Today I'll show you around another place that we visited during our family adventure this summer. We live about 3 hours drive from Grindelwald from where we took the cable car to Jungfraujoch, so it made sense to stay for one night and explore the region a bit. It's one of the most beautiful areas in Switzerland, and we knew we wouldn't be bored during those 2 days. Actually, we would need a few weeks to see it all. There are so many amazing places that it wasn't easy to choose only one to see. In the end, we decided to go to Lauterbrunnen as it's easy to get there, and we've been there already with my husband, so we knew that our family would love it.
The weather was consistently bad all summer, and we were nor surprised neither disappointed when it was drizzling all day. We were equipped with umbrellas and rain jackets and ready to go. It's an area with many waterfalls, and its name comes from 'Lauter Brunnen' which means loud springs. There are 72 waterfalls in this municipality. However, I'm not sure how all of them can be counted as there surely can be a new one here or there or some of them could dry out.
Talking about waterfalls.. can you see one on this photo?
Lauterbrunnen is an idyllic village in the canton of Bern. It's nestled in the heart of the Swiss Alps which makes it very popular among tourists and usually quite crowded. It's set in the valley of the Jungfrau region, and it's the starting point of many hiking trails, so it's the perfect place for hiking enthusiasts.
The tourism has a large influence on the village as there are many shops/restaurants/accommodation possibilities to create an unforgettable stay, but Lauterbrunnen still keeps its typical Swiss charm as well. Most of the houses are wooden Swiss chalets with colourful shutters that give the village that typical mountainous appearance. The inhabitants live their lives like there were not hundreds of tourists passing right in front of their windows every day. I loved those small perfectly groomed gardens with plenty of flowers and vegetables. It was like an advertisement for healthier lifestyle.
We parked the car in front of the church and started walking around the village. I think that our family went to almost every single gift shop without buying anything. They seemed to be happy, so I kept my 'waste of time' comments to myself.
The Swiss are a proud nation, and it's not unusual to see the Swiss flags in the windows. You would think that it's only in the touristic places, but it's common in 'normal' cities too. They also like to put Swiss flag stickers on their cars.
Last weekend we went to Brussels, and we struggled to find a bench to sit down. This would not happen in Switzerland. There are benches everywhere and sometimes even three of them in front of one house.
It's also typical that the cities are decorated with fresh seasonal flowers. There are some flower installations even in winter. It's good to see where our taxes go 😊
The Swiss Alps became a popular recreational destination in the beginning of the 19th century. It was the time when philosophers, writers, and other intelligence 'discovered' the beauty of the region. It's also the time when the hospitality industry started its boom. There were many hotels and restaurants built to accommodate the demand, and many of those places are still standing. People fell in love with the mountainous region, enjoyed the fresh air and health benefits that it brings, hiked in the mountains, enjoyed skiing, and couldn't get enough of the views (that's how I imagine it). And I'm not surprised that it became so popular. Look at this scenery...
One of the traditional hotels with cute balconies...
I would love to have a cup of coffee (in my case matcha latte) on the balcony with such views.
There are some random buildings which I found interesting and would like to show you...
Bernese Alps, more waterfalls, a cute house and that car!
And as you can see you don't need a car to get here. There is a railway with many trains connecting you with bigger cities. You can get here from Zurich in about 2 hours.
As Lauterbrunnen is in the canton of Bern we see their flag here. The first animal that the founder of the city killed was a bear and this is the reason why we see it on the flag. Of course, next to it is the Swiss flag.
Wouldn't it be a dream to own a cottage here?
We walked on one side of the street towards the end of the village, and then we returned on the other side, so that our family doesn't miss any giftshops on the way. We started walking to The Staubbach waterfall which is the biggest waterfall in the area, and it's one of the first landmarks that you will see when you enter the village.
It's a short walk from the village, and when you feel like it you can walk up the hill to get closer. Our family was tired, so we skipped this part, and I think we still enjoyed some amazing views.
With its almost 300 metres the Staubbach waterfall is one of the highest waterfalls in Switzerland. I think that the best time to visit it is when it's warm and the snow is melting as it's powerful at that time. When it's windy the water droplets are spread around and it feels like soft spray or dust, and this is why it's called 'Staub' which means dust.
On the way we stopped at the square in front of the church to listen to the Alphorn performance. Alphorn is a traditional several meters long musical instrument with a unique sound not comparable to any other instrument. I love it, but our family was not too impressed, so we continued walking after a short while. I think that they were fed up with the constant rain...
Honestly, I don't know how many waterfalls we saw as some of them were so small that I don't even know if I can count them as waterfalls, but it was fun to look around carefully trying to spot them. Of course, Staubbach waterfall can't be missed.
The Weisse Lütschine river brings water away from the glacier region. In the morning it was a peaceful creek which turned into this wild river after a short storm. There was so much more water! It causes floods in Lauterbrunnen almost every year, and we were lucky that it stayed in its river bed that day as we wouldn't be able to get out of there.
After our walk we returned to our accommodation with magnificent views of Jungfrau. We had some sun too - once we were inside 😊
See you next time...
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Wow, a place with 72 waterfalls!... Now that's what I call a photographic paradise!... On the other hand, it's a fantastic place to see, it seems straight out of a fairy tale... Living here, where we are not very inclined to make things look so beautiful, I feel like I'm looking at pictures from "another planet" really :)... Obviously they are proud and like to put Swiss flags everywhere!... I would do it too! :)... As always, a wonderful article with very high quality photos... Thanks for sharing...
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Wow! Amazing 😍
Thank you! 😊
Lauterbrunnen is one of the most exquisite locations I have ever seen and enjoyed every moment of being there. It's beautiful indeed...
the place is very beautiful.
Nádhera! Musel jsem si kvůli práci pořídit nový noťas a ten má o dost lepší displej než ten starý, tak teď všechny ty úžasné fotky ještě o to víc vyniknou :) Některé ty vodopády vypadají, jako by byly do těch hor "dofotošopované" :D Fakt neskutečná krajina. Tam musí být každý hike jak z pohádky. Tam by mi ani ten déšť nevadil :)
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No vidis, na nieco je ta praca dobra 😅 ako sa mas? Zvladas to?
Nechodime tam casto, lebo je tam strasne vela ludi, ale ked si ich odmyslis, tak je tam krasne 😊 Prsalo nam skoro cele leto, takze nam to uz trochu prekazalo 😁
No, bojuju. Na všech frontách. Už několik týdnů si říkám, že bych rád sepsal aspoň nějaký krátký update tady na Hive, ale ten čas prostě není odkud vzít... Tak se ozvu aspoň na FB ;) Taky máš taky určitě spoustu novinek...