Switzerland 5: Interlaken

Wednesday, September 19

Today was a treat. This journey just keeps getting better and better. After a restful sleep at our cozy airbnb, we followed the road along Lake Como's south shore towards Milan, and returned to Switzerland (yes, this is a mainly Swiss trip, remember). To this point, most of the drive was unremarkable. Our next stop: 

The Verzasca Dam

You may remember this Dam from such filmography as - the opening scene in Goldeneye. Yep, this is where James Bond bungees to the base of the dam and then swiftly takes out the bad guy on the toilet. This dam is so much better than filmed!

Now, to start off, we had some trouble locating the dam thing. Heehee, get it? I should have printed a map to this, because the GPS sounded very confused when trying to locate the Dam. We tentatively followed it's directions for an hour in what felt like the middle of nowhere, until we finally reached a small town. Then the GPS said we'd reached our destination. We were lucky to have found within that town, a single sign towards the dam. Following that, it was a while before we saw another sign. So my suggestion? Firstly, bring a map, or a googlemap printout, something to get your bearings. Then, you may have better luck and confidence locating the nearest township - eg: Selvatica, or Gordemo, then finding a sign to the attraction from there.

Getting back to our time there. Man, do I wish we had packed a picnic for today! We saw the dam, you need to pay for short term parking at the attraction. There's a visitors centre and some restrooms here. After this, civilisation was sparse, and what few restaurants we did see either didn't appear appetising, or didn't appear open. The dam doesn't take too long to see, but it's a stunning vision. Now, for any die hard fans out there, there is a company that does the 007 bungee jump from this location. How cool is that! Sadly (and thankfully) for us, we arrived a week after peak season ended, so this company only ran trips on weekends and we couldn't rotate our itinerary around that. I'm not too fussed about missing it, I doubt I'd have the guts for this. Usually bungee jumping is over a body of water, but this one is into a narrow gorge alongside a slightly concave concrete wall. It feels like you'd be closed in on 3 sides doing this jump.

Verzasca Valley

Verzasca Valley

From the dam, we headed further up the road into the Verzasca Valley. This valley feels like a step back into another era, it almost feels enchanted. The road winds around the mountainside, and in the escarpment below you can see a crystal river flowing across the shallow green-tinged rocks towards the dam. Then you discover medieval-looking buildings. We would have loved to find a way down to the riverbed, or drive further into the valley than we went, but eventually our hunger got the best of us.

Verzasca Valley

We returned to the nearest Coop supermarket for some snacks. I also picked up some Coop brand Gianduja chocolate - at about CHF 1 for 100g, it's the cheapest Gianduja (hazelnut melt-in-mouth chocolate) I've ever seen, and I regret not buying more for my trip home.

Sustenstrasse

Our day took another spectacular turn as we drove to Interlaken. All I know, is that this is the name of the street we took, according to our GPS. I can only imagine how spectacular this road would be in full visibility, because we were dropping our jaws with every turn and we could barely see ten metres in front of us.

Either we were up in the clouds, or it was really foggy. As we reached the valley on the other side of the pass, it was raining heavily. It's possible the low visibility added mystery, adventure and beauty to this road, but I can't imagine how it could be less impressive when you can actually see it. And even if not, it's a fun drive with lots of turns.

Brienz

Brienz waterfront

On the way to Interlaken we stopped by at Brienz, which is a town on the lakeside. We visited the free Brienz wildlife park, which is just inland of the lake, you follow signs to the parking lot then walk up a hill through the woods - then you see some enclosures with animals, and there are food dispensers to buy food to feed the animals with. It was a fun way to spend a half hour.

Brienz Wildlife Park

Trümmelbach Falls

Trummelbach Falls

This waterfall flows through a slot canyon. You can walk within the canyon tunnels to see some parts of the waterfall, and outside of the mountain to see other parts. We checked this out as a side note on our way to Interlaken, mainly out of spontaneity. It's an easy walk to the waterfall. If you don't want to walk too much uphill, there is an elevator available to take people closer to the top of the falls, so then you only need to walk down.

