Hiking in the Swiss Alps
For more photos, see the photo album: Photo gallery
Background
For our 30th anniversary in 2020, my wife and I decided to go hiking for a week in the Swiss Alps. We’d gotten engaged in Switzerland, we’d honeymooned there, and of course I’ve spent much of my personal and work life there.
On the recommendation of friends, we booked a hiking tour with Alpinehikers . They have many kinds of tours, with varying locations, distances, and guiding options.
We arranged for a week of hiking in the mountains around Grindlewald and Lauterbrunnen, a region we know well. We decided not to hike with a guide, but just to take a self-guided tour where Alpinehikers would provide us suggested hikes, arrange for hotels for each night, and deal with the logistics of sending our bags from one hotel to the next. That way, we could just do day hikes on each day, not having to hassle with heavier overnight bags. And we could go at our own pace.
It was a great plan. We were excited. Seemed like a great way for us to celebrate 3 decades of marriage.
Then, you know, 2020.
Now, two years later, with the pandemic either mostly over or mostly ignored, we decided to take another shot at celebrating our 30th, for our 32nd. Fortunately, Alpinehikers stayed in business through the pandemic and honored our deposits and plans.
Off we went.
Itinerary
We flew from Boston to Zurich on Swiss, a convenient flight that I’ve taken literally a hundred times before. It was a bizarre flashback to my days at Novartis - both unsettling and incredibly familiar.
We spent jet lag recovery day touring Zurich with a guide, then took the next day to travel by train to the start of the hikes at an alpine lodge above Meiringen.
Our next 5 days were the day hikes that took us from one end of the Grindelwald region to the other:
- Schwarzwaldalp to Grindlewald
- Grindelwald to Wengen via the Eiger Route
- An ascent of the Mannlichen peak behind Wengen
- Wengen to Mürren via Marchegg
- A day hike southwest of Mürren to a relatively unknown but spectacular waterfall
Thanks to weather (it stormed on us a bit), our speed (we were taking it easy, just enjoying being in the mountains), and our own preferences (we decided to take a down day while in Wengen), we didn’t exactly follow the routes provided to us by the Alpinehikers crew, but it worked out fine.
From Mürren, we took a series of Swiss trains and a gondola to make our way back to Zurich and fly back home. We wanted to take more time while in Switerland to connect with old friends and tour a little more, but I only had a little time off from work, so we had to head directly back to the US.
A Few Notes
- It was a total luxury to day hike from one spot to another while our luggage was transported via the Swiss rail system.
- The hotels varied from a small lodge with restrooms down the hall to a 4-star hotel with amazing views from our own balcony. They were all great.
- The hikes and views were fantastic.
- It felt great to get out of the US after several years of being here. Remembering that there’s a bigger world out there, wallowing in a different culture, appreciating decades of memories we’ve built up there, thinking about Switzerland’s place in our life – all worthwhile.
- Alpinehikers was great. Highly recommended. We needed a little help during the trip as logistics shifted, and they were always responsive and on top of the situation. The hotels, routes, and details were all perfect.
- That said, when they say that a route is “strenous”, they aren’t kidding. This trip isn’t for inexperienced hikers.
- We really enjoyed hiking together. This wasn’t one of those athletic trips I have with my cycling and backpacking friends - it was a great way to spend time together exploring a gorgeous part of the world. We’re likely to arrange a similar vacation like this in the future - perhaps somewhere else in the Alps, or perhaps somewhere like Scotland or Spain where we can get to know a new place together.
- Best moments: Waterfalls. Goat swarms. Chocolate. Sunsets. Raclette.
For more photos, see the photo album: Photo gallery