4 Days of Alpine Adventures in the Swiss Interlaken Region

September 2, 2025

We’re taking you on an unforgettable journey through the Interlaken region of Switzerland, the gateway to the Bernese Oberland and Jungfrau Region. We’ll share insider tips to make the most of your Interlaken getaway, recommend the best towns and villages to visit and detail the hikes and experiences we did including toboggan rides, steam locomotives, waterfalls, fondue, glaciers, and more!

Download our 4 day Interlaken itinerary to take this exact trip yourself!  

We stayed at: Hotel Lotschberg in Interlaken, but if you are traveling by train we recommend staying closer to the train station at Hotel Interlaken or Royal St. Georges Hotel Interlaken. You can also check out other highly rated hotels in Interlaken, just remember to book early for the most options and best prices!

Other Switzerland travel tips and advice: 

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4 Days in Interlaken – Episode Transcript

0:35

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hello fellow travelers.

Hey, squaddies.

Welcome to this week’s episode of the Travel Squad Podcast.

Today we’re taking you to Interlochen, Switzerland.

0:50

We spent four nights in Interlochen and we used it as a hub to visit neighboring towns and villages and really it was the perfect city to stay to use as a base.

I’m so excited to be in the hot seat with you 2 today for Interlochen because I have a trip coming up.

1:07

I’m going to be going to this area of Switzerland probably in two or three weeks, so I’m putting myself in the seat of a squatty listening at home that’s looking for information for their trip to Switzerland.

I have all the questions.

And one thing I know from my own research is that Interlochen itself as a city is one thing, but a lot of people refer to Interlochen in a region, right?

1:29

There’s a lot of stuff around here.

Yeah, and that’s why Brittany was saying it’s a great hub.

Yes, Interlochen is a city.

And if we kind of breakdown the name, maybe we could figure out it’s a city between two very large lakes and then you have mountains on each side.

So it’s in a valley.

1:45

But you are correct, Kim, consider it a region because there’s so many places to go and day trips and things to see within that area.

So yeah, you may stroll the town of Interlochen.

You’re going to be done with that real quick.

It’s really what is around Interlochen, the reason why you are going there, I think.

2:03

And this was actually four days that we spent on a 10 days in total in Switzerland.

And and these were probably some of my favorite days of our entire trip that we had here in Interlochen and the surrounding region doing what we did.

And was this the first place in Switzerland you went?

2:19

Yes, it was.

We landed in Zurich and we drove from Zurich to Interlochen, which typically takes a little under 2 hours, but there was a crash in the tunnel.

So just keep that in mind that if you are driving, there’s a ton of tunnels and there are frequent crashes in the tunnels.

2:36

And So what was supposed to be two hour drive turned into a 5 hour drive.

So just imagine traveling internationally, San Diego to Amsterdam, a little bit of a layover, Amsterdam to Zurich, getting out ready to go and just wanting to get to the hotel and rest.

2:53

And then, yeah, I mean, we had a slight delay because of the accidents.

And when we get to the tips, I mean, and maybe this should be in the tips, but we’re talking about it now, so I’ll just mention it.

Obviously Switzerland is a very mountainous country, so a lot of the roads do go through tunnels and through the mountains and some of them are very long, like a kilometer long.

3:13

One of them, I think the longest that we went through was what like 4-5 kilometer long tunnel, just like carving right through driving.

So if you are going somewhere and there happens to be a crash in there, it can really impact your traveling time from one place to the next within Switzerland.

3:29

You said they are frequent crashes.

Did you see more than one when you were in Switzerland?

We saw two that occurred and when we say saw, we didn’t actually witnessed the crash.

But day one, of course, upon our arrival, we found out that there was a crash.

They closed the highway because not everything of the highway of course is in the tunnel.

3:48

But realistically they don’t really have a lot of offshoots to switch to other freeways or highways like here in the US.

So they will block it very far back to put you onto the little side roads or alternative routes and detours.

So that’s why it ended up becoming five hours and then another day, I think it was 2 days before the end of our trip.

4:09

We were transferring from one city to the next and all of a sudden our GPS recalculated on us and then it told us there’s a crash in the tunnel on this highway.

So we were about 30-40 minutes away.

And then it turned into an hour, 20 or an hour and a half because it had to reroute us through a side Rd. that went over the mountain versus through the mountain in the tunnel.

4:31

So it happened twice while we were there.

So I feel like you’re there long enough, somebody’s probably going to see a road closed down.

But back to Interlochen, because we still had a great time, and even with the traffic, I mean, I guess that’s one perk of traveling by train, you’re probably not going to have those issues.

4:47

But regardless, we got there, made it to Interlochen, and we spent four amazing nights there.

So Interlochen is a scenic town that sits between two lakes like Jamal mentioned, Lake Tune and Lake Brien’s.

And I will apologize in advance because we know that our pronunciation’s never going to be as good as it would be as if we were locals.

5:09

But we did look up the pronunciation, so we don’t need another e-mail saying that we said something incorrectly because we are trying.

OK.

Just getting that off my chest, but Interlochen is in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland.

5:27

So people refer to Interlochen as a region, but at the region is actually the Bernese Oberland region, and it’s the gateway to the Zhengfrau region, which has some of the most iconic Alpine peaks like Ager, Moench and Yungfrau.

5:43

And like Jamal said, it has dramatic mountain landscapes, really cute Swiss villages, and there’s so much to do with an Interlochen and using it as a base.

Yeah, from hiking, paragliding, taking the scenic railways, there really is lots to do or even going out onto the lake.

6:01

So you’re not going to find a shortage of activities in Interlochen and the surrounding region.

So the whole time we were there, I was just so amazed with how beautiful it was.

The nature is just so beautiful, amazing.

Like you just feel like you’re in a postcard.

6:17

And the whole time I was there, I was like trying to compare it to other places that we’ve been and it just really felt like a mix of Iceland, Alaska, Berk Discard in Germany and the Canadian Rockies, just like all in one.

And so if you’ve been to any of those places, you can resonate with this, but it’s just really just a combination of all of them where every time we went out and like, oh, it reminds me of this region that I just, I fell in love with the nature of it all.

6:44

Those are all gorgeous places, huge mountains, beautiful lakes, like beautiful colors.

So I was getting some Canadian vibes since you all were here in July, correct?

Yes, we are here in July.

All right, well, I have my pen and paper out.

I’m planning my trip, so let’s get into the good hard tips of Interlochen.

7:03

Well, we’re going to break it down a little bit by a few things.

We just want to talk about tips for packing.

Perfect.

You should really bring an umbrella.

You would think summer is a really good time.

And actually when we planned that we were going to be going in July, Brittany even said they said this was the very best time in terms of weather.

7:22

Of course, there can be rain, but shouldn’t really necessarily expect it quite often.

We ended up getting a lot of rain on this trip.

Luckily not so much while we were here in Interlochen.

And a day or two before our trip, Brittany and I said, you know what?

No, we’re not going to bring our umbrellas.

7:37

We don’t really want to take the extra space.

The weather forecast is looking good right now, no rain projected and sure enough we arrive in Switzerland and the rain projection comes in.

So luckily our hotel and a lot of hotels that we saw did have umbrellas for guests to rent and take.

7:54

But don’t bank on that, bring your own because it can rain whenever.

That is something that I have learned from my travels.

I always have my little 5 inch expandable travel umbrella and that thing has saved me so many times.

So you got to always travel with the umbrella.

8:11

I know I looked at Jamal and I was like, well, that’s what we get for taking out our travel umbrella.

But anyways, on the lung, the same lines.

Just make sure you’re packing and dressing in layers.

Yes, you’re going in summer, but if you’re doing anything that involves glaciers or lakes, you’re going to get cool breezes.

8:28

The temperature is going to drop in the morning and at night.

And so make sure you’re dressing layers because the weather can be a little unpredictable and the weather changes can be very different when you’re in the valley versus on top of a mountain peak.

Yeah, I was going to say whatever you’re doing, you’re more than likely at some point going to go up a mountain and you’re going from whatever the elevation is at the city or town that you’re in.

8:51

And when you go up the mountain, you’re gaining like 2003 thousand feet at a minimum, if not a lot more.

So the weather will vary based off of just where you are and what you are doing.

When you say dress in layers what do you mean?

Because I’ve heard a lot of tik tokers say where wear a rain jacket but you already have an umbrella.

9:08

So do you really need a rain jacket?

Like how thick of a jacket do you need for the mountain part?

Do you need it for down below too?

So when we were hiking, I was down to a tank top sometimes with just like a long sleeve over it just for like sun protection.

But when we were in Zhengfrau, I was wearing a thick puffy jacket, so anywhere in between.

9:29

So I did bring one thin rain jacket and then one larger puffy jacket just for that specific.

And you had a Jean jacket, I saw.

Well I did have a Jean jacket, but that was for like casual wear.

But see, when Brittany mentioned that on Young Frau, that was when she had her thickest jacket.

9:46

That is at a very high elevation that’s covered in ice.

There’s a glacier right there somewhere.

I think what, 11,500 feet?

