The Swiss Alps

Switzerland has quite a reputation, one that has it labeled as the most expensive and most beautiful place on earth. We found this to only be half true and luckily it was the beautiful side of the stereotype that held up. We decided last minute that we were going to Switzerland when we realized we had a free week before our flight to Ireland. Lauterbrunnen was high on my list but I was turned off by the idea of spending lots of money, however, in total we spent the same amount here as we did pretty much everywhere else in Europe. We caught the train from Cinque Terre to Lauterbrunnen via Milan. The trip cost us $85 and traveled through some of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. The Schutzenbach Backpackers & Camping hostel (which I booked through hostelworld) cost us $30 each a night for a bed in a 10 person dorm. Although this was a little more pricey than we had hoped, our accommodation ended up being just about the only thing we spent money on during our time here. The hostel had a kitchen so we cooked all our own meals (although it cost 2 euro to use the stove). There was a relatively large supermarket in the center of town with prices no different to anywhere else in Europe.

The afternoon we arrived fog filled up the entire valley blocking the massive mountains from view. The next morning I left the room to go and buy breakfast for Ebbs and I and literally squealed for 5 minutes when I saw that the clouds had cleared. I can honestly say there is no place more picturesque than Lauterbrunnen.

Our time here was spent simply. We woke up late, ate pumpkin soup and drank hot chocolate. We spent our days hiking in the neighboring valleys and attempting to hitchhike along the ridiculously expensive train line. 

On our first morning we walked through the valley, climbed to the base of waterfalls and watched base jumpers fall from the sky countless times. Our afternoons were spent reading in our little loft bedroom and looking out over the mountains.

The highlight of our trekking expeditions was on our third day when we walked from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen and then from there to Klein Schiedeing where we had an unobstructed view of Mt Jungfrau (the tallest in Europe) the Eiger and Mt Monch. We originally planned on getting the train up here but upon realizing that the 15 minute ride cost 40 euro each way we decided to walk along the train tracks.  

On our 4th day we hitchhiked to Interklaken and explored the town. It was pouring with rain so we didn't get to see a ridiculous amount. We went to Grindlewald on our last day and actually paid for the train because no one would pick us up despite our efforts. It was also a beautiful town, which would normally have amazing mountain views but the fog was low and due to the higher altitude it was far colder than expected. We spent most of our time huddled up in a shopping center eating bread and apples from the supermarket.

Lauterbrunnen was a place I was truly sad to leave. On our train out of the valley we both held our heads out the windows trying to steal the last glances of the mountains before they disappeared behind the valley.