Lauterbrunnen and Gimmelwald, Switzerland

Days 7 to 11 of our Europe Trip

Day 7: Milan to Lauterbrunnen
Checked out of Hotel Salerno in Milan and caught the first train into Switzerland. The first train in the direction we were headed was at 7:25am to Spiez, where we change trains to Interlaken.



As we were about to board the train to Spiez, it was a good thing Ernest had the intuition to check if it was the right one (although the board clearly said La Spieza) because we nearly boarded the wrong one, which was headed to Basel.


The ride to Interlaken from Milano Centrale is about 2 ½ hours. Another 15 minutes was needed to get from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen, our final destination.

When we arrived in Lauterbrunnen, we had an immediate taste of Swiss work culture – they have siestas and almost nothing was open. We were starving and wanted to check in. It was a good thing that they had the beauty of the alps going for them.

The snow-capped mountain tops and plunging waterfalls we a good distraction. We were in awe. It was just magnificent! We were surrounded by Schiltorn, Jungfraujoch, Eiger and Monch.

We opted for an attic room at Camping Jungfrau and had lunch in the common kitchen. Ernest had gone grocery shopping at the Co-op while we were waiting for the reception to open.

Camping Jungfrau (Jungfrau is the region in which Lauterbrunnen, Gimmelwald and other alpine villages lie) offers a wide range of budget accommodation from cabins to tent grounds.

The rest of the afternoon was spent walking the valley path from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg. Breathtaking and refreshing!

Our dinner was quite an event. We had to pay two Swiss Francs (CHF) for 15 minutes of heat and in order not to use more than we had to, we prepared everything and carefully planned the sequence of cooking before turning on the stoves. Hahha...it was quite humourous.

That night, we slept with the sound of cowbells clanking in the distance and the mighty gush of Staubbachfalle.

Lunch: Self-assembled sandwiches with lovely bread and matured le gruyere cheese

Dinner: Home-cooked spaghetti Bolognese and stir-fried cabbage by Chef Ernest

Day 8: Lauterbrunnen
The sound of birds chirping was very audible and we were delighted to wake up to the crisp morning air.

It wasn’t easy to decide our route for the day because there were just too many possible paths to take. But we finally settled on talking the bus from our campsite to Stechelberg where we took the cable car (also known as a gondola) up to Gimmelwald. Now we could see what we couldn’t from down below. It was a whole other world, where you’re face to face with the mountain tops.

We explored the town a little and found some lovely B&Bs to stay in. I also discovered Esther's shop, the tiniest convinience store I've seen, situated beside the stairway of her B&B. It had traditional Swiss cookies and a range of homemade items.

After some town-exploring, we proceeded towards Kilchbalm only to discover the path was closed due to heavy snow. So we backtracked to Gimmelwald and headed for Mürren.

On the way there, we got distracted by a hiking trail that led us to Sprutz, a waterfall you could walk under. The trail seemed dangerous at first and if not for Ernest, I would not have gone ahead. But nothing stops him when it comes to these kinds of adventures and I’m glad we ventured further. Sprutz was like finding gold in a haystack, most unexpected.

The trail past Sprutz would have led to Speilbodenalp, but it was once again, blocked by snow. We turned around and continued to Mürren and were sidetracked once more by a river called Schiltbach. It was a glacial river surrounded by snow and had the perfect wooden bridge to sit and have our lunch on.

Wandering off higher, we found ourselves in Gimmelen, where a few cottages were located. The entire area was still surrounded by thick snow! What a winter wonderland in spring! We had some clumsy moments walking through it.

When we finally reached Mürren at about 4:30pm, we discovered it was quite a well-developed town thanks to tourism. It acts as a base for skiers during winter and for visitors in summer who want to go up to the peak of Schiltorn, made famous by the 007 James Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

Compared to Gimmelwald, we personally found Mürren a little too commercialised for our liking. Bonus was that Ernest got to step onto a clay court for the first time. Oh what it must feel like to play tennis facing the alps.