I mean, we’ll give you the exact amount later once we start talking about it because I know we have it listed.

But I had a very light jacket on there and I wasn’t terribly cold, but it’s snow up there.

10:04

So it, it just really depends.

But you you don’t need anything terribly heavy unless you’re going in the winter.

But you want like light layers that you can just put on so that that breeze doesn’t hit your skin.

You get cold or when you get hot, take it off and then you could cool off.

So that type of layer.

10:20

OK, good to know.

I have to adjust my packing list.

I have a lot of sun dresses on there.

You know, I did wear sun dresses in the valley, so that was comfortable, but you’d want a Jean jacket or something to cover up with.

I think my jacket that I brought, it wasn’t the thickest winter jacket that I had, but I have worn it in cold places.

10:40

But it’s not going to be like the heated jacket you needed in Iceland in the middle of winter.

Got it.

You know, so I think somewhere in between you’ll be fine.

Last packing tip is just to make sure to bring in a appropriate electrical outlet adapter.

The one that we have, I’m going to actually link it in the show notes because I am in love with it.

10:58

You plug it in.

Ours has the option to plug directly like right up against the wall or it has like an extension cord so you can lay it out longer and then it has like 2 regular plugs, a USBC and a few Usbs so you can charge multiple things at one time time and we bring it everywhere and it’s fantastic.

11:21

Tips for transportation You can travel pretty much anywhere by train or public transit, but if you’re short on time and just don’t really want to be bound to train or bus schedules or whatever it is, renting a car may be good.

We did rent a car and then when we did the price cost analysis, Brittany figured out that it was just better for us to rent the car, but we were there a longer period of time just as well.

11:45

So for us it may so just figure that out, but I would say, and I know Kim, you aren’t planning on renting a car, but you’re going to be there a lot shorter of time, just only a couple of days, right going through.

We’re going to be in Switzerland for six days and I got that Swiss travel pass because we are going totally by train.

12:02

And how much do you pay for that for six days?

472 today I bought it.

Francs or dollars?

Dollars.

OK.

So you paid 472 and you’re going with someone who also paid that same amount.

And for our rental car it was 600 total.

12:17

Yeah, for 10 days.

And we were there 10 days.

So again, it just really depends on what you want to do.

Or if you don’t even want to deal with the hassle of driving, then that’s not a bad option of what you did either necessarily.

So it’s really what you want to do.

And I have a couple comments about this card because you guys didn’t use it.

12:34

From what I understand, it’s also good for 500 museums.

So there’s a couple we might check out.

That’s not really the selling point.

But the other thing is for all the cable cars, I think it gives do at least half price and also free boat ride on Lake Tune or Lake brands, which we’re trying to do.

12:50

So there’s some added benefits and I know you guys did some cable cars that you paid for, right?

Not some tons, and we’ll get into this later.

You really can’t do anything in Switzerland unless you take cable cars, funiculars, gondolas, trains, anything like that.

It’s fun until you realize how much it is.

13:07

And when Brittany wants to do hikes every day and you got to get up for one of these things, then it becomes a little bit pricey and cumbersome, but it is fun and enjoyable.

So that is good that you have that, which is great because pretty soon we’re going to get into the money and money savings tips aspect.

13:24

And we did get some sort of car that gave us discounts like that.

So we will talk about that too.

And then gas too, which I want to hear about, but I also want to hear about the roads for someone that is considering driving, like I don’t want to drive on these roads, right?

And we were coming into Switzerland, then leaving out of a different way to go to Italy.

13:41

So I don’t want to deal with all that.

But anyway, you know how I am with mountain roads.

How were the roads in Switzerland?

The roads are actually nice.

They’re well paved.

You’re not going to hit a whole bunch of potholes.

They drive on the same side as we do in the US The cars are set up the same way.

13:57

So the drivers on the left hand side are drive from Interlochen to Zermatt.

There was no big issues.

I think you could have handled that.

Our drive from Zermatt to Appenzel, I don’t think you could have handled that.

So I just think it depends on what region you’re driving to and how windy the roads are for your comfort.

14:18

Yeah.

And like I said, a lot of the roads will go through tunnels so you don’t have to climb, but there are some roads of course, that will be windy and they did not build tunnels through and you’re just back, forth, back forth like switch backs up the road.

And for you, Kim, who I know you don’t like to do mountainous driving, that may be a bit much.

14:35

But like Brittany said, it just really depends on what region you are going to, if you would encounter that or not.

But for the most part, I I think it could be done.

It would just be one day maybe that you’re just like, I really got to drive up this windy Rd.

But that is also a good reason why you are taking trains and buses and doing transportation that way is because you don’t want to drive and do that.

14:57

That’s right.

Sit back and relax.

Take in the views.

Yeah.

And then one thing I found really interesting and of course just on the transportation still tip wise, speaking about gasoline, I’ve been in some countries, Iceland in particular, like I couldn’t really figure out their gas stations and how you pay.

15:15

It was just so weird.

But here in Switzerland, I was like, OK, am I going to encounter the same thing here?

Because this is the first time I’ve been to Europe and actually done driving, usually will do mass transportation, trains fly, etcetera.

So this is first time filling gas in Europe.

In Switzerland, you just lift the gas handle and you feel without even pain.

15:35

And then you’re on the honor system to go into the store and pay via credit card or with cash, however you want to do it.

So don’t stand out there like a dummy trying to figure out where do I pay?

You just lift the nozzle, start filling and then you go and then you go inside.

But don’t be an A hole and then ditch and not pay.

15:53

You know, I bet you there are some people that probably do that, but I feel like if there was enough people that would do that, the Swiss would change their system.

It’s very nice of them.

I thought it was very interesting that they’re on the honor system.

But you come to a country, yeah, there’s a lot of tourists, but just in general crime rates low there, high standard of living.

16:08

So you get that essence and feel here with the the gasoline in terms of just filling and then go and pay on the honor system.

And then the last tip, if you do have a rental car, you will have to pay to park, especially probably in every major city or town.

16:24

You can either pay with cash or you can pay with a parking app.

It’s called EZ Park.

That’s what we did.

You just register the vehicle, set up a credit card and then the GPS location is very good to recognize where you are and saying Oh yes, I’m paying for a meter and this area, you set your time on it and you’re good to go.

16:45

So I would recommend utilizing the parking app which is easy part.

So moving on in our tip section, we’re going to talk a little bit about money and savings.

So the currency that they use is the Swiss franc.

They often put their currency reviewed as CHF.

17:01

We actually didn’t pull any cash though, so we used our credit card 100% of the time.

We didn’t convert any cash either.

The only time that I saw that we would need to use it was when we were on some of the hikes.

There were some little huts where you can get a beer or some snacks and some of them didn’t take credit card.

17:20

But that was the only time that I saw that you would need to use cash and couldn’t use card.

In terms of saving money, Kim, you had mentioned that you’re getting the Swiss Travel Pass, which is good for all of the trains and a ton of different transportations and some museums.

17:36

Says boats, museums, cable cars.

Like I said, half.

Off we did the Swiss half fare card, which is very similar.

It’s half off on all of the public transit and the gondolas and things like that.

So that’s the card that we got since we weren’t primarily travelling by train.

17:54

But if you’re only doing interlock in or that region, there is a Bernice Oberland pass and it’s also very similar.

So you just kind of have to look and see, are you doing a lot of train travel?

Are you just going to be in this region?

Are you going to multiple regions within Switzerland and what card works best for you?

18:13

And I really think when going to Switzerland, because it is very expensive, you should be using some mental travel math in your head.

And what I mean by that is paying for a lot of stuff in advance.

That way when you’re in Switzerland, you’re not spending a lot more money to make it feel like it’s really adding up and spreading out.

18:29

So what I I mean by that, we used our Swiss half year card to buy a lot of funiculars, gondolas or the trains ahead of time.

And once you have the card, I mean, and you could just buy the tickets online and it will ask do you have the Swiss half fare card And you put yes, but they have no way for them to check it nor do they really ask to make sure.

18:53

But rest assured when you get onto the train or the funicular, they will have the attendant come by to check your tickets to make sure that you do have it.

And if they see when they scan the ticket that it was bought with the half fare card, they will make sure you show them yes, I really do have 1/2 fare card.

19:10

And if you don’t they will issue you to a citation and a ticket and a fine.

So don’t think oh I could outsmart them and just say I have it and get away with it because you won’t.

But you should also buy stuff ahead of time to to spread the cost I really do believe.

19:26

I really thought you were going to say just like the gas station, they use the honor system here, but I guess they’re not that.

No, they no they do not.

Not on the train.

The.

Trains.

Every single train ride we had there was an attendant coming by and checking ticket.

And as soon as they scanned the ticket, like I said, they see on their computer or tablet that you bought it with the half air card.

19:46

And then they will ask you, hey, show me that you have it.

And Brittany would have to pull up the screenshot showing yes, we did indeed buy the half air card.

OK, got it.

And So what do you mean about buying things in advance?

Did you buy your trains for each day like ahead of time or you didn’t buy them same day?