Interlaken

We arrived at Interlaken before dark, and checked into our hotel. Our hotel was off a pedestrian-only zone. This made it a little tricky to figure out where to park. We ended up parking in a pay zone for a short time to walk and find the hotel, then they told us how to reach the free parking which was about 5-10 minutes walk away. The hotel was associated with a Mexican restaurant, which we had our included breakfast at the following morning.

We browsed the streets and did some window shopping before settling on a restaurant for dinner. Honestly, I'm struggling to remember where we went for dinner, because the place was great and had a price fix 3 course menu. I want to say it was the Belvedere Brasserie based on its location, so if not this restaurant, it was one nearby that provided a price fix menu with mainly French/Swiss cuisine on offer, and faced the Hohematte park. I mention this because yet again, we were very content with the quality of our meal, and felt the value was good for the price fix.

Thursday, September 20

Having taken full advantage of our first opportunity to sleep late, we went downstairs and found a brochure for the Schilthorn, which is yet again, another James Bond fan site, which boasts a panoramic mountain-top view and restaurant. We had plans for the afternoon and didn't have the 3 hours it would take to see this site without the stress of getting back in time. If I were to do it all again, I'd have woken up earlier and gone to the Schilthorn for breakfast. We had a lazy morning shopping the main street of Interlaken.

On to our exciting afternoon plans - hang gliding! Now, I've been wanting to go tandem hang gliding for a long time. And not the kind where you're pulled up by another vehicle, but the kind where you jump of a mountain and fly. It's a really tough thing to find, and I couldn't find it anywhere I've travelled in Canada. Where is more perfect to do this than in Switzerland?

Our tour guide was Eddie, an Aussie bloke that decided to drop everything and move to Switzerland for his dream. He picked us up promptly at noon, and we drove up a mountain to a take off site. We only had one guide for this trip, sometimes there are the two guides that will go up together. So Mike and I each took off separately, and watched each other glide down from the landing site. That was a great photo opportunity so we were happy with that. You have to help carry the equipment about 300 metres to the take off site from the car drop off, and he showed me how to assist assembling the glider and then checked my work afterwards.

Then on to the challenge - running as fast as you can down a steep hill, then jump! It's a bit nerve racking to run down a hill at a speed that you know you won't be able to stop. We had a few practice runs before bringing the glider with, because you have to jump at the right time. Then, we were up in the air. We were up for probably about 10-15 minutes, although I wasn't looking at the time. The view from the bird's eye is spectacular. We had clear blue skies, a stunning blue lake, and tree studded mountains. If you're up for some tricks, and the conditions are safe, the guide will happily do some dives and spins. Eddie took some photos of us from the air, with a camera attached to the glider, and Mike and I chose to purchase the photos later - hey, it's once in a lifetime!

I couldn't be happier with my experience through this company, and if you've ever wanted to try hang gliding, this is the best location I can think of for it. If you're in the area, and you're a bit hesitant, I can't imagine how you'd be disappointed if you bite the bullet on this one - go for it! It is expensive to hang glide with these guys in Interlaken (currently at 235 CHF), but I certainly don't regret a single cent.

Previous: Lake Como   Next: Montreux

Switzerland 4: Lake Como

So here is where we temporarily drift from our Swiss itinerary into an Italian detour. Having driven across the border to Bormio, the next items on our list became James Bond fanfare. We were never going to be closer to Lake Como and the Verzasca Dam. This brings us to:

Varenna, Lake Como

Tuesday, September 18

Varenna

We left Bormio early, with this being our only day planned to spend at Lake Como. We decided to take  a scenic route along the lakeside, by heading towards Varenna (about 2:30 away). We found parking in Varenna's town centre. Yes, another old town but this time Italian style, with brightly coloured narrow townhouses, narrow lane ways, and of course the beautiful Como coastline.

Walking along the coastline, there are several restaurants to choose from for lunch, which we were thankful for after the slim options in Bormio. We selected a restaurant based on wherever had reasonable prices and room on the terrace. At the end of the day, this felt like a tourist hotspot and the restaurants didn't seem fussed with providing outstanding food or service with the crowds of tourists guaranteed to come by.

