Lauterbrunnen — a Fairytale Swiss Village

Friday, April 28, 2017

From Lake Thun, we continued our European roadtrip to the fairytale village of Lauterbrunnen, hidden in a deep valley in the Swiss Alps, surrounded by steep rock faces dotted with waterfalls and wrapped in trees where the mountains are less steep. There are 72 waterfalls that run into the valley, some several hundred feet high. This beautiful place inspired Tolkien's mystical Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings. We were here in April before everything turned green after the winter, so we can only imagine how beautiful and lush it must be in the summer.

With only one day here, we visited a place called Trümmelbach Falls, which is a group of beautiful glacier waterfalls inside a mountain and requires a small fee to visit. We’ve never seen any falls like this, running through the inside of a mountain. The waterfalls are super tall and forceful, carving amazing tunnels through the rock. There is a tunnel-lift that will give you a ride to the top of the mountain, and stairs and tunnels that descend down through the mountain, with platforms and lights illuminating the waterfalls in all the right places. There were a few areas where you had to get wet from the incredible spray to get a look at the falls, and yell to be heard over the sound of rushing water. Though it didn't feel very wild, it was pretty impressive how the waterfalls were made accessible with stairs and rails for visitors.

The Trümmelbach drains glaciers from several massive peaks in the Alps including Eiger (3970 m), Mönch (4099 m) and Jungfrau (4158 m). Up to 20,000 litres of water pass through the falls every second. No wonder it’s so beautifully carved!

If we had more time, we would have loved to do some hiking in the area. From the valley, we took a cable car up to the summit of Schilthorn to get a closer look at the Alps. Those photos in the next post.

Riding a tunnel lift through the inside of a rocky mountain to get to the top of Trümmelbach Falls.

13 comments :

  1. Even when the colors have yet to return, the village looks so picturesque and peaceful. I really love how the waterfalls wash down the rocky cliff, carving the otherwise hard surface into nature's own sculpture. The sound of the waterfalls must have been quite relaxing, I believe.

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    1. I don't think there's a time of year when it DOESN'T look beautiful. :)

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  2. AH! As soon as I saw that first photo I knew it was Lauterbrunnen! I went there a couple years ago and haven't stopped dreaming about it. Gorgeous gorgeous photos!!

    xx
    www.scarlettandgiselle.com

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    1. I just saw someone post a photo of it and immediately recognized it too! That valley is so iconic.

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  3. Lauterbrunnen is one of my favorite towns in Switzerland. Your pictures are gorgeous! | http://ourpassportpages.com/

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    1. Good to know... So glad we decided to make the drive!

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  4. Wow, these images are amazing! I've always wanted to go to Switzerland, might have to get onto that soon :)

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    1. Thank you! Switzerland is definitely a photogenic place.

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  5. Lauterbrunnen was one of our stops two summers ago, between Paris and the Cinqueterre, with our two boys. In summer there's an outdoor pool that has the best view in the world when you pop your head out of the water. And there's nothing like buying cheese from the farm that made it, as you hike along the valley floor.

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    1. Well that sounds amazing. Good to know about the pool. I would love to experience this place again during the summer!

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