20:03

The trains we did buy same day except for when we went to Zhangfrao that was bought in advance.

When we did some of the gondolas, we all of our gondolas in advance and sometimes we could buy funiculars in advance.

So anything that I could buy in advance, I did.

20:19

Was that just the mental money thing or is it recommended to do that because it might sell out?

A few things needed to have them because they could sell out.

And then the other thing was I had just opened up another travel credit card and I was trying to hit a minimum spend.

So I was just trying to get money on a card in advance.

20:38

But I’ll tell you what, the algorithm on Instagram is exactly where you are.

And when we were in Switzerland, my Instagram and explore page was being bombarded with Switzerland reels and everything was just talking about how expensive it is and crazy.

20:54

And when we get to the food, we’ll talk about how expensive the food is.

But even a lot of these train tickets sometimes to take just like one person to take a train up or even a gondola to get to an area where there’s a hike where you could see a pretty lake or a glacier.

Round trip per person average like $70 equivalent.

21:11

So I mean, it really, really does add up.

So I mean, if you’re doing one of those every day, if you can pay ahead of time and get those done, I think it makes a lot of sense.

And then that way when you get to your meals and you’re averaging $40 per person for your dinner entree because that’s the average price, then you’re really kind of like spreading it out.

21:31

And then hotels aren’t any cheaper too.

So it’s Switzerland adds up.

And I know one of the biggest tips for Switzerland and saving money is to shop at grocery stores.

Did you do that?

Would you say that’s a good tip?

That’s actually our next tip, Kim.

So you are right on the money with that.

21:48

Yeah, that is a really good tip.

We went to Co-op, Negroes and Aldi’s.

All of them are grocery stores.

All of them were very affordable.

Jamal’s favorite meals came from Co-op.

We would get like 1/2 chicken and a salad and take that back to our hotel room with us and.

22:06

Really good quality and fresh, yeah.

Yeah, there was a lot of options to choose from, whether you’re going for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

You could get snacks.

We got a few snacks and like nuts and things like that.

So go into the grocery store, they have really good baked goods, so grab a few pastries while you’re at it as well and get some meals from there.

22:26

I really did enjoy going to the grocery stores and like as a good example, like the half chicken was maybe about 8 francs and then a salad if they had multiple types, average about 10 francs.

That doesn’t sound too bad, but speaking from an American perspective and even the euro, the dollar and euro to the Swiss franc is very weak.

22:48

So you are losing a lot of money in conversion on that one just as well.

So this is like, OK, that’s expensive, but doesn’t seem too bad.

But when you do the conversion, you really are paying a lot more money than you realize for.

OK.

So pay attention, like really track your budget on this trip.

23:04

Yes, this is a total side tangent, but I’ve already decided for next year I’m only going to countries where the dollar converts better because this year there’s been so many places we’ve gone that converts the opposite.

Next year we’re going cheap.

I love it.

23:20

That’s actually a good travel math hack right there.

Just go to where your currency is better.

Well, I can say that the drinking water is readily available from taps and fountains and it’s really fresh and really good, so you won’t have to spend any money on that.

Can you drink it from your hotel sink?

23:36

Yeah.

Absolutely, yes.

So we did not buy a single bottled water.

You got that at least.

Yeah, yeah.

Save some money there.

And then just last little tip, random situation here is that Switzerland has four official languages, It’s French, German, Italian and Romance.

23:55

I’ve never even heard of that last language.

It’s spoken in very few places.

You’re not even really going to come across it.

So it’s really only French, German or Italian.

But where and what language is going to be more prominent is depending on what region within Switzerland you’re in, because they have cantons, which is they’re equivalent to states, let’s say.

24:13

And it depends on are you closer to Italy?

Are you closer to Germany, France, where the common language is, but everybody knows English.

So you’re not really going to run into a situation like that.

But don’t be surprised because we went from Interlochen region, which is mostly German.

24:29

And eventually later on in the trip, we went to a region that was closer to Italy.

And then all of a sudden the street signs just changed to Italian.

And you don’t have it like in anything else.

So if you go closer to the French side, then you’re going to see everything switched to French to you.

So you’re going to see a hodgepodge of different languages out there, and they’re all official languages.

24:48

So I’m really excited to dive into the trip itself.

But before we dive right in, we flew on a Thursday, San Diego to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Zurich.

And Jamal at the very last second decided that should we upgrade to business class and of course we we did.

25:08

What a glorious decision it was.

I was doing check in 24 hours in advance and then it asked me, do you want to upgrade to business?

And then it showed me the cash price difference on it.

And I said I I can’t not do this.

It was an extra 500.

A person already said I’m going to be getting bent over, so to speak in Switzerland already.

25:26

What’s just a little bit more and let me fly business class and be comfortable.

And it was really worth I’ve I’ve really never checked in and saw a business class cash price up upgrade that cheap.

And I thought collectively for our round trip tickets that we had already bought total price plus that that wasn’t too bad at all.

25:45

So I was like, all right, I’m going to do this.

And that was a fun experience.

Yeah.

So we flew KLM business class and we will have a mini episode rating our experience.

So make sure to keep an eye out for that episode and listen in if you want to hear all about it.

But with the time change, once we landed in Amsterdam, it went from Thursday the 17th to Friday the 18th.

26:04

We landed at around 9:15 in the morning and then our flight from Amsterdam to Zurich was at 12:15 with us scheduled to arrive at 1:45, which we did.

By the time we got out of customs and got our luggage, everything like that.

26:21

We went to the rental car.

We set our rental car to be picked up at 3:00.

We got there a little bit earlier than that.

But if you are renting a car from the airport in Zurich, at least Alamo, which is who we rented from, they are very specific on the time.

26:37

We were like 45 minutes early and they would not give us the car early without charging us an additional fee.

So we had to also sit an additional 45 minutes waiting for our car.

Otherwise they would put more money to charge us on there for it, which I was like, no, already spent that on business class.

26:54

I’m not going to do it for the rental car.

So then we got the car.

Like I said earlier, we were supposed to be there within about two hours, but because of the crash it was a 5 hour drive.

And then we finally made it to our hotel in Interlochen.

We stayed there four nights.

27:09

A hotel that we stayed at was called Hotel Lochburg and we paid $1150 for the four nights.

Breakfast was included and it was good and any hotel that includes breakfast is going to be worth it because food is so expensive there.

27:25

So that was great.

But what else I loved about this hotel was they actually had a common area lounge with a fridge, freezer, sink, microwaves, and you could put labels on your food.

And so they had a place for you to store it, warm it up.

They had plates, knives, bowls, things like that.

27:43

So that was fantastic.

And they gave free coffee and tea, which their coffee and tea selection was really, really good as well.

It wasn’t like cheap crappy coffee like it was good.

So I really enjoyed this place because it gave us the opportunity to bring food from the outside to save money.

27:59

Had coffee, tea drinks like that included, which is very hard to find.

Just a normal European coffee, which is going to be an espresso or maybe larger black one.

You’re already looking at 5-6 francs, which again, doesn’t sound like too much compared to American coffee, but at least that’s a specialty drink or something, and it’s a much larger here.

28:18

You’re talking small already as it is.

And of course, with the conversion, that’s a lot more than you really think that it actually is.

One thing that I’m planning to do, I found these Vietnamese instant coffees here in the US, it’s like a little basket that it opens up and then you pour over the hot water, instantly makes the coffee, and then it comes with like a condensed milk, like almost in a packet, that really thick stuff.

28:42

You add that in and it makes the perfect coffee.

It’s like $8 for five of them and I’m bringing that to Switzerland so that I could avoid the daily coffee price.

Yeah, unless you get at a hotel again that has free breakfast, which if you do have free breakfast, you’ll have the coffee included at a place like this.

28:59

We stayed at 2 hotels on this trip that had complimentary coffee like this, so you can encounter places like that.

Like, what kind of a great hotel was it on a scale of 1 to 10, you think?

Honestly, I mean, and I’m going based off of European rooms, right.

When you go European rooms luxury, I mean that’s obviously going to be a 10, but in terms of European rooms, how they’re normally basic size, everything included collectively, I’m going to put this at like at a 6 1/2 or A7.

29:26

The thing that’s.

Exactly where I was.

I was going to say the thing I didn’t like about it, of course, is European bathrooms.

They’re small, Shower was small, but you’re in a old historical building.

I understand they’re limited by space.

It’s not like they built this building from the ground up to be a hotel.

You’re dealing with that.

So I’m going to give it 6 1/2 seven well.

29:43

That’s promising that a 6 1/2 seven hotel is giving you that great free coffee.

So I’m staying at the Moxie in Bern because we got it free with points through Marriott and I’m thinking they’re going to have the free coffee.

I hope Moxie does for you.

Moxie’s usually are fun and have lots of free things so they always have the free welcome drinks so maybe they’ll have free continuous coffee for you.

30:03

Yeah, our hotel also had an outdoor terrace, so you can sit out there.

We ate a few meals out there.

They have like a smoking area as well.

And the room we booked had a balcony.

I think we actually had the only room with the balcony, which I absolutely loved.

