Looking for a little “inside baseball.” We will be arriving in Zurich (by air from USA) at about 1030 am and plan to be in Grindelwald by about 230 or 300 pm for our first day of a three day visit in the Berner Oberland. I had thought of taking the gondola to Berggasthaus First (sp?). sitting on the terrace with a coffee and a snack and watching the paragliders (weather permitting and if we are not too tired from the journey) until about 515 pm. We would then expect to be back in Grindelwald by 600 pm to stroll and explore the village for 1.5 hours until dinner at 730-800 pm. Does this sound like a reasonable afternoon plan? Is that (Berggasthaus First) a good spot to watch paragliders? Is it too late in the afternoon to watch paragliders given that they presumably have to catch the last cable car back into town themselves? Thanks in advance for any help or direction.
Posted by
Switzerland
508 posts
Yes, I would certainly make use of the afternoon in some way - going up First (or Männlichen) is a great idea!
Paragliders will not need to worry about the final gondola descent as they can paraglide right down to Grindelwald. I was on Männlichen for two nights last week and saw paragliders both evenings at around 6:00 pm…but there were only two of them, still it was fun to watch.
I have watched the paragliders on First, in the winter, and you can stand on the hillside just below the restaurant - from this location I got a fun series of photos of the entire jump from the running take off to their gentle gliding down towards the valley with the mountains in the background. You might not see the entire process from the restaurant, but should see some of it.
Best place to watch paragliders is in Interlaken on the Höhematte (big field in the centre of town). This is where most of the tourists go for tandem flights and they land in droves compared with other BO locations. I am not suggesting you go there instead of Grindelwald on your arrival day, but if you happen to be in the area to catch a boat or whatever it is fun to take an extra half an hour to go and watch them for a bit.
Posted by
OP
eastern US
160 posts
Thanks, SwissNomad. Wonderful post.