I tried to go on this adventure a few years ago, but then the pandemic hit and I had to cancel everything. But in May 2023 I finally set out for a two-week Swiss (and Liechtenstein) adventure.
Since I’ve been to Zürich not too long ago I decided to skip that this time, so I took the train directly to Luzern where I would spend two nights at a hostel. I found my way to the hostel and left my backpacks there to go explore the town. I walked back towards the town through a park with a beach and walked past a place where they sold some simple warm foods. I got a toast and kept walking. My exploring took me by a lookout spot with some flowering bushes, over bridges crossing the river in Luzern and up to an old stone wall with towers along it. I found myself some ice-cream and enjoyed it in the nice warm weather. Luzern is quite a picturesque city with old buildings, castles, old bridges and such things and I took a lot of photos.
When I got back to the hostel the other girls in the room had checked in so I got the bed that was available, naturally a top bunk. I hate top bunks. The hostel was also strange in that we didn’t get duvet covers, just a sheet we were told to basically wrap ourselves in. But at least we had a little terrace and windows facing the lake. And the girls in the room were nice and chatty.
In the morning I got up early and walked along the water towards town. It was a beautiful morning and I watched the sun come up over the mountains. I just love the morning light, there is something so special about it. I took loads of photos of the sun and the birds along the beach and made my way into town where I took photos of the buildings and the bridges for about an hour. Then I got the first boat out to Vitznau across the lake, then the train up to Rigi mountain. This whole thing was actually included in my Swiss pass so I didn’t have to worry about getting tickets for any of it. A lot is included in the Swiss pass and other things are discounted, so when you’re travelling around the country (and Liechtenstein) it’s pretty convenient to just have the pass, however, it’s not cheap. (If you’re travelling in a specific region there are other types of passes that might work better for you as well.)
The whole journey to Rigi Kulm (I believe Kulm just means top or something) was beautiful and when I stepped out of the train I was in awe. I love scenery like this and to top it off there was a beautiful bird of pray (a kestrel) hovering not far away from the train. I spent a couple of hours taking it all in and taking photos. I walked down one train station, and found a geocache on the way too. When I got down to the lower station I considered walking to the next station as the train wasn’t due for another 25 minutes or so, but I would risk getting there just too late for the train and then have to wait there for the next one instead. So I decided to just wait. While I waited I ended up talking to a woman from Singapore who was travelling with her family, the first of many interesting conversations I had with strangers out and about on this trip. The train arrived and I made sure to sit on the opposite side of the train to get the view from that side as well. As soon as we got back down to Vitznau I ran up to a point with a “Grand tour” frame to get a photo and got back to the dock as the boat was docking. (The train and boat here seem to correspond pretty well.)
When I got back to Luzern I went back to my room to relax a little before heading back out to check out some shops and find food. I had forgotten to pack a pyjamas, but after checking out a few shops I ended up giving up on it, the ones I found were too expensive when I didn’t even like them. I would just have to make do with a tunic thing I had instead. I ended up having dinner at a restaurant by the river. My Lasagna wasn’t the best, but it was fine. I guess when you’re at a restaurant with a nice view what you’re really paying for is the view. After dinner I ended up finding a donkin donut shop, so I got a donut and ate it at the park on my way back to the hostel.
On my second morning in Luzern I got up ridiculously early because I had decided to try to get up to a castle before sunrise. Had I known their grounds were closed to the public despite there being a “grand tour” frame there, and that the park next to it is closed until 10 am, I wouldn’t have bothered. It’s a real shame though as these locations are perfect for watching the sun rise in the summer. I ended up walking halfway back down to the town and watching the sun come up over the wall on the other side of the river. Then I walked around town taking photos in the morning light again until it was time to get on a bus. My plan for the first part of the day was to get the gondola up to Pilatus Kulm as soon as they opened. And I was among the first in line when they opened, getting in the first gondola open to the public from the Fräkmüntegg stop where you have to change gondola to get to the top. As we were “docking” at the top I noticed one of the three animals I was really hoping to see on this trip; an Ibex. It was standing on a narrow ledge in the mountain side. It turned out it wasn't the only one though, on the other side of the building there were several, and at one point they all gathered and went over the mountain, at the perfect moment for me.