30:19

But overall, for the price and everything that we got, I would recommend this hotel and we will link it in the show notes.

So now let’s get into the meat of it.

So after we checked in, we just went to bed.

We just kind of rested that day because the next day we were going to get started with everything we wanted to do in Switzerland.

30:37

So the first thing that we had on our list after we had breakfast was to go to the young Frau Jacques, which is known as the top of Europe.

It’s named Switzerland’s number one attraction and it’s actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the first natural heritage site in the Alpine region.

30:56

Yeah.

So if you go to the top of Young Frau, just for short, it is one of the tallest mountains in the Alps, one of the tallest places that you can go in Switzerland just as well.

And then you are at the foot of the largest glacier in the Alps here, and it gives you unparalleled views from the top.

31:16

So this is really cool.

We I enjoyed it a lot of what we did here.

So to get to the top, you do have to take a train.

This is actually Europe highest railway station at 11,332 feet.

So you have a very large climb on these cog wheel style trains because you are going up so steep, even carved through the mountain.

31:39

I mean they built this railway like in the 1800s.

So they’re blowing dynamite through these mountains even back then.

So it’s just a Swiss thing to just tunnel through the mountains and you’re going through this area and you can see from the outside just the beautiful scenery.

31:55

And then some points you’re in the mountain, you’re out of the mountain.

So it was a really cool experience.

To do this, you need about 5 or 6 hours minimum for this and maybe even more if you want to add on things like the snow park that they have up there.

And one thing I want to point out too is that there’s several different ways to get up to Young Frau.

32:14

You can go from Interlochen, you can go from Lauterbrunnen, you can go from Grindelwald, you could take the gondola from Grindelwald as well.

So there are several different ways to get up here.

So when you’re booking your tickets, just make sure you’re looking at which station you’re going to leave from and book accordingly and the price is going to differ based off of where you book from.

32:39

When you’re booking on this, are you doing this all through an app?

No, I was just doing it through their website.

You are logging onto a website on your phone and booking like trains and chair lifts and.

Yes, or my computer, OK, yes, but this is something that was booked in advance.

32:54

And I do want to point out that during the high season, so summertime, that’s on top of your ticket, you also have to have a seat reservation and it costs an additional like 10 francs a person round trip.

I do know there are some trains that you have to have reservations for.

33:10

Was this because it was like a panoramic train or something special?

I think that’s because it’s just so popular since it’s Switzerland’s number one attraction that you have to have a seat.

And how did you know?

Did it signal you when you were trying to buy a ticket that you needed to reserve?

33:26

Yeah, on the top of the website it says that the reservations were required.

OK, got it.

Yes.

So for us, we decided that because this day we were going to pair this with going to Lauterbrennen, we were going to leave from the Lauterbrennen station.

We did have the option to leave from Interlachen as well, since that’s where we were staying.

33:46

But we didn’t want to have to get back to Interlachen and then drive the car to Lauterbrennen, which is where we’re going to end up anyway.

So we just drove initially from Lauterbrennen.

It only took us 20 minutes to get there by car.

We paid to park in the parking lot and then we took the 8:30 train up.

34:02

OK, let me ask a quick question.

Is it hard to navigate the transportation?

It seems like you have to take a lot of things always.

Sometimes it can be a little tricky just because there are so many different trains and switches, but I think they do a pretty good job telling you where you need to make the transfers and what you need to do.

34:21

One other question, so this year I’ve missed 2 trains and so I’m just wondering how much time should you give yourself to navigate these stations where you’re getting on things and transferring?

I feel like we got there every time, at least 20 minutes early just so that you can navigate the platforms, park comfortably and just do what you need to do.

34:43

Like you don’t want to show up last minute because these trains do leave on time.

They are very prompt.

But these trains that we’re talking about that will take you up the mountain, this is just to take you to a sightseeing attraction, right?

It’s not the trains that you may be thinking about Kim of like it’s taking me one from one city to the next, right?

35:01

Those ones, I don’t know because we didn’t do that.

But the trains and and gondolas and funiculars that you need to take to actually get to just destinations and it’s really one way up, one way down.

That’s what Brittany’s talking about.

We were like 20 minutes.

And those stations are not like incredibly large that you need this much time, but they are prompt, so you really do not want to miss it.

35:22

Otherwise you’re waiting for the next one.

And are they easy to find?

Like, hey, I’m going to the train station and it’s obvious and it’s big and it’s right there in front of you.

Yes.

One thing I want to say is some of the trains, especially the sightseeing ones, you don’t have restrooms on and this whole journey to get from Lauterbrennen up to the top of Young Frau is an hour and 45 minutes.

35:45

We did have a stopover in between, like to switch trains, but just keep that in mind.

There are restrooms at the train stations, but not necessarily on board A.

Train.

So are you saying that you need to pack a shiwi just in case there’s no bathrooms around?

36:01

Just go to the bathroom at the train station and you’ll be just fine.

There’s no bathrooms on the trains and these are the ones going to the sightseeing attractions.

Yes.

Oh, wow, that’s kind of surprising, but OK, yes, good to know.

Right.

So we took the train from Lauderbrennen up to Klein Scheidig.

36:18

And as you’re taking that train, you want to sit on the right hand side of the train so that you have the best views of Lauderbrennen and all of the mountains in the background.

So then we transferred at Klei Scheidegg and then we were on the final train that takes us up to Jungfrau.

36:35

And by the time we got to the top, it was around like 10:10, 10-11, something like that.

So we did spend 2 hours at the top.

But when you get to the top, there are several things to do.

There’s observation decks, there’s shops, there’s areas to explore, lookout platforms.

36:52

When we arrived and got off the train, we saw signs saying do the discovery tour.

But we’re like, well, what’s the discovery tour?

You got to pay for that, But that’s a self-guided kind of walkthrough that they do have because where they actually have the train station and overlook area where you can get out and see the glacier is not necessarily where they have the observation deck that’s carved through the mountain.

37:16

So you can follow this walk all the way through.

The observation platform that I’m talking about is called the Sphinx Observatory.

It’s at 11,715 feet.

And from the Sphinx terrace, you can enjoy views of the glacier and also see views in towards like Italy, France, Germany, because you are so high up at this level.

37:37

And then one of my favorite things was the glacier plateau.

So snow’s guaranteed pretty much to be here all the time.

And there definitely was snow.

You can see that Sphinx observatory.

You can get closer to the glacier, the mountains.

And of course, they give you a great photo opportunity here because they have a giant Swiss flag planted.

37:56

And then you can have it with the backdrop of the mountains and the snow.

So I really did enjoy going to the glacier plateau.

Another spot that we visited while we were up there was the Ice Palace.

You go into this big, it’s not even a room.

It’s like.

Tunnel Chamber.

38:12

Yeah, Tunnel chamber and the whole thing is made of ice.

So you’re walking on the ice, above you is ice, the walls are ice, and then you’re passing a ton of ice sculptures.

And so it only takes about 15 minutes to go through the ice palace, but it is really fun.

38:30

I was kind of like sliding around as I was walking for fun, just being a little kid at heart, you know?

And then inside of Young Frau, there is a whole bunch of shopping.

There are restaurants, there’s a Lint chocolate shop with free samples.

38:46

We picked up some Lint Dubai chocolate.

And there is also the snow park, which we didn’t do, which is an add on where you can do some fun snow activities.

So I would say a minimum of two hours at the top, but if you’re going to go to a restaurant or do some add on, then you’re going to need longer here.

39:03

So we got back on the train at about 12:20.

We had a 20 minute transfer in Kleinscheidig and we got some really good pictures of the mountain scenery there.

We got back to Lauterbrennen at around 2:00 and then it started to rain.

39:19

So this is where Jamal was saying we should have brought our umbrellas.

We didn’t have them and it started to rain.

So it cancelled our plans to visit near End, which is one of the car free villages.

We were going to do a hike there.

Which you have to take a gondola from Lauterbrunnet.

39:35

So again, another place where you got to go and a gondola that would have been a fee.

And we were going to do it because there was a what a nice four mile hike to a waterfall and overlook.

And I was excited about it, but we just weren’t able to do it because it started raining.

And not just like, oh, it’s sprinkling.

It was pouring hard.

39:52

So instead, we went to the grocery store, we got some snacks, we took a little cat nap in the middle of the day, we walked a little bit in downtown Interlachen.

We.

Ended up getting a cuckoo clock magnet which we’re going to make into our Christmas ornament for Switzerland.

40:08

How is that significant to Switzerland?

Well, of course in Germany cuckoo clocks are very popular.

But even though this is Switzerland, like I said, German is one of their official languages.

They have a lot of German heritage from that S Bavaria region coming here into Switzerland.

So cuckoo clocks are very common, just as they are in German culture here in Switzerland.

40:29

As a matter of fact, I think majority of our ornaments that we got are cuckoo clock oriented that say, the city in Switzerland that we were in.

So they’ll be hanging on our tree.

Yes, and then we ended up going to dinner and we ended up doing fondue for our first night.

