I didn’t think it was possible but each day seems to be more amazing.

Today we ventured to the Valley of the 72 Waterfalls also known as Lauterbrunnen Valley.

But first, let me talk about breakfast. I am delighted to say that at our current hotel we get a free breakfast buffet! And it was delicious! A great variety of breads, meats, yogurt, cereal etc.

After breakfast we were off to the train station. I admired the sights of Thun. We have ended up in such a nice little town for the next few days.

It was just a short walk to the station and we boarded a train to Interlaken Ost. From Interlaken Ost we got on another train to Lauterbrunnen Valley. The whole trip took almost an hour but was an absolutely beautiful ride along the Thunersee.

Once we got off the train we decided to walk about Lauterbrunnen and take in the views. It is a cute little town in the middle of a valley with very high sides. There are multiple waterfalls cascading down the sides of the cliffs. Hence, the Valley of the 72 Waterfalls. I don’t think I saw 72 waterfalls today but I saw a lot!

Along our walk we saw some cows. We have seen lots of cows and I wanted a photo with these happy cows. The cows here all have bells on them so all through the valley you hear the bells ringing.

We decided to walk to Trummelbach Falls which is the largest fall in the valley. This area required an $11 entry fee and it was absolutely worth it. Because the Swiss are awesome they just dug a nice big hole through the middle of this cliff and put in an elevator that takes you up to see the views of this waterfall that is actually inside the mountain.

You have to walk through caverns to see all the different viewpoints of the waterfall. Jacob had to watch his head at a few places.

We checked out all the viewpoints of the waterfall and then sat down on a bench for a quick snack and water break. I feel like hydration is one of the hardest things of this journey. We want to make sure to get enough water but it can be hard to pack along, then hard to re-stock and then hard to find a water closet when you need it!

But hydration is essential.

Waterfall pictures below!

 

After the falls we had a choice of walking 35 minutes back to Lauterbrunnen or 40 minutes to the next town. I didn’t realize at the time that we’d be catching a super steep cable car up 5,000 feet. I assumed it was another train. I thought about texting my loved ones before the cable car took off, but we survived.

Jacob keeps telling me to just think of these as outdoor elevators.

We took the first cable car from Stechelberg to Gimmelwald. This is a very small mountainous town. In this little town was an Honesty Shop that is unmanned and you can grab items you need by depositing your cash in a box. We didn’t purchase anything but I enjoyed visiting the little shop.

We also stopped for a moment to take in the mountains. I managed to pull off this photo below by posing the camera on some rocks.

From Gimmelwald we were off to Murren. On another cable car…

Murren was a bit more populated by people and tourists. This town sits at about 5,000 feet so I was glad we packed warm clothes. These series of cable cars eventually take you up to Schiltorn which must have been featured in a James Bond film. They played the James Bond theme song in our cable car and when we got off we saw James Bond advertisements.

This was a beautiful little town. We walked up and down the streets and popped into a local shop to grab some food. I enjoyed a nice cheeseburger and Jacob ordered apple strudel with vanilla ice cream.

The owner was so friendly! He spoke great English and wished us a great day when we left.

Before departing Murren, I took a few more photos.

To return to Thun, we needed to hop on a train from Murren to Grutschlap. Then it is one more long and steep cable car to Lauterbrunnen. I told Jacob I thought we were done with the cable cars, but he said, how did you think we were going to get down 5,000 feet?

We arrived in Lauterbrunnen but our journey wasn’t over yet. We took a train from Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken Ost. Then to Spiez, then to Thun. The trip took about an hour.

In the train station they have a BrezelKoenig (or Pretzel King) so we bought a few warm, fresh pretzels for snacking on later.

After a short walk we are back at our hotel and it is time to rest.

Not much on the agenda for tomorrow. It is supposed to be pretty rainy so we are planning to have a relaxation day. We will likely walk around Thun a bit, do some grocery shopping and maybe swing up to Bern to wash our clothes.

A few more days here then we are off to Zermatt on Monday.