After returning to our car at the Gondola station via the public trolley/tram from the Lucerne Main train station we programmed our GPS and started the drive into the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps. Our destination was the valley of Lauterbrunnen South of Interlaken. We chose this area because it is away from the touristy area of Interlaken and serves as a gateway to the tallest peaks of the Alps. My first introduction to Interlaken was a Rick Steves travel video. When I saw the downtown area with all the commercial signs and busineese I thought of the Smokey Mountain town of Gatlinburg and wanted to avoid that area at all costs.
Our hotel was the Hotel Silberhorn, strategically located on the hillside overlooking the valley in the village of Lauterbrunnen. Across the street is a Volge convenience store and the train station. Next to the hotel is the gondola station which takes you to Grutshalp which is where a narrow gauge rail train can take you the rest of the way to Murren.
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| On the way to Lauterbrunnen this was the GPSscreen at one point in our journey |
We arrived at the Hotel Silberhorn and were at first disappointed by the hotel construction. They were adding a new wing and were also replacing the roof but it ended up not bothering us. We had a beautiful suite with a huge bathroom, living room and bedroom. There was a small patio off our room in a garden that overlooked the highest peaks of the Alps.
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| Hotel Silberhorn, our stay for the next 3 nights |
For our first afternoon in Lauterbrunnen we walked across the street and visited the train station to purchase a pass for the transportation system in the Bernese Oberlin Valley and then a stop at the Volge food store for wine, cheese and crackers. All Swiss wine seems to have screw caps on the bottles which makes it convenient since we didn't have a cork screw with us.
We sat on the patio in the garden and enjoyed the view.
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| View from our patio of Jungfraujoch |