I had such luck and managed to get some photos I still can’t really believe I got, of one of these cool goat like animals. They settled on the other side of the mountain as I came out of a tunnel, they walked over the mountain top I walked through it. The top was being swallowed by a cloud as I was walking around and through something they called the dragons path, witch is basically tunnels with occasional openings, like windows. It was pretty eerie walking through these tunnels with the fog seeping in through the openings. As I was getting back to the Pilatus building it was clearing up again though. I went inside and got a pastry and an iced tea and had my lunch “under” the building, with my feet basically dangling off the edge of the floor and the view towards another mountain top, the Matthorn. The Alpine chough (birds) quickly discovered me and were wondering if I had food for them too. They didn’t become too bothersome, but they did come pretty close to me.
After my meal I got the gondola back down, had an ice-cream at Fräkmüntegg while watching the kids on a rope course. They really do make these mountains accessible and fun for the kids as well. (I am personally not a big fan of rope courses, but I have tried them in Norway.) They also had a summer toboggan run, they do a lot of places in the Swiss mountains. I debated (with myself) trying one, but didn’t end up doing it, I’m sure they’re fun though. After my ice-cream I made my way back to the hostel to pick up the backpack I’d managed to get on top of a row of lockers in the morning and then went to the train station. My next destination was the Swiss capital: Bern. Arriving in Bern I actually struggled a little trying to find the hostel, but I guess I was just “blind”. The entrance was marked, it was just shared. When I got in though I was more than a little surprised to find there was nowhere to but my luggage until check in. Another girl who was waiting said there was a room through the office though and although the reception was closed she could hear voices there. She knocked on the window for me and an annoyed woman told me the office and there for the luggage room was closed, but she still let me put my luggage in. A hostel that has nowhere for guest to leave their luggage, seriously? So we’re just supposed to wait for hours at the bench while they chat on the other side of the frosted window? I won’t recommend this hostel if you need to store your luggage before or after check in/out. (Backpackers, Glocke)
After leaving my luggage with the annoyed employees I took the bus out of Bern. I had solved a mystery geocache I wanted to find and I’d found a nice area on the map close to it as well.And the area really was nice, however, it was also a bit crowded. In the nice weather the locals clearly find themselves a nice spot along the river and enjoy the heat by the water. Also; if I wanted the photos I had initially thought I could get I’d have to get down the steep 1-1,5 meter to the river (into the river), and cross part of the river to get to dry “land” in the middle of the river. This was not ideal as I was wearing hiking boots. So I just walked along the river for a bit and then walked back towards a bridge I needed to cross. On the way back one of the little “beach spots” that I didn’t have to go into the river to get to had been abandoned and I could at least take a few photos from there. Then I headed over the bridge and towards the geocache, which wasn’t easy because the shortest way was through private property, so it was a bit farther to walk than I’d hoped. After going the long way towards the trail I found a small path between the flowers. It led me between trees and it didn’t take too long before I realised I didn’t like this trail. The brush was growing a bit too close to the trail and I kept hearing noises. After checking the details in the geocaching app I realised there could be snakes (and yes, I know they’re probably not very dangerous in Switzerland but I still don’t want to be bitten). I was very disappointed when I didn’t find the cache, I was sure I knew where it was supposed to be, but I couldn’t find it and I wasn’t about to go into the brush to check under more trees, I kept hearing noises and there were leaves covering the ground. So I didn’t find it and had to just keep going to get out of the forest. (I later realised the noises might just have been lizards, as I saw many in the area after I got away from the trail.)
Leaving the trees behind I ended up walking a very narrow path through a wildflower field, too narrow. The flowers were almost up to my hip, I ended up trying to lift my camera bag above them because of insects, pollen and the fact parts of the flowers kept getting stuck in it. I had regretted my decision to wear long tights and hiking boots while at the river, at this point I was really glad I didn’t have any openings to my skin on my legs. The view from the path was pretty good though. This path continued like this for a while and I was really hoping to at least find the geocache at the end of it so that the walk wouldn’t be completely in vain. At first I didn’t quite understand where it would be, but then I realised (the hint clicked into place) and found it. I was very relieved to at least find one. Then I headed off the flower field and back down towards the river on a road. After taking in the beautiful sight of the river and the old bridge for a little bit I headed for the bus back to Bern.
