Tag Archives: Wengen

From the Alps to the Dolomites

5 Oct

6 October 2026.

Ciao from Italy! After nearly two weeks in one happy place, the village of Wengen in the Berner Oberland, we made our way to Italy. Our time in Wengen was devoted to researching necessary book updates so we took to cable cars, mountain trains, and trails to check out what’s changed. In the two years since our last visit there is a new cable way to the Schilthorn, a major renovation of the famous Piz Gloria, and a super fast gondola at Grütschalp. All of this to move the ever-growing hoards of visitors more efficiently through the landscape.

I am pleased to report the trails are not as busy as the transportation options. It seems many travelers are here to jump off a train or a gondola, see the view, take some pictures, and move on to eat and shop. All one has to do to find some solitude is walk. Lauterbrunnen is chock-a-block with tourists, many of the day-tripping from Interlaken and other points outside the valley. This village, which we used to find serene, is so busy with large families and tour groups plus buses, unnecessary rental cars, and local commercial traffic, that we spent little time there. Instead, our home was in car-free Wengen where the loudest noise came from the church bells that still follow the tradition of chiming each hour.

It was still unseasonably warm. Morning jackets were not needed by midday and the evenings were mild enough that outdoor dining continued through the first of October. The crowds started to thin ever-so-slightly in our second week which made for some breathing room on the trains. And as we departed town October 3, there were signs of the seasonal shutdowns coming mid-October.

The improbable view into the valley from the Gimmelwald Trail. Easy walk, amazing views. We would shortly descend by gondola to the same level as the ribbon of river you see in the distance.

Walking a less-worn path along the Lütschine River, these curious calves came to say hello.

Sunset and Wengen church, view from our apartment

We moved on to the Dolomites where it is near the end of the season as well. On October 11 our favorite hotel, AlpenHotel Panorama, closes for the period before ski season starts in early December. There are about a dozen rooms occupied right now, so very quiet.

You’d think it would be an easy trip from Central Switzerland to Northern Italy — about 180 miles as the crow flies — but those darn alps make travel less than direct. It’s about 320 miles driving but by train, it took us 9 1/2 hours plus a 50 minute taxi ride to make the move. Beautiful routes, comfortable trains and the freedom to read, sleep, chat, poke at our screens, or simply enjoy the views. Beats driving.

We split the journey, spending a night in Zürich to break up the trip. That gave us a chance to stretch our legs and enjoy a summery night — crazily warm for October — dining outdoors in a fine Lebanese restaurant.

Coming to AlpenHotel Panorama is a such a pleasure after a long trip. This is our fifth stay here. We are drawn by the stunning beauty of the Alpe di Siusi, the incredible peace and quiet of this car-free place, the easy walking, and the timeless hospitality of the hotel. This is a half-pension property meaning our breakfast and dinner are included and the dinners are spectacular! Multiple courses with small portions, a simplified but elegant degustation menu. Such a pleasant respite after five weeks of travel. We don’t have to prepare a meal nor even think about where we are going to have dinner or what we might like to eat. Restaurant fatigue on a long trip is real so we like the surprise elements of a half-pension stay along with the thoughtful elegance. Such a far cry from my simply on-the-road meals which are often dinner-in-a-bowl.

Some pictures from our first evening and morning. More to come.

Distant mountains to our west in the fading light.

AlpenHotel Panorama, reachable by chairlift or vehicle with severe restrictions on when a private vehicle can arrive. Makes car-free Wengen look busy.

Moody morning view of the Sassolungo and Sassopiatto. Today, October 5, there was light rain during our walk for the first time in 5 weeks! The mountains are dry and the locals are praying for a good winter as skiing is a crucial part of the economy and lifestyle.

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When the cows come down, the people party

28 Sep

28 September 2024.

On the streets of every village are traces of the alpabzüg, the annual descent of the cows from mountain grazing pastures (alps) to the valley villages and towns. The cows and their people take the same routes every year, some of which are the very paths hikers use. It is a big deal and a steady rain after is welcome, at least by me, to remove those telltale streaks. A cow must do what a cow must do, and hundreds have made the descent in the past few days.

We have seen many “cow parades” over the 10 years we have been coming to the Jungfrau Region as well as some in other parts of the country. Sometimes there are formal festivals with costumes for both cows and humans. Sometimes it is a farmer simply walking down the street with his 5 or 6 cows when he has the notion to descend. When we hear the giant bells clanging, we run to the street or window (along with many others) to watch the ancient tradition.

After the descent, the villages celebrate with the chästeilet, or cheese festival, a gathering for music, food, dancing and, of course, the selling of the alpkäse, or cheese made while the cows are feeding on lush mountain grass. Each farmer marks their cheese with their farm name. When we go to the local grocery stores, we can see the products of the various farms displayed. Occasionally we see entrepreneurial farmers selling their cheeses in vending machines along the road along with beverages, dried apple slices, and other snacks.

