The fourth stop of our Swiss road trip saw us heading towards the famous town of Grindelwald, a place famous for it's snowy views being synonmous with the perfect Christmas card image. There wasn't much snow around for us as we were there in June, but when we reached our hotel, there was still some snow lingering!
Our hotel for the night was Berghaus Männlichen. The reason we had picked here? Well, it's located at the top of a mountain, 2225m above sea level to be exact, and only accessible by gondola (or a very long hike up the mountain if you're fit and into that - we didn't fancy it!).
After sorting the car and grabbing what we needed for the night, we headed off to the gondola and made our way up the mountain. It took about half hour to get to the top and the views as we headed up were stunning. It was a bizarre sensation for me as I had never been in a gondola before, and did not expect to be shot out of the station at the beginning and half way up. The speed at which you accelerate out of the stations is incredible and such a bizarre sensation. I tried to get a video but it just doesn't do it justice! (please excuse the slip of a rude word at the beginning)
Once we made it to the top, we got rid of our cases and set off exploring. The views were absolutely stunning. There was a massive pile of snow that had obviously been cleared out of the way. The hotel was a restaurant for during the day and there was a kids play area that looked so cool that once everyone else had gone back down the mountain (the gondolas stop running at 5pm) I had to have a little play. It really is a stunning view.
A giant cow had a built in slide as part of the play area for the kids (and big kids like me), as well as 10 pin bowling and so many other things. It felt surreal to be able to mess about in such a cool little playground that was high in the mountains. There was some stunning views as well.
Once we had finished exploring and I had finished being a child at heart, we headed in to go for dinner at the restaurant where we came across the only other guest staying at the hotel at the time. We got chatting to her and discovered she was a lovely Aussie who was travelling around Europe catching up with friends for a few weeks and going on lots of hikes. We got talking to some amazing people during this trip and really enjoyed ourselves.
We had reached a problem though, tonight was the night England were playing in the world cup - Paul didn't want to miss the game, but when I had enquired with the hotel earlier in the trip, they said they didn't have a TV that they would play it on. That soon changed thankfully when some local workers who were there to do maintenance and repairs on the avalanche defences showed up. They saw/heard we were English and requested the game be put on - probably hoping to mock us for losing badly but thankfully we won!
After the excitement of the game, we headed off to bed to prepare for what was going to be an early start - Paul had decided he wanted to watch the sunrise from the top of a peak nearby. I hadn't decided whether to go or not, but when he got ready to leave just before 4.30am, and I saw him put on 2 pairs of trousers, and 3 tops to keep warm, I decided I'd rather watch the sunrise from the bed as our room faced out over the drop and I had the perfect view of the sun coming up all whilst snuggled in my duvet!
Our hotel for the night was Berghaus Männlichen. The reason we had picked here? Well, it's located at the top of a mountain, 2225m above sea level to be exact, and only accessible by gondola (or a very long hike up the mountain if you're fit and into that - we didn't fancy it!).
After sorting the car and grabbing what we needed for the night, we headed off to the gondola and made our way up the mountain. It took about half hour to get to the top and the views as we headed up were stunning. It was a bizarre sensation for me as I had never been in a gondola before, and did not expect to be shot out of the station at the beginning and half way up. The speed at which you accelerate out of the stations is incredible and such a bizarre sensation. I tried to get a video but it just doesn't do it justice! (please excuse the slip of a rude word at the beginning)
Once we made it to the top, we got rid of our cases and set off exploring. The views were absolutely stunning. There was a massive pile of snow that had obviously been cleared out of the way. The hotel was a restaurant for during the day and there was a kids play area that looked so cool that once everyone else had gone back down the mountain (the gondolas stop running at 5pm) I had to have a little play. It really is a stunning view.
A giant cow had a built in slide as part of the play area for the kids (and big kids like me), as well as 10 pin bowling and so many other things. It felt surreal to be able to mess about in such a cool little playground that was high in the mountains. There was some stunning views as well.
Once we had finished exploring and I had finished being a child at heart, we headed in to go for dinner at the restaurant where we came across the only other guest staying at the hotel at the time. We got chatting to her and discovered she was a lovely Aussie who was travelling around Europe catching up with friends for a few weeks and going on lots of hikes. We got talking to some amazing people during this trip and really enjoyed ourselves.
We had reached a problem though, tonight was the night England were playing in the world cup - Paul didn't want to miss the game, but when I had enquired with the hotel earlier in the trip, they said they didn't have a TV that they would play it on. That soon changed thankfully when some local workers who were there to do maintenance and repairs on the avalanche defences showed up. They saw/heard we were English and requested the game be put on - probably hoping to mock us for losing badly but thankfully we won!
After the excitement of the game, we headed off to bed to prepare for what was going to be an early start - Paul had decided he wanted to watch the sunrise from the top of a peak nearby. I hadn't decided whether to go or not, but when he got ready to leave just before 4.30am, and I saw him put on 2 pairs of trousers, and 3 tops to keep warm, I decided I'd rather watch the sunrise from the bed as our room faced out over the drop and I had the perfect view of the sun coming up all whilst snuggled in my duvet!
Once Paul got back from watching the sunrise and enjoying the view (he spent 3 hours at that peak taking pictures and admiring the view), we had breakfast and watch the clouds rise from the valley, engulf us and there clear further upwards before we headed back down the mountain in the gondola for the next section of our adventure...
The sunrise was breathtaking and well worth getting up for!
ReplyDeleteAnyone heading to Grindelwald should look this place up! The gondola is shut between certain times though so the only way you can see sunrise is by a very very long / hard hike or staying at Berghausmanlichen hotel at the top, on the contrary your also trapped up there.....