LENGTH: 9 minutes
There are a total of 72 waterfalls in the Lauterbrunnen Valley.
Switzerland! What a magical place full of mountains, lakes, cheese, chocolate, cows, and pure adventure! This trip took place in late June of 2017.
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It was part of a longer trip to London. We flew from Orlando to London, spent some time with family, and then from London to Switzerland.
Note: we only brought one backpack each because we did not rent a car and stayed in different places each night. Having just backpacks made it much easier to explore while we were in between hotels. We just used standard backpacks at the time, but now we always travel with our Tortuga Backpacks. We have the Setout and the Outbreaker packs which are amazing for traveling!
Also, most of the images in this post were taken with my older GoPro Hero 5 Black which I loved and would still recommend for beginners looking for a budget-friendly action camera.
I now have a GoPro Hero 7 Black which is excellent for action sports and water activities. For photography, I've upgraded to a Sony Alpha 6300 that I love!
Day 1
We arrived in Basel, Switzerland around 11 AM. Before the trip, I read about the excellent railways, buses, cable cars, etc. that Switzerland has to offer, so we purchased a Swiss Rail Pass. I did not note any pricing, but the following link below brings you to their site.
https://www.sbb.ch/ticketshop/b2c/adw.do?sprache=en&artikelnummer=1061
There are also helpful websites like Trainline that work with 270 rail and coach companies to offer our customers travel to thousands of destinations in and across 45 countries in Europe. Check our Trainline - https://www.thetrainline.com/en-us/trains/europe
We took a bus from the BSL airport to the train station, a 17-minute ride. After a quick look around, we entered the train station to continue to Interlaken. Below is a snippet from Google Maps, which will show you the exact train times! You know those Swiss people are good with clocks and being punctual!
Bahnhof Basel SBB to Interlaken OST West Railway Station. 2hr 16 min. 5 stops.
As shown, this route had trains about every half hour. On the train, we enjoyed some croissants and jam. After a very pleasant, scenic, 2 hour and 16-minute train ride, we arrived in Interlaken. We grabbed some sandwiches from a nearby shop and waited for the bus (the bus stop is right next to the train station). We were picked up by Bus #21 to Beatushohlen, AKA St. Beatus Caves, a 16-minute ride along the mountainside.
Note: We ran into plenty of people that spoke English, but we also had trouble communicating a handful of times.
The cave property itself is really cool and the location is exceptional. It sits up on the mountainside with waterfalls running through it and a huge rock face behind it. If you’re a Lord of the Rings fan, it’s somewhat reminiscent of the Elvish city of Rivendell. This thought came organically, but since this trip, I’ve actually read that Tolkien was legitimately inspired by the scenery in this area!
This popular cave system features lit pathways leading through tunnels & chambers, plus a museum.
Does this look familiar? Any Lord of the Rings fans?
We explored the caves for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Bring a jacket! We sat in the food seating area and ate some snacks from our backpacks. Unfortunately, we were told, “No picnic” and had to either buy something or get lost. Before walking back to the bus stop, we snapped a few pictures of Lake Thunersee from our seats.
What a stunning view of Lake Thun!
We made it back to Interlaken where we had reserved a Canyoning tour through the outfitter, Outdoor Interlaken. They picked us up right from the bus stop. Because the weather forecast was sketchy, everyone else on our tour decided to reschedule except for us! We ended up getting a private tour and the weather was fine!
Don't be tricked by Jenna's face here. She was terrified doing some of these water activities!
Afterwards, we enjoyed some local brews at Outdoor Interlaken’s bar while they put together our footage from canyoning that we purchased. It’s a long video, but if you want to see some of the experience, check it out!
Our canyoning guide drove us to the nearby train station in Wilderswil where we took a wonderful, 30-minute ride up to Grindelwald. We arrived just after 8 PM. Sunset wasn’t until around 9:30 PM. We loved the long days full of adventure. We went for some pizza at Bebbi’s and sat outside to enjoy it and watch the sun go down behind the massive mountains. We had a 25-minute, moderately strenuous, 1.2 mile walk on some tiny little mountain roads up to the hotel. To navigate, I downloaded these sections of Google Maps before the trip. We stayed at the Gasthof Panorama—a small, quaint hotel with great views!
Day 2
We ate breakfast at the hotel, which was just average. We walked down to the Grindelwald cable cars to head up to “First.” It looked quite overcast at the higher elevations and we considered not going up at all, but we figured we would go up at least to the midpoint and we are SO glad we did!
