Rick Steves' Best of Europe in 21 Days - Spring 2024
Postcards from Mike & Jen
Day 17 - Lauterbrunnen & Schilthorn
Guten Morgen from Switzerland!
Trümmelbach Falls
Today's adventures were technically on our own, but Matti and Big John coordinated an optional excursion to the Trummelbachfalle, a series of ten glacier-fed waterfalls inside the mountain! We took the the funicular most of the way up and worked our way down.
Schilthorn & Piz Gloria
Next, Big John gave us a lift to the gondola station and Matti negotiated a special round trip rate for us. Then we were off to the star of the day: The Schilthorn! After 3 gondola rides, we made it to the top of the mountain! The view was beyond spectacular! Part of the James Bond 007 movie, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, was filmed here and the venue really leaned in to the theme, including a kitschy Spy Experience. Make sure you use the restroom in the restaurant - there are sound effects! We had lunch in the revolving restaurant Piz Gloria and the the food was quite good. Again, the apple strudel was the best part!
While we ate, there were paragliders EVERYWHERE! It was mesmerizing. Imagine doing that at the top of the world! The price at the time of our visit was 190 CHF (202 Euros) if you want to give it a try!
Birg, Murren & Gimmelwald
On the way back down we explored a little at each of the gondola stops and checked out the little villages. They were exactly what you would expect to see in Switzerland. We did not do the thrill walk in Birg, because the gondola rides were thrilling enough for us.
Dinner
After we got back down to the valley, we took the public bus back to our hotel. We walked around a bit and then stopped for a light supper at Flavours, where Jen had her first affogato and instantly became a fan.
Switzerland has by far Mike's favorite scenery. He felt like he was walking around in awe with his mouth open everywhere we went.