There were a few stands at the shoreline for boat rentals, but none of them had service representatives. It's probably easier to contact rental companies by phone if you'd like to rent a boat. We wanted to rent a boat to travel to a couple of towns on the other side of the lake, but ran into trouble arranging this without having booked in advance, both here and in Bellagio.

Varenna's lakefront

Before leaving Varenna, we drove up the mountain to the Castle of Vezio to see the birds, the view and the historical fortress. The parking for the castle is not clearly defined, but when you can't drive any further, that's a good sign to park. You have to make your way through the town, and the residents minded their own business while we got lost in the maze of laneways. Eventually we found the beginnings of a garden, down a long and straight path, with a sign towards the castle.

Panoramic view from the top of the Castle of Vezio

The bird show was too late for us to see, but the birds were on display outside. They were tethered to posts for guests to see, attached by little anklets on their feet. The information sheet specified that the birds are rotated between their shelters and the display posts.

Falcon at the Castle of Vezio

We headed to the ferry terminal. It was pretty easy to find, as we had noticed it on the way into town. As I recall, the ferry for the car came every 30-40 minutes, so if you miss it it's not a big deal. The ferry was docking just as we reached the terminal, so Mike got the tickets and I ran to the boat, and they waited for Mike to bring the car, along with another car behind us.

Castle of Vezio

On the ferry to Bellagio, we got out of the car to enjoy the view.

Varenna - view from the ferry

Bellagio

The famous Bellagio, made home to celebrities like Madonna and George Clooney. A town of prestige and culture. There's a casino in Vegas modelled after this town.

Bellagio - view from the ferry

We first checked into our airbnb accommodation, which was about 10 minutes drive from the town. This was a great find and very well priced! Our host tried to help us connect to the internet and call some boat rental companies, but we were unable to arrange a boat rental since they prefer you arrange them in advance. This was a bit disappointing, but entirely my fault for assuming it could be arranged on the day. We were hoping to take a boat across the lake to visit a couple of James Bond sites, like the Villa la Gaeta (featured in Casino Royale) in San Siro (the one on the lake, not the one in Milan), so yes, after all that fuss, that plan fell through.

Instead we returned to Bellagio, easily found paid tourist parking by the coast, and took to foot. It's a pleasure to walk around this quaint town. Mike went shopping for Como silk ties as souvenirs, they were selling for pretty cheap (around 18-20 euro each), and Mike wishes he had bought more while he was there.

On a good recommendation by our host, we went to Lezzeno for dinner, at the Hotel Villa Aurora. This was a modestly priced restaurant for the area, and the food was probably better than anything you'd get in the tourist district. The restaurant also has some limited parking and an outdoor patio by the lake, making for a relaxing atmosphere. Looking at the website now, it appears to have been a favourite on Trip Advisor for 2013.

Now, as for our B&B, we couldn't have been happier. There were minimal breakfast supplies in the kitchenette - some packaged pastries, some eggs, coffee and milk, the usuals. The kitchenette and living area was shared with the residents of the other room, but they weren't around much. We had a private bedroom and bathroom. The bedroom had effective blackout shades and was 100% soundproof. I have never had such a good night's sleep! Everything about our stay here was very comfortable, and I'd definitely recommend it if you're willing to stay a short distance from Bellagio on a budget.

Previous: Bormio   Next: Interlaken

Switzerland 3: Stelvio Pass & Bormio

Monday, September 17

This is the day! Pretty much the whole itinerary revolved around today, the day we did the Stelvio Pass. As mentioned previously, this has absolutely got to be one of the best drives in the world, as featured on Top Gear. Be aware, many roads in this route are closed in winter.

Fluella Pass

Now I'm sure there's a few routes that can be done here. You need to know what route you plan to drive before leaving. We found that the GPS kept trying to stick to main roads and avoiding the whole point of today's drive. So we had to tell the GPS to take us to random places along the route in order to stay on track.

