Yet another reason to visit the Lauterbrunnen valley- for LoTRs fans

Well Tom the area certainly is beautiful enough to be anyones idea of a fictional wonderland.

Tolkien expressly said that his own travels in the area in 1911 inspired parts of the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. He apparently passed through Gimmelwald, backdoor-travel style:

We went on foot carrying great packs practically all the way from Interlaken, mainly by mountain paths, to Lauterbrunnen and so to Murren and eventually to the head of the Lauterbrunnenthal in a wilderness of morains. We slept rough...often in hayloft or cowbyre, since we...never booked.

That's from a letter to his son Michael, published as No. 306 in "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien" (Allen & Unwin 1981). He also wrote,

I left the view of Jungfrau with deep regret: eternal snow, etched as it seemed against eternal sunshine, and the Silberhorn sharp aginst dark lue: the Silvertine (Celebdil) of my dreams.

Very cool info guys!!! Almost makes me want to re-read them.

My girlfriend is going to hate me for going without her...

OK, now I'm definitely spending my "4 days in Switzerland" at the Lauterbrunnen Valley- thanks!

Woohoo... I'm so excited!! We leave next Friday. I've been checking the weather.. still raining in most parts of Switzerland and light snow in Jungfrau (-1 degrees).. hopefully, the rains over and done with in the 10 days that I still have before we arrive.