June 14 - Day 7 - Murren, Switzerland

June 14 - Day 7 - Murren, Switzerland


Our plan for the day was to take the train to Lauterbrunnen and then ocntinue on to Murren to see Piz Gloria. Back in Lauterbrunnen we intended to stop to see Staubach Falls, and then continue on to Bern. We had a busy day ahead so we had to start early. We hiked up the steep hill back to the train station. Our clothes still didn’t dry out so we had to just pack them. Today was the first day that was clear since we arrived in Zurich. We were able to board the 8:32 AM train to Murren.

The Swiss love their cable cars for transportation and today we were able to experience this. Murren is a small town high up in the mountains and cars aren’t allowed. Partly because there is no road to get them up there. Therefore, we had to take three cable cars to get to Murren. The cable cars were packed full of people, but it was still a really neat adventure.

Once we arrived in Murren we had to hike across the town to the train station. It was pretty steep, but there were some great views. We were traveling to a new location today so we had to bring our bags with us. I believe we had to carry them with us the whole time, which was a bit of a hassle but worked out fine.

We got to the train station and had to take a small train to the top of the mountain to Piz Gloria. Piz Gloria was made famous from one of the James Bond movies. In the movie it blows up. This was the reason I had wanted to visit. I’m not a huge James Bond fan, but from the pictures I had seen it made me think it would be a cool thing to see. Also the fact that you had to take such an unusual route to get there made it interesting too.

The whole trip from Grindelwald to Piz Gloria took a little more than an hour.

At the top of Piz Gloria it was very clear and sunny. It was mostly warm except in the shaded areas. Our original plan was to hike across Switzerland and we could see the trail we would have taken on the mountain side below. It was covered in snow. We had been told early on after arriving in Switzerland that the majority of the trail was impassable, this was obviously one of those portions.

The views from the top were magnificent. We spent about two hours up there. There was a restaurant, gift shop, and visitor center.

We took lots of pictures, bought a few souvenirs, and had a picnic outside on the deck. It was a very nice, relaxing morning.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Once we got back to Murren we had to hike across the town again. This time it was down hill. Along the way we passed some neat houses with very nice gardens. It was a very nice, clean, small town. Definitely somewhere that would be a great place to live.
 

"Nexte Halte, Lauterbrunnen..."