The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Invigorate the soul with fresh air from the roof of Europe
Keith Broomfield and his wife and daughter enjoy a hiking break in Switzerland
As we approached close to the glacier high in the Bernese Oberland, several loud cracking noises echoed through the air, a stark reminder that these thick ice sheets are forever on the move, flowing like lethargic rivers, gouging and carving hard mountain rock on their way.
Our vantage point on a rocky ridge delivered incredible views no matter which direction you looked. On one side, the famous mountain trio of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, and on the other a broad Alpine valley that swept all the way down to the small Swiss town of Interlaken.
Accompanied by my wife Lynda, and 21-year-old daughter Laura, we were enjoying a 11-day Swiss hiking break based in the quaint mountain village of Wengen. Car-free and peaceful, it is the perfect location for a walking holiday, well-linked by mountain trains and cable cars that take you up to the highest tops or across to different valleys.
Indeed, this was one of the main attractions for us, where the strain of uphill walking is only an occasional inconvenience because of the excellence of the uplift systems.
The mountain trails are superb, well sign-posted and offering routes of incredible natural beauty; places where creatures such as Alpine marmots and chamois live, and where flower-filled meadows abound at every turn.
There are a great range of options for exploring this area of the Swiss Alps, and for convenience and to keep costs down, we purchased a Jungfrau Travel Pass, which included passage for most train and cable car links in the area, as well as boat trips on Lakes Thun and Brienze by Interlaken.
One day we opted to take the mountain train to the Jungfraujoch, dubbed ‘The Top of Europe” at an altitude of 11,400ft.
This is one of the few attractions not completely covered by the Travel Pass, and the ticket is a real budget-buster at around £63 per person, but it is definitely worth a visit for experiencing this glacial environment.
Attractions here include an “Ice
Palace” with its intricate ice carvings deep within the Aletsch glacier, a panoramic viewpoint and plenty of summer snow games such as sledging, skiing and zip-lining.
You can also walk out on to the impressive glacier here, where we hiked in the thin high-altitude air for an hour under gasping breath to a mountain cafe where a warming hot chocolate soon restored our weary bodies.
Sun-tan cream is essential here; a guest at our hotel omitted to take such a precaution, and his face glowed like a nuclear-fuelled beetroot the following day.
One day we took the mountain train over a high pass and down into the town of Grindelwald, where a gondola then swept us up to another high top called First, where there is a stomach-churning metal walkway hung over the side of the cliff.
It is certainly not for the faint-hearted and includes a viewing platform where you can stand on a glass floor and see right down into the valley floor.
On the other side of the valley from Wengen is the lovely village of Murren, which really captured our hearts with its enchanting houses, combined with cafes and restaurants overlooking a sheer cliff.
Above Murren lies the Shilthorn mountain, where a cable car takes you to the iconic Piz Gloria restaurant, the secret hideaway featured in the James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Each day we found something different to do, whether it be a new mountain walk route, exploring Interlaken or taking a boat trip on the turquoise waters of Lake Brienze. But we came for the walking and that was our main activity.
On the inevitable days when it rained, there were more sheltered walking options down in the valley at Lauterbrunnen, including a visit to a spectacular tumbling waterfall of gushing meltwater from the Eiger glacier that spilled through an impossibly narrow gorge.
Even if caught out by the weather when on the high ground, there is always the option to divert to one of the nearby mountain train stops for a quick exit. But for the most part, the sun shone, and the mountains dazzled.
One thing to be aware of when planning a holiday to Switzerland is that everything is very expensive, especially given the current poor exchange rate with the Swiss Franc. This is one reason why we chose a half-board package holiday based at the excellent Falken Hotel in Wengen. The food here was superb, and the deal also included a daily packed lunch to take on our hikes, which helped expenditure.
The package included a return Swiss Rail Transfer ticket from Geneva airport, which can also be used for discounts on some visitor attractions and bus tickets not covered by the regional pass. The Swiss train system is excellent, always running on time, and every connection we made went like clockwork.
I’ve always had a deep passion for the Alps, ever since Inter-railing there as a teenager many moons ago. With a short flight time from Scotland of only two hours, incredible scenery, favourable climate and clean mountain air that invigorates the soul, it is a part of Europe I am simply addicted to.