Six Nights in the Berner Oberland: Part I Wengen and the Brienzersee

“Wandering re-establishes the original harmony which once existed between man and the universe.” – Anatole France

The kids really enjoyed the train ride from Gutach to Interlaken. Firstly I had purchased the tickets ages ago and I had forgotten that as part of an amazing special I purchased first class tickets. As a family on a ICE train this meant a private compartment which the kids loved and what could have been a long day ended up lots of fun that flew by.

Secondly as we entered the Berner Oberland I had the great pleasure of hearing a lots of "look look Mum look" accompanied by a great deal of hopping up and down from Julian and "wow awesome" from Emma.

Though a few of our train changes were quite short today the trains are so efficient that it was very easy. Coming off the beautiful ICE train in Interlaken we changed onto the mountain railways that took us up through Lauterbrunnen to Wengen.

The scenery was breathtaking even on an overcast afternoon. They told us it would be very rainy the next day with the sun hopefully making an appearance soon. We were very lucky to have brilliant views of Lauterbrunnen on the way up and then later too from our verandah. Later as we were relaxing in our apartment the kids came racing in screaming "MUM SNOW" as the clouds had shifted a little and suddenly we could see amazing snow capped mountains.

I have been to Switzerland before but only to Luzern, which I remember as being very beautiful but in future if asked to compare I will say Luzern is stunning but it's not Wengen. Of course my opinion may change this Saturday when we spend a night in Luzern but Wengen would take a lot of beating.

Wengen is a village that sits high on the hills above Lauterbrunnen and has very few cars. The way to get around these wonderful mountain villages is by cable cars, gondolas and cog railway.

During the planning of the holiday, eighteen months or so ago, I did the maths and decided to buy Swiss Half Fare Cards for Rob and  I and a Family Card for the kids and once we arrived in Wengen we also bought a four day pass for the Berner Oberland giving us unlimited rides on most of the trains, boats, cables cars etc as far away as Bern and Luzern. My plans did not take into account the possibility of less than perfect weather in July but we were determined to make the most of our passes.

The next morning faced with a rainy day we head back down the mountain and having just missed a boat decided to catch a train to Brienz. The train had lovely large scenic windows and even without a sunny sky the view over the lake, with clouds coming down almost to the water was beautiful.

The colour of the lake is most unusual apparently due to the calcite washing in from the mountains (please correct me if I'm wrong). Even on a overcast day it was a stunning turquoise.

Arriving in Brienz we planned to have lunch and then catching the Rothorn Bahn, a cog-wheeled train up the mountain, the ferry back to Interlaken, and then the forty minute trip back to Wengen. We found however on a rainy day they reduce the number of trips up the mountain and therefore we would not be arriving back in Brienz until after four thirty and we faced a very late dinner. And so while telling ourselves that there would be no view on a rainy day we vetoed the Rothorn Bahn.

Rob describes Brienz as a sleepy hollow, but I suspect this is because we visited over lunch when everything except the cafes was closed. We were lucky to find one place which was open and had beautiful handcrafted pieces. There was whole room of religious themed carvings, such as nativities and crucifixes but the kids were most interested in the cuckoo clocks. 

While waiting for our lunch at a café overlooking the lake, Julian and I slipped out to have a quick play. We had seen some interesting looking play equipment that looked too good to ignore. By rocking on a platform you could send water spraying into the air that would land and collect in a trough that had plugs and stoppers that you could open or close to direct the water in different ways through a series of canals.

There was even a water screw, where by turning the handle you could pull water out of the lake and into the troughs. Julian recognised it as an invention by Leonardo da Vinci, which we had seen a couple of weeks previously at Clos Luce in Amboise, France, and I felt that even at age four this experience was enriching for him.

After lunch we had to run for the ferry, getting on at the very last second. We found that we had to sit outside as there were no seats left inside which was okay by us, even though it was a little bit drizzly. I told Rob and the kids that one of the first stops was a place with a waterfall, by getting off and taking a funicular you could see this lovely falls. The kids were keen to go home and play rather than seeing the Giessbach falls, but due to the high amount of rainfall we had a terrific view of the end of the falls as they reach the Brienzersee from the boat.

Emma moved inside after a while and finding a chair at a table she worked on her diary, which forms part of our home schooling on the road. Meanwhile the boys stayed outside and enjoyed the fresh air.

I have neglected to mention that when we bought our Berner Oberlander passes this morning and told the lady that we planned to take a trip on the Brienzersee she warned us that if the train line flooded we wouldn't be able to get back up the hill to Wengen. I asked should we instead go up the hills by gondola to which she gave us the cheery reply "in weather like this you are likely to have avalanches". We decided to chance the lake and in the morning we saw low laying areas covered in water, but luckily we made it back up to our perch in Wengen and crossed our fingers for the weather the next day.

It turned out to be a spectacular day despite the clouds and I will share it with you very soon.