[Behemoth]

We just came back from a Trip to Switzerland and I must say it is one of the most amazingly beautiful places we have seen ever! In this brief travelogue I will share some of our experiences and some of the best pics from our trip. But truly no pictures can do justice to the real beauty of the land there and it has to be seen to be believed!

The landscapes are so pristinely beautiful and clean and heavenly and the country is immaculately maintained and the Swiss citizens take extreme pride in maintaining their country well. One of the benefits of going to Switzerland in this weather is that the days are extremely long - sunrise happens at 5:30 am and the sunset happens at 9:00 pm - so you have such a long day available to maximize the experiences! The weather in the daytime is pleasant at around 25 Deg and 15 Deg in the night. Only in the mountains - Jungfrau and Titlis, the temperatures at around -2 Deg in the day - so you will need to carry jackets and woolens for these places.


We did a quick 5 Day trip to Switzerland and our itinerary, due to the short time was to stay in Interlaken for 2 day and then in Lucerne for 2 days and then Return to India from Zurich. We landed in Zurich on the early morning of 26th July - the flight from India takes around 8 Hours and there is a time difference of -3:30 Hrs from India. After reaching there, we took the Train to Bern and from there boarded the train to Interlaken - the trip from Zurich to Interlaken took around 3 Hours. The trains there are really very efficient and high speed and run like clockwork to the minute. Many of the trains there are also Double decker trains , where you can sit higher and admire the scenery!

On reaching Interlaken we were absolutely amazed by the beauty of the place and the lakes there - Interlaken is a city between two lakes - Lake Thun on one side and Brienz on one side. Both lakes are extremely Blue in colour and very clean - I have never seen such blue lakes in my life - the colour of the lakes is due to the glacier water runoff and the low temperature of the water in the lake. You can see the colour of the lake in the pictures below - it is actually like this and the image has not been digitally altered! It really has to be seen to be believed - even in Switzerland, the other lakes like Zurich lake / Zug/ Lucerne lake are the normal colour which you see in other places, but the ones in Interlaken are a very different blue colour!


After reaching Interlaken, we rested for a few hours and then had a quick brunch at Maharajah Indian restaurant in the market area there. It is run by a Punjabi gentleman from Jalandhar and the food served there is nice and much better than the other restaurants (Taste of India) that we tried in Interlaken.
After Brunch, we went on to visit the St. Beatus caves, which are also really nice and a natural cave which leads for almost 1 Km inside the Mountain. It is quite tiring but this is one of the few places in the world where one can see such natural wonders.


One of the really good decisions that we took before our journey was to take a "Swiss Travel Pass" for our trip and with this pass one can do unlimited travel in Swiss Trains, Buses and even Boats in any of the cities. Apart from this, you also get discounts on Passes to places like Jungfrau and even Titlis. Children below the age of 16 are also complimentary when travelling with an adult as a Family pass.

In the evening, we reached back and hopped onto a Boat Cruise in the Thun Lake - and it was really amazing. The boats there are very large and have a restaurant and indoor and outdoor seating areas and are very well maintained and clean. We spent almost 1 1/2 hours in the boat cruise and it was absolutely beautiful.


The next day we left early around 7:30 am for Jungfraujoch. Jungfrau is a mountain glacier which is connected by TRAIN all the way to the top. It is the highest mountain in Switzerland and has a height of around 3466m. It is insanely beautiful (and Cold!) in this season, the temperature there in the day was -2 Deg Celsius and in the night it is around -13 Deg Celsius. We were well prepared for the cold and were wearing heavy jackets.
The scenery on the way to Jungfrau (in the mountain train) as well as from the top is just mindblowing! The Glacier cave in Jungfrau is also a wonder and very nicely maintained.


The Jungfrau viewing deck is also very spacious and well built (it is much better than Titlis ). Jungfrau is also much higher than Mt Titlis - for someone who is going to a short trip to Switzerland and can visit only one of the two mountains, I would recommend going to Jungfrau and not to Titlis as it is much more beautiful in Jungfrau (we went to both places in our trip and I will cover why I don't recommend Titlis). Jungfrau really has amazing views of the glacier and the mountains around it.


After our way back from Jungfrau, we took a slight detour and went on to Lauterbrunnen, where the Trummelback falls are located. These are also an amazing natural creation. Trummelback falls is a series of 10 waterfalls - some inside the mountain and some outside, all part of the same river flow which carries around 20,000 liters per second from the glaciers to the river. The Trummelback falls are an absolute must-see!
This was an underground (or In-mountain) waterfall.


This is the last waterfall where all the water finally falls into the river below.


We reached back around 9:30 pm and after a long tiring day (we would have walked almost 15 kms!) we went for dinner and crashed.

