the air was good!), but I did not want to risk. I prefer modern hotels, and I took one in Grindelwald, which was build in nineties, and, as we discovered on arrival, was recently renovated and shining.
Of the main interest for us, as I said, were the landscape and attractions of the Jungfrau region, that probably attracts the most of Switzerland's tourism income. If it really does - rightly so. I will tell that later. The vacation I took at work being longer, we wanted then to go along the southern edge of the mountains around Jungfrau, stay for two nights in France, near Swiss border and Geneva, see Geneva and then, going through the western Switzerland, have one more stay in France near Mulhouse, in the hotel we stayed in on the first night of our two week vacation in France earlier this year. The point where three countries - Switzerland, France and Italy, meet, is also a know tourist place because of Mont-Blanc. This was optional for us, but we went there and it was a day well spent.
Both hotels in France were those of Premiere Classe chain. Booking those you are gambling, but since they are cheap, we didn't complain a lot.
August 5, 2007. Going south to Rheinfall and then to Grindelwald in Bernese Alps.
We had the whole day to reach our hotel, and we wanted to stop and the Rheinfall. The waterfall on the Rhine river is of course not as big as Niagara Falls, but probably attracts as much as many visitors, simply due to the overpopulation of neighbouring countries. When visiting Ontario, Canada, one year earlier, we decided to go to some quieter places and not Niagara Falls. Standing at a waterfall in early morning, alone, listening to its quiet music makes a different experience. But this time we've thought we can cope with crowds for a couple of hours.We started, as most of our vacations, going south on A81, with a short stop for lunch shortly after Stuttgart and reached Swiss border early afternoon. On the border, most cars drive away immediately, but we had to show our passports and buy a highway pass - vignette, which is valid for more than a year and cost about 27 Euro. Without it, you are confined to smaller roads, which is only pleasant if you want to see the old architecture and are not afraid to get lost.
I already heard the Swiss version of German language before. We were then going to France, to visit Alsace on another vacation, and it was not far away from the Swiss border, still in Germany, as my son tuned to some funny radio station, which, after first thought, was in Dutch. Not that we can distinguish, but the sound was funny mangled German, and soon we realized that that was Swiss dialect. Now, speaking with Swiss border guards, I could not help my impression of speaking with kind of forest gnomes guarding their treasures (Credit Suisse?). And the border really was among the forests!
The first Swiss "Autobahn" we experienced did not make a good impression one can expect from toll roads. It was under construction, restricted to one narrow bumpy lane per direction. Luckily, we didn't have to drive too long to reach Rheinfall.
Near the Rheinfall, you find a lot of parking space, including big lots for caravans, with toilets and showers, so that you can stay for longer if you wish. Parking fees can be paid in Swiss and Euro coins (of course with highly unfavourable rate, but who cares). Actually, anywhere in Switzerland, most of machines or cashiers like at train stations will accept Euros, but you are better off with using Swiss cash taken at an ATM.
We took a long walk to the Rheinfall and back, among the crowds of tourists, probably having spent two hours there. You can take a boat ride to the small rocky island that is rising in the middle of the waterfall. The water current is really powerful there around the island and first we could not imagine that this boat actually brings the visitors, thinking that there is probably a small suspended bridge hidden from our eyes. But then we saw the boat, all rising up and down in the wake of the waterfall, approaching a small pier, and allowing visitors to leave and taking those who goes back. The pier, at the bottom of this rock you see on the photograph, must be constantly being washed by water and mist.
After giving our legs some work, we headed south to Luzern and then Brienz. The following two photos are taken somewhere on the way.
Grindelwald is located in a valley between several mountains. Our hotel, "Aspen", was in the outskirts of the village, relatively high on a slope, with a great view of the valley from our balcony. If our room was on the other side, we would have another great view on the mountains. Hotel location is therefore really good - whichever room you get, you enjoy the landscape without leaving the hotel.
As you see there are many trailer and tent places, this camping belongs to the same hotel.
August 6, 2007. Männlichen - Kleine Scheidegg: promenade with panoramic views.
