Switzerland // The Hike to Gimmelwald

When we started looking around at the amazing, dramatic mountains we kept noticing something - the Swiss didn't just settle in the valley, they also built little villages right on the edges of cliffs, high in the mountains. From down below, these villages didn't look real.  We needed to see some of this firsthand. We pulled out the map and saw that one of these villages, Gimmelwald, was only accessible by trail (or tram) so we ditched the car at the end of the valley and started hiking.

The hike up was gorgeous, with lots of waterfalls, dense forests, and glimpses of the towering mountains hidden in clouds. When we got up to Gimmelwald we were surprised by an adorable inn with a beer garden where we relaxed with some well-earned beers and took in the view. The "town" was made up of a handful of small homes, a hostel, and the inn, which had an "honesty shop" attached to it. It was filled with candy bars, ice cream, trinkets and post cards, all with recommended prices with the expectation that you would put the money in a box with a note. Right when we were finishing up it started to pour, so we ran like crazy back back down the mountain, soaked to the brim but grinning like crazy from an amazing afternoon in the mountains.

 

We also made a little video from the hike. We haven't quite figured out how to work the gopro, but enjoy!

back to switzerland

In-n-out of Interlaken

At the end of our first day in Switzerland we headed into the Alps.  On the drive between Lucerne and Interlaken we caught our first glipse of the famous blue-green lakes surrounded by classic chalets. Of course, 'blue-green' does not do justice to the uniqueness of these lakes. This was a color that neither of us had ever seen before.  Exploring these lakes would have been a trip in itself but we had more to see!

On our first full day we woke up in Interlaken and headed straight for hills. We drove into Grindelwald first and found lots of clouds pouring through the valley.  The clouds mixed with the morning light in a really cool way which of course meant lots of pictures!

After getting to Grindelwald we decided to explore the upper parts of the town by car. This ended up being pretty treacherous since the roads were super steep and barely wide enough for our little compact rental. But of course, the views made it alllll worth it.  

You know those moments when you can barely believe that what you are looking at is real? Usually it is seeing a sunset or seeing Yosemite or some place that is just unimaginably beautiful.  Well it was only Day 1 of this trip and we were experiencing more of these moments than we could count.

After Grindelwald we drove out to the Lauterbrunnen valley which is one of the places that we have both been dying to visit for years! The valley is surrounded by massive cliffs and dozens of waterfalls that come pouring out of the mountains into the valley below. Even with the clouds blocking some of the high peaks in the distance, this place definitely lived up to the hype and proved to be one of our favorite stops on the trip. 

back to switzerland