Day 12 - Walking up to Berneuse

We saved the best for the last. Our last day in Leysin was sunny and warm. We walked uphill, for just over two hours, to the top of Berneuse, the mountain peak that towers above Leysin. On the way up we stopped at Lac du Meyin for lunch sitting on their terrace looking at the alpine lake and mountains and blue sky. Very different from the last time when we were huddled inside escaping the rain. The terrace was full of hikers, everyone in shorts and short sleeves, soaking up the sun.

It is a short uphill climb from Lac du Meyin to the top of Berneuse where you get the gondola back down to Leysin. The tourist brochure for La Berneuse says “the only revolving restaurant in the French speaking part of Switzerland!” Like rösti, revolving restaurants are common in the German-speaking area.

The views from the top of Berneuse are incredible. You see the Rhone Valley, the mountains on the other side, including Mont Blanc, Lake Geneva, and the mountains north of Leysin. I recommend walking up because the walk is easier than you would think and it is rewarding to do the climb, plus good exercise – but if you don’t have the time, take the gondola up and back. The view is worth it and the gondola ride is fun.

They call it a telecabine, but it is just a small enclosed gondola that we took back down the hill. It was fun to look down on the trail we had walked up and to watch the town approach

About the Author

Pauline Kenny writes about European travel at Slow Europe: Views from the Slow Lane (www.sloweurope.com/blog) and runs Cotswolder (www.cotswolder.com), a travel guide for the Cotswolds in the English countryside north of Bath. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Steve Cohen and cat Buddy.

Day 11 - France for the day!

The north shore of Lake Geneva is in Switzerland, but the south shore is in France. St Gingolph is a small town at the eastern edge of Lake Geneva, on the France/Switzerland border. You can park on the Swiss side and walk across the border to the good seafood restaurants on the French side.

We had always wanted to see the town of Evian, where the spring water comes from, so we drove down to Saint Gingolph and then along the coast road to Evian. Evian is a busy spa town right on the lake, with the mountains rising up behind. We found a parking spot, parked, found the meter where you pay, and realized that we only had Swiss Francs with us, no Euro! We had Euro back at the apartment, but none in our wallets. We drove until we found an ATM machine, got some cash, then were able to park and explore the town.

This part of the lake does not have a freeway, as there is on the Swiss side, so the road meanders along the waters edge, going through the charming lakeside towns.

About the Author

Pauline Kenny writes about European travel at Slow Europe: Views from the Slow Lane (www.sloweurope.com/blog) and runs Cotswolder (www.cotswolder.com), a travel guide for the Cotswolds in the English countryside north of Bath. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Steve Cohen and cat Buddy.

Day 10 - Ride the Sanetsch gondola from Gsteig

It is a forty minute drive from Leysin to Gsteig, at the start of the Gstaad valley. From Gsteig we drove another five minutes to the Sanetsch gondola. The gondola holds eight people and takes ten minutes to go to the top. As with most gondolas, as one goes up, the other goes down. They pass in the middle. We were the only ones on the gondola.

I am afraid of heights. I always have been. But I can ride the gondolas and chairlifts in Switzerland and not be terrified. Possible reasons: most of them don’t go that far above the ground, you are enclosed so can’t fall out, I trust everything made by the Swiss. But on the Sanetsch gondola I was terrified. The little gondola starts out up a steep valley then goes straight at a rock face, just clearing it by a few feet as it goes over the top of it. Both Steve and I stumbled off the Gondola with our hearts pounding from the terror of the ride.

The gondola takes you up to the alpine area in mountains that we were looking at every day from our balcony in Leysin. There is a cluster of old wooden buildings, including a restaurant, and a small lake – Sanetschsee (German) or Lac du Senin (French). The restaurant is in an old weather-beaten wooden chalet with a lovely terrace with views of the lake and the mountains.

We were surprised at the number of people up here, sitting at the restaurant, walking on the trails. Our gondola had been empty except for us and the parking lot was small and not full. Then we saw all the cars parked along a road. Cars!! How did cars get here? It turns out there is a road from Sion in the Valais, on the south side of this mountain range. So, here you have an alpine area split between the German and French regions. The German-Swiss take the gondola up and down, the French-Swiss drive up. On the trails you greet people with greützi one minute and bonjour the next.

We did the easy one hour walk around the lake, with extra time spent looking at alpine flowers. The lake is in a bowl surrounded by high rocky mountain peaks. It was amazing being up there. It felt like another world.

