Six days in Switzerland and 75 years young – Part 2 – Our Adventures

The birthday dawned with another sensational day of blue skies and snowcapped mountains so today we decided on Lucerne for our day trip.

Back to to the now familiar Interlaken Ost station to board the train for 2 hour ride to Lucerne, due to track work we scored a bonus of a bus ride between Meiringen and re boarded our train a couple of stops out of Lucerne which gave a better opportunity to see some of the little villages and the countryside.

Lucerne proved to be an interesting place to wander around with it little covered bridges and an old building galore contributing to Lucerne’s cityscape alongside the world-famous Chapel Bridge and Water Tower are the Musegg Wall, the Jesuit Church, the Mill Bridge, the Lion Monument (which we missed unfortunately).

The Chapel Bridge is a covered wooden footbridge spanning diagonally across the Reuss River in the city of Lucerne in central Switzerland.

Named after the nearby St. Peter’s Chapel, the bridge is unique since it contains a number of interior paintings dating back to the 17th century, although many of them were destroyed along with most of the centuries old bridge in a 1993 fire. Subsequently restored, the Chapel Bridge is the oldest wooden covered bridge in Europe as well as the world’s oldest surviving truss bridge.

It is a symbol of the city and is one of Switzerland’s main tourist attractions. We walked across the bridge and steadily made our way back to Lake Lucerne near station before boarding the train for Bern.

Again being able to choose a different way home on the train was so good as we hardly ever travelled over the same ground, although we had a bit of a wait for our connection in Bern but were glad to settle into our seats for the final hour home.

We decided on birthday dinner at Des Alpes Interlaken not sure if it was because we both really tired or the meal was only just so so. I enjoyed my steak but it was definitely not the best I’ve eaten by a longshot. After coffee and dessert we were grateful to see our beds which thankfully were just across the road.

After good nights sleep and hearty breakfast (forgot to mention how good the breakfast were more on that later) we set off to catch the Golden Pass train to Montrex.

We boarded at Interlaken Ost station all included in our very worthwhile EuroRail 15 day pass and spent a very enjoyable day meandering through the most picturesque views I have ever been lucky enough too see.

After changing trains at Zweisimmen we continued down to Montreux which lies on the north east shore of Lake Geneva. We left the train for a wander around along the waterfront and lunch at very nice little cafe in the very French Montreux.

Our walk around Montreux

The highlight of the day was being able to travel on the The GoldenPass Classic train that runs on the Montreux–Zweisimmen line offers a journey with a romantic, retro style ambiance.

Its coaches are inspired by the Golden Mountain Pullman Express from the 1930s, a luxury train in the style of Orient Express that was short lived due to the economic crisis of the period.

Platter available on GoldenPass Classic

It disappeared from circulation rather quickly. The current train is a reproduction of the Belle Époque style of its predecessors, in which you will travel like a king. You can even find a coach that houses a wine cellar in which you can taste wines from the area in a warm, convivial atmosphere. This was a real highlight for me and I can’t wait to bring Sharpy here to experience this wonderful journey.

The Route through Swiss Alps

‘a must do’

Day 5 in Interlaken was a supposedly a rest day but it wasn’t long before we decided to head to the ferry wharf and board the ferry to Thun. A short bus ride from the hotel to Interlaken west where we waited to board the ferry (again included in our Eurorail Pass) it was two hour journey with lots of stopping points along the way. It was fun to see all these beautiful places from the lake, a different perspective altogether with each one prettier than the last.

We left the ferry and found a department store to get some of gifts for home purchased wandered through the street markets for awhile but as we were both getting foot sore we headed back to catch the train home to Interlaken, surprise surprise we disembarked at Interlaken West for a change and caught the bus to the door of the hotel. This was a rest day but I am glad we did this trip on our day off as it would have been a pity to miss cruising on the lake. So all modes of local Swiss transport covered train, ferry, cogwheel rail and walking, boy have we walked. Our fitness levels have improved now and all the walking is coming easier each day. There is just so much to do and see, we hated the thought of wasting our time resting. Time for that on the river cruise or so we thought.

Every trip I plan I factor in rest days rest days along the way but this rarely happens, there always one more site or experience we can fit in.

Day 14 found us once again dragging the dreaded bags back to Interlaken Ost to for our train to Frankfurt, Germany. We farewelled Hotel deNord which was our home for 5 nights and 6 days. The hotel was very central being located midway between to two Interlaken train stations with a free city bus just outside the hotel that ran between the two stations.

This hotel is in a great location overlooking a park where the para-gliders land all through the day and right near all the restaurants and shopping area!

Our spacious room had a balcony which was lovely to sit out on or take in the snow capped mountains that surround Interlaken – recommended!

Love the table ornaments

My breakfast fare – each day

A feature of our stay here was the beautiful continental breakfast at our disposal each morning, eggs, cheeses, meats, hot rolls and much much more.

We ate our fill here each day and this set us up for the rest of the day, another feature of this hotel was the fantastic staff who looked after us exceptionally well providing good sound advice for each day’s sightseeing

Getting around Swiss style

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A few random pics from previous few days