Sometimes you wonder what makes Switzerland such a beautiful country. There are mountains, valleys, rivers, glaciers and waterfalls world over but it is Switzerland that people flock to, in droves, despite the high costs involved.

Places like Lauterbrunnen tell you why. 

This was our second visit to this beautiful valley. We visited in the summer of 2013 and loved it! We made trips to Mürren and Buchalpsee last time. This time we recreated a similar itinerary except that we stayed here only for one night.

Lauterbrunnen means “many springs” after the 72 waterfalls that flow over the edges of the cliffs on either side of the valley. The Staubbach fall is the identity of Lauterbrunnen. The gush of the waterfalls can be heard from almost all over the town and it can also be seen from all over making it the backdrop in many photos.

Getting to Lauterbrunnen

Both the times we arrived at Lauterbrunnen by car. This time from Zermatt through the Lötschberg Tunnel. Our very first experience with a car train. After reading some experiences of the road between Goppenstein and the highway on the Valais side, I was quite apprehensive of the mountainous route. However despite the switchbacks it wasn’t difficult at all.

Lauterbrunnen is connected to Interlaken by train. Interlaken is well connected to all major cities in Switzerland and in most cases by a direct high speed train.

Staying in the valley

Last time we were in the valley we stayed at Hotel Oberland. We paid about £150 a night for our family. This time the same room was priced at £325 a night. That tells you how expensive it has gotten since! And also how busy it is! We picked Chalet Rosa b&b this time. It cost us about £265 on booking dot com but that included a nice breakfast the next morning. The staff were friendly and helpful. However the room was nothing to write home about. The bunkbed had its lower bed on the floor and the space was too tight for the four of us. It was not inside the main building but facing the street with a lot of traffic noise and some nosy tourists! 

The one stark difference, albeit unpleasant, between our earlier trip and this was that Lauterbrunnen has become one of the most crowded, noisy and touristy spot in Switzerland. Gone was the quiet, serene and beautiful valley it was 11 years ago. It was overflowing with tourists, talking loudly, stopping everywhere for a picture with the waterfall and some gay walking on the streets that we had to honk for them to get out of the way. It may still be possible to find some quiet in the early hours of the morning or in some small lanes off the Main Street as a lot of them were day trippers from elsewhere. Perhaps one reason why the hotels are priced extremely high are to keep tourists away!

Scenic spots

We arrived near 6 pm in the evening and were shocked to see the pretty little town overflowing with tourists everywhere! It kind of disappointed us as I had included it in our itinerary imagining it to be the peaceful town it once was. I would perhaps look at Mürren or Wengen to stay next time.

The main road along the town is quite scenic in itself despite the traffic and the crowds. The wooden Chalets with the Swiss flags, the Staubbach waterfall and the snow covered mountains in the distance make for a pretty picture by itself.

The iconic Lauterbrunnen pictures are taken at a little lane to the east behind the ball made of stone. There’s the Staubbach waterfall to your right, the steeple of the church in the middle and the snow covered mountains at the rear. This one picture would speak million words about why this is the most beautiful valley in the world! There is always a line at this spot for pictures !

At this point the memory card in my camera went kaput and I nearly lost my mind! Since life (and the trip) must go on, I ended up taking pictures on my iPhone instead until I purchased another card at Mürren the next morning. My biggest worry was recovering Zermatt and Gornergrat pictures. Thanks to an expensive software I was able to!

Walking down this lane to the river gives fantastic views over the hills and little settlements along the cliffs along the Wengen side.

Since we had no particular itinerary in mind we wandered around the river, quiet and nearly deserted lanes and the waterfalls until it was time to head over for dinner at Weidstübli. A walk along the road past the waterfalls and to Weidstübli was scenic. It got quieter as we walked past the waterfalls where most of the tourists stopped. 

The Staubbach waterfalls is visible from all over the town. It is kind of unavoidable and will end up in all your pictures! Walking down the street near the church you can reach the path that takes you up and close to the falls.

Restaurant Weidstübli

Our first choice for dinner was Hotel Oberland’s restaurant however they were closed on Sundays and Mondays. The next top rated restaurant in town was Weidstübli. They had all that we wanted to try on their menu. I was glad I booked a table with them one week out as I saw some tourists being turned away as we arrived for dinner, even in the off season. After waiting for a few minutes, we were seated. The staff were very friendly and the service, prompt.

SC preferred a soup, Sam had the Alpler Mac & cheese while me and Shash decided to go in for the cheese fondue. All these were marked vegetarian on the menu and we did not enquire any further!

The Cheese Fondue

Having a fondue in Switzerland is high on the list of any visitor and we were eager to try it out. The fondue came with a basket of cubed bread, pickles, pearl onions and a seasoning of garlic and cumin on the side. This is one of the restaurants that allows one sole order of fondue as most restaurants in Switzerland expect it to be ordered in 2 or more portions or else pay a surcharge. Had we known this before we would have limited it to one portion.

The experience of having a fondue is unmatched. The pot bubbling with all these cheese, cubes of bread dunked in the melted cheese, the warm gooey cheese sticking on to the bread, coating it gently while not soaking it, excites your tastebuds to this new experience! As alcohol is added in the fondue it is not recommended for children. Some restaurants offer an alcohol free version though this is not considered authentic. 

Sam’s Mac & Cheese was heavenly! It had cubed potatoes, a salad and came with a small pot of apple sauce. As Shash said, we could taste Switzerland in the Mac & Cheese! There was something earthy, grassy, fresh about it! On hindsight we should have reduced the fondue to one and had more of the Mac & Cheese as we were not able to finish the fondue at all! The basket of bread had gone down only to it’s half before we decided to call it done. Since cold drinks, except wine, are a strict no-no for consuming with fondue we had ordered tea. The fondue did dry our throats quite a bit and we had to sip on the tea pretty often. Perhaps this made us feel heavy, I’d never know.

Once dinner was done, we walked slowly back up the road into Lauterbrunnen. It was almost dark and the village had become eerily quiet. The day trippers had all left and it was just those that stayed overnight in the valley that were left. This was a walk I would cherish the most (in addition to the dining experience) on this trip to Lauterbrunnen.

The next morning we checked out of the hotel after our breakfast and headed out to Stechelberg to take the Cable car up to Mürren.