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Published: January 4th 2009
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It was Christmas time, and we were in search of our second white Christmas - so Ange and I headed off to Switzerland for the four day break to enjoy the natural beauty of the region (and hopefully some snow).
We flew into Zurich on the night of Christmas Eve and then took the train south-west to Lucerne where we would spend the next two nights, before moving onto Interlaken for a few days.
After a good night sleep, we woke Christmas day and had a nice morning opening presents, talking with family in Australia and having a lazy breakfast, before we headed out for the day. It was a fairly brisk morning in Lucerne, but there was no snow itself in the town - although you could see some on the hills around the outskirts. Unfortunately it was too cloudy to see any of the mountains in the distance. We spent the morning wandering around the Old Town region and along the waterfront. It was beautiful along the water - the water itself was so crystal clear and teaming with birds. We wandered along the banks of the river and took in Chapel Bridge and the Water Tower,
which are beautifully constructed of wood with all these carvings and artwork. There are actually two bridges like this along the river strecth - and I have to say the smaller one (Spreuer Bridge) further downstream is much more authentic. I think the larger one had been decimated by fire in the past as it did appear to have a lot of 'new' wood holding it together. Also on the walk we took in the Old Town region with the painted and decorated buildings - all very Swiss.
Now it only takes a short time to wander around the Old Town area - and with the City Wall and all the shops closed, there was little else to do - so we thought we would take a boat ride along Lake Lucerne. It was a really nice trip along the lake and with the calm waters and it not being too cold, we could sit there and take in the snow covered mountain as they started to appear further down the lake from Lucerne itself (although most were covered under cloud). We decided to catch the boat out to a little village called Weggis - where we then caught
the cablecar up Mount Rigi. It was so sureal heading up through the cloud cover as the tree line got whiter and whiter. Once you reach the end of the cablecar run, we then jumped onboard the cogwheel train to take us the rest of the way up to Rigi Klum at just over 1800m above sea level. When we first arrived at the summit the views were amazing as we sat above the cloud line and had amazing views across the distant mountains. This was short lived however as another band of cloud cover rolled over, obscuring the views. And it was cold - so cold in fact the our hair started to freeze and go white. Worse still was we hadn't planned to head up the mountains today - so we weren't as rugged up as we normally would be. Nevertheless we took it all in, and sat outside as we had our fancy xmas lunch of a can of beer and a bratwurst in onion gravy with chips (it all went very cold rather quick but still very tasty). We managed to get in moments of views as cloud cover came and went - but overall we
were pretty happy as we had achieved our goal of a white Xmas. After making our way back down and then back on the boat, we got ourselves dressed up and caught a taxi to the restaurant we had booked for a well deserved 5-course Xmas dinner - which was beautiful. And the local red wines couldn't be faulted either.
We woke Boxing Day, having done most of the things we had wanted to do in Lucerne, and decided to jump on the earlier train and head down to Interlaken early - where we would be spending the next few days. The two hour train trip through the villages, valleys, and mountains was breathtaking and we were treated with a lot of snow as well as green fields.
We arrived into Interlaken around midday and checked ourselves into our hotel and made our way to the tourist centre to see about trips into the upper reaches of the mountains. We were told that the higher reaches of Jungfrau were closed due to strong winds and we would be better waiting till the next day. So with that we decided to have a lazy day wandering around Interlaken itself.
It is a nice place that is a central hub for the ski fields in the region, and the views (especially given it was such a clear day) were amazing as you could see to the tops of all the snowy mountain ranges that bordered the whole area. It was very picture perfect, especially when walking along the riverbank.
Given we were in Switzerland, we had to sample the fondue - so that night we treated ourselves to a three course fondue feast - cheese fondue, followed by a meat fondue, and then a chocolate fondue. We decided everything should be fondued - the only way to eat.
We woke early the next day and made our way to the train station to head off into the mountains for the day - our destination Jungfraujoch, "the top of Europe". The word was the top was open today so we were right to go and headed off on the 2.5 hour trip up through the mountain region and through the local villages. We wound our way upwards, stopping at various villages to pick up tourists and skiers heading up for the day, and as we got highter the snow
The Water Tower
attached to the Chapel Bridge on the ground got thicker and the air got colder. It was amazing to go from the rather dull looking day under the cloud cover to pop out into brillant sunshine above the clouds. Lots of people got off the train at Kleine Scheidegg - the start of the ski runs at 2320m. From here you swap to another train and work your way through tunnels up towards Jungfraujoch (the highest train station in Europe) - stopping at viewing points at Eigerwand and Eismeer. We reached Jungfraujoch at a height of about 3500m above sea level. From the Sphinx observation hall and out on the snow itself the views were amazing - looking across the glaciers, mountain tops and cloud flooring. It was so sunny and bright up there - but cold at only -11 degrees. This was definitely the highlight of the trip and highly recommended.
On the way back down to Interlaken, we were both very jealous of all the skiers and sleders having fun and making their way down the mountains. We jumped off at Grindelwald and had a wander around the picturesque little village, and looking back up over the mountain we had just been
up.
After another fantastic night and swiss meal - we woke the next day in the knowledge that we would have to make our way back to Zurich for our flight that night. But with the train system so good - we decided to go via Bern to check out the official capital of Switzerland. It was a cold day and with most things shut, we took the opportunity to wander around the old town of Bern, and across to see the resident Bern bear in his bear pit (yes it was a live bear in a pit). It was a pretty place, perched on a hill surrounded by a river far below. The old streets and buildings were very nice and the cold weather, frozen water features and splatterings of snow helped set the scene.
Unfortunately our trip was drawing to an end ad we made our way back to Zurich to fly back to London. All in all one of the best trips we've been one - purely from a natural scenery perspective. It was definitely one of the most striking regions with all the snow covered alps and swiss buildings.
Would love to come
back here in summer and do a lot of the hikes and see the region in full colour.
Well worth the trip and highly recommended. Enjoy the pictures.
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