Western Alps Road Trip – Part 3 Montreux to Interlaken

Our Swiss Alps road trip was finally here. Actually this was my third visit to this country, however I never had to courage to spend an overnight in one of the most expensive countries in Europe. My previous visits were only day trips. This was the first time we decided to sleep in Switzerland, in Interlaken to be more precise. This town is very picturesque and is located between two lakes and surrounded by mountains. It is very touristic due to its strategic position and the numerous natural attractions in the area.

5 day itinerary

Day 3

We departed early from Chamonix and drove all the way to Grindelwald. The drive was over 3 hours long and apart from the first and last part it was pretty boring. As soon as we passed the Swiss border we found ourselves overlooking a valley full of vineyards. This location is Martigny and it was a good stop to eat the delicious croissants we had bought from a pâtisserie back in Chamonix for  breakfast.

The next planned stop was in Montreux to get a glimpse of the Château de Chillon. This island castle overlooks the lake of Geneva and dates back to the Medieval era. As I said before it was just a glimpse as we did not have time to go inside. (Also because we arrived at the exact moment that coaches full of Chinese tourists were queuing at the entrance). After a short walk along the lake to stretch our legs, we took off as we still had over two hours of driving to get to our destination.

Grindelwald

As soon as we got close to Interlaken the views got interesting again. Waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, green hills, scattered villages .. in a few words the stereotypical scenery that Switzerland is well-known for. The weather was not of the finest, as there were some clouds and the visibility was not clear. However after some time we got lucky and we were better able to appreciate the jaw-dropping scenery. As we were in Grindelwald we went up the First Cable car.

There are a lot of activities you can do once you ride up the mountain. These include trekking to the Lake Bachalpsee, the First Cliffwalk, get your adrenaline rush by doing the First Flyer, climb down using scooters or mountain carts ecc. Obviously each of these activities can be done at an extra cost (which in Switzerland is really extra). We were limited by time as we only got the cable car after the clouds cleared up and only had time to the First Cliffwalk. This experience is surely not for everyone as you are literally suspended in the air on top of the mountain. However it is completely safe and, unless you are extremely afraid of heights, you should try it! Swiss Alps Road Trip

Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken

After having spent the afternoon up the First mountain we headed to Lauterbrunnen for a quick stop at the spectacular waterfalls that characterise this village. The scenery here seems coming straight out of a fairy tale as everything is so perfect! Lauterbrunnen is a small village that is half an hour away from Grindelwald and is home to around 2,500 people. This village is situated in a valley and the surrouding mountains are the starting point of several streams that are so high that most of them end up in spray before reaching ground level. The most famous waterfall is the Staubbach Fall that is around 250m high and is one of the highest single waterfalls in Europe.

Our hostel was in Interlaken so we went for a quick visit to the town for some deserved rest. Although Interlaken is a town it is very quaint and the beauty lies mostly in the numerous islets that are built on the turquoise lake waters. It is the perfect destination for a stop if you are doing a Swiss Alps road trip.