We were not looking forward to heading back down on that gondola. We ended up waiting for the gondola with a group of four Brits who had done a five hour walk from Col du Pillon. We all crammed into the gondola together and were all terrified together. It was kind of fun!

The Brits had parked in Gsteig, took a bus to Col du Pillion, took the Glacier 3000 ride up and walked for five hours across the glacier and the mountain tops to Sanetschsee, then took the gondola down. We stuffed them all into our car and gave them a ride to Gsteig so they did not have to do the last bit of walking.

About the Author

Pauline Kenny writes about European travel at Slow Europe: Views from the Slow Lane (www.sloweurope.com/blog) and runs Cotswolder (www.cotswolder.com), a travel guide for the Cotswolds in the English countryside north of Bath. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Steve Cohen and cat Buddy.

Day 9 – Another trip to Gstaad and the Saanen Valley

Another sunny day and another drive to Gstaad to do a hike we loved when we were there a few years ago. We drove to Schonried but this time took the Rellerli gondola on the other side of the valley. The gondola took us up to the tops of the mountains and we walked along the ridgetops and the mountains sides on the opposite side of the valley that we were on for the Horneggli hike.

This time we picked up sandwiches in the Leysin bakery before heading out, so we did not stop for lunch at the restaurant at the top gondola station. Instead we stopped about half way through the hike, found a log with a view, and ate sandwiches while looking out at the Zwiesimmen valley, the mountains beyond, and the glacier topped mountains beyond that. All while sitting in the sunshine in a field full of wildflowers. (Now do you see why I love summer in Switzerland?)

The hike ends with a long, gentle downhill to Sparenmoos where there is a hotel, restaurant and a bus stop. The bus took us down to Zwiesimmen and was an adventure itself, zipping down the mountain on a narrow one lane road, with dramatic dropoffs on one side and steep mountain hills on the other. We got the train back to Schonried.

About the Author

Pauline Kenny writes about European travel at Slow Europe: Views from the Slow Lane (www.sloweurope.com/blog) and runs Cotswolder (www.cotswolder.com), a travel guide for the Cotswolds in the English countryside north of Bath. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Steve Cohen and cat Buddy.

Day 8 - Hiking at Col des Mosses

Col des Mosses is a 20 minute drive north of Leysin, on the way to Gstaad. This is another good hiking area. We went to the tourist office and got the local hiking map. We wanted to do a more ambitious hike, but as we were getting ready, it was getting colder. We could see fresh snow not far above us. The woman at the tourist office said the snow was above Lac Lioson where we were heading. We put on our wool hats and gloves. I felt ridiculous packing these back in 90 degree weather in Santa Fe, but I am glad I did. We needed them on this hike.

The hike was just over an hour uphill to a perfect alpine lake at the foot of big, rocky mountains covered in snow. We stopped at the mountain restaurant for some lunch and then the weather got worse. It rained, then it turned to hail, then snow. Yes, snow. This was not the amusing few minutes of snow we had at Les Fers earlier in the trip. This was snow. The clouds covered the lake, but we decided to walk around it anyway and we were walking in a snowstorm.

It was really exciting, but we did not want to do the longer hike, so we just walked back down the road we came up on. By the time we got back to Col des Mosses, it was raining, so we did not look around for a good café, but headed back to Leysin.

On a sunny weekend day we drove to Col des Mosses and it was a completely different place. People were out on the terraces of the cafes and bars, having a drink, having lunch, relaxing after their long hikes.

About the Author

Pauline Kenny writes about European travel at Slow Europe: Views from the Slow Lane (www.sloweurope.com/blog) and runs Cotswolder (www.cotswolder.com), a travel guide for the Cotswolds in the English countryside north of Bath. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Steve Cohen and cat Buddy.

Day 7 - We walked up the mountain to have coffee and tart

It rained in the morning, so we waited. By 1:30pm, it started to clear. We got ready for a hike and drove across town to the hiking area just above Feyday (where we went for our first hike). This time, instead of heading to Prafandaz, we headed in the opposite direction and walked up across the hillside above Leysin to Lac du Mayen. It was about an hour and a half going up and just under an hour coming back. The trail was along a narrow paved road, only used by the local farms. One or two cars passed us during our hike.

