Switzerland 1998
Wengen, June 1998
by Susan & Helen Rose
Alps, mountains, lakes, spectacular scenery, cable cars, gondolas, fresh mountain air,
clockwork trains, cuckoo clocks, fondues, cheese and that all important
ingredient - chocolate!
 The
Journey
We found the transfer to Wengen surprisingly easy. We flew from
Gatwick to Zurich International airport the flight taking approximately 1
hour 15 minutes.
Arriving at Zurich we followed the signs to the Bahnhof
(railway
station) which turned out to be through customs and straight down an escalator.
We then got on a double decker train that not only arrived precisely
on time but left exactly on time also. Swiss trains
really do run like clockwork!
We were very surprised to see a drink called Space Hemp
on the drinks trolley and although we didn't try
it, we wondered if it is the secret of Swiss efficiency!
At Berne (the capital of the Bernese Oberland), we changed trains and travelled
around the shore of lake Thun (pronounced
Toon) which was a startlingly vivid blue, and then onto Interlaken Ost where we had to
change trains yet again. A scenic trip, partly alongside a rushing white
river, took us to Lauterbrunnen where we made our final (thank goodness)
train change.
Best parts of the transfer
The Swiss have a unique fly/rail system where you check your bags in at
your airport of departure. You then don't see (unless you happen to
glimpse them on the luggage train or have sisters worrying where they are) or handle them again until you reach your Swiss
resort. There isn't any waiting in the baggage reclaim hall and
carting your luggage around which is a great start to your holiday.
Also, on board the trains (main lines), the stations are announced clearly in English, French and German so as long as you
know one of these languages there isn't much chance in getting off
at the wrong stop!
Worst part of the transfer
All those train changes! Hard wooden seats on some of the Interlaken,
Lauterbrunnen, Wengen trains, although the main train from the airport was
super comfort with tables and a buffet service. It also takes about 3 and a half hours from
Zurich to Wengen by train. For a shorter transfer time it is possible to
fly from London Stansted to Berne but you will be charged a supplement if your
using a package holiday.
Our resort
Wengen (1274m) lies on a sunny plateau high above the Lauterbrunnen valley and is
only accessible by the rack and pinion railway that zig zags up the mountainside,
or on foot - a method not recommended unless you happen to be super fit, mad,
or a mountain goat. Exploring Wengen does not take long as it's about the size
of a slightly overgrown village, with mainly hotels, a few shops, two churches, swimming
pool which changes into an ice rink in winter and a cinema, and a few native
chalets but it does have spectacular views
over the Lauterbrunnen valley, and of the Jungfrau mountain range comprising
the Monch, Eiger and Jungfrau and apart from the hotel 'floats' it is traffic
free and lovely and peaceful.
Our hotel
The Bernerhof, built in chalet style and conveniently situated on the high
street about five minutes walk from the station. We soon discovered the
meals were excellent (apart from the weird soup combinations and the hard
boiled eggs that looked as they had been dipped in blood!) and we needed all
the food just to tackle the hundreds of stairs up to our rooms which were
almost on the top floor but we were on a budget. We had our meals in the non-smoking restaurant. The
Bernerhof also has a dining restaurant for smokers and bar also has separate non-smoking and smoking areas and is open to the public.
The waiter was super friendly and I found both my sisters in the bar one evening
being introduced to the delights of schnapps and iced tea!
Lauterbrunnen
 Lauterbrunnen means the valley of waterfalls so perhaps not surprisingly
we found Lauterbrunnen is situated in a valley with waterfalls and has a car
park disguised as a piece of grass!
As cars are not allowed in Wengen
there is a small multi-storey car park in Lauterbrunnen which is built against the
side of the mountain. The people of
Wengen have to leave their cars here and then travel by train up to Wengen. Grass actually grows over the top
of the car park so it doesn't spoil the environment too
much.
After exploring Lauterbrunnen which isn't much bigger than Wengen we
clambered up some slippery steps to take a closer look at the Staubbach
waterfall.
Trummelbach falls
We walked from Lauterbrunnen to the Trummelbach falls on an extremely hot
day. Even though it was a scenic route alongside the river and across
meadows we really should have got the postal bus as it was further than we
realised. I was very glad that I had bothered to spray myself with this
disgusting insect spray (it repelled humans too!) as Andrew was being attacked
voraciously by ( vampire) insects in the grass.
The falls are powerful, noisy, breathtaking, awesome and also
have lots of steps to clamber up and down although if you have a bad head for
heights it's advisable to go with someone who will hold your hand. Nice and cool on a hot day.
You only need to walk down the steps though, as there is a funicular that takes
you up to the top inside the mountain. The lights went out twice when we
were on it kind of of reminiscent of the London underground train only a much
smoother ride!
Mannlichen
We got to Mannlichen by a very steep cable car from Wengen, where they pack
you in like sardines, so if you don't like heights just stand in the middle,
because you wont see a thing! (Not very good for claustrophobics though!)
The cable car took 10 minutes to get to the top.
What we did: Not a lot! Admired the view over Wengen and the Lauterbrunnen
valley, laughed at the mad people walking down to Grindelwald, then got on the
gondola after a bit of persuasion. (A lot for Helen.) This isn't too bad (unless your gondola should suddenly detach
itself from the overhead cable and start plummeting to the ground in which
case pray very hard. Fortunately this is highly unlikely.