40:46

You’ve told me the fondue is mostly just cheese and bread, yes.

How was it?

Because I’m really excited to have fondue in Switzerland, but can you add anything else into it or just an app like that?

I feel like it really depends on where you go.

Where we went, we did a little bit of research.

41:02

We went to a restaurant called Restaurant Tavern and we got their dinner.

It’s called the Swiss dinner party for two and it’s the fondue dinner.

So it comes with a salad, some pickled vegetables, a hash brown cake which has a little bit of melted cheese on it.

41:18

And then they have like, fried eggs on top of like, some spinach.

So I thought that was really weird.

I was like, what are these accompaniments that they’re giving me with this?

It was nice to have something other than just bread and cheese.

Oh, and by the way, for dessert, it was chocolate fondue.

And you actually had strawberries, grapes, bananas.

41:37

What else did they have?

Dried apricots.

Dried apricots, that’s actually a real hidden gem with chocolate fondue that I was not expecting actually is some apricots, believe it or not, but nevertheless, like that’s all that it came with.

Collectively that came to $100 for me and Brittany for just melted cheese and chocolate and then those side accompaniments that I really didn’t understand.

41:58

So again, food in Switzerland’s expensive and I’m going to be honest, I’ve had better fondue here at Melting Pot in the United States than I did in Switzerland.

I’m just going to come out and say it like this was, well, honestly one of my first experiences eating in Switzerland and I was not impressed.

42:15

Straight up, I’m going to say it.

Preface though, I mean, I’m sure if you guys are listened for quite some time, you know that Jamal is the pessimist of the group.

I don’t know how not liking food is pessimistic.

That’s an honest opinion.

The cheese that they had for the fondue wasn’t necessarily the best, it was mid at best.

42:33

Like, I’m not going to sit here and say I didn’t like it.

I’m just saying it wasn’t great.

Big thing I saw in your video and thought that was an interesting choice.

Right.

And that’s topped on sauteed spinach.

And then they have hash Browns with melted cheese.

OK, I appreciate that because it goes with the fondue.

42:50

Hash Browns is like a starch.

But then you’re going to give me pickled beets and turnips and cauliflower to go with it.

Like that’s just weird to me.

That’s my thought.

You know, it was the Swiss dinner party for two.

So Jamal does not like Swiss food.

43:05

I can say it’s mid as well.

The fondue itself, Kim, I think it was an average fondue in terms of the cheese and bread.

Some restaurants they do have other add in, so it’s not just cheese and bread, but this restaurant I didn’t see that.

43:20

And then we had the three tiered chocolate fondue dessert which I thought was the highlight.

Oh, I loved it, don’t get me wrong, I love the chocolate fondue with the fruit.

I agree with you Brittany.

That was definitely the highlight.

So after dinner it stopped raining and it did this a lot where it would rain for just a little bit of time and kind of downpour, but then it would go back to normal.

43:42

So we drove back to Lauder Brennan which is this beautiful Alpine village with chalet style houses, some really green fields and it has a lot of mountains and waterfalls in this area.

Weed wanted to go specifically to a waterfall called Starbuck Falls and it was just a very short hike, just .4 miles.

44:03

You go up through a little cave behind the falls and you kind of get a little splashback from a waterfall as well.

You don’t have to do the hike, you can enjoy views just from the base.

The falls itself are almost 1000 feet coming off the edge of a Cliff.

44:19

It’s the signature falls of the village.

You can’t miss it and I recommend going up close.

Yeah, I really did enjoy the falls.

Like Brittany said, close to 1000 feet, it’s 974 feet.

This reminded me a little bit of a Yosemite Falls type situation in terms of how it comes off the flat granite rock face coming down a thin, narrow waterfall.

44:39

It’s not like Yosemite Falls in this fence that Yosemite Falls at some point becomes a little too tiered.

You know, where it has the secondary falls.

This one didn’t have that, but it gave me a lot of those vibes.

And in this area and Lauterbranden, just with the rock walls and granite faces that you see, it did kind of remind me of Yosemite a little bit, at least the mountainscape, not necessarily the village that’s there because obviously that is very uniquely European.

45:03

So I, I did enjoy it.

But the hike, you’re not even I’m going to see the falls from the hike.

You get behind it, hike through The Cave and then where it ends you, you can’t even see it.

So again, the best views are going to be down below.

So if you want to just get an extra steps, do it.

But you don’t need to do it, because the views aren’t going to be any better than when you’re standing right in front of it.

45:22

And that was our first day in Interlochen.

Squaddies, we are going to have a full itinerary on Interlochen and this Swiss trip that we’re getting through.

So make sure to check the show notes or go to shoptravelsquad.com and check that itinerary out.

Have that one and all of the itineraries you know and love on that.

45:41

So day 2, we were going to take the oldest steam cogwheel train up to the top of a mountain, and so we drove to Brien’s, which is a small village on the Turkway shores of the lake.

45:57

It’s surrounded by the Alps, of course.

This small town or village is known for its wood carving tradition.

It has a really nice peaceful lakefront you can walk along.

We did that in the morning and we got to the lake probably about an hour before our train so we could take some lakefront photos and just relax and not have to rush before our train ride.

46:18

And then the highlight of course is taking the train.

So again, we did enjoy the village and town of Brienne’s for just a little bit before the ride.

I agree.

Get there, take your photos, because once you’re done from up top, you’re going to be moving on to whatever it is that you’re going to be doing next.

46:33

So when we got onto the train, this is the Brienne’s steam locomotive and it goes up to Brienzer Rothorn, which is the very top of the mountain.

And when you get to the top, you have views of of Brienne’s, the lake and even part of Interlochen because you are so high up.

46:50

Just really, really beautiful.

And even views into young Frau and seeing the glacier and everything from up there too.

So like Britney said, this is Switzerland’s oldest steam cogwheel train.

And it takes an hour to get up again.

Kim, another train with no bathroom in it.

47:07

So use it at the station.

Otherwise you’re going to have to wait until you get up.

But you should definitely sit on the left side of this train because that’s going to give you the best views on the way up and even while on the way down.

Technically then it’s the right side of the train, right?

But going up, you want to sit on the left for the best views.

47:26

Everyone who was sitting on the right was trying to reach over and you’re fighting getting shots over me and Brittany as they’re trying to get views of the lake because it just really is so picturesque.

You can’t even believe it.

Like you think you see something was like, oh, I’m impressed.

But then you start climbing and climbing and you see it from a different angle, in the greenery, in the chalets, in the lake and the turquoise water.

47:47

It’s just a whole scene here, riding this train all the way to the top.

It really is.

We even saw a little fox that was just sitting in the meadows while we were passing on the train.

It was really, really cute.

And then once you get to the top, we spent about two hours up there.

48:02

There are a few like panoramic hikes, so we did one of those.

They have a restaurant up there as well, so you can grab a beer or some food if you wanted to.

And there’s just a lot of really nice places to take photos.

So we took the 940 up and the 1220 down with the train ride to, you know, up and down takes an hour each.

48:22

So you are going to need about four to five hours if you’re doing this activity.

And if you wanted to only spend one hour up there, you could.

But I just feel that would be like too rushed.

So unless you’re just going looking out and be like, OK, I’m going to turn back around, I would say spend two or three hours up there, kind of just relax.

48:40

And what did you do up there?

Well, see, this is the thing on where Switzerland started to get to me, Kim, and I’ll be completely honest, you need to take these trains and gondolas to get to viewpoints.

And I understand it’s the Alps and it’s a mountainous region, right?

But here in California, US, other places even too, they build roads through the mountains and by through, I’m not talking about the tunnels, but like up them and you could get to stuff and Switzerland they don’t.

49:07

So if you want to see anything beautiful, you got to take the gondolas and a lot of these things are just gondolas or trains to a viewpoint with nothing much else to do.

Brittany said there were some hikes, I would call them trails.

Yes, there are larger hikes that pass through here, but those larger hikes take you from different regions and are like 20-30 kilometers long.

49:28

So unless somebody’s backpack and you’re not really coming up here for that.

So what is there to do?

Just look out and see the view and eat at the restaurant in the shops that they have up there, right?

If you do those trails and take your time to just enjoy the view, then yes, you need the two hours and the one hour will be rushed.

49:45

But when?

Brittany says hikes.

I want to reiterate, I mean, this isn’t like a full blown hike out here.

That’s just a really trail that’ll take you a little bit higher than where the station is.

So there’s not really much to do at a lot of these places depending on where you go.

It’s just really buy your ticket to get up here and now you have a great view.

50:02

And then, oh, by the way, just so it’s not you’re up here for a view, here’s a restaurant for you, you know, and this was one of those places.

And I’m not saying don’t do it, but just know that going into this.

It seems like maybe it’s not the destination, but the journey.

The locomotive of steam trains sounds like a cool experience.

50:18

No, I agree with you that you put it in the best way possible because once you get up there there’s only so much to do.

But it is the experience of the view at the top, plus taking the train, seeing the view from the different levels as you climb.

It really is the journey, not the destination.

50:34

Yeah, I would completely agree with that.

