Europe: 8 Week Summer 2025

Gimmelwald! even if posted somewhere else you would stand out as a Rick Steves follower.....:)

Anyway, there are people posting in the Swiss forum about trying to cover Switzerland with teenagers on a budget, your current experiences of prices would be appreciated in those threads.

Hopefully you're not on the badly delayed EC196, if so your next decent connection to Bern is 13:32 track 32 , don't run for the 13:06, it's only 4 minutes earlier in Bern...

@NW England
You are correct, we are delayed and arriving to the main Zurich station now. Maybe the rain caused a slower train speed? Not sure the real reason for the tardiness. Thanks for the new connection info, we will walk over to platform 32 at a leisurely pace :)

actually your delay didn't get as bad as predicted and you could have caught the 13:02 fast train....

I'm afraid 196 almost never reaches the Swiss border on time, the Swiss have obviously added some padding into the schedule on their side to try to compensate.

I love the play by play trip reports

Sorry up front for the ensuing disjointed nature of future posts, but I'm going to intersperse present day travel info with our past days so far...hope everyone can follow along!

No problem just now with the train at Bern, we caught the IC61 to Interlaken and are currently enjoying world class views of the lanscape...life is good! We are planning to arrive on one last train leg to Lauterbrunnen then catch the bus to Stechelberg with our first Swiss cable car to Gimmelwald.

Arrival: Nice, France (I'm calling this day 0 to 5)
We had a relative graciously drive us to the airport and take our vehicle back home as we wouldn't need ot for the next 8 weeks. Boarding our British Air flight from SEA through LHR, our seat reservation was not upheld, but we luckily swapped with a family in the same situation and secured seats mostly together. A quick dinner service and we settled in for an overnight flight to try and get as much sleep as possible. We were envious of the lay-flat seats in first class that we saw during boarding, but we made due with the space we had back in economy. Our daughter reported getting the least amount of rest, but we were excited to get on with the next leg. With a 90 minute layover at Heathrow, our final hop was to Nice.

I had read about getting a round trip tram card for €10, but since we weren't coming back to the airport I'm glad I found info about riding the tram for free to the first stop (Grand Arenas) and having more inexpensive options with an English menu on the kiosk. The rechargeable La Carte allowed us to zip aound on the efficient city trams and use one card for all four family members.

Having 5 nights in Nice was a great relaxed intro to Europe, allowed us to get over jetlag, and start our routines living as temporary locals. We went grocery shopping, had nice walks along the promenade, practiced our French during breakfast at cafes (hello inexpensive baguettes), and enjoyed the smooth pebbled beach with soothing Mediterranean waves. We ventured to Point de vue Colline du Château for a great view, and took a morning trip to Grasse for a perfume factory tour at Fragonard. A day trip to Villefranche-sur-mer gave us another beach locale to marvel at, with a exciting adventure to catch the train back. 3 straight trains coming from Monaco were packed solid and we couldn't squeeze in. We decided to head one stop towards Monaco and then u-turn back toward Nice, and it worked! Having that global rail pass was coming in handy for the flexibility to add and adjust trips.

Day 30 (July 15th)

We awoke in Gimmelwald after our first night in the Mountain Hostel. The "boys" were assigned two bunks (closest to the windows) and the "girls" had a cozy private room with a view overlooking the valley to the high peaks. Breakfast was fresh baked bread with meat and cheese, along with yogurt, granola, and warm coffee. The mood is laid back and happy with a mix of world travelers (but mostly much younger than my wife and I). A rhythm was evident with new arrivals checking in and bunks emptying, while floors were mopped and bathrooms cleaned.

We walked up to Murren to see about grocery options to lessen the sting of expected high food prices. We built a picnic lunch and enjoyed a great spread before stopping in to inquire about bike rentals and the Via Ferrata excursion. Our almost 12 year old son was just a few kilograms too light for the safety harness and too short for the rental bikes on hand. With open plans, positive attitudes, and full bellies it is hard to feel disappointed. Our family enjoyed each other's company and sauntered back to Gimmelwald, enjoying the views all along the way. We passed the now closed Walter's Hotel (Mittaghorn). This is the lodging Rick Steves stayed at often during his trips here. We read that the new owners are looking to renovate and create better avalanche protection, along with finding new partners to reopen the historic building. Anyone interested? https://mittaghorn.ch/en/

Over our homemade dinner we are debating tomorrow's (Wed.) plans. Should we drop down to the Lauterbrunnen Valley floor and try to rent bikes there, or ascend up to the Schilthorn if the weather is clear?

