.: Bernese Oberland, Switzerland

Now that we are living out of a suitcase in TLA waiting for our flight to America, we thought we would squeeze in one last hooray before we leave Europe.

Rob and I LOVE the Alps and with this move being especially stressful, we knew a getaway to the mountains would help put our hearts at peace.

We decided to head back to the Jungfrau area in Switzerland. We visited this area once before last year and fell in love with the area. Last time we stayed in Lauterbrunnen at Camping Jungfrau but when I tried to book for this trip, they were booked up so I looked on Airbnb and found an adorable little chalet in Grimelwald. Our visit was right at the end of the “off season” (between the winter ski season and summer hiking season) so most places were closed. I lucked out with this place and got a great price. The chalet we stayed at in Grindelwald was only 80€ a night. It was a 1 bedroom, 1 bath with a full kitchen and parking space. It had an awesome outdoor area with a wood burning stove but we didn’t get to use it because it rained everyday :( The views from our chalet were spectacular and we were right next to a restaurant and bus stop.

The drive was only about 5 hours from the KMC area. We made sure to fill up one last time in Germany at an ESSO station and bought a Switzerland vignette (about 36€) right at the border.

Now Switzerland is VERY pricey. The Switzerland Franc is very close to the US currency (1CHF=1.03USD) but things are just way more expensive over here. For example, a cheeseburger in town is 19 CHF, a coke is 6 CHF, glass of orange juice 6 CHF, souvenir magnet is 7CHF... you get the idea. Since we were driving there, I filled up the car with groceries and we made most of our meals in Switzerland. The last day we did splurge and ate a small lunch while on our hike and grabbed dinner in Grindelwald.

Our first day we drove into town paid WAY too much for parking (16.50 CHF) and went to the train station and bought the Jungfrau Travel Pass. They have the option to buy a 3, 4, 5, or 6 day pass. We bought a 3 day and it was perfect for us. It was 180 CHF pp (kids under 6 are free) but it paid for itself in 1 day.

We took the train from Grindelwald to Kleine Sceidegg to Wengen. We were planning on getting on the cable car there to Mannlichen but it was closed for maintenance so we got back on the train to Lauterbrunnen. It rained all day so we enjoyed seeing the views while being sheltered from the weather.

In Lauterbrunnen we took the cable car to Grutschlap to get on a train to Murren. We hiked from Murren to Grimmelwald and took a cable car down to Stechelberg. We did this exact hike last year but it was just as much breathtaking as the first time. Walking through the little villages on the mountain sides is such a eat experience. All the little farms and cute chalets. Many have little shops and restaurants that you can pop in to grab a cold beverage or a quick snack.

When we got off the cable car, we walked over the river and followed the trail back to Lauterbrunnen. We walked by dozens of cow fields and Rand "mooing" at each one.

The next day we took the bus (there was a stop right in front of our chalet) into town to get on a cable car to First. First is a popular hiking spot and is 2,166 m (7,106 ft) elevation.

It is at least a 20-25 minute cable car ride and you will go through (and have the chance to get off at) Bort and Schreckfeld. When we arrived at First, you couldn’t see much. It was foggy and everything was covered in snow. We took a few pictures and grabbed a cup of hot chocolate at the restaurant there before heading back to Grindelwald. In the summer, they have a few activities, like a zip line down to Schreckfeld or you can rent a scooter/bike to ride down the trails.

After we got off the cable car, we walked over (but could have taken a bus) to get on another cable car to Pfingstegg. We grabbed a delicious cup of hot wheat soup at the restaurant there before hiking down to Grindelwald.

I was super bummed because they had an alpine slide but it is only open during the summer. The trail we planned on taking was closed due to an avalanche... but we took it anyways.

The hike was stunning and had some beautiful views. There we came across something we have never come across before, a (creepy) tunnel through the side of the mountain for us to walk through. Usually it lights up from a sensor but I guess it was turned off because the trail was closed…. so we used the light on my phone to guide us through.

While in the tunnel we ran into a bit of a snowy situation. There was a lookout hole in the middle of the tunnel that allowed a bunch of snow in from an avalanche that blocked the pathway. Luckily we had enough room to make it around the snow. We got through the tunnel and continued hiking for a little bit more until we ran into another avalanche but this one we could not get around so we had to turn back.

The rest of the hike was very simple and pretty
much followed an access road.
At that point it started pouring rain and we (luckily) came to a bus stop and caught the bus back into town. We passed the Glacier Gorge (Gletscherschlucht) but it was closed due to
it being the off season so we headed to the train station and
jumped on a train to Interlaken Ost.

Unfortunately, Rand had an accident so we had to take the next train back to Grindelwald to head back to our place.

Our last full day we took the bus again to the train station to head to Kleine Scheidegg where we grabbed a bite to eat at the restaurant at right at the station.

Rand enjoyed watching all the trains pull in. During lunch Rob and I finalized the details of our hike hike only to be shot down with the news it was closed due to avalanches.

Rand found a pinecone at the bus stop and carried it around all morning. You can see him holding it tightly while watching the conductor drive the train.

Afterwards, we headed towards to Wengen but made a last minute decision to do the hike anyways so we got off at Wengernalp.

The beginning of our hike was a bit chaotic. The hiking map we had showed numerous hikes starting from Wengernalp but could not find the trail we wanted. We wandered around a snowy, flooded field for about 30 minutes before finally finding the right trail. Our shoes and socks were socked and we were already out of breathe but we were determined to do this hike.

We hiked on trail #42 that took us trough Mettlenap, Staldenfluh, Biglenalp and Innerwengen before ending up in Wengen. A good portion on the hike was through some beautiful forests where we got to look out over Lauterbrunnen and the waterfalls. The views from this hike were absolutely break taking.

We also got to see numerous avalanches (don’t worry, they were all far away on the other side of the valley) from Jungfrau and Silberhorn. The sound of the crackling snow did make our hearts beat a little faster though.

We passed by numerous waterfalls that continued down through the woods and out off the cliffs into Lauterbrunnen. Rand enjoyed throwing pinecones into them along with peeing into the waterfalls.

The hike was a bit steep and slippery (it has been raining nonstop all week) and we only ran into one fallen tree on the trail. The trail did have some snowy/ ice patches and the trails were more like rivers than pathways but we made it all right. No avalanches though :)

We made it to Wengen and took the train back to Windelwald (had to change trains in Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken Ost).

We took the bus back to out cabin to freshen up for dinner. We drove down (the bus only ran to 1900 that day) into town and ate dinner at Bistro Mystery. The mystery was finding this place, lol. I think we drive by 4 times before we actually found it… and it was because we gave up and just walked down the strip to find another place. The only signage was on the side of the building, not the front. BUT this place was delicious! I found this place on tripavisor. I knew prices everywhere would be high so that is why I wanted to do some research on picking a restaurant. Rob got a burger and I got cheese fondu. Rand just ate off our plates. We all enjoyed our meals and the atmosphere was very cute. The staff was very friendly and the owner even came out to great us and check on our meals.