The train is open aired and so you’re not enclosed.

I mean, you are enclosed like half body, but the top is open so you can look at out and it’s just so pretty the whole time.

50:50

You just are looking at the different landscapes that you’re passing, looking at the lake below.

And then you think like, OK, I already saw the view going up.

You’re still so entranced on the way down to like the whole time.

You just feel immersed in it.

Should you sit on the right hand side going down?

51:07

Yes.

You should definitely.

And it’s one of those things too, I, I don’t understand how the Swiss people get up here.

And what I mean by that is you’ll pass villages that have no roads.

And it’s like you see these side little trails and homes and farms and it’s like, are they hiking up here themselves and staying?

51:25

Because there really is no road to get up here.

But yet as you’re taking this train, you’re passing village after village and it’s like, are they taking this everyday?

Are they bringing their groceries on this?

I mean, obviously we didn’t see that, but like there’s lots of places in Switzerland and that I’m just like, how are people living here without roads to get to their house because it’s so isolated.

51:44

But it adds to that ambiance of like, wow, this is Switzerland.

This is the chalets and the houses that you’re so used to seeing.

So it makes it really beautiful and like you said, can part of the journey.

You know, we’ve talked a lot about how expensive Switzerland is, but a lot of the times if you don’t want to take the train or the gondola, you can hike up it and save a ton of money that way.

52:05

The whole time we were going up this, which is very steep, I was telling Jamal, like, aren’t you glad I didn’t make you hike this instead?

So that’s a cost saving measure if if you have the time.

Yeah.

But then if you have that time, that’s all day and you’re spending another day at spending at the hotel more money on food.

52:23

So I don’t think it really balances out the way Brittany thinks that she wants to get me back to Switzerland and hike one of these things.

So I’m not going to do it.

But in terms of the pricing that she’s talking about, just as a good example, if you do not have the Swiss half off card, this is 96 francs per adult for round trip, which is rather pricey.

52:40

But with the half off card, of course, it then comes to 48.

I think you could pay a Franc Moore for what the.

Seat guarantee.

For the seat guarantee to make sure that you have it for a specific time and reserve it that way for you, but we didn’t do that, did we?

52:57

We think had to.

We had to.

Sometimes it’s summer season.

OK, OK.

But I didn’t really see anybody looking at it to make sure we were able to get on.

But yeah, just know that you may have to pay for the reserve.

Just it’s like we did on the first train up when we went to young Frau.

So from here we went to Array Gorge, which is this gorgeous little narrow river gorge that is carved by the icy blue waters running off of this river, and you are on an elevated walkway built into a Rockwall.

53:30

There are some tunnels too, so that when you come back, you’re not having to do the Rockwall the whole time.

But it was really, really pretty.

Kim, I know you said that you guys are going to go here to all Ray Gorge.

I think you’re really going to like, it took us about an hour and a half to go through it.

53:47

Just know that there is parking or entry on both the West and the east sides.

And so at some point, if you follow the trail all the way, you’re going to end up in another parking lot.

So at some point when the scenery starts to die down, then you could turn back around.

54:02

If you were taking the train, are there trains on both sides?

That I don’t know.

But yeah, just imagine this really being to some degree almost like a slot Canyon, but it’s not truly a slot Canyon.

But it is narrowed that way, carved by the water running off the river, probably from a glacier, quite honest, because I feel like everything river wise in Switzerland is running off of a glacier.

54:25

But those elevated platforms are built into the side of the rock walls.

So you have an overlook view of it and at some points to even here in array, they’ve really carved into the mountain.

So where they weren’t able to put the boardwalk area that’s hanging off the edge of the Cliff, they’ll walk you through the mountain, then you’ll come back out.

54:45

So it’s just a really unique experience.

And we did something very similar to this when we were actually in Burkdes Garden in Germany, in the Bavarian Alps in this region, they had something very similar to this.

So I really like this, but this one was a lot longer and the water is just so blue and turquoise too.

55:02

That made it really cool.

Yeah, I just broke up on your day a little bit.

And then we drove through Rosenlawee Valley and this one is a windy Rd. where Kim, I don’t think you would like driving it.

And a lot of the time it felt like it was single lane, but there are two cars passing so can get tight in some spots.

55:24

But you go through this just amazing valley with glacier views, some lush meadows, amazing mountain backdrops.

And then we got to the trailhead.

You have to pay to park and then and you actually have to pay to do this hike as well.

But it was very similar to the RA Gorge in terms that we had to go through another little gorge, go up through a whole bunch of steps.

55:47

But beyond that, there was a trail that took us up close to a glacier views and that was definitely the highlight for me.

I love how you told Kim that she would probably not like driving this.

When I hated driving this and Jamal is the squad driver, I hated it.

56:05

You know, the roads already as it is in these mountain areas are a little bit narrow.

But like Brittany had said, at some point it really does become one way, but it’s not one way.

It’s still two way traffic, but it’s so narrow that it really is for one person.

But hey, I’m driving through the mountains.

56:21

So you’re coming around blind corners.

You can’t see if somebody’s coming.

If somebody does, somebody has to really pull off to the side.

There may or may not be space.

So then somebody has to reverse down a tight mountain curve or do this or do that to pull to the side.

So I hated it.

56:36

But the view up here is really exceptionally beautiful.

You finally get to the top.

You’re in this remote little Swiss village area.

You do go through something like RA, which again, the Canyon, the waterfall coming through.

But what the payoff is, of course, is the mountain views with the glaciers once you start hiking in that area.

56:56

So for how short this hike is, it’s like, is that drive really worth it?

And the moment I said no.

But when I really think about how beautiful the landscape was tucked in the the corner of these mountains with the glaciers, the village, I really did enjoy doing this hike.

And I know you’re doing all Ray Kim, but if I were you, and I know you can’t do it because you don’t have a car, but if I was to do this trip again, I would say I would prefer this over R Ray.

57:21

Yeah, if you had to choose between the two and you only had time for one, I would probably choose this as well because I I felt like it wasn’t as crowded.

And I think part of it is the trains don’t take you straight to it.

You would have to take a bus and it’s more remote.

57:38

And we were kind of there later to the day too.

So I don’t know if that has anything to do with it.

But when we were in the gorge, there was like no other people in there.

We had it all to ourselves versus that array.

There was hundreds of people there, you know, so it was a much more crowded experience.

57:54

And then when we were looking at the glacier and on that hike, we barely asked anyone.

So we had this site all to ourselves and it felt really remote and really nice because everywhere else we had gone so far had like a ton of other people.

Hey squaddies, before we go on to the next day, I just want to remind you that we have a special deal for you.

58:14

If you leave us a written review on Apple Podcasts, send us in your screenshot.

We will give you a promo code to get 50% off any itinerary of your choice at shoptravelsquad.com.

All you have to do is screenshot that review and EM it to us on Instagram at Travel Squad Podcast or you can e-mail it to ustravelsquadpodcast@gmail.com.

58:35

So the next day was Monday, our fifth day here in Switzerland.

We went to a place called Ocean Z, which Brittany was so excited about.

I really think our entire trip to Switzerland was geared around this hike and seen this view over here.

58:52

Yeah, I actually saw it on social media and I planned our entire trip around doing this hike.

I was so excited.

I specifically booked it on a Monday so that it wouldn’t have the weekend crowds.

I was hoping for good weather and did a lot of research about like timing of day to do it on.

59:10

So I was really pumped and excited for this hike.

Until we woke up in the morning.

And that good weather that Brittany wanted was rainy weather, Yeah.

It rained all night long and then in the morning it was also raining, but it was a 45 minute drive from Interlochen and I was just really worried about doing this hike and not getting a good view of the beautiful Turquoise lake.

59:37

So this is one of the gondolas that we had to do advance booking.

And so the time slot that I picked was 8:30 to 10:00 to take the gondola up.

So we got there, it was still raining.

And so Jamal and I just sat in the car for a little bit, kind of relaxed.

59:55

And then probably around 9915, we decided, you know what, we’re just going to have to take the gondola up.

So we took the gondola up, we got up to the top.

And there is a little coffee shop and stuff up there, so Jamal grabbed a coffee and it was still drizzling a little bit, so we took some pictures of them.

1:00:15

And still cloudy as some areas of the mountains were visible to see, which is what we took.

But going the direction of the lake that we wanted to see that also has the glaciers, the clouds were still in that direction, yes.

But at around 10:00 AM, the sun started to pop a bit, so we were like, okay, you know what, this is a 5 1/2 mile hike, so we’re going to go ahead and get started.

1:00:38

So we started the hike around 10:00 in the morning and the hike is part of the UNESCO site that we talked about earlier in the Alps.

So it was really beautiful and I was so excited for it.

You start with glacier views and then you come across some cows.

1:00:53

I love the cows and the cowbells.

Jamal tried to pet Cow and did not want anything to do with him.

Well, you know what, people were petting the cows in front of us and then they kind of moved on.

And then another one came up that I was trying to pet.

And then I think it was a little bit younger.

1:01:11

I mean, it wasn’t like a baby.

