When asked which places they are planning to visit while in Switzerland, most tourist will mention Grindelwald.
Now we know the reason why: Grindelwald is a quaint village tucked in a valley below the peaks of the Bernese Alps. Oh, and there are plenty of unmissable things to, including the entertaining First Flyer and Cliff Walk in Grindelwald First.
Here are seven compelling reasons why you should visit Grindelwald at least once in your lifetime:
1. The way is half the goal
The train ride from Interlaken to Grindelwald leads through a valley with beautiful nature, raging rivers and majestic mountains. The transfer takes just 34 minutes one way, but we feel like the train was a memorable part of our trip to Grindelwald.
2. The First Flyer Zip Rider
80 km/h. 40 seconds. Simply a blast. We thought riding downhill on a zip line was a refreshing "Swiss" take on thrill rides! The First Flyer zip lining experience is open January through October.
Now, watch our zip riding video here!
3. The sky, the mountains, and the green pastures
We felt like king and queen of the world!
4. It's Grindelwald, and it's cutesy Swiss
The name speaks for itself, and anyone (including us) who has ever seriously thought about visiting the best of what Switzerland has to offer must have come across Grindelwald. Located just a stone's throw from Interlaken, this is where most tourists will stop on their "Europe in 5 Day" trips.
5. CundM Café Bar Restaurant
Located across the exit of the First gondola, we sort of stumbled upon the CundM Café Bar Restaurant, a rustic eatery with a huge outdoor patio. This was an excellent choice, as the lemongrass soup and homemade tomato and ricotta cheese ravioli were from heaven!
Did I mention the view from the patio was fantastic?
6. The Eiger North Face
The Eiger dominates Grindelwald, as it towers some 1000 m/3000 ft above. It was kind of freaky, because the day after we took this close-up picture, I read a news article in the paper regarding two climbers who had been found dead at the bottom of the Eiger.
I don't want to think about it, but we may have captured them on one of our pictures as they were climbing the wall...
7. If 6 reasons are not enough...
Can anyone explain what kind of chicken this is supposed to be? Ok, I can read what it says. But huh?
So, have you ever been to Grindelwald? Are you dreaming of Grindelwald? Or would you never go there because the First Flyer looks too scary for you? Share along...
So beautiful! And yes, I know I will dream about Grindelwald tonight! Definitely one of the must go places. … And the reason 7, the chicken dish…. it’s so European. Totally. :D
ok, definitively no debate about Grindelwald – it’s fantastic. but you should go once in winter time for sledding. I was there last winter and we did the kleine scheidegg to grindelwald. It’s a very long ride all the way down to the village – just in front of Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. What should be even better, at least what I heard, is sledding down from Bussalp. If you include a hike up to Faulhorn you will be rewarded with the longest sledding ride in the world!!!
re the sledging:
If you go sledging on Bussalp, make sure there’s plenty of snow since that means you’ll be able to sledge down the road. Yes, you’ve got that right, not down the sledging path, down the ROAD, with the Postauto busses coming up and going down as well. It’s a great experience, but the meaning of those funny horns the Postautos sound before rounding an edge along the road that on a whole new meaning… :D
Thanks for your suggestion! We are already planning on going back to Grindelwald in the winter (which might as well be now, with the ridiculously low temperatures we are having!)…
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