Interlaken, Switzerland: Tourist Trap Central

It costs nearly 200 CHF to get to the top of Jungfraujoch which is not even the highest mountain in the Alps or even Switzerland alone. And it does not even get you to the top of the mountain (Jungfrau) but to a train station near the peak. The area is a UNESCO World Heritage sight because it is beautiful, but I guess UNESCO never paid any attention to the cost of seeing their sites.

While Molly and Hillary seemed to enjoy Interlaken, I place it just slightly above Lausanne as third from the bottom.

Our train from Lausanne got to Montreux and we had about 30 minutes to board the Golden Pass Panoramic Train to Interlaken. The views from the train were surreal as we climbed through the Alps along several lakes and incredible valleys. The ride took nearly three hours and a good portion of the memory card of my camera.

We arrived in Interlaken and after some debate as to whether Interlaken West or Interlaken Ost was the right station, we walked to our hostel, which was not close to the station at all. We dropped our stuff and checked in, heading back to the other Interlaken station to catch the 40 minute train to Bern.

Separate post for Bern.

We got back from Bern and decided to cook our dinner (Pasta with some canned sauce with hot dogs) before making plans for the morning.

The next morning, Hillary and I headed up to Lauterbrunnen (cost only 8 CHF). The valley was gorgeous. Waterfalls were plentiful as the ice from the mountains was melting and running down through the valley. Along our 45 minute walk away from the city, I got the feeling of being in Abilene, Texas. We were between fields and completely alone in the middle of what felt like nowhere. The scenery was a little different (more green and more snow) though, and changed again as we turned to head 45 minutes back to the station.

Lauterbrunnen was a nice distraction from Interlaken, though we were back by 2 PM to try to watch Molly come in from her hang gliding adventure. Unfortunately, she did not land in the same place as the paragliders, so we headed back to the hostel after absorbing some of the perfect sunny weather. After meeting up, we explored the town, buying a huge pizza and a local beer to try for dinner.

That night, we watched American TV at the hostel (the first I have seen since January!) and prepared to head to Lucerne!