Posts Tagged: schilthorn

Hey, finally, work has finished, and it’s the xmas holiday break, finally I can get on my arse and do this. If you did stick around because of my last post, well, you’ll be glad you did with this doozy coming your way. Without a single doubt, this was the absolute highlight of the trip, by the time we arrived in Mürren, the weather had finally turned for the better, and the sun was out and ready to keep us warm and happy. We only had two nights in Mürren arriving pretty early in the morning and leaving in the afternoon, so two and a half days (sort of). I wanted to do some hiking and take in some lakes and mountains from the best perspectives (that only hiking can get you, I suppose flying or rock climbing can give you some pretty spectacular views as well), but my pregnant girlfriend was apprehensive about it all.

So in our two days there we managed to:

Ride the massive cable car from Mürren to the Schilthorn (despite my protestations we went all the way back by cable car as well, I wanted to walk back down to Brig and then jump back on to the cable car), some pretty classic views from the lookout and anywhere directly surrounding here I’m thinking

Take the train to the Top of Europe, the Jungfraujoch, wander around the amusements up there (which are a bit boring to be honest unless you go for a snow walk, but I didn’t have anything like the correct gear for that)

On the way back we stopped at Kleine Scheidegg and followed the Eiger trail up to the little reservoir where I got to release some stress by jumping around

Walk up to the Almendhubel, a pretty nice short walk with a nice view of the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau near the restaurant, it’s a nice one for the family, although the flower trail was definitely not in season.

Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau from the Schilthorn

Glacier, Top of Europe

Chopper near Kleine Scheidegg

Eiger at night from Mürren

Obligatory cow and the Swiss Alps, near Almendhubel

More Swiss Alps, near Almendhubel

So yeah, a really beautiful place with so many things to see, I don’t think I’d get tired of the mountains even if I could afford to spend a month there, it was a bit disappointing not to get a good shot of mountains with a lake so that’s something to aim for next time. Definitely worth the price of admission, it’s also very peaceful there, small population, Mürren is a car-free (only local traffic for delivieries and supplies I suppose) town and so the atmosphere is one of quiet serenity (for me any way) and a really nice place to go at the end of our trip, wish I could’ve spent more time there.

A hut near Almendhubel

Accommodation, Food, and Transport

Well, as I mentioned in the previous Switzerland post, we were using the half-fare card so were paying relatively normal prices for train tickets around the place (it’s worth it just for the Top of Europe pass which costs about 200$ bux AUD).

We stayed at the Hotel Alpina in Mürren which is a ‘budget’ option (still not cheap at all) but does have all of the amenities you should need (including a great view of the Alps from your room balcony, should you pay for it). We were put in room number 1 (or 2) which was good in that we could access the wifi in the lobby from our room, but was bad because we had to walk past the toilet to get to our room, so it was a bit smelly (the walk, not the room). Breakfast buffet provided with a decent spread, I’d recommend it if it has a good buffer in prices from the other hotels in the area, nice, friendly staff too (although no kettle in the room).

Pretty much all the hotels have restaurants where you can get normal food although I didn’t get to try much of it due to my Em’s little worm! 😀 OK, one more stop in Europe (Paris) but I won’t bother with that one because we’ve already been there twice now, and we didn’t do anything on our last visit other than a bit of shopping, so last stop on our whirlwind, whistlestop tour, not in Europe, but Hong Kong, for one night, and one night only, what did we do? You’ll find out next time (if I can be bothered), so stay tuned!