Our original plan was to spend a couple days in Interlaken and then take a day trip up to Grindelwald to experience the mountains. This plan quickly changed when we met two girls at a bus stop in Venice who had just come from a place called Gimmelwald and couldn’t stop talking about it

As planned we spent two nights in the tent village in Interlaken but then made our way up the Lauterbrunnen valley to Gimmelwald. This in itself wasn’t a simple feat of catching yet another train. Okay firstly we did take the train to Lauterbrunnen but from there we had to change to a bus to get us to Stechelberg and finally a cable car up to Gimmelwald.

As we had ascended up into the mountains on the cable car late at night most of the view was obscured by the darkness however the next morning the sun was out and we saw why the girls had raved about this place so much. We were now truly up in the mountains!

Our day excursion up in the mountains ended up becoming nearly a week as we couldn’t bear to leave. The only reason we ended up leaving when we did was because our interail tickets were expiring that day and we were currently still 500 miles away from home!

Gimmelwald is truly a hidden gem in the heart of the Swiss mountains. Both the Mountain Hostel and the Pension, where we spent one night of our stay, had amazing staff who would answer any questions you had about the local hikes or the best place in Murren to grab a beer. The Pension even did a backpackers special dinner which was the cheapest food available and tasted incredible too.

Using the hostel as a base we spent most of our days out on the many available hiking trails. They’re were so many different routes to chose from varying from a couple hours up to full 10hr days. Even just getting food from the supermarket for dinner involved an hour and half round trip if you decided to walk.

The Via Ferrata was probably one of the highlights of the area. You hire a harness from a local shop in Murren and then proceed skirt your way along the edge of the cliff all the way back to Gimmelwald. Even though you are attached to a steel cable running the length of the route with the valley floor nearly 600m below you tread carefully and hold on tight.

What?

Gimmelwald is a beautiful mountain village located in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. With no road access the only way up to the picturesque spot is via a cable car or a steep walk from Stechelberg at the bottom of the valley.

How to get there?

From Interlaken you take a train to Lauterbrunnen and then change to a bus to take you to Stechelberg which lies at the bottom of the valley below Murren and Gimmelwald. From the bottom their are two options, a cable car straight up or a steep walk up the hill.

Where to stay?

There are a couple options but I’d mainly recommend the Mountain hostel. With it’s perfect location, fantastic staff and not so ridiculous price you can’t really go wrong.

The Mountain Hostel