Melanie and I visited Switzerland in June 2005 staying for a week in Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland district before travelling south west to spend a few days in Montreux beside Lake Geneva. Below are a few of our comments on the area. | |
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Interlaken While we were there in June 2005 my wife and I stayed at the Hotel Splendid (pictured right). This is a family run hotel in the centre of the town (don't let its central location put you off, Interlaken is not large and a central location is not noisy). The staff are very friendly, the rooms pleasant and comfortable and the food is out of this world. Our research before we booked this holiday told us that it can be more economic to eat at your hotel rather than restaurants and we were not disappointed with our 5 courses every evening at the Splendid! Everyone we met in Switzerland spoke good English. Although German is the first language in the central areas (with French and maybe Italian after that) people involved in tourism appear to have a grasp of many different languages, jumping effortlessly between each one. You can't help but be impressed and a little embarrassed at being slightly less able in this respect. The small district of Unterseen is worth walking to before it gets dark to see some real "cuckoo clock" houses. You reach this by walking towards Interlaken West railway station, crossing over at the level crossing and going over the bridge. You can easily walk around the whole town in a fairly short time. Lake Brienz and Lake Thun On Lake Brienz, the waterfall at Geisbach is worth stopping off to see as is the small village of Brienz itself which houses some remarkable wooden carvings. The views of the lake from the village are particularly noteworthy. On Lake Thun, the village of Spietz is very pretty and a short stop off there is well worthwhile. Thun itself is a shopping town with some distinctive 2-tier retail outlets you won't find anywhere else. To give us more time in Spietz we took the train there from Thun before picking up the boat again. Worth considering if you want to pack a little more in and don't fancy spending too much time shopping! You can buy discounted train tickets using a Swiss Card, something you can purchase before you leave the UK. A round trip on Lake Brienz will take about 3 hours with Lake Thun taking closer to 5 (if you travel right across to Thun). Allow more time for stops. You can easily take a whole day out per lake if time permits. Harder Kulm If you have a Swiss Card you can get a discount on the funicular. The ride to the top is less than 10 minutes. Don't forget your camera! Schynige Platte The views are fantastic from up here and if you go at the right time of year there is an Alpine Garden. Travelling in June, we found the garden not worth looking at - but don't let that put you off, there are nice walks to take there and great views all round. We found it very cold up there, strangely colder than when visiting snow topped peaks like the Schilthorn. It was probably the time of year and the wind direction, as at ground level it was "shorts weather", however if you want a tip I'd take a jumper with me if I were going early or late season. |
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The Schilthorn We got to The Schilthorn by travelling from Interlaken Ost by train, changing at Lauterbrunnen to a funicular that travels up to Murren (pictured right, looking up towards Schilthorn). Rather than rushing straight to the cable car to go higher, it's worth stopping off at Murren for a few minutes to take in the scenery. Despite being high up in the mountains, Murren has shops, hotels and restaurants. There was also a procession of cows walking through the town while we were there complete with (loud) cow bells. Views from the summit are fantastic. You can see the "3 peaks" of the Jungfrau, Eiger and Monch mountains. If it's cloudy, just wait a few minutes and they will clear. The revolving restaurant is expensive, but worth a visit to get a panoramic view of the entire area. It takes about 1 hour to do a full revolution. If funds are tight (or if you've got a 5 course meal waiting for you at your hotel like we did) you can always have a nice bowl of soup or a cup of tea! The tea is served as a cup of hot water into which you difuse your T-Bag. Sounds odd, but tasted nice, even as someone who doesn't normally have tea black. As a suggestion, there's a very pleasant round trip you can do while taking in The Schilthorn. After visiting the peak we caught a cable car from Schilthorn to Gimmelwald then another down through a valley to Stechelberg (great views from the cable car here). We then walked beside a river through wonderful flower meadows to the Trummelbach Falls (about 30 mins walk). Here you can take a funicular to the top of the falls and then walk through caves to view the falls inside (yes, inside!). It's very wet and a bit cold too. We then caught a bus back to Lauterbrunnen station where we picked up the train back to Interlaken Ost. |  |
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Lake Bachalp, Bort, Grindelwald and First We went early in the season and the lake was almost entirely frozen! It was a nice walk though, but if you're looking for that award winning photo I would suggest that the best time to go is the height of summer. Even then I suspect that the lake is not totally snow-free for very long! As a suggestion for an unusual way to travel back down the mountain, we took the gondola to Bort and then hired scooters to go downhill all the way back to Grindelwald (pictured). These scooters are not powered and have no seat - believe me you don't need (or want) one. You can go as fast or slow as you like, and stop off to view the stunning scenery. Well worth it, and lots of fun! When you get back to Grindelwald it's not immediately obvious where to take the scooters back to. Just keep following the main road and you eventually get to the cable car (gondola) station on your right. Walk up the steep slope and around to the left to drop off your bikes. Montreux As a visitor to the area you are entitled to a pass which allows you unlimited travel on the main bus route. A nice touch that local authorities in the UK would do well to copy. Apart from the bus, it is very pleasant to walk along the edge of the lake something we did several times from our hotel base in Veytaux. Vevey (home to Charlie Chaplain in the latter part of his life) is worth a visit as is the market there. |  |
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Rochers-de-Naye Rochers-de-Naye also has an Alpine Garden that is free to enter. The enthusiastic gardener there doesn't speak English, however it is obvious he takes a pride in his work. If you speak French, German or Italian he will give you a short guided tour. The view over the lake from here is probably breathtaking, however it was cloudy the day we went and so we couldn't see very much! Summary The streets are kept clean, the people are friendly, public transport is cheap and very reliable. It is, however, expensive. Perhaps not as expensive as you may think, I would put most things on a parr with the UK. If you can afford to go on holiday in the British Isles then you may be surprised to find you could afford to go to Switzerland. If you're the sort of person who books their annual holiday from Teletext, however, and finds this an expensive option then perhaps you may find the cost is too much! All things considered, if you can find the money to arrange a trip then Switzerland is one of those places well worth a visit. Andy Clayton. Autumn 2005 |  |