The drive from Davos to Bormio

We began our drive heading east out of Davos, towards the Flüella pass (28). This is the most important step to get started in the right direction. The Flüella pass was spectacular, with silver rocky mountains for turn after turn, and a couple of clear and calm lakes to stop at. I wanted to get out of the car every minute to take pictures, until Mike got fed up and refused to stop - he was excited to see the Stelvio Pass. We turned right at Stradun (27) and followed this all the way to the Mount La Schera tunnel, as per the GPS instructions. We felt a little anxious waiting at the tunnel entrance, not quite sure where we were or where the tunnel would lead us. We waited about 10 minutes for the one-way traffic from the other side to come through, then entered the tunnel. The tunnel runs about 4km, and is dead straight the entire way. That alone makes for an intriguing time, with absolutely no variation in what you see for 10-15 minutes, just the car in front and in the rearview mirror, and the lights flying past.

Fluella Pass

When we exited the tunnel, the scenery had changed drastically. The grey pebbled mountains gave way to an expansive still-water lake and abundant spruce trees. And oh yeah, keep an eye out for those marmots! Those cute little guys were spotted a few times just off the roadside.

Marmot on the roadside!

From here, we followed the GPS directions to Bormio. We passed what initially looked like large touristy ski towns, and then progressively smaller local mountain towns. The alpine Italian towns just became more and more surreal until we finally reached Bormio.

Stelvio Pass

We quickly checked into our hotel, then continued to Stelvio, with Mike so anxious to drive the pass that even lunch had to wait!

Stelvio Pass

The Stelvio pass, when driven from Bormio, just becomes more exciting the closer you get. Honestly, I can't adequately describe the feeling of driving up and down those hairpin turns (mainly because it was Mike driving), but the exhilaration was as anticipated. The only way it could have been better was if we were driving an Aston Martin. That would have been cool.

A toll for the pass was introduced in 2013, just for the tourists. Be careful driving the Stelvio pass, there are a few hold ups with cyclists (how or why they cycled up that I'll never understand), motorcyclists, cars and buses. The buses do a three point turn at every hairpin turn, so if you're stuck behind one, it can kill the fun for a bit until you can pass.

We reached Stelvio, which is a tough town to drive in, with the roads only barely fitting a single car going one way. We struggled to park in the half-parking-spot at the only restaurant we could find in town. The pasta there was that perfect texture of fresh homemade pasta. I just wish I could have enjoyed it more, but the bee that stung me killed my spirit for a little while there. I survived, and we headed back to Bormio, very happily, the way we had just come.

Stelvio

           

Above is a video of the Stelvio Pass. Apologies for the poor quality - the upload size is limited so it appears compressed and pixelated, but on the small viewer you can get the point. Any solutions someone can offer for this would be grand.

Bormio

Bormio is an Alpine spa town, and we stayed at the Grand Hotel Bagni Nuovi - which has the best reputation for a spa hotel that I have ever seen. The hotel had several decadent indoor and outdoor baths, pools, spas, and saunas which we were able to enjoy at our leisure. Usually admission is about $50 per person, but it was included in our hotel stay (we splurged on this). Even if not staying at the hotel, it is worthwhile to visit the spa for a half day or so. With the hotel being high upon a mountain, the outdoor pools have breathtaking views of the town and valley below.

We spent the afternoon exploring the old town of Bormio. This is another city of cobblestone narrow pathways, stone buildings, courtyards and archways. We decided to have dinner in town, and being Italy, most restaurants appeared to be closed. We found a pizzeria that was open, where we had a fairly ordinary pizza.

I regret not having dinner at the hotel restaurant. The prices were moderately expensive, at about mid-20's for a main. The restaurant was in a glamorous dining hall, beautifully decorated and furnished, providing an atmosphere of prestige. We ordered dessert, and were presented with a platter of delicate candies as a palate cleanser before our dessert arrived, even though we hadn't had dinner there.

Grand Hotel Bagni Nuovi

View from Bagni Nuovi

Our comfortable stay in this premium hotel topped off the best travel day of our Swiss vacation.

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