Interlaken, Switzerland
For me, like many people, the Swiss Alps were a bucket list destination. Our time in Switzerland was my favorite throughout the entire three months I had spent in Europe, and I’m excited to give you my favorite tips to make your trip to Swiss Alps the adventure of a lifetime!
Our stay in Switzerland was based in Interlaken, a quaint mountain town named for its location between two gorgeous lakes at the base of gorgeous mountains. The train ride into Interlaken was stunning, and our eyes were glued to the window the entire time, especially since we made our visit in mid October, when the leaves had changed to vibrant oranges and maroons over all of the mountainsides. In the distance, we could see beautiful snow-peaked mountains as well, absolutely stunning and unable to be fully captured in photos! Interlaken was a fantastic town to stay in, with lots of restaurant options, plenty of touristy shops, and more importantly, lots of Swiss chocolate options! Everything was within about a 15 minute walking distance, including both train stations, Interlaken Ost and Interlaken West.
Interlaken was our home base but we took a few excursions that shouldn’t be missed on a trip to Switzerland:
GRINDELWALD
Grindelwald was another cute mountain town nestled into the Swiss Alps. The train ride from Interlaken Ost was absolutely breathtaking as we rode closer and closer to snow-covered peaks. The train ride and experience in Grindelwald was well worth the price we had to pay to reserve our tickets outside of our Eurail passes, 26 euros round trip. We took the train to the furthest Grindelwald stop, straight to the middle of town. Our goal in Grindelwald was to hike one of the Swiss Alps, zipline, and see snow, all of which we accomplished at Grindelwald First, located at Dorfstrasse 187, 3818 Grindelwald. We purchased a single activity pass that came with unlimited gondola rides. The gondola ride to the top station took about 25 minutes, and we spent the entire ride in awe of the Swiss countryside and mountain peaks, as well as finding incessant joy in watching the cows walking around ringing their bells that echoed between the mountains, bells we had at first mistaken for church bells! Upon arriving at the top station of the gondola, we were instantly giddy children playing in the snow that had so luckily fallen the night before! We chose the Faulhorn Peak hike, about 11 miles total, and it was the best hike of my life. The elevation over 8,000 feet hindered our breathing slightly, but while the hike was uphill and quite rigorous at times, the incredible scenery made the time fly! Midway through the hike, we came to Bachalpsee Lake, breath-taking sight surrounded by snow, mountains, and fog. Pictures can’t capture the beauty, all I can say is you need to go! After we passed the lake on our way up the mountain, the path got continuously more arduous as the snow stacked up and the muddy path became a trail of past footprints in the snow. This is probably a good time to note that we hiked on October 22nd and the trail and activities were set to close the next day. They shut down to become a ski resort in late October, so be sure to check the trail status if you’re planning your trip around that time period! We reached the top of Faulhorn after about 3 hours of hiking, including a good amount of photos, water, and food breaks. The view from the top was incredibly worth the hike! You can see stunning snow-capped mountains between passing clouds on all sides with Bachalpsee Lake still glimmering below. The snow was over a foot deep at the top, so it was even more difficult to walk around, but we had to take advantage of our best day ever, playing in the snow and making snow angels! The hike back down only took about an hour and a half due to the melting snow and mud combining to almost make a slip and slide for us back down to the lake! We only fell on our rears a few times - here’s a good time to suggest wearing warm, water-proof clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty! By the time we got back down to the gondola station and activities, the snow was completely melted except up near the peak where we had come from. We had hiked from 10:30am-3:00pm which ended up being perfect timing for us to hike in and get pictures in the snow. When we were ready to take on the zipline, everyone else was beginning to hike in the warmer weather, so we only had to wait about 30 minutes for the zipline (the wait time was over an hour and a half when we first got to Grindelwald First that morning)! As a former zipline guide in the Blue Ridge Parkway, I deem myself to be a solid judge of ziplines. While it was a bummer that there was only one cable, it was possibly one of the best lines I’ve ridden and best set-ups I’ve seen at a zipline! The harness was almost like a chair, meaning it was very secure and customers were allowed to carry any bags they had with them on the zipline (super nice to not have to leave them and then ride the gondola back up!) The harness was also completely hands-free and the employees allow you to hold your phone while you ride, meaning our entire gorgeous ride (about a minute long) is captured forever! You have a full minute to look around and soak in the fact that you are literally flying through the air in the Swiss Alps! For adventure lovers, ziplining in the Alps is a can’t-miss (we also wanted to hang glide in Interlaken, but it didn’t line up with our schedule - it looked amazing, though, and I’m sure that would be highly recommended as well)! The other activities to choose from at Grindelwald First were a group zipline of sorts and a mountain-cart, both of which looked fun, but I’m glad we chose the individual zipline. From the bottom of the zipline, we took the gondola the rest of the way down back into Grindelwald. Before training back to Interlaken, we shopped around at a few of the cute touristy stores and then searched around for an affordable restaurant (which was a harder task than we had anticipated). What we had heard about Switzerland being an expensive country to travel in was definitely true. It was difficult to find any restaurant that served meals under 20 euros at the very cheapest. Getting groceries to make breakfast and lunch cheap definitely helped, but while traveling to Switzerland is worth the price, it is a hefty one. We ended up at Bebbi’s Restaurant in Grindelwald, which served a wide range of authentic Swiss foods for a decent price. Overall, Grindelwald was quite possibly my favorite town that I visited while in Europe for three months, which says a lot! Don’t miss these views!
BEATUSHÖHLEN
A short bus trip from Interlaken is a place we didn’t expect to find: St. Beatus Caves, the inspiration for J.R.R. Tolkien’s Rivendell! Taking bus line 21 from the Interlaken Ost bus station (right across from the Interlaken Ost train station) to Beatushöhlen will leave you right at the foot of a mountain different from the others that surround it. Beatushöhlen boasts a fantasy-like waterfall-covered mountainside with cute bridges and paths surrounded by various greenery. Once you hike up (not a long hike, but pretty steep), the entrance to the caves welcomes visitors with a restaurant, museum, and small gift shop. We arrived at the caves right when they opened, and it was honestly really eerie to be in the caves almost alone. We only met a handful of people the entire time we were exploring the caves, and the caves are quite extensive! The caves went deep into the mountain, wound up stairs and around various rock formations, and boasted lots of interesting stalactites, stalagmites, vegetation, and colors. Not only was it worth the trip to St. Beatus Caves to say we’ve been on top of and inside a Swiss Alp, but the caves themselves were very unique and beautiful! From Rivendell outside to a legend-filled cave system inside, Beatushöhlen is otherworldly and worth the visit!
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