Two cheeses labeled in the grocery store case, one from Stechelberg and another form Wengernalp. The third entry is in a vending machine outside the farm along a road many walk through the valley.

Festivals can be tiny or grand in scale. At little Winteregg, which is where the little cliff top train from Grütschalp to Mürren crosses paths with hiking and cycling trails, we found a small gathering of farm folk with cakes and drinks (beer, schnapps, coffee) available. No entertainment. Just the cheesemakers whose hut is nearby and the farmers who supply the milk.

Winteregg’s 2023 festival, a community gathering right next to the hut where the cheese is made.

Three and a half kilometers away, as the crow flies (12 km by car, but you cannot drive there) is Wengen, which put on a grand chästeilet Saturday and Sunday a week ago. An evening and a day of celebration with music and massive quantities of food, table space for hundreds of people, gigantic cheeses, and handmade goods for sale. You could arrange to purchase a cow share. (Not sure if that means alive or butchered.) For a community of 1,300 permanent residents, it was an amazing event.

Wengen’s chästeilet is a huge affair for the surrounding farms, locals, and tourists. Massive wheels of cheese, samples, crafts for sale, and a community feed with vats of rösti and other local fare. Of course there was beer, homemade cakes, and coffee.

Last year someone tried to drive to Wengen. We know the path: it leads up from Lauterbrunnen and is clearly marked not for driving. Cringe-worthy video here.

Today we attended the cheese festival in Thun (pronounced ‘tune,’) 42 km away on the shores of Lake Thun. Thun is much larger at 42,000+ people, and draws farmers’ production from all over the Canton of Bern, so the festival is huge. Here they call it käsefest. There must have been 40 vendors as the Thun festival is all about sampling and selling. Cows milk cheese, goats milk cheese (it’s not all feta or chèvre), sheeps milk cheese, organic or not, they had it. Need your fondue or raclette cheese stash fortified for the coming cold months? Buy direct from the farmer at the Thun käsefest. Perhaps chilli pepper laced alp cheese or an herb-flecked mild cheese is more to your liking.

The French may have over 400 types of cheese, but the farmers of the Canton must have at least that many varieties of alp cheese.

The cheese festival was conducted next to the farmers market in charming Thun on the Aare River and included not only sampling, but cheese made on site. Each farm had its own kiosk. Click on any photo for a better view.

Frankly, we are a bit cheesed-out at this point, so we bought some great dark chocolate. Swiss, of course.

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Pizza Venerdi: On-the-road

23 Sep

23 September 2023.

Equinox greetings to you! Fall is upon us as the weather has cooled here in the Berner Oberland and the trees have just been touched with bits of yellow and gold promising a lovely display in the weeks to come. There has been ample rain so the trees are not stressed. I have great hopes for good color! 

But pizza is the topic today. We have revived the Pizza Venerdi (Pizza Friday) tradition of our days in Rome for the past five Fridays. While we are not in Italy, all five have been superior to the pizza we get near our home, but then the pizzaioli are from Italy and know what they are doing. 

Pizza for two and a bottle of Italian wine on a pedestrian alley in Annecy, France.
I ragazzi (the guys) in the kitchen at Sapaudia, Annecy, France.
In Kandersteg we enjoyed pizza at the Chalet Hotel Adler. Third year we’ve had their pizza and it is excellent thanks to the Italian cooks. Our friends Gene and Cathy journeyed over from Lauterbrunnen to join us for pizza, beer, and a walk in the Kandersteg Valley on a very warm afternoon.
My son called this a crime against humanity. I discovered pizza with salmon when we lived in Italy and I get it whenever I am able. It’s best with Gorgonzola and arugula but the mascarpone, capers, and onions were nice, too. In Pontresina at Nostra Pizzeria.

Last night we welcomed our dear friends John & Janet to Lauterbrunnen and took them up the mountain by train to dinner in Wengen at Maya Caprice. A good time was had by all.

Pizza Maya from Maya Caprice. Spicy salami, Gorgonzola, and red onions. The crust was perfection!

We have three more times to celebrate Pizza Venerdi here in Switzerland. Stay tuned!

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Switzerland in the Spring

3 Jun

3 June 2023.

Our 11 nights in the Jungfrau Region were delightful. This was most definitely the right course correction after we had to abandon Ireland. We had the benefit of familiarity but, as always, we found new corners to explore.

Most of our trips have been in September/October plus a post-New Year’s-weekend in 2014. This time we experienced the lushness and variety of Switzerland in the spring. There are marked differences not only in the landscape but in services and activities.

There was still snow on the ground keeping trails impassable or at best unsafe. Some lifts do not run until the very end of May or into early June, which limited our access to the higher places.

Construction and maintenance season comes between the skiing and hiking seasons in springtime as well as between the hiking and skiing in the fall. The little mountain train between Grütschalp and Mürren was down for a month, reopening June 2, after we departed. We think (hope?) it will be with the new trains, which we have been looking forward to. The gondola to one of our favorite locations, Maennlichen, only opened on our final day after a between-seasons closure. Many hotels were still shuttered with signs indicating they’d be reopening in early June. Some of these will be closed again by early September.

