Schilthorn and 007

The view from Schilthorn includes the Eiger and Jungfrau

The weather forecast was for a sunny day so we went to Schilthorn. From Bern we went by train the Interlaken Ost and then changed to another train to Lauterbrunnen. Travelling through the Swiss countryside is a wonderful experience and on a clear day in autumn Thunersee (lake) was looking beautiful (we made sure we chose seats on the train that gave us a good view because the train line is right beside the lake), and the line leading to Lauterbrunnen follows a river running strongly with water off the mountains.

There are several ways to get to Schilthorn. We went by cablecar to Grütschalp then took the rail to Mürren and then the cablecar to Schilthorn via Birg. Sounds easy doesn't it? Well, it wasn't. There were hoards of people all trying to do the same thing and the cablecars can only hold so many people, even if they're squashed in like sardines, so at each change we had to queue.

Crowded cablecar to Grütschalp 

At Mürren we took a long break in our journey and treated ourselves to a strudel and coffee at a delightful hotel where the views were spectacular. (OK, to be fair, all the views in the village are spectacular.)

Mürren

Strudel time at Mürren with Jungfraujoch in the background.

Vegetable garden

Harvesting potatoes with Eiger in the background!

Mürren

Then we again braved the crowds and went up the mountain by cablecar. The views are spectacular and we were very lucky with the weather. There is a revolving restaurant, which we avoided, and a small James Bond museum because they filmed On Her Majesty‘s Secret Service, starring George Lazenby as 007, on Schilthorn and around Mürren.

View back to Birg from Schilthorn

Eiger and Jungfraujoch

And then back down to Lauterbrunnen via the cablecar to Stechelberg and bus along the beautiful valley. Phil and I walked from Stechelbeg to Lauterbrunnen ten years ago and it is still one of my best memories - a sealed path beside waterfalls, Swiss farm buildings, neat vegetable gardens, stunning mountain scenery and a beautiful river - but this time we took the bus and its route takes you through several small villages down the valley.