This is the final travel recap from our amazing two week trip to Europe. If you missed any of the other posts, just click on the city: Rome (Part I), Rome (Part II), Florence, and Venice.
We went back and forth about going to the Swiss Alps during this trip. It meant an extra day of travel, added expense, and much more planning on my part. In the end, we just couldn’t resist the opportunity to get out of the cities and experience one of nature’s wonders. Keeping it on the itinerary was an excellent decision.
On our eleventh day of vacation, we left our apartment in Venice at 5:45 a.m., rode seven different trains, and arrived at our hotel in Wengen, Switzerland at 5:00 p.m. It was a stressful and exhausting day, and lugging our bags on and off the trains was not fun.
Once we were on the train, though, the views were incredible.
We rode for miles along the shores of Lake Maggiore.
Our final three trains took us up into the Alps, from the resort town of Interlaken (1870 feet) to the valley of Lauterbrunnen (2608 feet) to our destination of Wengen (4180 feet).
The view as we rode from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen.
Arriving in Wengen was like stepping into a storybook. It is a car-free town, and the lovely and quaint hotels and guesthouses are nestled among the mountains that envelope it.
We walked down the hill towards our hotel, and see it for the first time.
It was a pleasure to be in a hotel for the first time during this trip; our hosts were lovely and accommodating. The hotel offered a three-course dinner every night, and we had already reserved the first night in advance so we wouldn’t have to search for a restaurant. Fortunately the menu was set, because we cannot read German.
Dinner was delicious, and we ate at our hotel every night. This was actually an adventurous choice, as we never knew what we were getting until it was placed in front of us.
After dinner we strolled into downtown Wengen, which consists of a grocery store and a handful of restaurants and shops. And a life-sized chess set, which the kids promptly put to use.
Our first full day began bright and relatively early, with a cableway ride up to Männlichen mountain. At 7316 feet, it’s a steep ride up.
While in Wengen, I noticed what looked like fences on the mountains above us. Once we were at Männlichen, I could see that the fences were built to keep loose rocks from rolling all the way down into the homes below.
The summit of Männlichen is 371 feet higher than the cable car station, and this was our first hike of the day.
I opted to stay on the path, but Matt and Gwen climbed right up the hill.
The flag at the summit, with the flag at our starting point in the background.
Our next hike was an easy, eighty minute walk from Männlichen to the mountain pass of Kleine Scheidegg. It was fairly level, with amazing views of the mountains.
At this point, it hits me that I am hiking in the friggin’ SWISS. ALPS. I must say that at least a dozen times, until the kids are sick of hearing me say it.
Note the walking sticks the kids are holding. Our hotel host suggested we each take one, and they were indispensable.
We arrive in Kleine Scheidegg around noon, and we’re famished.
Fortunately, Kleine Scheidegg has a terrace restaurant at the Hotel Eigernordwand, and we lunch with the most spectacular views.
After lunch, we embark on our most adventurous hike of the day. We go off course from the handy hiking map a bit (mistake!), and follow what we think is the route our hotel host told us about the day before. We set off for Biglenap, with plans to continue to Mettlenalp and back down to Wengen. We figure it will take us two and a half hours.
I am so incredibly happy at this moment: my kids walking side by side, in the friggin’ Swiss Alps.
We hike through meadows and rocky trails, and at one point we hear what sounds like a train approaching. There is no train in sight, but there are two mini-avalanches happening on the mountains directly in front of us. We were far enough away to be out of danger, but close enough to be awed.
I didn’t photograph the avalanches, but they looked like rushing rivers of snow streaming down the side of the rocks.
Two hours into our hike, a few of us are ready for a restroom, but Biglenap is nowhere in sight. The signage in the Alps is not fabulous.
Sometimes the signs seemed to contradict one another.
We finally see a sign that says “Biglenap.” What we assumed was at least a restroom and a little store was actually a meadow of cows.
Cowbells are the wind chimes of Switzerland, and now we have heard them. That was another “I can’t believe I’m actually here” moment for me.
About an hour later, we are out of water, and Mettlenap is nowhere in sight. While we weren’t panicking, Matt was starting to worry about staying hydrated and making it back to Wengen before dark. The magic of the Alps interceded, and we found a water trough filled to the brim. Clearly the cows weren’t that thirsty, but we ran to that trough like we were on Man vs. Wild. We wouldn’t touch the stuff in the trough, but the faucet was running with fresh, cold water.
I was too busy drinking water to take a photo, and I was slightly concerned that a farmer would come by and yell at us for pilfering his livestock’s supply.
The path we were following took us into the woods, and we could finally spot Wengen down below.
I think that’s Wengen, but I’m not really sure. It’s civilization, anyway.
