SITE SUMMARY: Few mile hike in the Swiss Alps, Crazy Gondolas, Beautiful views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau Peaks
LUNCH: Hotel Bellevue, Murren
DINNER: Fine dining at Hotel Baren
SLEEPING: Hotel Falken (Wengen, Switzerland)
Lauterbrunnen Valley
The villages of the Lauterbrunnen Valley are connected by cogwheel train and gondolas. The photo to the left is our view heading up to Grutschalp from the valley by gondola. There are low flying clouds, high waterfalls created by mountain runoff, the greenest greenery, and snow capped peaks.
DAILY TOUR ADVANTAGE: FREE TIME
Once in Grutschalp, we hiked a few miles across the ridge to Murren, where we enjoyed lunch at a local hotel. From Murren, we planned to take a gondola higher to the Schilthorn, but the weather was very overcast and viewing conditions were poor. The Schilthorn was a filming location for a famous James Bond movie and gives spectacular views of the three prominent mountains on clear days.
The three main mountains surrounding the valley are the Eiger (ogre), Monch (monk) and Jungfrau (maiden). The story is that the monk is protecting the maiden from the ogre. You may recognize the Eiger as it is featured on the logo of gear made by the North Face! At least we had a little sunshine on the hike (middle slideshow, don't miss it)! We hiked over the beginning points for some of the tall waterfalls seen down in the valley below and came in close contact with some huge grazing cattle.
For dinner, we chose fine dining at a Wengen hotel called Hotel Baren. We ordered a wonderful dinner including a dish called "Vampire Stressor" due to all of the garlic! This fine dining restaurant actually had a kids menu and was very relaxed.