Arriving at the hostel I was pretty tired. I got the bedding on my bed (a process I do not like very much, especially when it’s a top bunk) and showered. I was so tired I couldn’t be bothered to explore Bern in the evening, but rather decided to go to bed early and go for an early morning walk instead. However, I didn’t end up sleeping as early as I had thought, because one of my room mates was a lovely Canadian girl that I really got along with. So we chatted away for quite some time. (And I actually met her again later in the summer, while she was visiting Norway.)
I still managed to go for the early morning walk though. Caught some pink in the morning sky from a bridge before walking along the river around Bern city centre. The same river I had walked along the day before really, with the beautiful turquoise colour. I’m not sure how it happened but at some point I took a “wrong turn” because the path I was on turned into a very narrow path with low branches overhead, or should I say “over waist” because they were so low even I had to crouch. (And I’m quite short.) I did eventually get out the other side of it though, but not before I’d seriously questioned my choices. When I got away from the narrow path I was by a sort of dam with water flowing over it. I spent some time taking photos of the water in the morning light before moving a little further along the river. Then I found a path going back up to the city, part of which was a wooden enclosed staircase.
I walked around a little and circled back towards the bears. I’d walked by the bear enclosure earlier but only saw one bear and it was asleep.Now, they were awake though and seemingly waiting for food. One was pacing; going in through a whole in the wall, coming out to walk a little circle and then going back in. Overall they didn’t seem like happy bears. I love animals but seeing them sad isn’t fun. I did take a few photos of them though, and I believe I did eventually spot all three bears living in this enclosure. Then I headed back towards the hostel. On the way I tried for a geocache, and a sweet old lady who didn’t speak English even tried to help me as she knew where it was, but I couldn’t get to it, even with the screwdriver she gave me. So I tried to thank her and said I had to go. I had to get back to the hostel before check-out. After checking out I hurried to the train station to catch the next train to Interlaken. I arrived in Interlaken before noon, and made my way to the hostel. I left my backpack by the other luggage, there was quite a bit of it, and then went exploring. I took the Heimwehfluhbahn up a hill, had I realised the price I probably would have skipped it, but the view from the top was nice. I walked around a little and then found the path to get back down, there was no way I was paying to go back down too. Then I walked towards the “city centre”. I walked around, crossed some bridges, found some flowers by the turquoise rivers, then I tried to find a place to eat. Turns out that wasn’t too easy. I eventually found a place I could sit down at and had a simple chicken meal. I hadn’t eaten a “real meal” for a while at this point and really felt I needed it. After my meal I went back to the hostel and relaxed while I waited for the reception to open.
Soon after I’d checked in, and gotten incredibly relieved to not get a top bunk, in fact there were no bunk beds in the room, I met my first roommate. I took her up on her offer to come downstairs and meet her friend who was staying in another room and soon realised this was a very social hostel. I stayed at Balmers, a pretty big hostel with 2 buildings and an outdoor area. There are many common rooms, games, instruments. I spent a few hours chatting to different people in the common area before retiring to the room, where I met my other two roommates. I quickly realised most of the guests at the hostel were quite young Americans. But even though I am about 15 years older than most of them they didn’t really make me feel old or anything, so that was good. I didn’t go to bed too late as I had plans to get up fairly early. I did hear roommates come in late though, that’s a part of staying in hostels though, I guess I got up about an hour after some of the others came in.
I left the hostel around 6 am Saturday morning and walked towards the train station in the east. I got the train to Lauterbrunnen and changed for the service going up. Now, I had considered going up above 2000 masl, but because it was quite cold at 7 am, and I wasn’t sure about the snow situation, I decided to stop at Wengen at about 1270 masl. I found a geocache by the trainstation and then walked around Wengen for a little bit before I started walking down towards Lauterbrunnen. A lot of this walk is in the forest with tall trees, but there are a few lookout points. And the view really is fantastic. I stopped a few times to get some selfies, or “selfie from a distance”, as I call them. Made a friend along the way, a beautiful young (I'm guessing here) cat. It’s not easy to try to get good photos of cuddly cats though, they get too close, and this one had clearly walked through wet grass. I found another geocache on the way down, and one in Lauterbrunnen later.
