As a child, I once spent a memorable week in February travelling around Switzerland with my family. We took boat trips across deep blue lakes, ice skated under the stars against a mountain backdrop, and looked out across the Jungfraujoch glacier in -19C. Ever since then I have dreamt of coming back, and my year abroad in Europe was the perfect opportunity to explore more of what this incredible country has to offer.
It was already mid October, and with the hiking season drawing to a close for the winter, I knew I had to plan a quick trip before the conditions got too wintry for my comfort and experience. But Switzerland is pricey, so the challenge was twofold: beat the weather, without breaking the bank!
After a bit of research and planning, I settled on a weekend trip to Grindelwald – a place I had passed through on my childhood trip on the way up to Jungfraujoch, but had never actually visited itself. I managed to find a reasonably-priced (by Swiss standards!) hotel, which was even better value when split between myself and Sam.
Day One
We set off from our Stuttgart base in the afternoon (so as to avoid missing too much uni work!) and caught a series of train connections on a slightly circuitous route into Switzerland. By the time we reached Interlaken it was already getting dark, so we grabbed a quick supermarket meal before catching the cogwheel train up to Grindelwald. As always, this was an excitement in itself – despite it being too dark to see the mountains that we knew were there!
Our check-in was smooth and I was delighted to both be complimented on my German language skills and presented with a voucher for free drinks in the hotel bar as a thank-you for booking direct. We wasted no time in claiming this and ventured into the cosy bar the same evening for a glass of wine each. A lovely welcome to Switzerland and a nice way to relax after a long travel day.
Day Two
What a morning this was! The first real day of the trip got off to the most incredible start, as we were delighted to wake up to a stunning mountain view from our window – it honestly looks like a painting, so good.
We headed down to the cosy breakfast room for a classic continental breakfast, with continually amazing views as the morning fog lifted. Once the visibility improved I realised that I could see a glacier up on the mountain! We later learned that this is the Lower Grindelwald Glacier, one of two glaciers in the area, and we were close enough to even see the beautiful blue of the glacial ice at the front edge.
After breakfast we headed to the supermarket to pick up some food for the day, and also to the tourist information centre in an attempt to grab a hiking map. Grindelwald is surrounded by mountains, so there are plenty of routes to choose from! And although the map we found only showed the more popular routes, we felt that they would be relatively quiet at this time of year.
One of the most popular mountains to visit here is known as First – a 2166m high peak with year-round attractions and easy cable car access. It hosts numerous ski routes in the winter, and in the summer there are mountain carts, “Trottibike” scooters as well as a range of hiking trails. For us the main attraction of First was its proximity to the Bachalpsee, a lovely alpine lake that I had previously researched and was keen to visit.
We did consider hiking from Grindelwald all the way up the mountain to save on the cable car fee. Ultimately though, we decided that it was worth it to have more time hiking in the mountains rather than the relatively boring walk up the road underneath the cable car infrastructure. Of course, the thrill and novelty of the cable car ride was a massive plus too!
Tickets are CHF 36 each way, but the ride is long, and the scenery stunning. We began our ascent deep in the morning mist, which gradually gave way to pine trees and streams of sunshine as we broke above the clouds. Once the mist fully cleared, we were greeted by a view of the incredible snow-capped mountains and the orange hues of the grass below. It is truly one of the best cable car rides I’ve ever taken.
At the top we took the opportunity to grab a few photos, then headed out on the trail to the Bachalpsee. Whilst we didn’t have the path entirely to ourselves, the off-season is definitely the best time to visit to avoid the summer crowds.
The route itself is a relatively easy and accessible gravel track, which took us around an hour to walk at a leisurely pace. Once we reached Bachalpsee, we were rewarded with more incredible views as we stopped for a snack break and planned our next steps.
As usual, we decided to set ourselves a bit of a challenge and attempt to summit the Schwarzhorn. This 2928m high peak had a little snow at the top, but not enough that we would be out of our depth – making it exciting rather than intimidating! Or at least, that’s what we thought at the time… Our planned route also passed by two smaller lakes so we figured there would also be a lot of interesting things to see along the way.
