In the Homeland of Milka the Cow: A Travelogue of the Swiss Alps
TO PART ONE: How we organized itcheap travel from Bulgaria to Zurich and main attractions in the city
On the third and final day of our stay in Switzerland, we decided it was finally time to see the famous Swiss Alps. We couldn’t come all the way to Switzerland without seeing the mountains up close. Zurich is located relatively far from the Alps, so we had to take a train there. We only had one day to make the round trip.
We looked at the entire map of Switzerland and found a few options for spending this single day in the mountains.
1-DAY ALPINE TRIP:
Option 1: By train to the city of Lucerne, crossing the lake by boat and reaching Mount Rigi ( 1797m. )
Option 2: Again by train to the city of Lucerne, but this time heading up to Mount Pilatus ( 2132m. )
Option 3: Take the train to Lauterbrunnen and explore the surrounding area from there.
We decided on Option 3.
As I mentioned earlier, the train system in Switzerland is of an exceptionally high standard, and you can reach almost any town or city by train. The trains are equipped with dining cars and offer free Wi-Fi. What’s interesting is that when you’re traveling by train, you don’t even feel like you’re moving—that’s how well-built both the tracks and the trains are. Unfortunately, this comes at a price. Round-trip tickets from Zurich to Lauterbrunnen cost us a whopping 600 BGN. ( ! ) and that was with a discount. The distance between the two cities was 170 kilometers. Keep in mind that you can buy tickets in advance online, which saves you about 30% off the final price—and in Switzerland, that’s no small thing J Just use the Swiss Railways mobile app, and after you’ve entered your departure and destination points and specific travel dates, search for supersaver tickets. For the discount to apply, you must purchase them online—not at the ticket counter—and at least one day in advance.
If you have decided to spend a few days in Switzerland, I recommend purchasing one of the Travel Passes, which reduce the price by 50% and are valid for all trains in the country. Also, with the passes you get a 25% discount on some of the lifts, such as the one to the observation tower on the Jungfraujoch peak.
During our trip, the prices for Swiss Travel Pass are as follows: 3-day pass – 216 francs;
4-day – 260 francs;
8-day – 380 francs.
And so... we caught the train early in the morning around six or seven o'clock, to have as much time as possible to explore this part of Switzerland. After changing trains in Bern, the amazing views of the Alps began. The contrast between the steep snow-capped peaks and the green meadows all around was breathtaking.
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A second connection followed, this time in the town of Interlaken, which is famous for the turquoise color of the water in the lake on which the town is situated. After that connection, almost only skiers with all their gear remained on the train. We—a couple lost Bulgarians on a tight budget who couldn’t ski—were an absolute minority on the train.
I had looked at pictures of the village of Lauterbrunnen ( 796m. ) on the Internet and found it very interesting and picturesque. The truth is that in November the village was completely dead and absolutely nothing impressed us. It is located in a valley and is surrounded everywhere by high steep slopes and barely receives any sun.
The area above Lauterbrunnen is extremely tourist-oriented and has a lot to offer for all lovers of snow and winter sports. There are numerous ski slopes.
There lies the village of Wengen, which is popular for being a car-free zone, meaning all vehicles are forbidden.
The area is also home to the world's longest sledding run—a full 15 km—and it takes about two and a half hours to complete.
We set off for the neighboring village of Grutschalp. Along the way, we saw the large waterfall for which Lauterbrunnen is famous, as well as how Swiss villagers live. From there, we took a cable car to the village of Murren, which is known for being the filming location of one of the James Bond episodes—*Walk of Fame*.
Mürren (1,638 m) was exactly what I wanted and expected to see in Switzerland—a typical Swiss Alpine village. It was situated on the edge of a steep slope, and the most popular activity in the village was skydiving and paragliding over the village of Grutschalp, which lay directly below in the valley. Everywhere—on the streets and rooftops—there was at least 20 cm of snow. The buildings, every single one, were built in a typical Alpine style.
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The two observation decks in the Lauterbrunnen area that you can go up to are Schilthorn ( 2970 m. ) and Jungfraujoch (3454 m. ).
Schilthorn was also a filming location for a James Bond movie. From the tower at the peak, a wonderful view opens up towards the surrounding peaks, mountains, and lowlands. The return lift ticket from Mürren to the Schilthorn tower costs 85 francs/person. Unfortunately, it turned out that when we wanted to go up to the tower, the annual maintenance was taking place at the exact same time and the lift was closed.
The main attraction in the region, however, is called Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe. If you are wondering how it is pronounced, here it is: Jungfraujoch 🙂 Did your tongue get twisted :)!? Again, a peak in the Alps, which has an Observation tower with a view of the peaks and glaciers around. Here, however, the tickets are 160 francs/person, with the price including going and coming back from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch. Surely the view from the peak on a clear day ( this is an important clarification :)) is mind-blowing, but unfortunately, we didn't have that kind of funds, as we didn't assume at all that Switzerland would be quite this expensive.
What we did was walk back from Mürren to Lauterbrunnen along the pedestrian trekking trail. Our return took three hours, as we stopped several times to enjoy the three high peaks around – Eiger peak 3970 m., Monch peak 4107 m. and Jungfrau peak 3454 m.
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IMPORTANT NOTE! Like typical Bulgarians who always try to get away with things, the thought of riding the train for free crept into our minds… It’s a good thing we didn’t do it. For the entire trip from Zurich to Lauterbrunnen and back, we changed trains a total of six times, and on four of those six trains, a conductor came by to check our tickets. The fine for not having a ticket is 100 francs. The good news is that you don’t need to have a printed ticket—you just need to show it in the Swiss Railways mobile app so the conductor can scan the ticket’s barcode.
