From Lake to Interlaken

- June 01, 2022

Our last morning in Luzern was a grey one--must have been sad to see us go!

Loved this little elevator: it had a fold out bench, just in case one got tired going all the way up to floor 6 :) And, the lobby was always filled with gorgeous flowers. Staying at the Schweizerhof was such a wonderful way to begin our Swiss-sojourn! And, when guests check out, they get water and a special music-themed chocolate bar. We love you HS!

It was a short walk to the Luzern train station and back on board for our trip to Interlaken. We followed Lake Luzern out of town and then started climbing up into the mountains. Although the sun was hiding, the predicted rain never arrived.

There are two Interlaken train stations--West and Oust--a four minute ride apart. While Interlaken Oust is the bigger station, West (our station) actually seemed to be closer to historic Interlaken. Plus, it had the cutest floral displays and an adorable otter (?) fountain--that, yes, you could use to fill your water bottle!

We were staying three nights in Interlaken (which literally means between two lakes, Brienz and Thun), and our home would be the Hotel Bellevue, a seven minute walk from the station along the Aare River, the longest in the Alps. The hotel has adopted an Alpine wildflower theme--with a floor tile pattern in the lobby that could easily be a Loes van Oosten print. So charming and welcoming that the large wooden reception door opens as soon as you step on the mat.

It took had a cute little elevator, leading to a gracious landing and rooms with views that were just gorgeous!

We had rooms right next to each other, overlooking the hotel yard and garden, the river, and the Alps in the distance. Seriously, waking up and falling asleep to this for three days was going to be heavenly!

As always, we were starving; and equally as always, we were trying to eat outside of the European lunch hour. But, we found a wonderful Indian restaurant, Taj Mahal, up the block and enjoyed a delicious meal while we planned how to spend the afternoon.

The draw of this region is the Alps, and ttourism is its number one industry. So, they have helpfully put webcams at the top of all the peaks to let visitors know whether heading up will be worth it. On our train ride in, the answer was, sadly, nope. But, by the time we had finished our late lunch, the clouds had cleared from one of the lowest points: Harder Kulm. Only a bit more than 1300 meters up and reachable via a funicular in about 10 minutes.

So, we walked back to the station and then walked longer than advertised to the funicular station. The way there was lovely, but after a full day of traveling, nature's beauty didn't tame our crabby travel inner beasts--especially given the loooonnnggg line for the funicular. We'd been on the road for long enough to lose track of days and forgot it was Saturday night.

Once we arrived at the top, though, the views calmed us down--they were spectacular, even on a grey afternoon. From Harder Kulm, we could see both lakes and the city of Interlaken far, far down below.

Two by two.

There's a wonderfully touristy-trap-y restaurant at the top of Harder Kulm, so it seemed like the perfect place to order--finally--that stereotypical Swiss dish: fondue! We snagged a table right by the wall and settled in. Both Harper and Penn are legal drinkers in Switzerland, and they've been making the most of it--with Harper exploring Swiss wines and Penn, their beers. I've been drinking enough sparkling water to make a good dent in Lake Thun, and we've all become accustomed to afternoon coffees to keep us going on our 9-10 hour days.