Continuing to Bernese Oberlan (Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Schilthorn)

Two notes about this portion of our trip before we jump into it:

1. To be honest this region is all over. We headed to the Bernese-Oberlan region but we took so many lifts, gondolas, trains I lost track of exactly where we were. Here is a map to help visualize! I highlighted where we went in yellow.

2. This region is i.n.c.r.e.d.i.b.l.y gorgeous...,and it's most known for its outdoors. However, we had a rain storm blow in that was going to stick around the whole time we were there so we moved on earlier than anticipated to our next stop. We went here to climb mountains and with all the fog the views were much reduced. I look forward to returning to this area though to pick up where we left off -- hopefully in some better weather!

We set out from Bern to Lauterbrunnen and then from Lauterbrunnen up to Wengen. Wengen is at 1274 elevation.

Rain and fog was coming and going but we still got a glimpse at the beauty of this region. It literally looked like a land from a storybook.

You can see the fog in the valley but if it was a clear day you'd see mountains. We made it our hotel (we stayed at Baren) and then hopped back on a gondola down to Lauterbrunnen.

From there we went to see the waterfalls! There are over 72 glacial waterfalls in the Lauterbrunnen Valley and you can explore 10 of them at Trummelbachfalle.

You take a cart inside the mountain and then you can walk to various waterfalls.

Fun fact about me...I am scared of three things: (1) really loud noises, (2) water, and (3) stairs. So this was a pretty stressful outing for me but I definitely didn't want to miss out. The waterfalls were amazing.

I wish these photos captured sound. The waterfalls were huge (and SO COLD because they are glacial) and the rushing water was SO LOUD.

But then the pathway would head outside and you would see the most beautiful view.

I didn't add that Swiss flag there...it's a metal flag that was already there for the perfect shot. Lol. See what I mean when I saw this region is out of a storybook?

After the waterfalls we decided to climb some moutnains. And by climb I mean take a lift to the top...but the weather threw us tons of fog so the view from the top...well you'll see. There are webcams you can access online that show you the conditions at the top of certain mountains so we knew what we were getting into but we knew we weren't sticking around so we went anyway.

A great skyline view right? Lol. Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau are mountains that you usually can see in clearer weather. Also, it was the Junfrau Marathon when we arrived in Lauterbrunnen! There were runners literally running UP the Jungfrau Mountain. We stood and cheered them on for a few minutes.

Anyway, back to the Schilthorn-Piz Gloria. This is what we could see at the top...

And this is the view you can see on a clear day...

Photo from here.

It wasn't so bad though. There was a really cool James Bond exhibit in that building. James Bond On Her Majesty's Secret Service was filmed there and a restaurant that rotated 365 degrees. We didn't eat there because the views were...not great that day. Now you can see why we didn't stick around in Bernese Oberlan and moved on to somewhere with better weather!

We went back down to Lauterbrunnen and had some dinner at Oberlan, a delicious restaurant where we ordered fondue. It was the first time in Switzerland that we had fondue and it did not disappoint. In my research it was recommended that you have fondue in the mountains instead of the cities so that's why we held off until we were in the mountains. It came with heaps of bread and potatoes and was so tasty.

I thought fondue was just a blend of cheeses but it turns out to be heavily flavored with white wine. So if you don't like white wine...consider yourself warned! It was also served with onions, garlic, parsley, and mushrooms to add more flavor but we didn't.

The restaurant was so quaint and cozy and we were able to sit outside even though it was cold -- it had blankets for the cold weather. 

We only stayed one day and night in Wengen because the weather was bad and we didn't want to waste time. We added the region on our To Return To list and moved on to Zermatt! I can't wait to share our adventures--Zermatt was my favorite part of our Switzerland trip.

1. Have you ever had fondue with white wine?

2. Have you been to Switzerland? What was your favorite thing you did?