We ran into a lovely British woman who walked the final leg back to Wengen with us. We arrived back a mere three and a half hours later than we thought we would, and we never did find Mettlenap.
After dinner, we sat outside in the hotel’s garden, playing cards and resting our feet.
The next day we took the train to Jungfraujoch – the Top of Europe. At 11,332 feet, the Jungfraujoch railway station is the highest in Europe. It was constructed over sixteen years, and was completed in 1912. We took a train from Wengen back to Kleine Scheidegg, enjoying the views along the way.
Once we boarded the train to Jungfraujoch, we rode in the open air until an elevation of 7612 feet.
The rest of the ride is through the mountain, with stops at 9396 feet and 10,361 feet.
Jungfrau – our destination
Once we reached the top, there were all kinds of activities and viewing opportunities in the complex. It was packed with tourists, but we could move through the well-labeled tour at our own pace.
We took Switzerland’s fastest lift to the Sphinx Observatory, a vantage terrace that put us at our highest altitude of the day. At 11,716 feet, it is also the highest altitude any of us have ever been outside of an airplane. I had to Google photos of the observatory; I think if I had seen it from this perceptive first, I may not have gone out there!
Photo credit: By Eric Hill from Boston, MA, USA (Sphinx Observatory) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
We donned jackets for the first time on this vacation, and took in the views.
There were quite a few visitors who took advantage of the snow to ski or snowboard. I was content to watch from inside.
I clearly have not mastered taking a photograph through the glass of a window.
Next, we slipped and slid our way through the Ice Palace, which was created in the 1930s. The cavern is cooled to minus three degrees to counteract the warmth generated by thousands of visitors.
Before we left, we visited the highest-altitude chocolate shop in Europe (Lindt), and stocked up for the ride back down to Kleine Scheidegg. From there we did the previous day’s short hike in reverse.
From the snowy peaks of Jungfrau to the grassy hills dotted with wildflowers, the Swiss Alps enchanted me.
Matt and I both felt that we spent exactly the right amount of time in each Italian city, but we wished we could have stayed in the Alps for a few more days. I wasn’t ready to leave this view of the sunset from our hotel room:
The next morning, we took the three trains back down to the valley and then onward to Zurich. Our flight didn’t leave until the following morning, so we had an afternoon and evening to spend in the city. Unfortunately, Europe was experiencing a major heatwave. Wengen and the mountains had been in the eighties, but Zurich was topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit. To stay relatively cool and relaxed, we took a ninety minute cruise of Lake Zurich.
We stumbled across a hamburger joint for dinner, and inhaled the most American food we had eaten in two weeks. Zurich didn’t get a fair shake from us; we were too hot to take many photos or do much exploring.
We flew home the next morning. While we were ready to sleep in our own beds, we were all sad to see our amazing adventure come to an end. We have already discussed where we want to go on our next trip!
If you have stuck with me through all five travel posts, thank you! While it has been time consuming to go through all my photos and recap our daily activities, documenting this trip was worth the effort. I’ve already created forty-four pages of our vacation photo album, and I’m only on day nine! Expect a follow-up post about planning a European vacation; I would love to share the tips I’ve learned along the way.
Thanks for reading!
The Alps look AMAZING!!! I’m so glad you had such a wonderful trip!
Thanks Lisa!
Glad to finally read this! What a journey. It looks absolutely beautiful! We had a layover in Zurich on our way to Istanbul and event what we could see from the airport was gorgeous — I would really like to spend some time in Switzerland one day. Did you guys suffer from any altitude sickness? That’s last part was pretty high up!
No altitude sickness, Bev. Gwen took her inhaler just in case, but none of us had a problem. It was beautiful, but it’s an expensive country. Made Italy seem like a bargain!
Dana, this looks amazing! We have barely touched Switzerland because it’s just too darn expensive, but your pictures make me think it might be worth it. I’ve loved all of your posts and am so glad you had a fantastic European vacation!
It was expensive – but worth it!
Amazing, Dana! Hiking in the Swiss Alps?!?! Pretty darn cool, indeed! How wonderful that you were able to cover so much ground on your vacation. I bet I can guess one place you have on your list of “must go back to” – more time in Switzerland!
Absolutely, Mo! So many more mountains to climb (or hike down, as it was in our case.)
Your European Vacation was way better than the Griswolds’, Dana. I love the idea of the carless town. I could spend forever there. I don’t even know how long I’ve been on your site just look at the pictures after I read your post.
That makes me smile, Eli – thank you!
Wow, what a gorgeous trip. Getting lost sounds like it was quite the adventure, too. Now you have me wanting to save, save, save for a summer long trip to Europe sometime. Can’t wait to read your tips for planning the vacation!
Wow wow wow! Switzerland looks gorgeous! You are amazing with all that hiking! Glad you had an incredible trip and created so many awesome memories!
