Interlaken by Chad, Emily and Kenny
Posted on 2016-12-12
Our first impression upon arriving to Interlaken was not like that of Zermatt. This place seemed a bit different. The people on the train here were a bit more “loud” in their being. Extravagant haircuts, loud music and mostly a younger generation is what we saw as we arrived late in the evening from the train. But as we walked around the city, you could see this place was quite interesting. The city was dressed in Christmas lights, surrounded by mountains with lighted stairs high up in the mountains. Cozy buildings lined the streets and there was a lot of foot and bicycle traffic. Interlaken was a neat area where several locals lived and you get that feel the more you are in it.
On the morning of the 12th, we were up early to catch the train. The original Idea was to see Jungfraujoch – an observatory near the top of Jungfrau (which I totally think I could climb – but then again I’m looking from the bottom). But we changed the plan the night before to go to Shorthorn and see Piz Gloria. This was the location of a James bond scene for “in her majesty’s secret service”. So we took the train to Stelchberg and then took the lift up to Murren. This is where the plane changed a bit as well – from here we were going to hike to Gultschalp.
The hike was amazing. No matter where we went there were breathtaking views surrounding you. The trail wasn’t too hard and everyone in the group did just fine. It was about a 6-mile trail and we finished up around 3pm. From here we headed up onto the next lift to take us to Birg.
Birg was an awesome stop. Its HIGH and it offers several thrill views. It has a “Skyline thrill walk” and a “Skyline platform” with a glass bottom you can stand on to see a wonderful view of the skyline as well as straight down below you. From here we got on one more lift to take us to Piz Gloria. On the peak of Schilthorn.
There was one Ski run down from Schilthorn and it looked terrifying – it was a steep slope that went to a straight ice path about a meter wide that hung on the side of the mountain. We didn’t see anyone go down it BUT we did see a paraglider either packing up or about to take off once more. There were Paragliders everywhere out in this region – this is added to the list for the return trip here for sure.
Piz Gloria had quite an amazing view. The weather was chilly at top but that didn’t stop us from taking some awesome photos and enjoying the beauty that surrounded us. We took a look at the rotating restaurant at the top which looked like a pretty neat place to grab a bite. We then moved down to the James Bond museum and played around with some of the exhibits.
We were fortunate enough to catch a bit of the sunset on the last lift down which was absolutely gorgeous. The moon was also out and shinning bright which made for a great view as well. This place just doesn’t seem to offer a terrible view. However, once we reached the bottom, it was dark as night. The mountains do a fair job at blocking the sun which leads to much cooler temperatures at the bottom. Here we caught the bus back to Lautterbruennen and then the train back to Interlaken.