You could tell it wasn’t a baby, but it still wasn’t full grown.

So I think it may have been a couple years old, but then Mama came up behind and then Mama was like, no, don’t touch my kid.

And she kind of like, I don’t want to say charge me because she didn’t, but she definitely gave me a motion that was like stop.

1:01:28

So then I was like, okay, I’m going to stop because I do not want to be injured by a cow because we know somebody who’s been injured by a cow.

Yeah, one of our squaddies last year was in Switzerland and got charged by a cow, broke her ankle and had to be air flighted to a hospital and the air flight costs $14,000.

1:01:49

OK, plug the Med jet and.

I was going to say, not me.

I do not want to be life flighted out from a cow.

So it can happen.

I know.

But they are really cool to see.

There’s tons of them here and tons of them everywhere throughout Switzerland.

And you know they’re there because they all have their bells on.

1:02:06

I thought to myself, I’m going to get tired of hearing these bells.

No, I loved it.

It just adds to the whole ambience while you’re there.

So we come across the cows, we realize that that don’t bother petting them.

And then it still is cloudy.

It’s not raining at this point.

1:02:22

But at some point the path veers left and you start making the climb.

And it’s like we’ve lost views of the other mountains that we were able to see in the glacier.

There’s cloud cover.

I know at this point we’re supposed to see the lake.

1:02:38

We really don’t see it.

It’s like, ah, and I’m telling Brittany, hey, I’m sorry, I know you’re really excited about this.

And then when she said it, I was like, didn’t I sent you a reel about this one?

She’s like, yeah, you did.

I mean, I’ve seen it before, but yes, this is like one of the ones that you sent me a reel for.

And so as we’re climbing, what would you say the viewpoint is at what mileage?

1:02:57

Like 1 1/2 two miles.

Probably 1 1/2.

Yeah, at 1 1/2 miles, you get to a viewpoint, and we got there and we know that this is the viewpoint where you’re supposed to see this beautiful turquoise water from the lake.

That’s just melted glacial water and we cannot see a thing.

1:03:14

You can’t see the bottom, you can’t even see the mountains across from it.

Can’t see a thing, but I do notice to the right, I was like, it’s kind of clear over here.

Oh, it looks like the wind is blowing.

So we decided we have nothing better to do.

We’re like, well, this is all we’re doing today.

1:03:31

Let’s just stick it out, see how long it takes.

Maybe it’ll blow and clear and what?

And about 1520 minutes it finally cleared up.

Just all of the clouds were gone.

And then you can see 1000 feet below we and we had made that much elevation, maybe even a little bit higher.

1:03:48

The lake is there and then you just see the snow capped mountains with the glaciers, plus the greenery that you have too and the non snow covered areas.

And it’s just this most beautiful thing that I’ve ever really seen.

This was my favorite hike that we did.

And the viewpoint here is just unparalleled.

1:04:05

And you miss the waterfalls.

There’s tons of waterfalls coming off of the glaciers and the mountains that are running into this lake.

The water is just so turquoise, so blue, and it was worth the wait.

Like this is 1 you definitely want to do on a sunny day because it was just so gorgeous.

1:04:24

You know, sometimes you get hyped up for activities or hikes and because you see it on social media.

This lived up to the hype for sure.

And I do want to say too, of course, we did this hike.

It’s about 5 miles long and it’s a burner.

I mean, you’re hiking up and then eventually you come down, you get to lake level and you exit out.

1:04:42

But if you do not want to do the hike, you can just take the gondolas up.

There is a shuttle service.

I believe it’s paid because it’s about a half mile or maybe a little bit longer from where the gondola station is downhill to the lake.

1:04:58

So maybe going down is not too bad.

But coming back up, maybe you’d want to take the shuttle if somebody doesn’t want to walk but just picnicking at this lake or you could take boats out on the lake that they have there for rent.

Even the views from down below looking up, it’s just amazing.

Obviously, I’m going to say it.

1:05:13

It is better from up top because it because you a better perspective than down below, but you would still really enjoy your time if you were not a hiker and just want to come here for the viewpoint.

You know, I mentioned earlier, everything is Oh, I got to take the gondola for a viewpoint.

This was my favorite 1.

So I I really, really want to harp on that.

1:05:30

This is an enjoyable and beautiful spot.

So if you do the whole loop, it’s about 5 1/2 miles.

We saw some people just hike to the viewpoint and said that they were going to turn around and go back.

You can hike just down to the lake.

So there are different options depending on how much hiking you want to do.

1:05:46

So we did the full 5 1/2 miles around and after you get to the viewpoint, you have a gorgeous lake views the whole time, glacier views, Meadow views, these are cows farms.

It’s just so gorgeous.

1:06:01

The whole hike.

I was just impressed the entire time.

There was no part of the hike that I was like, but this view is just OK because you know, sometimes that is it where you just you’re waiting to get to the top.

The views along the whole trail were fantastic.

So if I were to, I recommend one trail to do this would be the one.

1:06:19

And then when we were done with the lake, we went and did the summer toboggan.

And if you’ve never done tobogganing, which is our first time, highly recommend it.

It’s so much fun.

We wrote it once and we’re like, Oh my gosh, we have to write it again.

So we got back in line and wrote it a second time.

1:06:36

You know, we put a poll up on our Instagram when we were there saying, would you ever ride toboggan?

And Kim let me say something pretty and I were crap talking.

You were like, Kim said no.

Oh my God.

Like we we were hardcore judging you on that one.

It was fun.

1:06:52

It was so.

Sitting on your butt on it or is there any type of thing you’re sliding on?

Well, well, you you’re sliding on something yes.

So it has wheels that fits to kind of like the toboggan or bobsled track.

Just imagine it like a bobsled, but not truly a bobsled right.

1:07:08

It’s just.

On a.

Track, yes, yes.

And of course you have a tiny little back support, but you control how fast you go because there’s a lever that’s your brake or not brake.

So as you’re coming into turns or whatever, you can choose how much you want to brake.

It’s actually very intuitive to use.

1:07:25

It’s very easy, so I wouldn’t really worry too much much about the risk of danger of possibly crashing.

But it was fun.

And so originally it gave you the option like you could buy one lap around the track, two or three.

And we’re like, ah, do we really need to do 2?

1:07:41

Nah, let’s just do one.

We did one.

We loved it so much that we’re like, let’s go buy the second ticket to do 2.

And then when we’re done, we were debating if we’re going to do a third, but we did not.

But it was really fun and I would recommend doing it.

But these toboggans, they only operate in dry weather, so luckily it had stopped raining and we were good to go.

1:08:01

It’s 6 Swiss francs per person per ride that you want to do.

So for Brittany and I, it was 12 for the first run collectively, and then we did it again.

So just double.

Yeah, it was so much fun and it really made the experience up there.

This was the my favorite thing that we did the hike and this together because it’s all in like the same area.

1:08:21

And then you take the gondola back down to the car and we drove back to Interlochen.

This is where we stopped for Co-op for the very first time just to check it out.

And we then explored Interlochen a little bit.

We went up to the harder comb, which is like a big mountaintop, which they call the top of Interlochen.

1:08:43

You have to take a paid funicular up there.

It runs every 30 minutes.

You just have to beware of the last tram because if you miss it, you’re going to have to hike down the mountain.

But up at the top, there are panoramic views of Interlochen in the lakes below.

There is a restaurant up there with views of young Frau.

1:09:01

And it’s just really, really pretty.

And this is probably where we had our best restaurant meal.

Yeah, restaurant meal wise, I would say this was the best.

I’ve heard a lot of people in their TikTok saying to get fondue here.

We did see people get fondue here because we had it the night before.

1:09:16

We didn’t get it here.

It did look good, but we ended up getting a Cordon Bleu and that was fantastic.

It’s so big that you split it with two people and we got an amazing salad up there.

And they don’t take reservations or anything.

1:09:33

And you pick, well, at least when we went, we picked our seat.

So we picked right at the edge of the rail on the outside.

So we had beautiful, beautiful views.

Yeah, the views up here are fantastic because you could see down below to Interlochen, see both lakes, and then of course, Brittany mentioned you could see to young Frow.

1:09:51

So then you have the view of the mountains on the other side.

I really loved it.

The food was good.

That cordon Bleu that we got was not like a typical chicken cordon Bleu.

It was a pork cutlet cordon Bleu.

So it was like pounded out Escalope style thing wrapped up, made cordon Bleu style.

1:10:10

So, so good.

And then the salad here, I don’t even know what type of salad I had.

It was delicious.

At first.

I asked like, well, what what’s in the salad?

Because the mini wasn’t very descriptive.

And then she said something like, oh, it’s like coleslaw.

I was like, oh, it’s just coleslaw.

But it has a scoop of coleslaw with your lettuce greens and then other vegetables, beets, other stuff like that on there.

1:10:30

And it was really good with the French dressing.

I want to try to imitate this one here and make that along with your chicken Caesar salad that you’ve been asking me to make.

But this was my favorite meal in Switzerland.

I thought Swiss food had redemption here but I was let down.

