Beautiful hike and tour of the Jungfrau region in Switzerland
August, 2022
My wife and I did the “Swiss Alps Via Alpina #1 Jungfrau Region Hike.”
SUMMARY: ECHO TRAILS HAS SELECTED A “BEST-OF” HIKING TOUR OF THE JUNGFRAU REGION. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL AND THE HOTELS HAD GREAT VIEWS.
The trip was eight days and seven nights.
On day 1 the guide (and owner) met us at the Zurich airport, then guided us on trains to Engelberg.
The next day (day 2) he was with us for beautiful hiking and tram rides past lakes through Swiss cow country to Melchsee-Frutt. He pointed out to us where to hike the next day. That night we had a beautiful view of the lake and the storm that came in both from our room and from the spa.
Day 3 we were on our own for the longest day. We hiked along a ridge with fantastic views in all directions to a tram down to Meiringen. We walked around the town and got lunch, then took two buses to the Grindelwald region. We got off before Grindelwald and hiked through more cow country with classic Swiss houses and barns before reaching Grindelwald. We spent three nights in a hotel room facing the Eiger, which was hiding in the clouds most of the time. We had two full days in Grindelwald to hike and tour where we pleased.
Day 4 we chose to ride the tram and train up to Jungfraujoch (very touristy but, hey, we are touring). On the way back down we skipped the tram and hiked along the based of the Eiger.
Day 5 we took the bus up to Grosse Scheidegg and attempted to walk to First. We followed the signs, but somehow got off track. This turned out fine as walked through more classic Switzerland with barely another soul around. We ended up at the Schreckfeld tram stop and rented little karts to coast down the road to the next tram stop in Bort before taking the tram back to Grindelwald.
Day 6 we took trains to Lauterbrunnen. The valley upstream from here is known as “The Valley of 70 Waterfall.” It was raining and we didn’t want to miss any waterfalls, so we walked from there. We paid to go into Trimmelbackfalle, which is deep cuts in the rock containing ten little waterfalls. We walked from there to take a tram up to Gimmelwald and on to Murren, which is at the top of the cliff. I love Yosemite. Murren and the valley below rival Yosemite Valley for beauty. The hotel for the next two nights again had a fanstastic view, this time of the mountains and waterfalls.
Day 7 we chose to hike above Murren through the clouds up to Birg. From there we rode the tram up the the Schilthorn. There was no view due to the clouds, but we got to see the James Bond exhibition inside before taking the tram back to Murren.
Day 8 we checked out and were on our own. We rode trains and trams to Zermatt for our next adventure.
This was a wonderful experience!
The guides were fun and knowledgeable. They provided on-the-fly custom visits to places of particular interest to some members of the group. The use of multiple public transportation modes was a real education and a marvel–so timely and so clean.
The hotels were nice and well located for our outings. I was a little apprehensive about the cost of this tour but soon came to see that it was worth the money. Almost everything was included in the cost and well planned by ECHO.
The small group was perfect for us and we really enjoyed getting to know the other travelers.
This company does it RIGHT!
Reviewed by sherry7112015 – July, 2023
I have been blessed to have traveled to all 50 US states, all the Canadian provinces, and 29 countries in Europe, and this trip was clearly the best of all i have done.
Most of that credit goes to God for putting so many beautiful mountains, glaciers, and waterfalls all in one country. Much credit goes to Echo trails as well for making it first class and packing in so many experiences and beauty in 12 days.
Getting to experience so many trains including a steam engine and cogwheel, funiculars, cable cars, gondolas, and boats was great. Hiking to a cheese farm and having fresh fondue was awesome. Making our own chocolate in Interlaken was outstanding. Having a small enough group and a long enough tour to get to know others well was a great bonus. I felt the communication could be better if everyone was on one platform (whats App for example to make sure everyone got the same info at the same time when changes were made or we planned to meet somewhere after doing different things).
This trip is not for people that are not comfortable with walking a lot, potentially in heat, for a ten hour or more tour day. Most of the tour day is not walking but there are some tight travel connections and some hiking. Regarding hiking, I think it would be beneficial to use a rating system like one i am familiar with that goes 1 to 5 for difficulty of terrain and A to E for elevation up and down.
The food and lodging was very good and the guides were very knowledgeable and invaluable regarding transportation knowledge, and were very friendly and helpful even to someone like me who can be irritating by asking a lot of questions.
P.S. This trip is not for someone looking for a bargain. Switzerland is one of the most expensive places I have been to but it was well worth it.
Larry from South Carolina