Switzerland's Bernese Oberland: Cheese, Cows, and The Alps

Transportation: Drove our Car
Lodging: Hornerpub Lauterbrunnen
Guidebook: Rick Steves Switzerland
Vignette: 40 Euro purchased at ADAC and good for one year of travel into Switzerland 

In June we decided it was the perfect time to check out the Alps in Bernese Oberland, a region of Switzerland. By car it took us about 4 hours to but add on an extra hour when you forget your passports 30 minutes out and have to turn around to get them. I had heard nothing but amazing things about this place, and I have to say it is one of our favorite places. I know I say this about everywhere we go, but this place is just majestic. When those clouds roll away and you see those mountains it really leaves you wonderstruck. Molly bug even got to tag along on this trip and she absolutely loved it!! She was seriously one luck dog to get to hike up in those Alps!

We arrived around noon on a Friday to our Hotel, Hornerpub. This place ended up being great and was the only pub in town. It was a big hangout in town with good drinks, decent food, and lot of base jumpers. The forecast said it was supposed to be cloudy and rainy, but when we got there is was sunny and perfect, so we hurried up the Cable Car in Lauterbrunnen to Murren to start hiking the North Face Trail. I was a little nervous about using the funiculars and trains and just overall getting around, but it ended up being pretty easy. Switzerland seemed very English friendly too, so when my German failed, English sure did help out! Once we got to the Murren station, we had to walk all the way across the village to the next funicular that took us up to Allmendhubel. We stopped here for some lunch and beer before we started our hike. We hiked along the trail detouring to see Sprutz Falls and then returning back to Murren. We apparently weren't done hiking because we decided to walk from the Murren train to Grutschalp and then take the funicular back down to Lauterbrunnen from there.

Another word to the wise on Switzerland, it is expensive. It is one of those places that is worth it, but you will pay quite a bit especially taking the trains and cable cars. We spent about 60 Swiss Francs just on hiking the North Face trail the first day, so budget that into your travel.

On day 2 of our trip we were hit with the trickling rain. We decided this was a good day to walk through the valley and see waterfalls, find alpkase, and make the best of the weather. It was also super fun watching all the base jumpers fall from the cliffs above us. The only bummer moment was when paid and entered Trummelbach Falls only for one of the workers to not allow us on the elevator with Molly dog. I was pretty annoyed that they let us pay and get in and didn't "see" Molly. It wasn't a huge deal, but at the end of the day we decided to skip it and go relax at the hotel. It just so happened that we were hooked on Serial and with the rain it was the perfect early evening activity. We just curled up with Molly and got a few episodes in while we warmed up from the rain.

The third day of our trip was the most adventurous. Initially, we had planned to take the cable car up to the Schilthorn, but it was cloudy and not worth the cost if the view wasn't going to deliver. Our plan from there was to go to Birg station and hike down to Murren from there. When we got to the station we found that Birg station hiking was closed due to snow. So back to the drawing board, we decided to start our hike in Gimmelwald and make a very ambitious loop.  

We took the bus from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg. In Stechelberg we took the cable car up to Gimmelwald. We spent a little time in this cute and untouched town. We followed the signs toward Rotstockhutte for what seemed an eternity. Most of the hike up was muddy and uphill. Molly was getting pretty miserable and not to mention filthy. We finally got to the point where we could see the cabin in the distance and were just thankful that we had made it. Since Molly was having a rough time, I carried her in the backpack until we got to the cabin. They have these huts all throughout the alps, so essentially hikers could hike through the alps and find lodging and food without ever having to leave the mountains. There were lots of other hikers in the hut playing games, eating, and warming up. I had the best chai tea and spatzle of my life in that little hut! They even had blankets that we wrapped Molly in to warm her up. The poor pup was shivering by the time we got to this middle point.

After we warmed up and carbed up we put Molly back in the backpack and continued on following signs for Spielbodenalp. The hike down was gorgeous walking through fields of flowers and cows. The clouds starting parting and sure enough the glorious mountains started shining through again. We really were like kids, so excited every time those mountains came out to play! At Spielbodenalp we followed signs that detoured us to Sprutz Falls. It was a really downhill hike to the falls and really uphill from the Falls toward Murren. It was a pretty cool waterfall that you can walk behind on your way back up to civilization. This trail finally met up with the North Face trail that we took into Murren. By the time we got to Murren, we were pretty exhausted. A full day of lots of hiking, rain, sun, cows called for a pretty big dinner.

Our last day in Switzerland, we decided to do an easier hike, but one that was highly recommended for good views.  From Lauterbrunnen we took the train to Wengen.  Once you are in Wengen, you walk a few minutes to the cable car station and ride the cable car up to Mannlichen.  This probably cost us about 60 Swiss Francs for the entire excursion, but it was oh so worth it.  The hike to Kleine Scheidegg is about one hour long and flat, so I really recommend this train for anyone with bad knees or kiddos.  You will get those amazing views, but not kill yourself in the process.  We made it to Kleine Scheidegg, but continued walking a bit further to Wenegeralp.  From here we were able to hop on the train to Wengen and then back down to Lauterbrunnen.  

We had time in Lauterbrunnen to have some quick lunch at the Airtime Cafe.  We really liked the coffee and food here, and it didn't hurt that it was reasonably priced for the area.  

So there you have our basic itinerary for a our 4 day weekend in the Switz! Overall, I highly recommend this trip.  There is so much more we could have done, but that just means we get to go back! We really would like to paraglide and check out Interlaken area also.  There are billion other hikes we could have tried also, but were limited with time, weather, and what little Molly dog could handle.  Switzerland as a whole has so much to offer and this little slice was more than I could of asked for.  I cannot wait to see more of this country and God's insanely beautiful creation!