Me too, Leah. All the planning was worth it!
BREATHTAKING!!!!! Oh my gosh, Dana… you have done such an incredible job sharing your account of all these amazing experiences!! I am in awe of the beauty and the depth of information you shared through all these posts… THANK YOU for the education and the experience. I can’t WAIT to read your last post about the planning tips… I dream of someday taking our family on a similar trip. 🙂
I hope you take your family someday, Chris. It was definitely the trip of a lifetime! You know where to find me for planning assistance. 🙂
Wow! The view is absolutely magnificent. The tress and the mountain view is breath taking. The ice sculptures are really cool too!
http://www.artadorned.com
I didn’t take too much time to look at the ice sculptures – I was freezing!
Oh how absolutely lovely. I like that giant chessboard. so fun 🙂
They had a blast!
Absolutely gorgeous! Switzerland wasn’t on my list of travel must-see places before — but it is now! You sold me!
Glad to hear it! It wasn’t on my list either, but a friend of mine told me it was her favorite among all the places she backpacked after college. So glad I listened to her.
Amazing! There are no words for how amazing your trip looks, and I wish I could jump into those pictures 🙂
I know…and they aren’t nearly as amazing as the views were in person!
Dana, your photos are amazing! A car-less town? How wonderful! And the views! Gah. I really want to go to the Alps now. Also? That hike would have freaked me out — the almost getting lost and three and 1/2 hour detour — yikes!
Yeah, it was a loooong day. But better to get lost in the Alps than pretty much anywhere else, right?
Dana, you have a gift. This is just a wonderful tribute to the Swiss Alps and I want to drop everything and leave. Right now. Grinned when I saw the menu. Too funny. Love that you agreed to it anyway. I’m sorry your trip is over and was delighted to see that you are already planning another.
Absolutely gorgeous! I’m so glad you went and you shared. Can’t wait for the European travel tips post!
Dana. I didn’t think you could top you Venice pictures, but you did! Stunning photographs. And the picture of Lake Maggiore, blows Jenny Lake out of the water. Ha, ha. and the vires from the ski lift made me nauseous. Definitely the trip of a life time. If I didn’t like you so much, I’d have to hate you. Thank you so, so much for sharing your trip. And I can’t wait to read the tips!
I’m glad you like me, then! And if those views made you nauseous, I would advise you to not look down if you ever go up to the observatory at Jungfraujoch 🙂
definitely looked like it was worth all the travel to get there! I have never been. my mom says it is one of her favorite places.
I can see why…I would love to go back.
Um… yeah. I feel pretty awesome just looking at those storybook photos!
I can only read English but I can translate that menu for anyone. It says, “Awesome food.”
The pictures of the kids in the Swiss Alps is SO Julie Andrews. You need to make a meme now.
I bet that cow trough water (just kidding.. faucet) tasted like Evian!
Inquiring minds want to know.. was the air harder to breathe up there at 11,000 feet?
Did you sleep amazingly those nights?
Was that high-altitude chocolate better than anything?
The air was not harder to breathe – Gwen has asthma so she had her inhaler, but didn’t need it, even at the very top. We did not sleep amazingly – because of the heatwave, it was hot in the room (no A/C), but with the windows open the flies got in. Once we rigged the windows and the curtains, I sleep like a log. And the chocolate was amazing, but isn’t it always?
This is amazing Dana. I’m so glad to live vicariously through your posts. Your photos are beautiful as well, I gasped at a couple (the height!) If we ever did this I would need all of your tips – I hate planning trips – so I’m looking forward to that post, too!
I really do want to share my tips – I remember going to a travel agent, and everything she would have booked for us would have cost at least ten percent more than doing it on our own. The internet makes it easy to do it yourself.
Seriously what an incredible adventure!! Love the title of the post and the hotel pic. And wow– the train!!
Incredible, right? I can’t imagine living there permanently – I wonder if the residents are still awed by the mountains.
All of your posts from this European adventure have been terrific, but the pics and descriptions from the Swiss Alps topped it all. Absolutely breathtaking. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for reading, Karen! I’m glad you enjoyed the posts.
There are just no words for these photos. I cannot imagine actually being there and being surrounded by them! And a three and a half hour hike? You know that’s a marathon, right? WOW! Just amazing.
Our hike was three and a half hours LONGER than planned…it was six hours in total! In sneakers. Downhill. Where’s my medal? 🙂
Wow, the last leg of your trip was most definitely amazing and can see how you are planning another trip as we are currently doing the same for next year after totally enjoying our own vacation to Disney this past summer. I know it isn’t Europe by any means, but still Disney was truly amazing in its own right and most definitely need something to look forward to after it, as well!
Disney is definitely a great vacation – while we were hiking, guess what we were talking about? Our upcoming Disney trip.