The next day we headed off to Lucerne as we would be staying in Lucerne for the next two days. Lucerne is a large city of Switzerland and has more of concrete and less of natural beauty. We spent the day in Lucerne touring the city and also took a nice long boat ride in the Lake Lucerne (which is very large) - it was very calm and peaceful once you reach far away from the city. The Lucerne lake is not as clean or blue as the lakes in Interlaken.


The next day we went for Mt Titlis - we had heard a lot about Titlis earlier and had high expectations of the place - but unfortunately we disappointed! The weather played spoilsport and it was raining and was very cloudy at Titlis. Also, there is a lot of construction going on ontop of the mountain for the new Gondola ride (which is to open in Nov 2015) and those guys have made such a mess of the natural beauty of the place.
Honestly Titlis is overrun and overhyped and it does not have enough facilites to cater to the number of visitors who are heading there each day. The restaurants there are crammed to overcapacity, the interiors look old and shabby - for anyone visiting Switzerland with less time, Titlis can be avoided and Jungfrau should be taken. Junfrau offers much better views and much better Observation deck than Titlis. The rotating Gondolas of Titlis are also overrun and overhyped. The ongoing construction work at Titlis is also spoiling the beauty of the mountain.

After coming back from Titlis , we came to Zurich to roam around the city and do some shopping for souvenirs. We again hopped onto a Boat cruise and enjoyed the experience.

In our whole trip, we took 3 different boat cruises in three different cities, and each one was a different scenery and we thoroughly enjoyed them.


The next day we returned from Zurich to Delhi and it was back to reality for us! Overall it was an extremely amazing trip for us and we enjoyed every moment of it to the fullest!

[Behemoth]

For all us Petrolheads, here are some nice vehicles of all forms spotted by us in Switzerland!

[Behemoth]

Uploading a few more pics - (in no particular sequence)

[RedDevil_KP]

Well Penned Travelogue with excellent pictures.Reminds me of my road trip with friends across Europe. We happened to visit interlaken for couple of days & it was a fantastic experience.

DDLG is so famous there that twelve & thirteen year olds mocked us by singing songs of the movie on trains.

[Behemoth]

Adding some more pics! These were taken from my DSLR , previous ones in Post 5 were taken from my Note 3 Neo phone (some were in Panorama mode).

[joie-de-vivre]

Behemoth, rather than titlis, mt. pilatus was better option for you day trip. Even Mt. rigi trip was also a good option which is free with your swiss travel pass.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by joie-de-vivre

Behemoth, rather than titlis, mt. pilatus was better option for you day trip. Even Mt. rigi trip was also a good option which is free with your swiss travel pass.

Yes, we were evaluating those options too, but finally went with Titlis and Jungfrau due to lack of time! Overall still had a great time, though weather can play spoilsport at any of these mountains anytime! It really changes fast and at the base of the mountain it was sunny, while at the top of Titlis it was raining.
The problem at Titlis was aggravated by the fact that they were just too many tourists in such a small place and badly overpacked as nobody was able to go outside due to the rains.

[ampere]

Nicely captured. The Swiss land is infinitely beautiful. The expansive green, mighty peaks and the huge water bodies provide a nice variance to the country side.

[libranof1987]

I'm in Zurich for a few months and since the weather is good, considering the season, this weekend, I'm planning a trip on these lines:

Day 1: Zurich - Interlaken (reach by 9am), cruise on lake Thun, roam around Interlaken
Day 2: trip to Jungfrau, Trummelback, Interlaken - Zurich
may be difficult to fit Luzern in

or

Day 1: Zurich - Luzern (reach by 9am), Titlis (or Pilatus), stay or Luzern - Interlaken
Day 2: Interlaken - Jungfrau, Trummelback and then back to Zurich
(In this plan, a cruise on Lake Thun might not work out since there is much reduced frequency right now)

or

Day1: Zurich - Interlaken (reach by 9am), trip to Jungfrau, Trummelback, back to Interlaken
Day2: Interlaken - Luzern, Titlis/Pilatus, back to Zurich

Originally Posted by Behemoth

In the evening, we reached back and hopped onto a Boat Cruise in the Thun Lake - and it was really amazing. The boats there are very large and have a restaurant and indoor and outdoor seating areas and are very well maintained and clean. We spent almost 1 1/2 hours in the boat cruise and it was absolutely beautiful.

Where did you board the boat?

I spoke with someone mentioned on the Thun website, she mentioned that I should come to the Thun boat station (a short walk from the Thun railway station) for a 1.5 hr boat ride to Interlaken.

So, is the boat ride between Thun and Interlaken, and separate cruises as well? What would you recommend?