When we arrived in hotel, we saw the weather forecast, which was quite discouraging. The next day promised to be sunny, but then, rains had to come. Well, what can you do? Anyways, there are so many places to see in Switzerland even if it rains. And waking up and seeing the sun, we could not believe the weather can change significantly.When planning the vacation, we had only one thing we knew we would do and the rest had to be planned along the way. For the first day, we wanted to go by cable car to the mountain station Männlichen, elevation of 2,222 meter, from where you can take a long walk to another station - Kleine Scheidegg, elevation 2,061 meter, where the Alpine cog train takes you back to Grindelwald (or in another direction - to Jungfraujoch if you want). You can of course have a walk from Kleine Scheidegg to Männlichen but then you have to go up the path. The Web site of Jungfraubahn train company said that the path is accessible even with a stroller, and we've actually seen people with strollers, going up the relatively rough path!
We've left our car at the Grindelwald station and went to the ticket office. You can buy two-way tickets even if you use cable car in one direction and going back on the train - it's the same system. The man selling tickets proposed us to buy a "Junior Card" for our older son. The card is valid for all public transport in Bern Alps, one year long. He said that the card costs the same as those tickets for one day - hopefully he was right, we didn't check. But we didn't use the card after all. When three days later we went to see the Aletsch glacier, it wasn't valid there because those cable cars are owned by a private company.
To go up to Männlichen, you take a small cabin, with four seats:
Later, I have read on Wikipedia that this cableway (Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen) is the world’s longest aerial gondola, with the length of more than six kilometers.
So, it takes time, and the cable car goes mostly near the ground, so you can start enjoying the close views of Alpine meadows from the very beginning. And at the end, you disembark into the paradise:
There are several buildings at the top, in addition to two cable car stations. Yes, the other cable car line goes to another valley, in the direction of Lauterbrunnen. There is a ski lift and a hotel there, with a restaurant selling, I guess, some magic food that will make you as happy as one of those Alpine cows that you will see on the following photos.
All the cows look very cared of. Of course they understand how significant they are to the Swiss economy and they mind only their own business, ignoring the needs of poor visitors. This one just stood blocking the gate:
But when they are eating grass or just lying relaxed, they are the most peaceful creatures you could see.
Each cow has a typical bell on its neck. Bells, as we saw later, can be big or small. Because of number of cows, everything around was bathing in the sound of dozens of ringing bells.
We went to the highest point at Männlichen, where you can seat, enjoying the panoramic view of Swiss Alps, and then took the path to the Kleine Scheidegg station. The path is called "Panoramic", and it really is. There are many different paths going in all directions, for every level of physical fitness. You could go back to Grindelwald, but with kids it's too long - several kilometers, because of the winding road. Many took this path down, and many cyclists easily (at least it looked so) manage to go up to Männlichen (going down on a bike on this Alpine roller-coaster should be fun, provided breaks are reliable).
It was the best weather you could wish for such a walk. Sunny and mild, with occasional clouds giving shadows preventing us from burning completely.
Swiss Alpine grass and flowers must have something special in them, that helps Swiss Alpine cows to produce the best quality Swiss Alpine milk (that supposedly goes then into the best quality Swiss Alpine milk chocolate). Of course many people were photographing the plants, and I was no exception:
In the middle of the way, we sat down on the grass to eat our snack lunch. Cows were wandering around looking very peaceful and we didn't pay attention to them until one came to us and started eating our backpack, camera bag and clothes. I guess this is what you do if you want to season the high quality Alpine milk, giving the new modern taste. It was not really nice, but we just pulled our stuff closer and tighter to us, and the cow went away, looking for more exciting things to consume.
We arrived to Kleine Scheidegg train station in the afternoon and took the train back to Grindelwald. We went then to the town center to take some cash, then to a supermarket. The day was almost over.
August 7, 2007. St. Beatus Cave. Rain.
The following morning, just as the weather forecast said, looked completely different. Mountain tops hidden in clouds, fog in the valley. The guys in the tents were yet more disappointed than us.