On Thursday, we have tentative plans to meet our hometown neighbors who are on their own tour of Switzerland. By chance, and completely unplanned, our paths are crossing so we agreed to connect with them and tag along with their group as they visit Trammelbach Falls. The cows are grazing the hillside just below us now and the bells around their necks are clanging all the while. It seems impossible to be stressed here...

If the weather is clear I would head into the mountains! You didn’t mention having gone up to Almemdhubel yet, that would be my first choice if I was there! The valley is beautiful but you can see it on Thursday when you go to the falls with your neighbors. Enjoy your trip!

Day 31 (July 16th)

@denisek Thanks for the recommendation. After our daughter awoke with sore throat, we agreed to have her rest at the hostel while the rest of us hike up to Murren again. We set her up with tea and honey along some meds, while she settled in to lots of Kindle ebooks and some other planned phone screen time. Not a wasted day for our 14 year old :) Plus, the view from their small private room can't be beat.

In Mürren, we grabbed another picnic lunch from the Coop market then took the funicular up to Allmendhubel. As a side note: the SBB app, while great overall, does not have a place to input your Eurail pass as a discount code...at least that I've been able to find yet. Purchasing with the booth attendant allowed us to apply a 25% savings. Not a huge amount on this journey due to the relative low fare, but other routes will be a "spend more to save more" situation.

Perched on top a flat'ish area of the mountain, Allmendhubel boasts an impressive playground that even our 12 year old approved of. We strolled through the short wildflower hike to see many species including edelweiss, to my wife's delight. We didn't get anything from the cafe there, but did use the nice bathrooms before walking back down along cows lazily munching grass on the steep hillside. I'm impressed at their agility while dealing with the slopes to find the freshest vegetation, and I don't think their U.S. based counterparts could side step and tip toe along in the same manner.

We grabbed yet more groceries and goodies in Mürren for dinner and ambled down to the hostel to check in on our sleeping beauty. Our daughter was doing OK, but required more tea, pizza, and a hot cocoa. A large backpacking group from Utah consisting of teen boys and girls checked in with their chaperones and blended into the happy hostel vibe.

We firmed up plans with our neighbors to meet them tomorrow in Lauterbrunnen, as they decided to abstain from their larger group itinerary. We'll have breakfast then greet them somewhere downtown before visiting Trammelbach Falls, then making a further plan from there.

Day 32 (July 17th)

Today is our last full day in the Bernese Oberland region. We grabbed a quick breakfast from the mountain hostel and enjoyed the morning scenery playing out on the wall of sheer rock across the valley. Paragliders pass by on fairly frequent intervals, with some of the bolder ones swooping just above the rooftops on their way down the valley toward Lauterbrunnen.

We followed their genreal direction, but with more land based modes of transportation. We retraced our arrival steps from several days prior, taking the cable car down to Stechelberg and then a bus to the Lauterbrunnen station. Soon we were embracing our dear neighbors with hugs and exchanging a flurry of questions and updates on their journey.

We made our way to Trammelbach Falls and opted for the elevator ride to level 5, then walked up to the highest viewing points. The power and force of the waterfalls are surprising, but the cool mist was a welcome change of temperature given the nice sunny day. After splitting up, with one group taking the elevator down while the kids needed more stair action, we reconvened at the bottom.

The group headed to Stechelberg and made our way up the series of cable stations to the dizzyingly high Schilthorn peak (made more famous from the James Bond film, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service"). The weather only partly cooperated and we were provided spectacular views of surrounding peaks and valleys (but alas, not the Eiger, Monk, or Jungfrau).

We caught a late afternoon lunch in Murren and enjoyed chatting as the kids spent some time on a nearby trampoline. Why is it that spending time with good friends seems even better when you're traveling?

We parted ways with our neighbors as they needed to head back to Wengen as their home-base. Auf Wiedersehen, and we agreed to meet somewhere just as stunning as Switzerland next time.

It had been too long since our last trip, so of course we stopped at the Co-op market once more. This time instant noodles made their way into our basket along with some soft drinks to cap off another wonderful day. The small firepit outside the hostel was lit, and we enjoyed one last show of late evening sunshine hitting the mountain peaks past 9:15PM. We were tired from another full and fun day, with "moving day" tomorrow. Check-out and trains to Paris are on the schedule.