Switzerland - Wengen & Jungfrau
Wengen. Holy smokes. Great all around! Except maybe the cheese fondue especially and kind of everything else from bernhoven on the Main Street. That meal will haunt my dreams. The da sina place at the top of Main Street was great for kids with a nice patio.
Now you gotta want to get here! 3 trains from Geneva to here and 3 trains from here to Como, each station stop only leaving 10 or fewer minutes to switch trains. So plan accordingly! Nice trains and nice views though. 1st class will be worth it when those trains are full, as they often are.
The holy shit expensive all jungrau pass is worth every penny. You will want it. Look for discounts. If there are none then spend the two fitty.
Perfect day. Train from Wengen to Klein Scheidegg. Train from there to the top of the Jungfrau (they stop on the way for a cool view of the glacier midway, Eismeer) Holy shit. Follow the tour. Spend hours. It’s spellbinding. Being on top of those glaciers and in that snow is too cool. Tubing. Gliding. Helicopters. The freezing ice tube. Read about the history, which is amazing, get some chocolate, make sure you do every stop. You go outside multiple times and each time is different and awesome. The very top is a once in a lifetime feel. Lunch will not be your best feature here, but having shnitzel in a cafeteria at the top of a mountain is an experience in and of itself :)
Then train back to Eigergletscher. Then from there on a cable car to Grindelwald. Huge cable car that is unbelievable high. Unbelievably long. Then cable car to mannelichen. This one is smaller and gondola style (no driver). We had our own and it was magic. Mannelichen is perfect for kids and beers. Then the almost straight down cable car back to Wengen. This one you can actually stand on top of if you pay a tiny bit extra.
Perfect day 2.
Take the train down to lauterbrunnen and meander around. Find yourself on the river walk hike to tremmelbachfalles. It’s a minute to get there but once you do it’s amazing. Grab a beer or some food at the stop right before the falls, then walk your happy ass up all those stairs. Use the elevator only if you must. There are so many cool stops and nooks and crannies. Then bus back to lauterbrunnen…no reason to walk that shit again.
I also took the cable car from lauterbrunnen to grutschalp and then mountain top train to murren. It was cool but when you are already staying in Wengen, it’s just the view from the other side. Getting there was all the fun needed.
Hotel Arenas Victorius - Jul 2022
Fine. Perfectly fine. It has all the things, kid stuff like playground and pool, adult stuff like bar and big breakfast, and it’s location is absolutely perfect, BUUUTTT it’s old as shit. Like kind of shit. I’m sure they try, but rotten wood never works. To be fair it was almost all outside, but you want to be outside. We got the deluxe rooms which kind of share giant balconies. The premium rooms have much more private balconies. All the rooms are pretty small and bare bones though.
Ok but! The pool area is pretty rad. It’s therapeutic and large with tons of sections to ease yo weary bones, including this hilariously fast lazy river. Don’t forget to check out the nude area with dry sauna, hammam, hot and cold tubs, and showers with bucket drops should you wish it. Fun stuff!
When you don’t walk all the way to the schilhorn cable cars and suddenly realize your pass does not do that mountain you will thank me for this note.
Notes to self:
-Da Sina was very approachable food and pretty sweet for kids.
-That fondue place was a tough gig. The cheese is old and moldy! haha