We recently took our new-to-us DIY camper van on it's first road trip! After a 12 hour drive and additional few hours spent for McDonald's stops, we arrived at our sweet little campsite in Frutigen, Switzerland. Tucked behind a small town, alongside a swiftly flowing river, we were home for a week.
This trip was entirely planned and coordinated by Chris. The location and the to-dos were kept a secret from me. I love anything outdoors and being active, and this was the perfect trip to do such. It was also our first family trip in the van, we brought our fur babe Riley Blue along for the ride. He is the best hiker, especially when you're exhausted, he will help pull you along!
One of our first stops was to Lake Blausee. It was a surprise to see such a beautiful naturally blue colored lake. It was summer, so there were a tourists along the bigger part of the lake. It was a surprising amount of tourists, so with RB in tow, we stuck mainly along the paths through the woods. I was also surprised to find these paths were so well maintained, I'm pretty sure there were lights incorporated into the rocks so they could be tred during evenings.
The plan to see the other Swiss highlights was to, well, go higher! Up in the mountains! We were going on RB's first gondola ride! But first, let's chase some waterfalls, shall we? We took a quick little hike alongside the road to the gondola.
Unfortunately, the gondola stopped at 4pm which didn't give us time to see the reward of the hike at the top. We decided to stop in this cute little town for dinner before heading home. We had to take a literal raincheck for the rest of that day's plans as it immediately began pouring after this picture was taken. We ate our dinner under a lovely garden patio with chilly winds and rain dusting our feet. It was actually refreshing after hiking all day under the sun. We may have ordered an apfelstrudel for dessert to stay warm, we deserved it! Even though I probably ate most of it, oops!
The forecast for the remainder of our Swiss week was cloudy and rain in the afternoons, but we had a lot to see so we started the day early! We hopped on the gondola Oeschinensee and were going on our way! Once we got off the gondola, our jaws just dropped. Pictures and Google searches don't do it justice to personally seeing the Alps in their splendor.
I mean, the paths we were following were through open fields upon which cattle were grazing. They just minded their own business and didn't even notice when people walked by. If they weren't 5 feet from the path, they were on it! No fences, no handler. We were walking through their home. It's something I've never experienced before. It was so peaceful. The sound of their large cowbells made the most wonderful charm echoing through the mountains.
After continuing along the path for about 15 minutes, I saw a sign of where Chris had planned to go. I already had the tops of my shoulders a bit sunburned and was so happy to see water! It was hot out! But now we had to climb down... anyone who's hiked knows that's probably the worst part. Poor toesies!
Finally reaching the water's edge, you can tell by RB's actions how we all felt- we just wanted to jump in! There were some people who planned ahead and wore their swimsuits, but we dipped our toes in and took a water break (Riley took a bath break) and we headed back up.
Riley was pretty entertaining with the wild animals, he was definitely confused! He would just stare at the cows from afar like "what the heck is that thing?" If he cried as we passed by, the cows would just stare at him. The goats were also very intrigued why Riley was confused. The wild animals were not fazed by doggos, there were plenty hiking buddies of all sizes we saw on the path.
Our next stop of the day was to go up the Niesenbahn. Just a tip, if you go after 3pm the price is reduced! Riley had just gone on his first gondola, now it was time for his first funicular. What an exciting day!
It was a pretty cool ride up, at points the track turned corners, and once it split into two so we could pass another car heading down. Hopefully you can tell how sharply the funicular goes up. It took about 30 minutes to the top, and all I could think of was the feat it was to build this. Even more amazing was the fact there was a hotel on top, built 50 years before this funicular was. Imagine hiking up with your luggage!
Chris and I treated ourselves to a fancy tropical dinner while among the Swiss Alps. Tropical and snow-capped Alpine mountains. Makes total sense, right? It was a very unique restaurant with many purposes. The venue is a nursery-by-day, restaurant-by-night, event venue, learning center, and fishery all in one. Talk about a multi-functional space! It was a lovely experience.
We dined among the banana trees, pineapple plants, and wandering King quails. We had passionfruit champagne, caviar from the location's own sturgeon, and three plates of deliciously prepared delicacies. After finishing our meal, we were free to wander the paths of the greenhouse and visit the local tortoise. We took ourselves on a self guided tour of the remainder of the grounds and saw how wonderfully intricate the design of the architecture was.
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| Tropenhaus Frutigen |
We had one last adventure day before hitting the road home. It was also Chris' biggest surprise of the trip. In retrospect, I'm only thinking so because it was the one with the most breathtaking hikes, literally!
We parked in Lauterbrunnen and started with a hike up to Wengen for the day. Even RB was exhausted from the hike up! There was no way to take a car up. You could get to this delightful town from taking a train, or by foot. Or, bike if you were intense enough. We saw some seriously dedicated bikers riding. bikes. uphill. I wouldn't call it trail riding, but it definitely wasn't a smooth path either. I couldn't believe these people were passing me while sitting, pedaling up at least a 30 degree incline. Not standing up to pedal! Over 1600 ft altitude gain in less than 2.5 km. Intense.
It took us about an hour to reach the town, and were greeted by cheerfully colored buildings and a lively town center. We found a restaurant to take a moment in shade to eat lunch and drink. Actually, we inhaled our food and gulped down bottles of water. There was not a cloud in the sky that day and paired with the fact we hiked up this steep path with full packs, we were hot!
Continuing on, Chris led the way to his secret spot. When I realized we weren't staying on level ground, I told myself that I was definitely earning a beer later that night. Through the town and past, along a small road that looked like driveways to industrial lumber yards, we found another path to follow- uphill yet again. Not sure the picture does the angle justice.
BUT. This. view. though. Dead. At this point, almost literally. Sweating and out of breath (I may have been the only one out of breath,) we made it! Does this look familiar? Hint: #dogwalkswitzerland.
Chris had done some serious research to find the location of that viral video of someone walking their dog in Switzerland's Alps. Comparing Google Earth, forum comments, Instagram geo-tags, and more, Chris had found the path where this was filmed and we had it all to ourselves! It was simply beautiful. We were all so happy!
Riley was rolling down the hill for five minutes nonstop! It wasn't until later that night we realized it wasn't out of pure happiness, the field must have been tilled with manure. He definitely didn't make the camper smell good!
Honestly, I didn't understand why this video clip went viral in the first place. Yes, it's undoubtedly beautiful. Yes, it looks something of a fairy-tale. However, there's so many surprising nooks of beauty in the world that I couldn't understand why this one small path was gaining fame. BUT after being there and putting in all the effort to get there, IT IS SO MUCH MORE! The video couldn't do it justice. The satisfaction of reaching the top of the mountain means so much more if you did it yourself versus seeing a photo. You know what I mean?
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| Coords if you're curious: 46.617787, 7.915990. You're welcome! |
We finally put our tripod to good use after hiking with it for two hours, ha! We had the whole place to ourselves. That was the best part about this whole trip. A wonderful view, a great story, and my favorite little family.
We kept wondering "how do they get this here? How do they get that here?" Referring to anything we saw in the pretty modernized town, knowing that there was no way to travel up by automobile. On our way down, we were lucky enough to have found our answer! We saw a helicopter land! We didn't see the unloading of any materials, but it looked like this house's contractor just parked their vehicle in the front row spot of the driveway!
Heading down, we saw more goats for Riley to be confused by. This time, they followed Riley as he walked along the path, as equally confused. By the time we parted ways, I think they were friends!
After traveling 4500 feet up and down in one afternoon, I think we were pretty pooped. We wrapped up our Swiss trip by going to dinner- beer and pizza!
Looking forward to our next sweet adventure!
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