We actually started out on time for this trip. We got up early and got ready and headed out right at 9:30am. I was the driver on the way down. I ran into a HUGE traffic jam in/around Lucerne area and sat in traffic for 20 minutes plus. Horrible, BUT we had a book on tape so I was a happy girl.
So – there are a TON of tunnels in Switzerland:
Tunnel | Kilometers | Miles | completed | Road |
Sachseln | 5.21 | 3.24 | 24.09.1997 | A8 |
Islisberg | 4.95 | 3.08 | 13.11.2009 | A4 |
Sisikoner | 4.44 | 2.76 | 2017 | A4 |
Brunig | 3.70 | 2.30 | PRJ | A8 |
Giessbach | 3.34 | 2.08 | 18.05.1988 | A8 |
Lungern | 3.33 | 2.07 | 2012 | A8 |
Morschacher | 2.86 | 1.78 | PRJ | A4 |
Flüelen | 2.59 | 1.61 | 10.06.2005 | A4 |
Leissigen | 2.20 | 1.37 | 23.06.1994 | A8 |
Giswil | 2.06 | 1.28 | 27.10.2004 | A8 |
The longest of which was the Sachseln. Each one of these you can google the name and it will give you the map of where it is. This one was a sad one… you see the beginning of the ice blue glacial lake then boom, you’re in a tunnel for the duration of the lake. Sad… there were quite a few lakes along our path as well. We took the direct path from Gartringen to Lauterbrunnen – all freeways.
1. These are NOT long at all compared to the 35.4 miles long Gotthard Base Tunnel is the longest tunnel in the world. It runs under the Swiss Alps and has a depth of 2,300 meters, making it the deepest tunnel on the planet. It cost the Swiss government $12 billion and took 17 years to build. It became operational on December 11, 2016. That one goes south of where we were headed to Milan from Zurich/Lucerne area. I think we may just have to take a drive through there to go towards Milan!
There was a warning of tolls but NOPE, there were none. Well, at least that we know of. We didn’t see any camera type toll booths on the freeway either… just open road and stau’s (aka traffic jams). No pictures of the jams as I was the one driving, so I wasn’t taking any… and the ONE tiny one we had going home I was napping and had just woken up and it wasn’t worth mentioning. So – much easier ride home.
Anyway – on with the trip. This is our first time in this area and it was funny because Butch was asking me why we had never come here when we were in Italy. Well, we were POOR and we had a baby… and we were poor…. And we didn’t drive all over the alps in our little car. We just drove in our local area and drove south as far as Florence. That was it. We didn’t have a lot of cash to go around back in the day. That and honestly this area wasn’t on my radar when we were in Italy – I was concentrating on ITALY. Ha!
The drive was beautiful and the roads were super narrow and a bit scary in a few places only because they were narrow. The ride down into the area near Interlaken was steep and winding. BUT oh so pretty! I would NOT want to do this one in winter, nope, nope, nope!! But the views were beautiful! There was one turn with an antique store and bet your bottom dollar when/if we go back I’ll be having Butch stop there as it looked really interesting… but by the time I noticed what it was on the drive home we were already past it. Oh, well, I need stuff like I need a whole in my head, right? I didn’t see what it was as the front of the building was behind me … but going home I sure could read those signs… it can be found here:
Another time… if we event think about it. Odds are I will forget by then, right?
Anyway – lots of lakes and water and hills and tunnels going to Lauterbrunnen. I hadn’t been before so it was all new to me. Learned a few lessons – the waterfalls we wanted to see at night were UNDER us. Yep, we were at the top of the cliff that the water falls were being created from. Whoops. Oh, well – lesson learned there. Even going into town I’m not sure that we would have been able to easily see the waterfall light up at night anyway. Hard to know really – the hotels in town proper seemed to be few and far between. The hotels were/are at the top for the skiing in the winter – these are ski-in type places – e.g. you ski down the mountain and pretty much to your doorstop if you can. So… yeah, it makes sense. Well, I just didn’t know what to search was the deal. I made a few assumption in that I thought “mountain few” would also be waterfall view.. and they were not. But honestly – the view we had could NOT be beat. Nope. I think we should go back and get an apartment at the base of the mountain with a waterfall view! BUT they are pricey… may be worth it, OR someone will have to come with us. Not sure I want to share the embarrassment of the level of out of shape I am however… I was panting and dying on day two, but we’ll get to that.