On the way down I’d noticed that there was a path going up towards a waterfall, one that is quite popular; I’ve seen it on Instagram a few times. So I decided to walk the path to get closer to the waterfall. Getting on top of the hill I was surprised to see the path didn’t end; instead there was a tunnel into the mountainside. I decided to check it out, but don’t really feel like it was worth it. I walked through the tunnel, up a set of stairs and then followed a path in the mountainside, but the path was full of people. We ended up queuing, with no way to see how far the path went or if the view from the end of it was worth it. The guys right behind me in line eventually gave up and walked back. I figured I’d been in the line for this long I might as well get to the end of it. When I was nearly at the end I realised the reason the line was moving so slowly was because there was no wider space or anything at the end, just a dead end where people took photos before going back down passed the queue. The end was almost directly behind the waterfall, but it still wasn’t worth it. Especially because I’ve seen better before, and would get a similar chance with no people a few days later. After the waterfall and some food in the sun I went for a walk along the river before getting the train back to Interlaken.
Back in Interlaken I got a cider from the shop, finding cider had up until this point been just about impossible, and I enjoyed it outside while going through some of my photos. After a shower and some relaxing I headed back out, this time to explore Interlaken a bit more, and try to find some food. It seems Interlaken really doesn’t have that many restaurants that feel okay for a solo diner though so I ended up at the irish pub. The pub was alright, and they had good music, but despite the fact the temperature outside had dropped a bit after a sudden rainstorm (while I was inside relaxing), the few people there were outside. I was too cold so I sat inside. I had a sandwich and a corona, which was fine, but a little lonely.
After getting back to the hostel I decided to get a drink at the bar, which is only open for a couple of hours, and see if anyone else would show up. It took a while before anyone did, bu then three girls went up to the bar and when I heard them asking where to sit, I told them they could sit with me. I’m really glad I heard them and told them to sit with me, it’s not like I was sitting at a bar to be alone. The girls were all American, of course, two of them knew each other and the third was a solo traveller like me. We sat outside for a bit, then moved into one of the common rooms when the bar closed. Some of the girls had wine so we sat and chatted for a bit, and some guys joined us as well. Then we moved down to the nightclub after that had opened, not my kind of a nightclub though, not fond of the underground dark room, and definitely not of the smoke machine that has me coughing up a storm. I danced a little though and at some point it was decided we were going out to a nightclub in town. It was basically the same thing, just more crowded and with a cover charge. We soon realised most of the people there were actually from the hostel too. Despite it not being my thing, and that the quiet chatting with the girls ended up being my favourite part of the night, I did end up staying out until 4am.
Sunday morning I woke up at a normal time, but I didn’t exactly have a lot of energy. I got dressed for a warm summer day and made my way to the small town of Thun. I walked around taking photos and found a geocache before sitting down for some food with a lovely view. I could definitely feel the affects of the night before so it was a slow day. But still lovely. After the meal I took a longer way towards the docks, it was a perfect day for a boat ride after all. So I found a seat on a boat due to cross the entire lake, the Thunersee. The boatride, on a steamboat from the early 1900s, took well over 2 hours and I loved every minute of it. I was also lucky to sit next to a lovely American couple and we chatted most of the way.
In the evening I went to dinner with Amanda (@amandacherietravels on Instagram), the solo traveller from the night before. I love when I am travelling alone but still find someone to have dinner with, it doesn’t happen as often as I would like but I absolutely love it when it does. I actually tried something local, although, it was just a potato dish thing, so not too scary or exotic. I enjoyed both the meal and the conversation very much.
The next morning I left my luggage in the luggage area of the hostel and went for a morning walk. I walked towards the lake on the east side of town and found a geocache on the way. I didn’t find the other geocaches I looked for though. But at least it was a beautiful morning with the morning sun and the mountains reflecting in the water. And I did see a bird of pray circling above me and some cute lizards. After my morning walk I took the bus back to the east train station and went to the funicular for the Harder kulm. I wanted to get the first one up, so hopefully there wouldn’t be too many people there. The view from the top is pretty cool. They’ve made a nice walkway going from the funicular to the restaurant and lookout point. They also have a very nice cow statue by the lookout point. A nice Australian lady helped me get my photos and I helped her. Then I bought an ice-cream at the kiosk to sit and enjoy in the nice warm weather. I noticed the Australian girl was about to sit down so I asked if she wanted company. We sat and talked for a little while, and once again I was not alone on this solo trip. After sitting for a while we started walking towards the funicular again and took it down together. We parted ways shortly after getting back down to Interlaken as we were going in different directions. I went back to the hostel and relaxed a little while charging my phone and then I got my backpack and headed towards the train station.