What
Andrew had not told us that this cableway is the longest cableway in Europe
and takes half an hour from the Mannlichen station to the Grindlewald station
at the bottom. It was a nice lazy way of enjoying the scenery towards
Grindlewald instead of a five hour walk but Helen couldn't wait to get off at
the bottom and made it difficult for the rest of us to get out as she jumped
out and the car swung around.
We then
walked to Grindelwald, where some of us wondered around the shops, whilst the
others played crazy golf. We then got a train up to Kleine Scheidegg, a
barren place at the foot of the Eiger and from here we caught a train back to
Wengen
Interlaken
Interlaken is situated between two lakes, lake Thun and lake Brienz, hence
the name. Gateway to the Bernese Oberland, it is quite definitely a
tourist town with plenty of souvenir shops selling cuckoo clocks, watches,
wood carvings, lace, and in some cases quite tacky 'I have been to Switzerland'
novelties (that say made in China!) For some reason Interlaken has two
stations Interlaken West and Interlaken Ost even though you can easily walk
between the two in approximately 10 minutes.
What we did: Went shopping! (In a chocolate shop with lots of
delicious Swiss chocolate). Envied the rich people staying in the
Victoria Jungfrau hotel with its view over the Hoheweg Park and the
mountains. Walked alongside the blue/green river Aare and over a raging
white weir via a covered wooden bridge. Got on the funicular up to
Harder Kulm (and if you don't like heights you wont like this because it's a
very long way down). Admired the views of Interlaken and the lakes,
walked along to the pub, saw how busy it was then promptly got on the next funicular
down.
What we didn't do:- Get to either of the lakes (we would have
reached lake Brienz if we we hadn't walked along the wrong side of the
river. Find Unterseen (the oldest part of Interlaken). Win lots of
money at the Casino (Shame really but as we didn't actually go into the Casino
it is not very surprising). Eat at McDonalds. (Well some
of us didn't!)
Murren
How we got there: By funicular. This looks like it goes up the
mountain vertically but when you're on it, it doesn't seem as bad (except it's
another case of packing you in like sardines). At the top a short train
ride with wonderful views takes you to Murren another traffic free village.
At Murren we got straight on to another funicular which took us up to
Almendhubel. Then we followed one of the Wanderweg (walking) routes which took us through meadows of wild
flowers with mountain streams and with magnificent views of the Jungfrau and
surrounding mountains. We chose to follow the easy path which is marked
in yellow and gives you the approximate walking time which is brilliant for
planning excursions.
Carol spent some time loitering near a horse (she's horse mad) until
Andrew and I pointed out the storm clouds gathering behind us, and she quickly acquired
some horse sense!. We really
did not want to be caught up in the mountains in a storm.
The
trail took us via an Inn in the middle of nowhere which was convenient
for a pit stop, and then back down to Murren where we spent some time in a shop and admired the pretty
flower decked chalets. We all really enjoyed this hike and wished we had
more time to follow some of the other trails which are marked easy, medium and
hard.
Schynigge Platte
From Wilderswil we took the train up what is apparently
one of the oldest cog and wheel railways in the area. (The wooden seats
kind of give this away). You are locked in tiny compartments (so no
escaping if the train should plummet down one of the steep drops it passes
along.) Helen found herself gripping the seat as the track seemed to
pass along the edge of sheer drops - and it was along way down so far that she
couldn't look. Carol was looking a little nervous too. The train chugs along very slowly so it is highly
unlikely that the train will plummet down the mountain.
We would have admired the view if the
clouds hadn't come down and we would also have admired the flowers in
the Alpine garden but there didn't seem to be many (wrong time of the year), so after clambering up and down rocky steps (more steps) we got
the train down again but it was worth it for the amazing views of the
mountains, wildlife and flowers.
Jungfraujoch
The Swiss really do build railways in
amazing places. The Jungfraujoch railway actually goes through the
mountain in a gradient and takes about half an hour to reach the terminus at
the Jungfraujoch which is the highest railway in Europe. The train makes two stops on route to allow you to get
out of the train and view the mountains - there are specially cut points were you can see the notorious
great North wall of the Eiger and other areas of Kleine Scheidegg. (People with tunnel
phobia won't like it though.)
We explored the observatory, walked through the ice caves with
cleverly sculpted ice  statues. At the time we were there, one sculpture
was of a golden eagle and another of a group of Penguins. The ice caves
were a little weird because the floor
is ice, the walls are ice and the ceiling is ice and you start wondering what
would happen if the ice should suddenly melt - but is highly unlikely.
There is also a handgrip to hang onto.
We then had a really great meal with tiramisu (Susan has a sweet tooth), and
then went outside to the terrace to admire the view and struggled up a very
icy slope to 'stand on
the top of Europe' on snow in the middle of summer. (After donning dark
glasses to prevent snow blindness and we were very glad of them.) For a
while afterwards we watched the sledges pulled by a team of husky dogs.
At the Jungfraujoch you can admire on a good day the Aletsch glacier.
Swiss food we tried:
Meat fondue: What happens here is the hotel give the Chef the night
off and get you to cook your own dinner which is no good if you are starving
because cooking bits of meat on sticks in a cauldron of fat, takes ages.
We all ended up having a portion of chips later on!
Chocolate:- Yum
Things we didn't do whilst in Switzerland:
Go swimming in one of the white glacial rivers, because unless you
actually want to commit suicide this is a very stupid thing to do.
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