Our next day was our day trip to the Swiss Alps. It was by far the longest day in terms of traveling – we were going to be on the train for more than 5 hours for the entire journey. I was a little weary about scheduling everything, as I wasn’t sure if we would have enough time to do all the activities I had planned (I was still a bit scarred by my Hallstatt day trip where I didn’t leave enough time and nearly missed the train on the way back). 

The only thing I knew I wanted to do was hike to Lake Bachalpsee (which is a two-hour return journey) and try one of the activities using the Adventure Package, which we had pre-purchased and includes unlimited rides on the cable car. Touring the towns of Interlaken and Grindelwald would be nice too, as well as seeing the Cliff Walk up on Grindelwald-First.

Early that morning we made our way to Zurich HB and by 9:30am we were on the way to Bern. We had to switch twice – once at Interlaken Ost, then at Grindelwald. The train was a bit delayed getting to Interlaken, so we didn’t get to Grindelwald until closer to 1pm. Luckily we made sure to buy sandwiches on the way there, so we didn’t have to stop for lunch. We were also periodically checking the wait times for the Adventure Package activities and it seemed like all the passes were already sold out that day and there were quite long lineups for each one. We decided to hike to the lake first and see if the wait times would go down by the afternoon.

Once we got into Grindelwald, we walked over to the First Aerial Cableway which would be taking us up to First. I had packed so many layers that day cause it was actually pretty cold the previous day in St. Gallen. Plus we knew we would be more than 2,000m above ground. However, it was completely unnecessary as we ended up with the NICEST weather on the entire trip. This was despite going up a mountain for 25 minutes! I’ve actually never been on a gondola ride that long and that high up. We didn’t even need jackets, so I ended up carrying all my layers with me during the trek to the lake.

One mistake we made was not really understanding how strenuous the hike to the lake would be. On the website all it said was that it would be a two hour return journey, but it failed to mention how many steps we had to climb to get up. The first 15-20 minutes was probably the worst and we had to stop multiple times to catch our breath. There was a lack of signage indicating the path to the lake and I think it would have been helpful knowing how much further we needed to go. At one point we thought we wouldn’t all make it, so we actually split up – two of us went ahead and one trailed behind. Eventually we did all make it to the lake, but the thought of giving up probably crossed our minds more than a million times once.

The way back down was definitely a lot easier than going up, especially since we knew the route. Going down we re-checked the wait times for the activities and it seemed like the lineup for the First Glider had gone down to only 60 minutes, so we took the gondola down to Schreckfeld and waited in line for the Eagle. One friend opted out, but me and my other friend ended up being the last two people in line! 

While the Eagle wasn’t my first choice initially, it ended up being really fun and I’m pretty sure we only waited 30 minutes before they started putting our harnesses on. The Eagle didn’t seem as scary as I thought once I got strapped on. You get pulled backwards to the top, then you’re released going forward. The whole journey was probably over in under two minutes, however it was much more exhilarating going down for sure. It was also quite chilly, so I was glad I wore my sweater while on the ride. 

Once we finished, we hopped on the gondola back down, then took an earlier train to get back to Interlaken. At Interlaken we had about an hour to explore the town. Prior to leaving we grabbed another sandwich for dinner, as it would be another two hour train ride back to Zurich. At one point we were convinced we weren’t going to make it back cause we had no idea if the train was heading in the right direction. Luckily we managed okay and we were finally back at the hotel just before 11pm. 

Overall the trip to the Swiss Alps was definitely my highlight of this entire trip. I can’t imagine being on another mountain range with such beautiful scenery. This to me felt more like what I imagined Switzerland to be versus what we had experienced in Zurich. I would 100% go back again just to breathe in the fresh mountain air.