justginger
Ideal_Rock
- Joined
- May 11, 2009
- Messages
- 3,712
Sorry for the delay in responding to you, Sarah - had a madhouse weekend. Now it's a relaxing Sunday afternoon, so all the time in the world to write.
DH and I spent 5 days in the Bernese-Oberland area this last summer, wedged between time in France and Turkey. I have been once before, in 2004, but can't for the life of me remember exactly where I stayed. I was in Interlaken though, which was a beautiful city. The color of the lakes is startling blue, just stunning. If you're interested in staying in a place with your own rented car, with access to real shopping, and gourmet meals, Interlaken would be your best bet. This was not what DH and I wanted though - we were just coming off of 5 hectic days in Paris, and were looking for some serious scenery and relaxation. We opted to move up the mountain, so to speak.
There are COUNTLESS travel forum threads on which sleepy hamlet is the best to stay in Switzerland. It seems the main contenders are always Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren, with Gimmelwald perhaps becoming more popular now. Each is reportedly lovely, but for our trip we chose Murren. I wanted peacefulness, and more than anything, stunning views.
You can see from this map (sorry, PS won't let me upload it directly at the moment, so have to just provide the link):
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jHxU7y7L5K0/TiSGe-RKpCI/AAAAAAAAAgo/6Ete2z2ynro/s1600/jungfrau+map.jpg
the positioning of these little places. Murren is to the right of the map, about halfway up. With the lie of the land, and position of the valleys/peaks, it is the only area that offers an unimpeded view of all three peaks (Monch, Eiger, and Jungfrau). Plus we knew we wanted to visit Schilthorn as well, which would have been a rather long journey from Grindelwald, all the way over on the left side of the map.
Summer in this area is off peak time, and places are very quiet -- these mountains are known for skiing, but they are also spectacular for hiking. There are TONS of trails around, of all different fitness levels, that show you such incredible countryside you think you're in a movie! One of our hikes even took us behind a waterfall, it was so cool.
Because we were coming off the back of paying for some other expenses (including Poppy!), our time in Switzerland was not a luxurious one. Though to be honest, I am more of a traveller than a tourist - I look for value for money, and it doesn't take much to make me happy. I hesitate to recommend the place we stayed because I KNOW it's not for everyone. It was minimal - think wooden ski lodge, some rooms were shared accommodation, there were shared bathrooms. I know not everyone can deal with it, and I generally prefer my own bathroom -- but the location of this place was absolutely jaw-dropping. And since summer is low season, our "shared" bathrooms turned out to be just for us anyway! Perhaps you can have a look and see what you think? http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g188084-d1003502-Reviews-Pension_Sonnenberg-Murren_Jungfrau_Region_Bernese_Oberland.html
One thing I would definitely recommend is getting one of the Swiss Half Passes for transportation. There are an awful lot of cable car and train rides up and down and back and forth - they add up very quickly. Our Half Passes paid for themselves almost twice over in the course of five days.
Let me know if you want to know anything else, and I'll do my best to remember. Thankfully I blogged about this trip, so I have a point of reference to go back and look at, lol.
DH and I spent 5 days in the Bernese-Oberland area this last summer, wedged between time in France and Turkey. I have been once before, in 2004, but can't for the life of me remember exactly where I stayed. I was in Interlaken though, which was a beautiful city. The color of the lakes is startling blue, just stunning. If you're interested in staying in a place with your own rented car, with access to real shopping, and gourmet meals, Interlaken would be your best bet. This was not what DH and I wanted though - we were just coming off of 5 hectic days in Paris, and were looking for some serious scenery and relaxation. We opted to move up the mountain, so to speak.
There are COUNTLESS travel forum threads on which sleepy hamlet is the best to stay in Switzerland. It seems the main contenders are always Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren, with Gimmelwald perhaps becoming more popular now. Each is reportedly lovely, but for our trip we chose Murren. I wanted peacefulness, and more than anything, stunning views.
You can see from this map (sorry, PS won't let me upload it directly at the moment, so have to just provide the link):
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jHxU7y7L5K0/TiSGe-RKpCI/AAAAAAAAAgo/6Ete2z2ynro/s1600/jungfrau+map.jpg
the positioning of these little places. Murren is to the right of the map, about halfway up. With the lie of the land, and position of the valleys/peaks, it is the only area that offers an unimpeded view of all three peaks (Monch, Eiger, and Jungfrau). Plus we knew we wanted to visit Schilthorn as well, which would have been a rather long journey from Grindelwald, all the way over on the left side of the map.
Summer in this area is off peak time, and places are very quiet -- these mountains are known for skiing, but they are also spectacular for hiking. There are TONS of trails around, of all different fitness levels, that show you such incredible countryside you think you're in a movie! One of our hikes even took us behind a waterfall, it was so cool.
Because we were coming off the back of paying for some other expenses (including Poppy!), our time in Switzerland was not a luxurious one. Though to be honest, I am more of a traveller than a tourist - I look for value for money, and it doesn't take much to make me happy. I hesitate to recommend the place we stayed because I KNOW it's not for everyone. It was minimal - think wooden ski lodge, some rooms were shared accommodation, there were shared bathrooms. I know not everyone can deal with it, and I generally prefer my own bathroom -- but the location of this place was absolutely jaw-dropping. And since summer is low season, our "shared" bathrooms turned out to be just for us anyway! Perhaps you can have a look and see what you think? http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g188084-d1003502-Reviews-Pension_Sonnenberg-Murren_Jungfrau_Region_Bernese_Oberland.html
One thing I would definitely recommend is getting one of the Swiss Half Passes for transportation. There are an awful lot of cable car and train rides up and down and back and forth - they add up very quickly. Our Half Passes paid for themselves almost twice over in the course of five days.
Let me know if you want to know anything else, and I'll do my best to remember. Thankfully I blogged about this trip, so I have a point of reference to go back and look at, lol.