After about an hours journey from Interlaken west station I arrived in quaint little Kandersteg. I took photos of my beautiful surroundings as I walked towards the hotel I’d booked. I was instantly in awe of Kandersteg and it’s definitely a place I’d like to visit again someday. It didn’t take long for me to spot a bird of prey, it basically announced itself as I was checking out my little balcony.
After getting settled I got my hiking boots on and headed out to check out the big lake. I walked through town, got the gondola up the mountainside and then walked towards Oeschinensee. It was beautiful, but the weather was unfortunately not the best. It had gotten overcast and it seemed the rain could start at any moment. This (and probably the fact that the gondola was closing shortly after I got it up) meant there were hardly any people around the lake. I stopped to take selfies with tripods a couple of times and sat down on a bench to eat a protein bar before deciding to check out one of the trails, but I didn’t want to go too far because of the weather. I was a little tired too, I had gotten up early and walked a lot already that morning. I decided to try a lower trail that went behind a waterfall and then up the mountain side. I scared an ibex, and that startled me. I took a few photos of it before it started walking the trail, I followed at a slower pace to not scare it more. Then I got a little scared as a big rock (about the size of my fist I think) came from above and skipped on the path just a couple of meters ahead of me before falling further down. So I decided to turn around and go back. Getting a rock in the head is bad, while there is no one else on the path is even worse.
I walked back to the benches and then took another path along the lake and then a gravel road down from the mountain. And that is when the sky opened up. And by that I mean it started raining, heavily. I stopped to rearange my backpack and get my camera bag in there; I figured it was safer with an extra layer around it. A car passed a couple of times and I have to admit I sort of wished it would stop and pick me up. But it didn't rain for long, I got pretty wet in the little time it rained, but it was probably over in about 15 minutes. And it was warm enough that I didn't feel wet for long. A little after entering a trail (a sort of short cut alternative to following the road) I heard Norwegian voices behind me. At this point I was feeling pretty tired and my feet were hurting so meeting four Norwegian guys to chat with while walking for 15-20 minutes definitely helped me. They left me when we were close to their residence for the night and I kept walking as I was on the other side of town.
When I got back to my hotel I sat down in the restaurant/pub and was surprised and very happy to find out they had cider. I was very happy with my schnitzel burger and berry cider, it was perfect after a long day outside. After the meal I went to bed, I was exhausted and had an early morning planned.
Honestly, I probably should have just gone for a shorter morning walk, but I didn’t. I started at 5:40 am and walked towards Blausee. I had seen it on the map and it seemed really cool. On the way I walked along the river, beautiful flower fields and met some cows who it seemed had just been released into their fields for the day. I finally got to the lake after about 2 hours of walking. And it was pretty, but not really like I thought it would be judging from the photos I'd seen online. It honestly wasn't worth the early morning, something I don't say often. I took some photos and headed up to a bus stop to wait for the bus back to Kandersteg for breakfast and check out. When I came back to Kandersteg I went to get breakfast at the hotel, even though I feel there is something missing from the hotel breakfasts in this country (like cucumber slices) at least I get some food in me for “free”. After the meal I met a cat in the restaurant, the cats really are everywhere in Switzerland, I really don’t mind though. Then I went to check out the little lake behind the hotel and honestly it was a lot better then the hyped Blausee. It is a tiny turquoise lake with some ducks and the few houses and the mountains were perfectly reflected in the water. I should have slept an hour longer and just gone out to sit by this lake. I saw a bird of prey perched on a pole across a field too. Kandersteg is just beautiful.
This is only the first half of this adventure! What did I learn from this first part of this adventure? Well, not everything is as great as it seems online, and sometimes the best things are unexpected. I also learned that I should have brought a bathing suit. I didn't expect to want to go swimming as badly as I did. (It's not really ideal to go swimming when you're travelling alone though as you'd have to leave your things unattended.)I also got a confirmation on this trip; I thought I liked Switzerland before this trip, having visited a few places. This trip confirmed that I love Switzerland. I definitely want to go back to see more of it, and also to explore more of areas I've already been to.
Stay tuned for part 2 of this incredible adventure.
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