After Lucerne (or Luzern) , we took the Golden Pass train to Interlaken, which served as our base for exploring Swiss Alps in the Bernese Oberland area.
There are three segments of the Golden Pass, our journey only run the first one, from Lucerne to Interlaken Ost.
The train came with semi-panoramic windows, and the ride lasted two hours.
Make sure to sit on the right side of the train for better views.
We chose Interlaken instead of the car-free villages up the mountains, such as Murren, Wengen and Gimmelwald, for the reasons listed below:
- There were more hotel choices
- More choices for restaurants
- More evening activities in the town
- And easier access to the nearby city, Bern
If you have three days visiting Bernese Oberland, save your best day to Schilthorn or Jungfrau, give the cloudy day to Lauterbrunnen valley. This pleasant and easy walk along the valley floor is weather-proof.
There is a main road, also a paved lane (which we took) paralleling the river; also small bridges to let you cross.
In mid-May, the valley was covered with wild flowers, especially yellow dandelions. The cows were happily munching and mooing, obviously they liked the flowers too! 🙂
There are totally 72 waterfalls in the 3-mile long valley.
However, most of the waterfalls start strong, only run out of steam half way, turn into mist in the midair, never get a chance to reach the deep valley floor. Here are some that actually touch the ground.
The most powerful waterfalls in the valley is Trummelbach Falls, about half way of the walk. This was the only attraction in the entire Switzerland trip NOT covered by the Swiss Travel Pass (11 CHF).
We rode an elevator up through the mountains, then climbed up many stairs to see the upper falls. The mighty melt from Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau cut through the mountain, in a speed up to 5200 gallons a second!!
There are also cafe and small shops along the valley, you can have snacks and drinks, like cookies and beer, by the waterfalls.
And you can quit anywhere along the walk, just hop on the Postbus for a short ride back to Lauterbrunnen.
Chasing The Wind 