After having breakfast, we checked the maps of the region to try to find places to visit regardless of weather. One of them was St. Beatus Cave, on the northern shore of Thuner See (Lake Thun). The cave, as we've read in the ADAC regional guide, was famous with its stalactites and stalagmites. We've visited such a cave once, but this one promised to be more interesting.
It was a short drive, and we were lucky to be early enough. When going back to the car later, we saw, I think, two cars waiting for someone to drive away - all parking lots were occupied, and there is no other place to leave your car - its right on the road. You can take a bus of course - there is a bus stop near the cave.
To get to the entrance to St. Beatus cave, you go up many stairs and steep paths, but well, visiting the cave is not possible to disabled anyways. Close to the road is a small museum of caves, speleology and minerals. Visiting the museum is free, cave is not - it's a guided visit. Visits are done on schedule, and there is of course a small cafeteria for those who has to wait too long for the next visit.
Photographing is not allowed in the cave, I guess, because you can be lost if delayed to take a photo. Not dangerous but you will lose your group. I tried to take a couple of quick shots but it didn't work well as I didn't want to use flash.
This is the view of the cave entrance from the path going to the road. Several small springs run down to the Thuner See through several small ponds along the way.
We stopped near the lake shore to eat. It wasn't raining but clouds were standing so low that you could not even see the mountains on the opposite coast.
August 8, 2007. More rain. Walk in a glacier gorge.
On the next morning, when we turned the TV on, the main Swiss channel was going to start some "special news report". The afternoon on the previous day, it was frequently raining and the rain was probably going on the whole night. I suspected that rains brought some floods in the valleys, and yes - this was right. While we, on the mountain slope, didn't feel how bad was it, down, on lower ground, floods did lots of things. Some roads were closed, many houses were flooded. On the television they said it is the worst they had since, I think, 1992.Okay, the road down to Grindelwald seems to be passable, so we had our breakfast and went to see the gorge of the stream that goes from glacier - Gletscherschlucht. It is near Grindelwald. We had a special card that gave us discounts (it was 10%, I think) at many local attractions. I saw something about it in many travel ads for Switzerland. Attractions, like everything in Switzerland (with exception of fuel) are not cheap, and even that small discount you get with the visitor card gives you a good feeling.
The day was rainy, water dropping from everywhere, the sky and the rock. The walking path goes either on the planks that are very slippery, or inside the rock - narrow tunnels. The path, which is, I think, several hundred meter long, can be completely visited by a wheelchair, but it would be definitely hard under rain. We had to take our umbrellas our, carefully stepping on the planks. Sure there is a fence but falling on the wet and slippery plank is not the best entertainment.
When back to the parking, we saw a pointer plate to marble quarry - Marmorbruch. It said it's not far and the mountain around the gorge didn't look that scary, so we decided to take a walk (or maybe a climb) there. The path was pretty steep, but actually nothing requiring being a climber - we did it easily with kids.
The quarry is on another side of the gorge and there is a bridge to go there. From the bridge you can take a look down into the gorge which, well, doesn't look very inviting from this height.
The forest you cross going up is, I would say, very "healthy", with strong trees, and it doesn't look to be artificially planted. There were some plants that, I think, you won't see in forests where we live in Germany, and more things, like this fungus formation:
The marble quarry is of course not functional anymore and doesn't look really interesting, but some big pieces were lying around. Brown-gray, with moss, not like those polished plates you see in everyday life.
In early afternoon we drove to Lauterbrunnen, another tourist place, where another one of two hotels I've found was located. It's a small village, packed with vacationers and corresponding businesses. About two kilometers further, you find Trümmelbach falls, a powerful waterfall powered by a glacier. When we arrived, it started to rain, and as the line of visitors to the ticket booth was too long, we went back to our hotel. The hotel, being a typical example of Swiss houses, like an outgrown "chalet", is build with wood (with exception of ground floor), which brings some healthy spirit inside, and as we could sit on the balcony, exploring the maps looking for more things to see under the rain, we didn't feel like this vacation was a waste.
Part 2: Meringues and Sherlock Holmes in Meiringen. Aletsch Glacier, Mont-Blanc and Geneva.