Travel
Do you want a piece of Heaven?
Do you want a piece of Heaven?
If so, then take this 3-in-1day trip to Interlaken and neighbouring areas. Bring the kids; they’ll love it.
My initial idea was to go to Interlaken to walk around, take pictures of chalets and geraniums, and visit what tourists pay a fortune to see during this nearly tourist-free quiet time. Hence, I set out early with my husband and daughter. Had I googled it, I would have known that this wasn’t about chalets and geraniums, but I do like surprises.
First stop: Kandersteg
This was my husband’s idea because he was interested in visiting the town where Adolf Ogi, a former member of the “Conseil Fédéral” grew up. So we went to a nice terrace and had an ovomaltine. We then checked out the lake of Oeschinen, but couldn’t go because we weren’t equipped for the walk. It looked totally worth it, though!
Second stop: Blausee
Blausee – credit photo Monique Padar
On the way down to Interlaken, we stopped at Blausee (the blue lake) whose colour will make you forget about the Maldives! I had visited it as a teen with an aunt from Berne, and it was as gorgeous as I remembered.
You have to pay to get in, but it’s well worth it. The lake is reserved for trout (no swimming) and is a heavenly turquoise blue, and so translucent that you can see the fish perfectly. There is also a submerged statue of the lady of the lake for those with a romantic spirit. You can walk through trails around the lake in a forest that has dark, mysterious areas with beautiful rock formations that remind me of Canada. There is also a restaurant if you want to relax and have trout and other specialities.
Blausee credit Monique Padar
Families
Although here is no swimming in the lake, the site is suitable for families because everything is close, and there are play & picnic areas for kids. Besides the wonder of watching the fish, there is an alpaca park, with rather tame alpacas (though I didn’t try to pet one) and a cute chalet with another picnic area. At the exit I was also impressed with the quality of souvenirs in the boutique (pretty Swiss dresses for little girls, and objects in noble materials as well as smoked trout and other food products).
Blauersee picnic area- credit photo Monique Padar
Third stop: Interlaken
Interlaken is true to it’s name and situated between two lakes (Thoune and Brienz) in the plain. Apart from Geneva I have never seen so many watch boutiques in my life! It’s the perfect place to buy a watch, have a homemade ice-cream, sit on a bench and watch the paragliders land right beside you on a large grassy area. All this with the Bernese alps in the background. No wonder the tourists love it. If you’re brave enough you can book a paraglide with an instructor too. By now we were hungry, and we opted for a lovely Italian restaurant that seemed to be part of the big, luxury hotel in the centre. The food was excellent, and we never had to wait although it was the weekend.
Top of Interlaken
Top of Interlaken credit photo Monique Padar
Next we decided to go all the way and be real tourists by taking the small train (funiculaire) that goes to about 1300m straight up to a restaurant (Harder Kulm) with a breathtaking view of both lakes and the 3 famous mountains: The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. If you’re not afraid of heights there’s a platform for picture taking that juts out. The ride up there only takes about 10 min. and we had no wait, due to there being few tourists.
Fourth stop: Lauterbrunnen
This place is at about 800 m above Interlaken. It’s a small village with a 300m high waterfall as its main attraction. You can walk up to and behind the waterfall. Once you’re there, it just looks like you’re viewing the village below through heavy rain. This would be fun for kids who can walk well enough, but I wouldn’t advise it for very small children or the elderly, as it can get slippery at the top and is hard to reach with a baby buggy.
Lauterbrunnen – credit photo Monique Padar
We managed to do all this by late afternoon. The trip is totally worth it even without going to all four places. From Montreux it took us a couple of hours or less to get there. On the way back we stopped at the highway boutique/restaurant in Gruyère to buy cheese.
This is only one of several Swiss day trips I plan to take in the near future. We tend to forget about the enormous beauty right on our doorstep.
About the author:
Monique is an experienced therapist/ coach trained in hypnotherapy and other rapid transformational techniques. (EFT and RTT). She has helped countless people free themselves from pain and re-create the live they want without drugs or outer manipulations.
Having suffered from physical pain for years and overcoming it as well as a lot of related health issues, she wants others to get more “Life out of Life” too.
She holds a Master’s degree in Education obtained during her former career as a lecturer. After doing most of her schooling in Canada, she moved to France and then to Montreux, Switzerland where she now lives with her husband, two adult daughters and two cats. She works locally face to face and internationally via zoom in both English and French.