So we set out on the hike, with the helpful red-and-white striped markings on the boulders guiding our way. Later we learned that these mean that the path is a T2 or T3 grade, described as “mountain hiking” or “challenging mountain hiking”. This was a comfortable level of difficulty for us as regular hikers back in the UK, as it does not require any technical alpine skills.
The first small lake we passed was the Hagelseewli, which was an unusual greenish colour. We also got lucky here and saw a chamois in the distance on the scree! Chamois are a species of goat-antelope with iconic black-and-white faces, and are native to these mountains. Although we weren’t very close to this one, it was amazing to see.
From there we carried on towards the Schwarzhorn, passing tiny Häxeseewli on the way. This was my favourite of the two lakes, with its deep turquoise water and reflections of the snow patches from the ridge above.
Our path then began climbing, weaving through the rocks as we headed towards the Schwarzhorn on our right. Following the map, we took a turn onto a short blue-and-white marked trail that led up to the start of the summit climb. I now know that blue-and-white marked trails are alpine routes (T4/T5) which require alpine experience…something that we did not have! But in our naivety we continued on, crossing a snow patch and then taking a short steep scramble up the scree, helped by the steel rope provided at the side.
As we reached the top of this scramble, we were met with a sign at the path to the summit. It was labelled “Klettersteig” or as it is more commonly known in Italian, a Via Ferrata. These routes are a cross between hiking and climbing and require harnesses, clips and helmets to attempt safely. I’m very keen to try one, and this particular route looked awesome if you had the right gear. However, as we did not, we were now in a difficult position. We obviously could not attempt the summit, and both the routes down from the top of this scramble were challenging…
Down the other side, the route looked tricky, with lots of smooth and steeply slanted rock. Whilst there was another steel rope and a few metal pegs/ladder rungs for assistance, we realised that it would be technical and potentially risky. But going back the way we came would also be a bad idea. We had ascended the scramble pretty easily, but knew that it would be a lot more difficult climbing back down. And even after doing so, we would have a much longer hike back to First, during which we would almost certainly run out of daylight. So it’s fair to say that we were in a bit of a dilemma.
Ultimately we decided that pressing on was the best course of action. We took it steady, and though I can’t say I enjoyed it all that much at the time, it was definitely the right decision. Very much Type 2 fun, but I’m a Type 2 fun kind of girl after all!
In hindsight, whilst it was quite naive of us to stray onto an alpine route without realising, this was probably the best one we could have chosen. It was short, navigable with careful feet, and therefore provided us with a successful first alpine trail experience – after all, everyone has to start somewhere.
Once we reached the end of this alpine trail, the going was smooth and our spirits were high as we made our way down to the cable car station. It was still lively up here even though the cable car was about to close for the day, with lots of people milling around.
Slightly further down, there was a queue for the Trottibikes and it seemed as though they were operating longer hours, so we decided to get tickets and have a fun trip down on one of these mountain scooters. Unfortunately, after waiting for an age and getting near the front of the line, we discovered that they were actually closed to new ticket sales. Everyone else there must have pre-booked.
This was a little disappointing but we were undeterred, and spent some time relaxing on lounge chairs soaking in the late afternoon sun before beginning our walk down the mountain. As it turned out, having to walk down was actually the best thing that could have happened, as we were treated to a beautiful golden hour sunset on the way. Everything happens for a reason!
We timed our descent perfectly with the last of the daylight, and arrived back into the warmth and safety of our hotel just as it was getting dark. After all the hiking we were hungry, and so immediately set out to find some good, but affordable food. We settled on takeaway pizza from a cosy-looking Italian restaurant in the centre of the village, and ate them in a field next to our hotel where we could do a spot of stargazing.
Sitting eating a warm meal, under a starry sky and after a day full of exercise is just the most satisfying feeling. Despite the unexpected challenges, we had had an incredible day which really set the tone of the trip. And with another exciting hike planned for the next day, we were truly loving our time in Switzerland so far!
