Lauterbrunnen Valley

Main street in Interlaken

Our GoldenPass train ride ended in Interlaken. It is the city between two lakes, the Thunersee and the Brienzersee. It is a pretty touristy town as it is the gateway to the Jungfrau region, which is like a national park of sorts. Interlaken is full of Arabs and Indians. I was slightly disturbed by the number of women in full burqa type clothing (nothing showing but hands and eyes). We didn't spend much time in Interlaken. We did some shopping for tourist trinkets and had a beer on the main drag. 

On the train into the mountains, Inga made friends with a little Swiss boy who was maybe five years old. He spoke English very well and tried to play with Inga, but she kept playing like a girl with his army man and policeman. I read them Curious George from the iPad, which was really amusing to the other passengers. The little boy really enjoyed reading a story in English. The Swiss are super relaxed about their children. It is very apparent they live in a very safe country.

Reading monkey George

We were headed to Muerren, which is above the Lauterbrunnen valley. We took a train from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen, a cable car to Grutschalp, and another train to Muerren. That was a lot of transportation with a 2 year old and 3 suitcases, but we made it with the help of some very nice Swiss people.

Looking down on the Lauterbrunnen train station from the cable car up the valley.

View of Wengen, on the other side of the valley, from the train to Muerren.

Looking down the Lauterbrunnen valley from Trummelbachfalle.

The first full day in Muerren it was kind of cloudy so we walked down to Gimmelwald, took the cable car down to Stechelberg, and walked the length of the Lauterbrunnen valley back to Lauterbrunnen. It was like a highlights walking tour of the valley floor. The area was very similar to Yosemite National Park in many ways except there were no rangers or bears (but a lot more cable cars and beer gardens!).

Playing in a water trough in Gimmelwald. All the public water fountains in Switzerland are fully potable unless otherwise signed.

"Downtown" Gimmelwald

Looking at the loud water (glacially fed!)

We visited Trummelbachfalle, which is a water fall inside the valley wall and the only run off outlet for that side of the mountain range. I really enjoyed the waterfall, but Sam and Inga were pretty scared of the rushing water right next to the wet walkway with minimal railings. Understandable. Inga got a piece of cheesecake for her troubles.

They had signs in 3 languages at the falls. They were big signs.

Happy little family

Fox and Ornery enjoying the falls

On the way back to Lauterbrunnen, we purchased some alpkase from these little girls with a cheese stand (similar to a lemonade stand). Sam had seen signs for alpkase in Gimmelwald, but it was Sunday so there were no sales (these are sales directly out of a home). He was super happy to find alpkase for sale and gave the girls an extra CHF 0.40 when he said, "Keep the change." This was a super awkward cross-cultural moment. The girls looked back at their mothers like, "what do we do? we can't accept this?" Sam convinced them to keep the change, finally. They probably talked about this all day. Those weird Americans just giving away their money. Along those same lines, the night before Sam tipped the waitress at the Stagerstubli in Muerren because the bill was CHF 95 and he just gave her a CHF 100 note and said, "Keep the change." The waitress blushed and was quite embarrassed. Yeah, it's just what Americans do. 

View of the Lauterbrunnen valley from the town of Lauterbrunnen. Staubbach falls visible on the right side of photo. 

The Lauterbrunnen valley is incredibly picturesque. It definitely earns its name. The river that runs through the valley is very loud. It was late summer so all the cows and sheep were in the high pastures, but this was definitely cow country. The trail that runs the length of the valley floor is well maintained and flat. This is such a great walk for everyone. It was Sunday so all the locals were out taking their afternoon stroll with the dog and family. I felt like I was in a California park hence the similarities to Yosemite. I didn't even know this place exists 1 year ago, but now I would say this is a top 10 place to visit before you die!