our switzerland adventure: wengen

Our first stop in Switzerland was at the base of the Jungfraujoch mountain range. After a long day of train travel from Berlin, we found ourselves in Wengen. It was chilly and overcast. The mist was rolling in over the tops of the lowest mountains. We couldn’t see the higher peaks at all.

The town was festive with red and white ribbons (colors of the Swiss flag). We found our room for the next two nights – Hotel Belvedere’ – up the road from the train station on the other side of town. It was a quaint, older hotel. Grand but at the same time cozy. Our room had a nice view of the cable car run up to the top of the mountains behind Wengen.

That evening we ate at a cozy restaurant in town…that was slightly over priced. We realized pretty quickly that Wengen was a tourist spot and, therefore, rated tourist prices. After that, we went to the local grocery store and bought all of our meals. Much more affordable 😉

The next morning dawned sunny with just a few clouds. We decided to take the cable car up the mountain and go for a hike. Once we reached the top, the clouds started to move in, but they were light and foggy and the sun would break through as we walked. There would be  nothing to see except the path winding along the side of the ridge and then the clouds would open and there would be a snow topped peak. It was breathtaking.

We hiked all the way to the train station at the base of the Jungfraujoch ridge (Kleine Scheidegg). It took us 2-3 hours. From there we took the Jungfrau Bahn (train) up to the “Top of Europe.” I will just say…it was very pricey and packed with tourists of every shape and size. Thankfully we had fun in the ice caves and the clouds had cleared for the most part and we were able to soak up some beautiful views.

We took the train back down to Kleine Scheidegg and from there hiked to the next little town to have a quick snack of bratwurst before hiking the rest of the way down to Wengen. Our day of hiking was complete with dinner from the grocery store, shared on a park bench overlooking the Alps. We had a blast.

Next up: our stay in Gimmelwald, Switzerland.