Once we reached Lauterbrunnen, we were ready for dinner. The nine-hour trek sure worked up an appetite.

Breakfast: Bircher muesli with milk and bread. We didn’t have a fridge to keep our milk in, so every morning we would have muesli flooded with milk (which Ernest loved because of its “cow” smell) and an extra glass of milk each to finish up the bottle, which is the most dairy I’ve ever had to have at one sitting. This becomes our standard breakfast for the next three days.

Lunch: Packed pork shoulder and le gruyere cheese sandwich

Dinner: Rösti with bacon and cheese, and rösti with sausage and salad

Day 9: Lauterbrunnen
We had some trouble with our washing machine the night before. It stopped working mid-cycle and our clothes got stuck soaking in soapy water all night. Ern woke up early to settle that for us.

It was a free and easy day and we spent most of the day exploring the Lauterbrunnen town – the local butchers, grocers, cheese shop.

On our way back to the campsite, we came across a little market selling flowers and homemade cakes in celebration of Mothers’ Day in the church compound. We stopped to check it out and were warmly welcomed by the locals (it appeared that we were the only tourists brave enough to venture into an event for locals).

Trümmelbachfalle occupied our afternoon. It is the only waterfall in Europe created by the culmination of glacial water that flows through a mountain and is still accessible to visitors. Entry was CHF$7 per person. It was amazing to see the path the falls takes through the mountain and the formations it creates in the process.

Morning tea: Pear chocolate cake and coffee at the Mothers’ Day market

Lunch: Spaghetti with veal sausage and le gruyere cheese

Dinner: Rösti with sausage and salad, and pizza

Day 10: Gimmelwald
After we checked out of Camping Jungfrau, we headed to Gimmelwald and settled into Mountain Hostel. Ever since we discovered that place, Ernest couldn’t get it off his mind.

Mountain Hostel had the best location in Gimmelwald. It was set by one of the cliffs and had no other structure blocking its view. The view from its porch was just superb. We just sat outside, staring at the peak opposite us, soaking it all in.

Coincidently, Mountain Hostel was also the cheapest backpackers in Gimmelwald. However, the hospitality we received from the hosts was less than we expected from all the praises we read in reviews on the internet. In fact, it was quite the opposite of “extremely warm and friendly”. Perhaps knowing they were the most desired place to stay by travellers in that area was getting to their head. Human behaviour aside, we were at a place in the alps where it really did feel like “heaven on earth”.

It was a Sunday and there seemed to be more activity around the town than when we first visited it. We met a friendly Swiss who was helping his friend sell some alpine cheese and learned from him that the cheeses were only made in the summer when the cows feed on plains further up in the alps (when the ice melts). He let us see where the cheese was kept to age and thought us another trivia that Swiss cows have large bells on them to help their owners identify where they are when hidden behind thick fog that’s blown their way.

We sat outside the backpackers before dinner, admiring the beauty of the place and thinking how lucky these villagers must be to live in this part of the world.

Lunch: Ham sandwich with more le gruyere

Dinner: Spaghetti with spicy tomato sauce and ham, and more stir-fried cabbage

Day 11: Gimmelwald to Liverpool

Before leaving, we had a hearty breakfast with homemade yoghurt from Esther's Shop and milk from her cows that Ernest said tasted even more "cow".

And made sandwiches for our train journey.

It was difficult for us to say goodbye to Gimmelwald, but we had to make our way down to catch our train to Milan.

We stopped at Interlaken for a while and had a good cup of coffee and strawberry mouse before continuing our journey to Milan.

Staying in both Lauterbrunnen and Gimmelwald, we experienced first-hand the meaning of how high mountains and how deep valleys can be. The depth of the valley contrasted with the height of the cliffs just gave a sense of how tiny we were in all these magnificence. It was wonderful.