1:10:47

Co-op was the best food that we’ve had for consistently on the trip.

But this here I loved love love love.

If you’re going to eat at one restaurant and splurge, I would say make it here at Harder.

Coleman at the top.

Yeah.

Just know though that you do need a few hours.

You need to take the funicular up and if there’s a line, then you’re waiting in line and it only runs every 30 minutes.

1:11:08

So if you miss a funicular, then you’re waiting for the next one.

Then you have have to have dinner, go to the viewpoint and then come back.

So you will need a few hours to do this.

There was also live Alporn music.

Have you seen those alporn instruments, Kim?

1:11:23

The very long horns.

Yeah.

So there was some people playing the alporn up at the restaurant.

So we had some live music with dinner.

So our last day in the Interlochen region, we went to Grindelwald first.

You know, what’s really funny is this region has a lot of top UPS.

1:11:41

So like young Frau is the top of Europe, the harder is the top of Interlochen.

Grindelwald is the top of adventure.

So they have all these coin terms.

And I would completely agree with that because there are a ton of adventurous things to do at the top of Grindelwald.

1:11:59

You can do activities like hiking, the Cliff walk.

They have a fly or glider, which you’re kind of like doing a zip line, either seated or like flying style.

They have mountain carts that you could rent and take down.

You can do biking.

1:12:15

So there’s a ton to do up here, ton of adventurous things to get up here.

You do have to take a gondola and the gondola is a 25 minute ride.

So quite a bit of time to get up here.

You’re going to pass through several different stations, but when you get to the top you have amazing Alpine views and you can do some hiking, which we did up here as well.

1:12:37

I just want to say again, we use the half year card on this.

Normally it should be 72 francs per person round trip on this.

We got it for half off 38 with a half off card.

So it really does pay to get the half off card, especially at a lot of these tourist destinations for gondolas and trains.

1:12:56

But yes, Grindelwald has everything you mentioned, but that’s on the mountain.

The village down below is still equally beautiful with amazing views of different glaciers.

I mean, you think to yourself, how many glaciers can I see and be impressed?

But then you just see it in different types of landscapes on a different mountain.

1:13:12

And Switzerland doesn’t disappoint in that sense.

I will say Switzerland, for how much I’ve complained about the food and the price, it’s beauty.

You know you can’t put a price on it, so to speak, that way, right?

So you’re saying that before you get up the gondola to go to Grindelwald, the top of adventure, there’s a valley below called Grindelwald that you want to explore?

1:13:36

Yes, you could do it before or you can do it after, but there’s the town down there and you’re going to want to do that.

And as a matter of fact, to even get to that gondola from us, from Interlochen, we drove, we parked at a parking lot that was called Grindelwald’s Terminal.

And then from there, you could either take a bus or a train 1 station over, which will then get you to the town of Grindelwald, at which point then the gondola is in that region there.

1:14:01

And that’s where you kind of want to stroll around and you could get really good views.

Awesome, really Alpine Swiss town.

But once we were at the top of Grindelwald to Grindelwald first, as they call it, there was two things that we wanted to do.

Brittany, of course, chose another hike for us to do.

1:14:19

And then there is also a Cliff walk that they have, which is another situation where you’re on the mountain and they build the boardwalk around the Cliff into the rock you’re looking.

You can shear 1000 feet down on you through the graded platforms, which I, I won’t lie, I’m starting to get scared of those things.

1:14:36

I don’t like it.

We’ll talk about that a little bit later.

But we did a hike to an area called the like Bach Alpsie.

And of course, forgive the pronunciation.

This was a four mile out and back.

It’s a relatively like moderate hike.

The lake itself that you get to at the ending point of 2 miles before you turn back around.

1:14:53

It’s pretty, it’s not great.

But what I will say though, is when the clouds finally cleared, when we got to the top, the mountain views that you see of the opposing side of Grindelwald and the valley, that’s what was like really impressive.

So I enjoyed the walk back more than the walk to because I thought the scenery was much better from that perspective.

1:15:16

Yeah, I completely agree.

From being at the hike the day before and seeing that lake and then coming to this lake, there is just no comparison.

But the Glacier Mountain views were fantastic on this.

I really enjoyed it.

1:15:31

The gondola ride, the views there were fantastic as well.

While we were on the Cliff walk, there was a little bit of clouds so it wasn’t as clear as I’d like it to be, but there were Pines that it did clear and the views are just amazing.

So highly recommend doing that.

1:15:48

You don’t have to do the hike if you don’t want to.

You can just do the Cliff walk and then you can pick another activity.

I will say though, if you do do an activity or want to do an activity like the mountain cart or the glider or the fire, do those first because it gets so busy up here.

1:16:04

By the time we left, the wait to get a mountain cart was over 3 hours.

So you’re saying come early here?

Definitely come early, 3 hours just to wait for the mountain cart to ride down the mountain.

And then those Flyers like the zip lines that they have where you’re like either on your stomach or like the sitting zip lines at some point, like you go through multiple gondola stations on your way up here.

1:16:28

And a family ended up getting on with Brittany and I.

They spoke English, I think they were, you know, Americans, but they were just talking about how they had done the flyer where they’re laying on their stomach and they were the first ones to do it of the day.

Once we got to the top where you can rent some of the other stuff and activities in the clip walk is they do have a live board that will tell you the wait times for all of the tractions I have up there.

1:16:54

It was already a three hour wait to do what they had just done to lie on the stomach and you can see everybody just like queuing up in line and I would not do that.

And that was still early in the morning.

This is from the first people who just did it getting done, getting on the gondola, taking another 10 minutes to get up.

1:17:10

It’s already turned into three hours.

So just if you go up here, this could be a full day thing if you’re doing some of the other activities other than a hike.

Yeah.

So we did the hike and then we did the Cliff walk.

There’s no way to do the Cliff walk, but it depends on how many people are on the Cliff walk because you can’t pass really.

1:17:28

You’re going at the pace of the group really.

And that’s free, right?

That in mind.

Cliff walk is free yes almost wanted to back out of it but I I did it you know I don’t mind heights and roller coasters I’ve skydived but I don’t know what it is as I get older.

Maybe this is another reason why Switzerland was just to me, minus the views, anything that’s like cables now, like gondolas, they freak me out now.

1:17:52

And then the Cliff walk just it’s the open great platforms and I can see 1000 feet down.

Like I know it’s steady, but if that was solid I wouldn’t think twice of it even though I know it’s still supported the same way.

But seen through it.

I don’t like that stuff anymore.

So I I trooped through it and eventually stopped to take a photo on a bridge mind you, which that bridge was rather freaky on the Cliff walk, but I did it.

1:18:15

So I’m proud of myself in that sense of things.

So up here there’s the Cliff walk, which of course you’re going to do, there’s the mountain cars, I think there’s a toboggan type thing, right?

Not here, but close to Grindelwald there is one.

1:18:31

OK, mountain cars.

You’re like in its own car, not on a track.

Yeah, well, it kind of is a track path that’s going down, but think of it as like giant tricycles with big wheels that they have.

And then you could also do mountain biking down.

1:18:46

So if you don’t want to do the trike bikes, which are the mountain carts, you can actually do a bike as well.

And then they have the two different type of zip lines, the zip line where you’re sitting and then the one zip line where you’re doing the flying.

And if you take the mountain car down, do you have to pay to go in the gondola back up again?

1:19:06

That’s actually a great question we don’t know the answer to.

And we thought of that very question when we got down to the bottom because at the very bottom station, they do have some sort of machine that puts those cars on specific gondolas to carry them all the way back to the top.

1:19:24

So it was like, I don’t know if you do that, if you need to buy another ticket or if you do that, your ticket includes you to be able to go back up.

I am unsure of the answer to that.

So I guess anyone who’s listening and interested in doing that, do your research on it.

Don’t know.

So we had a very adventurous last day in Interlochen.

1:19:41

We spent the entire morning in Grindelwald and Grindelwald first.

This is where Grindelwald was probably the most confusing in terms of logistics, trying to figure out where to park because the website told me to park at Grindelwald terminal, which then I didn’t realize.

1:19:57

We had to then take a train or another bus to get to the Grindelwald station.

And then from there you actually have to take a bus or a walk to where the gondolas start.

So anytime that you think you’re travelling in Switzerland, give yourself some buffer time because every.

1:20:15

Thing took a little bit longer than we were anticipating, so to give yourself a little buffer time, we had a fantastic time and interlock in.

I would go back.

There was so much to do and see.

There’s so much that we missed out on that I would love to do again.

1:20:31

And if you were going for your first time after spending our time in, you know, four different regions in Switzerland, I would say go to Interlochen for your first time because I feel like that is the best base.

I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment because as we mentioned earlier, Interlochen is a nice city, but the city itself isn’t what you want to go for, it’s for all the activities that are so close in the surrounding region.

1:20:58

So great base, great place to start your adventures in Switzerland.

I am so glad that we recorded this episode and you’ve helped me out a lot with my trip planning and I’m sure you squatty’s listening to helping you out as well.

Thanks for tuning in to our episode this week.

keep the adventures going

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