6 months To See The World: Interlaken

I love this place. I have loved Interlaken and the Berner Oberland region since the first time I laid eyes on them during my year abroad in college. It is still a passionate love affair - I have managed to return here almost every time I am in Europe. I have brought many friends here to witness the beauty and participate in the adventure that is this place.

Interlaken is a tiny town sandwiched in between two enormous, impossibly blue lakes and surrounded by snowcapped mountains, including the famous Jungfrau. In short, it is everything I love about the outdoors all in one place.

So it is almost a pilgrimage that brings me back to the heart of Switzerland.

Sadly, my first day in Interlaken was mostly spent curled up asleep with a nasty headcold. Fortunately for me, it was well past peak season so nobody bothered me.

But you can’t sit still for long in Interlaken. It’s too beautiful. I had to get out the next morning. But I chose an easy itinerary hoping it wouldn’t cause a relapse of the feverish snuffling.

I signed up for paragliding in the morning, which was AMAZING. They picked us up from the various downtown hostels and hotels and drove us to the top of a mountain, where we jumped off facing the Jungfrau. For the first few minutes, it was unexpectedly peaceful floating over the mountain, listening to the bell choir of cows jingling their right cowbells below us. Then we got far enough out to be hanging thousands of feet above solid ground – it was exhilarating! And all over in about half an hour.

The takeoff field with the Jungfrau in the background

Under canopy

The colors were amazing.
See the restaurant on top? We
took advantage of an air current and
climbed above it.

My pilot, Peter, managed to find an updraft so we were spinning and soaring up and around for at least 10 minutes before returning to the regularly scheduled route. The forest foliage was also peaking on color - an added bonus when soaring over the mountains. He even let me take the reins and steer for a few minutes before taking them back and giving me a rollercoaster ride of loopdy loops. All in all it was a blast!! I can definitely see how people get hooked on this.

A view of Thunsee and Interlaken

Right after takeoff

Peter turned out to also a great source of info on the local area. He suggested I take the cable car to Niederhorn so that I could walk along the ridge trail from there during the afternoon. I figured that it was easy enough since the cable car would be doing most of the vertical climb. His advice was spot-on. The view was spectacular from start to finish. I hiked along the ridge line from Niederhorn to Burgfeldstand and had the best view of the Jungfrau from anywhere in the valley, for the entire hike. It was amazing.

The view on the left

The view straight ahead

The view to the left

http://desalpes-kunst.ch/

The mountain goats didn't seem
scared of the hikers at all

Relaxing while enjoying the view

The next day was also a trip recommended by a different local. This guy had not already witnessed that I love good views and a sense of adventure, but he still offered a pretty good choice given that it needed to be a short hike since the rain would come in that afternoon. He suggested I take the bus/train/cable car combo to Murren and then down again to Stechelberg to hike the valley with cliffs on either side and waterfalls. I modified it slightly to hike along the “Mountain View” Trail to Murren, which did have stunning views whenever the mountains poked their peaks out from the clouds. I sat and read, and journaled, and generally lingered to take in that view until the rain started. Then I scurried up to Murren where I caught the cable car and train back to Interlaken.