Grindelwald

September 2008

Grindelwald, Switzerland

For this trip we flew into Zurich, took the train to Grindelwald, and spent a week in that beautiful village hiking in the surrounding mountains and taking day trips to great places like Interlaken, Brienz, and Zermatt. Keep in mind that Switzerland is only about the combined size of Vermont and New Hampshire, so we’re not talking major distances.

Even though our apartment was in Grindelwald we spent a lot of time in Interlaken, the nearest town of any substantial size. Interlaken is a regional transit hub that offers excellent access to trains, buses, and even lake steamers. This was important because, as with earlier trips to Europe, we did not rent a car and chose to rely solely on public transportation to get around once we were ‘in country’. We find that this approach makes for a more relaxing vacation, allows us to better enjoy the scenery, and gives us a much better feel for local life.

The name ‘Interlaken’ literally means “between the lakes”, in this case the Thunersee and the Brienzersee. The Thunersee lies between Interlaken and Thun while the Brienzersee lies between Interlaken and Brienz. Once you figure that out it’s much easier to get around.

This was only a one week adventure due to obligations back home, but it definitely fueled our desire for more trips of longer duration in the future. Hopefully the blog entries below will help to explain why we are such fans of the Alps!

Our Blog For Grindelwald

Day 1 – The Faulhorn Mountain Hike

Day 1 – The Faulhorn Mountain Hike

We started out with a gondola ride up to the ‘First’ overlook. From there we took a long hike up to the Faulhorn mountain hotel, through the village of Bussalp, and finally back down to Grindelwald.

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Day 2 – A Walk Around Interlaken

Day 2 – A Walk Around Interlaken

On the second day we started out with a train ride down to Interlaken for a walking tour of the town and finished up with a late lunch at the Hotel du Lac on the banks of the Aare river

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Day 3 – Our Return To Zermatt

Day 3 – Our Return To Zermatt

On the third day we took a 3 hour train ride to Zermatt for a walking tour of this quaint village at the base of the Matterhorn followed by a late lunch to celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary.

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Day 6 – A Rainy Day In Grindelwald

Day 6 – A Rainy Day In Grindelwald

The sixth and final day of this adventure was quiet, lazy, and sometimes rainy. We took an afternoon stroll through the upper section of Grindelwald followed by the re-packing of our luggage!

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Extra – A Tour Of Our Ferienwohnung

Extra – A Tour Of Our Ferienwohnung

Here’s your chance to get a look at our Ferienwohnung or ‘vacation apartment’ that we rented for our stay in Grindelwald. We rented this brand-new property through the Interhome agency.

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Useful Links For Grindelwald

General Information   Wikipedia
Weather   weather.com
Official Website  Jungfrau.ch
Tourist Office  Grindelwald.Swiss
Travel Planning   Trip Advisor
Lodging    Airbnb / VRBO
Train  SBB.ch