The Jungfrau viewing deck is also very spacious and well built (it is much better than Titlis ). Jungfrau is also much higher than Mt Titlis - for someone who is going to a short trip to Switzerland and can visit only one of the two mountains, I would recommend going to Jungfrau and not to Titlis as it is much more beautiful in Jungfrau (we went to both places in our trip and I will cover why I don't recommend Titlis). Jungfrau really has amazing views of the glacier and the mountains around it.

We can take the train to Jungfrauhoch from Interlaken OST, right?

I've been in this discussion as well and here's what I gathered:

Jungfrau:
Pros - at much higher altitude than Titlis
Con - you go in a train, takes a long time to go up, not many view points

Titlis:
Pro: the cablecar experience is better since the car rotates, giving a better view, more view points
Con: not as high as Jungfrau

Another thing could be Jungfrau + Pilatus

After our way back from Jungfrau, we took a slight detour and went on to Lauterbrunnen, where the Trummelback falls are located

So, basically take a different train down from Jungfrau to Lauterbrunnen?

[/quote]

Originally Posted by joie-de-vivre

Behemoth, rather than titlis, mt. pilatus was better option for you day trip

That would be a train from Luzern to Pilatus Kulm?

A lot of the cogwheel services are on winter break though.

http://www.pilatus.ch/en/open-facilities/

I'm working on finalizing the logistics for the plan (considering the two options above).

[Behemoth]

Hi Libran,
I will try to answer some of your queries from my memory!
My answers are below inline:

Originally Posted by libranof1987

I'm in Zurich for a few months and since the weather is good, considering the season, this weekend, I'm planning a trip on these lines:

Day 1: Zurich - Interlaken (reach by 9am), cruise on lake Thun, roam around Interlaken
(This is a better plan as you will get more time in Interlaken. Between Interlaken and Luzern, I like Interlaken much more due to the beauty of the lake)

Day 2: trip to Jungfrau, Trummelback, Interlaken - Zurich
may be difficult to fit Luzern in

or

Day 1: Zurich - Luzern (reach by 9am), Titlis (or Pilatus), stay or Luzern - Interlaken
Day 2: Interlaken - Jungfrau, Trummelback and then back to Zurich
(In this plan, a cruise on Lake Thun might not work out since there is much reduced frequency right now)

(Between Jungfrau and Titlis, if you have time to visit only only place, I would suggest Jungfrau 100%. The train ride is very nice and very comfortable and the infrastructure at the mountain top is also very good and newly made. In Titlis it has become old and you will not find it less scenic. Also, when we had gone last year, they were making this huge ski lift on Titlis (don't know whether it is open yet) and because of the that the whole scenic beauty was compromised)
I would recommend that you take at least one cruise on the Interlaken lake (even if it is a short trip as the beauty of the lake while on cruise is amazing).
or

Day1: Zurich - Interlaken (reach by 9am), trip to Jungfrau, Trummelback, back to Interlaken
Day2: Interlaken - Luzern, Titlis/Pilatus, back to Zurich



Where did you board the boat?
(We boarded the boat in Interlaken and the boat when to Thun and was supposed to come back to, but to save time we got down at Thun and took a train back)

I spoke with someone mentioned on the Thun website, she mentioned that I should come to the Thun boat station (a short walk from the Thun railway station) for a 1.5 hr boat ride to Interlaken.

So, is the boat ride between Thun and Interlaken, and separate cruises as well? What would you recommend?

(These are like Local boats from point to point and you can Hop on Hop off if you have the Swiss Travel pass)


We can take the train to Jungfrauhoch from Interlaken OST, right?
(Yes, and IIRC you have to get down in between and change a train.. I am forgetting the name of the station!)

I've been in this discussion as well and here's what I gathered:

Jungfrau:
Pros - at much higher altitude than Titlis
Con - you go in a train, takes a long time to go up, not many view points

(Yes, Jungfrau is very high and the view of the mountains is nicer. Be careful of AMS (Mountain Sickness) as you gain almost 10,000 ft in 2 hours and once you reach Jungfrau you start feeling light headed and lack of Oxygen creates problems - I also started getting headache there)

Titlis:
Pro: the cablecar experience is better since the car rotates, giving a better view, more view points
Con: not as high as Jungfrau

(The Titlis cable cars are overhyped and we did not find the rotating cable cars to be at all exciting. They rotate very slowly and also the view on all sides is similar!)

Another thing could be Jungfrau + Pilatus

(We did not visit Pilatus, so can't comment..)

So, basically take a different train down from Jungfrau to Lauterbrunnen?

(Yes, take the train to Lauterbrunnen and then head on to Trummelback falls from there. It is an amazing place and definitely worth seeing)

That would be a train from Luzern to Pilatus Kulm?