What we did – a whole lot of nothing – ha! We got to Lauterbrunnen, parked in the parking garage there at the bottom of the cable car run that takes you from Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp. From Grutschalp there is a train to take you to Murren for those who a) don’t want to walk or b) have luggage because they are staying in town. We were a bit of both, so we took the train from point a to point b on the map.
At the top just outisde of the train station - waking to the hotel....
Our hotel is right next to the Edelweiss hotel. Hotel Eiger is right where the train comes in…
so we walked the road to the right there and got to our hotel in good time I thought, but the transit time, the getting to the hotel put us there later in the afternoon/evening. It was 4:30/5:00 before we got to our hotel and dropped our bags.
The hotel – let’s discuss the hotel. It’s an older hotel, but it is listed as one of the top 10 hotels in Murren. I think this is only because of location and possibly because there are not many more than 10 proper “hotels” in Murren. There are quite a few guest houses. It’s not bad at all and that view is to die for!! There were a few newer hotels. Hotel Eiger was one of the better ones and it could have been also that they didn’t have availability during the weekend that we were there. AND when we go back we’ll be going down in Lauterbrunnen to stay as well so we can see the waterfalls lit up and take the train to Jungfraujoch. To see the top of Europe…. And possibly to the top of Schilthorn as well, but those are all do-able from the valley. So – more planning now that we know more about the valley for the next trip there…. Even though I am a bit reluctant to repeat places I have been…. I can justify it for Jungfraujoch.
So – we walked down to the end of Murren to where the cable car goes back down to the valley at the opposite end (Stechelberg) via Grimmelwald. The views were impressive along the way and I did a bit of shopping. We then went to a higher road for Murren – and discovered that most of the shops and/or restaurants were on the lower road. BUT – we got to see the train that goes all the way up to Schilthorn as well…. Future plans – gondola up, train down or vice versa just to see the different sights! Either way would be very scenic to say the least! By the time we had walked the town it was 6, so we stopped near the train station (the one running between Murren and Grutschalp.
We finally sat down in front of the Eiger Hotel and had a drink and some pizza for an early dinner. Also lesson learned in high season make arrangements for dinner before even getting there. They had no openings at the nicer restaurant on the outside, but they may have had some spots open inside. I want to sit outside – always, so we ended up in a non-reserved spot and had a meal there. I was tempted to get some fondue but they only do bread and potato which doesn’t sound much like a meal, does it?
lights are on at the foot of the mountain on the left as well...
Butch took some nice night shots with his good camera with the starts shining and there were TONS of them in view with no light pollution to speak of up here... beautiful at night!
GOOD morning!!
It really is!!!
and then we're back in the valley - with the Staubbachfall waterfall in the distance.
We walked to Staubbachfall waterfall and hiked up to it…
which when you look at the pictures it looks like it’s not that high… but after
checking my phone it states I had climbed 18 stories…. As I had done the stairs
at the hotel for breakfast and back up to the room – I still took two flights
off the list which put me at climbing 18 floors…. So most of that was on the
way to the falls. I was huffing and puffing and stopping to rest.. AND
using my walking sticks to help me along the way… BUT I made it!! We took
pictures to prove that I made it! I can walk all day long – I have done
that… I have walked some 10 plus miles in a day and been OK but going up that
steep? Yeah, my heart/body/lungs/stomach/whatever can’t hang! It’s
sad!! But I accomplished it and made it down without busting my butt
slipping in the wet areas and I’m sure I irritated the younger people but I
really have zero balance still and do NOT trust my feet/depth perception and go down stairs like a little old
lady hanging onto the rails and watching where my feet go. Oh, well, at
least I don’t let it slow me down, right?
I'm just super happy I made it up the hill, didn't die and all that jazz!
Jungfrau Park Interlaken, children's paradise Mysty Country
Interesting
