Gimmelwald, Switzerland

Gimmelwald is a beautiful town in the mountains of Switzerland about 30 minutes from the still small but very much bigger town of Interlaken. Our hostel in Gimmelwald was 50 meters from a gondola station, which was at the top of a very tall cliff. The gondola in Gimmelwald also went to the top of the mountain next to it (get back to that later). Gimmelwald is the lowest in elevation of a few very small towns (I mean very small, maybe 30 houses, all of them with cows and chickens and goats and old bathtubs filled with water for the animals). The town directly above Gimmelwald was Murren. Murren was slightly bigger, it had restaurants and little stores, even one grocery store, it was the more touristy of the towns. The hike from Gimmelwald to Murren took 50 minutes up and 20 minutes down, it is a very steep mountain (1000 ft change in elevation), but the whole trip took place on one road. Six hours hike up the hill stood the top of the Schilthorn mountain, which houses a rotating restaurant made famous by James Bond in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."

Switzerland was beautiful. The mountains were so majestic. The mountains themselves looked like the rockies, but what I was the most amazed by was how green the landscape was. There were wildflowers everywhere, and deciduous trees (not mostly pines like you find in Colorado). Every piece of ground was covered in grass, and the area is wet enough that they can even farm all the way up here.

We were in Gimmelwald for three days, and it was very relaxing. We took one day to go to the top of the Schilthorn Mountain to eat in the revolving restaurant (a weird sensation). The views were breathtaking, but the top of the mountain was engulfed in clouds (which is very common in the summer we were told, but not so much in the winter). The clouds moved so fast though that what was hidden one minute became visible the next. The restaurant was over priced (of course) and not the best, but it was definitely worth the experience. The gondola ride to the top took about 15 minutes and was a great view of the landscape. On the way down, it was slightly more unnerving, but still fun.

We took one day to go to Interlaken, but I would definitely suggest Gimmelwald over Interlaken, it is just so beautiful and completely serene.