A lot of the cogwheel services are on winter break though.

http://www.pilatus.ch/en/open-facilities/

I'm working on finalizing the logistics for the plan (considering the two options above).[/quote]

Yes being winter there now, a lot of the train services may be curtailed, so make your plans accordingly. We had gone in Summer time so the itinerary was quite different! The best part about summer is that the days start at 6am and end at 9:00 pm so you have so much time! But Winter time also has its own beauty too , with snow all around!

[joie-de-vivre]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

I'm in Zurich for a few months and since the weather is good, considering the season, this weekend, I'm planning a trip on these lines:

Hi libranof1987, your first option is best one. Interlaken, jaungfroch and lauterbrunnnen valley are better than luzern and titlis.

Lake Brienz criuse is more beutiful than lake thun cruise.

You can replace taumelbach fall by 'first' top visit (cable car from grindelwald)

SO
Day 1. Zurich - interlaken by train. Take lake brienz cruise to brienz, than take train to miringen. Visit aareschlucth (http://www.aareschlucht.ch/).
Take train back to interlaken.

Day 2. Interlaen - Jaungfroch ( via lauterbrummen - wengen). While back from jaungfroch go to grindelwald, take cable to FIRST mountain ( nice cliff walk now), and than back to interlaken.

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by joie-de-vivre

Hi libranof1987, your first option is best one. Interlaken, jaungfroch and lauterbrunnnen valley are better than luzern and titlis.

Yea; leaning towards option 1 since Interlaken - Jungfrau - Luzern - Titlis was too ambitious in two days.

I'm thinking of this:

Day1: Zurich - Interlaken - Jungfrau - Trummelback
Day2: Interlaken town, cruise on lake Thun - Zurich

Only cruises on Lake Thun (that too, only one trip) are operational, those on Lake Brienz are closed.

I'll do Luzern and Titlis as a day trip some other day.

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Yea; leaning towards option 1 since Interlaken - Jungfrau - Luzern - Titlis was too ambitious in two days.
I'll do Luzern and Titlis as a day trip some other day.

Hello Interlaken / Jungfrau is one (long) day trip from Lucerne, but easily doable.

I would suggest to also cover Lucerne. Titles and Mount Rigi are good. From Lucerne to Mr. Rigi, you go though a boat and then mountain rail.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Wow!! Behemoth, excellent pictures.
Thank you for the nice and crisp info and the pictures are lovely!!

We do miss you on the Gurgaon Meets and your name frequently comes up.
Hopefully will catch up soon.

CHEERS!!

Rachit

[libranof1987]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

Hi Libran,
I will try to answer some of your queries from my memory!

Originally Posted by joie-de-vivre

Hi libranof1987, your first option is best one. Interlaken, jaungfroch and lauterbrunnnen valley are better than luzern and titlis.

Lake Brienz criuse is more beutiful than lake thun cruise.

You can replace taumelbach fall by 'first' top visit (cable car from grindelwald)

SO
Day 1. Zurich - interlaken by train. Take lake brienz cruise to brienz, than take train to miringen. Visit aareschlucth (http://www.aareschlucht.ch/).
Take train back to interlaken.

Day 2. Interlaen - Jaungfroch ( via lauterbrummen - wengen). While back from jaungfroch go to grindelwald, take cable to FIRST mountain ( nice cliff walk now), and than back to interlaken.

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Hello Interlaken / Jungfrau is one (long) day trip from Lucerne, but easily doable.

I would suggest to also cover Lucerne. Titles and Mount Rigi are good. From Lucerne to Mr. Rigi, you go though a boat and then mountain rail.

Ended up with the following:

Day 1: Zurich - Interlaken, took the 9am train to Jungrau via Grindelwald. We were at the top by 11.30 and roamed around all the spots there. Apart from some sections of the observatory area, we could go to all.

On the way back, we wanted to come via Lauterbrunnen but the train was an hour after we were free so came back through the same route (Grindelwald). Also, Trummelbach falls were closed for public in Oct itself this year due to early snow. So, couldn't visit.

There were some promotional videos about events at the Jungfrau glacier that happen during summer: cricket (Sandeep Patil, Kapil Dev), Tennis (Federer), running and so on. Would want to visit again!

Day 2: We had a late start to the day; checked the timings for the cruise, there was one at 1110 from Thun and 1420 from Interlaken. Thought we'd do the Interlaken - Thun cruise and then get back to Zurich from Thun. While on a walk, suddenly remembered about Interlaken being famous for paragliding so enquired and finalized one. While exiting the shop, saw brochures for skydiving. And that was that. Booked skydiving!

The dive from 13000 ft from amongst the Alps is quite something! While the plane climbed, we got a good view of the Alps, especially Jungfrau from close quarters and Mt. Blanc from afar, and also the lakes and Interlaken town. And then jump was breathtaking!

Missed going to Luzern and Titlis; maybe some other weekend, or the next trip.