This area has TONS of sweet outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, scootering, gliding, etc. As big kids, we played on the most epic playground we had ever seen, with stunning mountain views everywhere you looked. We lounged on some big chairs and then decided to take a fun way back down.
They have what they call, Mountain Carting, and it’s basically a little tricycle that you sit in, with two handbrakes, and no pedals. Let the gravity do the work! We had never done anything like it and despite slinging some fresh cow poop all over myself and my backpack, this was probably the most fun we had on the entire trip!
The BEST activity ever! Highly Recommend 10/10
Back in Grindelwald, we bought some food and hopped back on the train to head into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. We hiked to the main waterfall near town—Staubbach Falls. This roaring waterfall is the backdrop of many Lauterbrunnen photos and is nearly 1,000 ft tall. If you plan to hike up and under the fall, (which we recommend!) you will need a raincoat if you don’t want to get soaked.
We did not realize how strong the misting would be and all the areas where water falls through the cracks. We got drenched!
Here are links to a couple nice options if you don’t have a quality raincoat.
We had a nice dinner at Oberland in Lauterbrunnen and enjoyed some Rosti and Bratwurst. We took the train up to Wengen to hotel Victoria-Lauberhorn. This was a beautiful hotel with an indoor pool, hot tub, mountain views, and a delicious breakfast buffet!
Day 3
After breakfast, we took the train back down to Lauterbrunnen. We went inside an old church and someone was playing beautiful music on the organ, so we listened and danced. We ran into some schoolchildren at the bus stop and tested their English, which was surprisingly excellent. Apparently, they learn a handful of languages in Elementary school.
We took the train to Trümmelbach Falls, which are glacier-fed waterfalls inside the mountain, made accessible by a tunnel-funicular. If I remember, this cost like $10 per person but was worthwhile! We ate lunch at the restaurant near the falls and sat outside.
Yes, that tiny blob is Jenna standing above one part of Trummelbach Falls.
We then took the train and a cable car up to Gimmelwald. This is a traffic-free village with a little over 100 residents. It was very quiet, and we were blown away by how open some of the stores were. There was a self-serve “Honesty Shop” where you simply bought what you wanted and left the money in a little bucket! We even walked into someone’s home who had milk and cheese for sale in their refrigerator. So interesting. We also talked to a local who has lived there here entire life and has no plans of leaving!
We headed out and onwards to Hotel Alpenblick in the village of Mürren. This insanely gorgeous village sits along the cliffs nearly 3,000 feet up above Lauterbrunnen. I can’t tell you how epic these landscapes are. We ate dinner at a cute little restaurant nearby and enjoyed some delicious Schnitzel.
Day 4
After our hotel breakfast, we walked down through Mürren and took the tram up to Birg and Schilthorn for a Thrill Walk at the Birg. An old James Bond movie was filmed at the Piz Gloria! The views of the Swiss Alps from nearly 10,000 ft up were just stunning. It snowed a few inches up here the night before and we wore every layer we brought with us to fight the wind and cold temperatures. I (Jeremy) noticed some Asian guys taking shirtless photos in the 32-degree weather and couldn’t resist. Some of my fondest memories!
Here’s a clip of myself and one of the Asian guys shirtless on the top of the mountain saying, “WICKED!”
After an incredibly scenic lunch, we took the gondola back down for our 1:00PM Paragliding from Mürren! The cable car station held our bags and for a few dollars, sent them down to the bottom, where we would retrieve them after Paragliding.
We met up with our guides who led us on a 10-minute hike up the mountain to the launch site. My heart was thumping, but I was pumped! We strapped in and literally ran off the mountainside. After a few steps, the chute took over and our feet left the ground. I don’t think there is any better way to experience the incredible scenery than floating through the sky over this heavenly valley.
We purchased the package of photos, videos, and an included drink from their café while you wait for the USB. We were very pleased with the experience and the product!
After enjoying our drink at the Airtime Café, it was time to board the train to head back to Basel for our flight back to London that night. We squeezed a bunch of fun out of 4 days, but we could’ve spent a lot more time enjoying the area if we had more time (and money!).
Fun Fact: Swiss people consume the most chocolate per person of any country worldwide. 20 pounds per person a year!
If your taste buds are tingling, buy some Swiss chocolate here.
Also, enjoy a quick 2-minute highlight video from the trip!
Adieu or Aufwiedersehen!!! (Goodbye)