Tulips were at peak bloom when we arrived mid-month, thanks to the elevation in Wengen, long past the bloom date in Oregon. Bleeding hearts still dripped with their distinctive flowers as well, and the deciduous trees at elevation were just starting to leaf out. By the end of the month, our initially mountain-view apartment had a leafy-view.

What else is different about Switzerland in the spring? WATER! Water gushes in the streams becoming a rushing flow in the rivers. Previously invisible waterfalls spring from cliffs and crevices. Each bend in the track of our little mountain train from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen was a treat with white, frothy waterfalls cascading close by.

There are four waterfalls easily visible in this photo but in autumn we rarely see any in this same location.

The river is running about twice as fast as later in the season. The sound carries throughout the valley.

Swiss gardens, which we see on the post-harvest end of the season each year, were neat little patches with hopeful plant starts. Nurseries popped up in the villages and the COOP had a supply of bagged dirt and geraniums out front with promising packets of seeds. The vegetable gardens are always immaculate,  no matter the season, and worthy of being in the front of the houses, unlike our tendency to hide them out back in the US. Gardens are highlighted by whimsy and there is always room for flowers as well as edibles.

Neat rows of hopeful plants
Same garden, wider view, with ornamentals
Another neatly organized easy-to-work-in garden.
Green cones protect delicate leafy greens from nights that ae stil cold.

Tourism is back in a big way. Now that Asia is wide open post-pandemic, the Chinese tour groups and Japanese honeymoon couples joined Middle Eastern and South Asian families experiencing snow with glee. Many Swiss were traveling in their own country as there were two holiday weekends during our stay. As usual, we found that once we were away from the train stations and easier-to-access viewpoints and sights, we were mostly alone on the trails. That rarely changes whether spring or autumn.

We are home and mostly recovered from travel, caught up on laundry, and looking forward to 2 ½ months of summer. August 22 we will welcome our fabulous house sitter for a repeat engagement and return to lovely Switzerland as has been planned for many months. If there are changes, we’ll let you know!

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Walking Wengen: Easy Hikes with Fabulous Views

26 May

27 May 2023.

It was with some reluctance that we stayed in Wengen this trip. As our plans were made only a few days in advance, finding a suitable apartment in one of the three villages boiled down to only a few choices that we could gulp and swallow the price on. 

Wengen’s Main Street: a few shops and restaurants along with several hotels, nestled beneath the Jungfrau.

Luckily, the apartment is comfortable and has all we need: dishwasher, washing machine, clothes dryer, and, most importantly, a Nespresso machine. It is also quiet since the village is car-free and each morning we wake to birdsong. We are immune to the hourly tolling of the church bells nearby as we fall into bed very tired from the day’s activities. 

Our reluctance to stay in Wengen stemmed from the need to ride the train down and up from the Lauterbrunnen station every day. While it is less than 20 minutes each way, it does add to travel times when going to Interlaken, Grindelwald, Mürren and beyond. It is, however, a stunningly beautiful ride and, after all, what else do we have to do? 

I took this photo of Lauterbrunnen from the train on our way back to Wengen yesterday.

On the plus side, we have gotten to know Wengen just a bit better. Prior trips had us passing through on the way to-or-from the Männlichen cable car. We had eaten a couple of meals here and years ago Ric once bought a wool hiking hat that still makes every trip. In the past we’ve taken in the view from the church and enjoyed two walks — Mönchblick and Staubbachbänkli — that we wrote about in our book Walking in Switzerland’s Berner Oberland. Our temporary residency has led us to “discover” two more lovely walks as well as the fabulous Restaurant Maya Caprice and we have come to appreciate the silence of this car-free zone. 

Same waterfall, viewed from Hunneflue, above Wengen after a 25 minute walk.

We still love Lauterbrunnen and our happy home at James’ and Michele’s apartment, where we will pass a month again this fall. Wengen will also be on our list for a few outings in the fall.

For those visiting the area, be certain to stop at the Wengen Tourism Office next to the cable car station and pick up the Dorfplan, which is a little map of the village showing several very easy to moderate walks to viewpoints. These require no transportation and are lovely at any time of day with ever-changing lighting on the magnificent views. They will take you to corners of Wengen the casual visitor misses entirely as the majority are focused on the village center and getting up the mountains by train or cable car. Most of the paths are paved and many have lighting so that evening walks are feasible. 

No wonder we come back so often. There is always something new for the easy-hiker to discover.

Along the trail, a little bear cub carved into a tree stump.
One of three carved tree stumps that delighted us on our walk.
A playful project in a mossy area, a hidden treasure when you leave the Main Street.
Another part of the fanciful garden.
Ric is ready to dig in! An Italian pizzaiolo makes authentic Neopolitan pies at Maya Caprice in Wengen.

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