Switzerland - pure, exhilerating, stunning

Spending so much of our traveling time in Europe driving from country to country we often have found ourselves going through Switzerland, admiring the incredible sights. We finally decided to dedicate a trip there and park ourselves for days in one place to just enjoy the spectacular scenery! After consulting with the FedEx community, we settled on Murren in the Lauterbrunnen Valley. It is an auto free town, which was also appealing to us. We rented an apartment in a chalet on a mountainside, parked the car in the valley town below and took the gondola up, and relished 4 days of hiking, relaxing, and soaking in the beautiful mountains, rivers, forests, and meadows.

There are public hiking and biking trails all over the country of Switzerland. They are well marked and supported with maps, guides, and even fresh water along the way. Everyone that visits is there to get outside and enjoy the fresh air and gorgeous scenery. The village of Murren caters to skiers, but has beauty enough for summer hikers and ‘jumpers’ too. Everywhere you go you see people with big backpacks bursting with parachute type kites. They walk up the mountainsides and some go, gear up on the hillsides and take running starts to lift themselves up into the canyons as they glide (it looks effortless) down to the meadows below. You can get a ride with some of them (for a fee) as they ride tandem also. Tempting.

We got to talk to one guy as he was walking through town. Asking him questions about what he was going to do.   He had a small chute that inflates as he runs down the hill, towards the cliff. He cannot fly and catch up drafts. He just controls the fall down. Talk about scary! He told us to come along and we could watch as he directed us into someone’s backyard that ends with a cliff to the valley below. Amazing!!! Definitely not something I would try. I could be talked into the paragliding, but not this!

Getting ready

Set

There he goes!

 


Hiking was definitely a great activity while we visited. You can follow various trails depending on the amount of time, effort, and destination. They vary from 30 minutes to half-day hikes. Some people hike for days with breaks for stays in the villages. There are also trains and an extensive system of cable cars throughout the area. We did take the cable car system up to the Schilthorn, which sits at a height of 3000 meters. You stare straight across to the tops of the Eiger, Jungfrau, and Monch. At the top of the Schilthorn there is a pavilion where the restaurant moves 360 degrees in an hour. Outside is an open platform where you can walk all around and take in the magnificent views. You can also hike up there from Murren or the other surrounding villages. I believe it was a 4-hour hike up from Murren. As we were up there a family of four had just hiked up (they had two small children under age 5) with them. I think they will grow up to be hikers! I asked them when they had left to hike up. They just said, very early!

Duh!

   

 

Everywhere you looked the mountaintops were visible – snow capped and alluring! We feel like we have seen so many magnificent scenes on this two-year adventure, but Switzerland’s beauty is so naturally stunning and its villages are charming and authentic.  We loved our stay there.