After an hour of uphill walking we got to Le Temeley, a cheese making farm with a small restaurant. After that it was a very easy uphill for another thirty minutes to Lac du Mayen, a small alpine lake surrounded by rocky peaks with a farm and restaurant. Lac du Mayen sits above Les Fers, where we hiked to a few days earlier. The views out over Leysin were spectacular. It was overcast on the way up, but we did not get rained on. The cool weather is perfect for walking.

As we reach Lac du Mayen it started to rain. The large outdoor terrace was empty but the restaurant signs were out, so we went in. The inside seating was only two tables in a small cozy room. There were hikers at the other table; they were on their way down from La Berneuse. The owner welcomed us in from the rain. We had coffee and a wonderful fresh raspberry tart. While we were eating, just like when we were at Les Fers the other day, the weather changed from drizzle to a heavy downpour. By the time we left it was back to drizzle. I love sitting in these mountain restaurants in the bad weather, all cozy and warm, enjoying the rest and the food.

We walked back down the mountain in the drizzle. We encountered a herd of cows on the road. They would not make room for us, so had to weave our way through them. Stubborn cows, they do not respect the hiker!

About the Author

Pauline Kenny writes about European travel at Slow Europe: Views from the Slow Lane (www.sloweurope.com/blog) and runs Cotswolder (www.cotswolder.com), a travel guide for the Cotswolds in the English countryside north of Bath. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Steve Cohen and cat Buddy.

Day 6 – Hiking in the Saanen Valley

We woke up to a beautiful sunny day and decided to do our favorite hike near Gstaad, Horneggli to Rinderberg. We drove to Schonried, just outside of Gstaad, where we took the Horneggli chairlift

The chairlift rides in Switzerland take you to a calm and silent place, dangling above the trees and fields as you glide up the mountain. It feels like floating with a parachute, but without the worry about how you will land. I seek out the chairlift rides and take as many as possible.

Horneggli is a chairlift, but it is horrible! They put a plastic over the chair, which makes sense in the winter because it keeps you dry and warm, but in the summer it turns into a hot, humid, claustrophobic torture chamber – well at least it was for me, Steve did not seem to mind it. This was one of those situations where you don’t want your partner to know that you are freaking out because once they know, the freak-out is real. So I breathed deeply, noticed the small open space at my feet and figured I could wriggle out there if the chairlift got stuck, looked at the view and thought of other things. I am sure they did not have these plastic covers the last time we did this hike. Gondolas are not as closed in feeling because you have room to move about and they have windows you can open for fresh air. My recommendation? Forget this chairlift and walk up the mountain.

The rest of the hike was perfect. We walked for about half an hour and reached Hornberg where there are two good restaurants to choose from. We had a lovely lunch sitting out on the terrace with a magnificent view to the mountains surrounding Gstaad. Then we did an easy hike, across the mountain top for two hours, to the Rinderberg gondola station.

The first half of the hike is on a wide flat trail along a wide ridge with views to the valley below and the mountains on the other side. At the end of this trail you reach a farm where they sell some ice cream and other things. The second half of the hike is a steep uphill climb, but you are rewarded with views down to Lenk and the area near Zweisimmen. Then you climb down to the gondola.

There is a restaurant at the top of the gondola and everyone stops for coffee and cake or beer and a snack. We had some wonderful homemade chocolate cake – light, creamy and soaked in rum. We took the gondola down to Zweisimmen where we got the train back to Schonried and our car.

We did this hike on a weekend and there were lots of people out in the restaurants and on the trails – a few American tourists, but mostly Swiss and Germans on holiday. It never feels crowded and it is good to see everyone out enjoying themselves. This is such a popular hike, that you can purchase one ticket that covers your transportation for the whole hike - the chairlift, the gondola and the train.

External Links

Gstaad Mountain rides

Hotel Restaurant Hornfluh

About the Author

Pauline Kenny writes about European travel at Slow Europe: Views from the Slow Lane (www.sloweurope.com/blog) and runs Cotswolder (www.cotswolder.com), a travel guide for the Cotswolds in the English countryside north of Bath. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Steve Cohen and cat Buddy.

Day 5 - A day on Lake Geneva

A great thing about Leysin is how close it is to Lake Geneva, so you can have a mountain vacation and a lake vacation at the same time. We spent a day exploring Montreux and Vevey, walking on the promenade along the lake.

Montreux is a pretty lakeside town and is much bigger than the small mountain towns we had been exploring. It was busy driving in, but we found a large parking lot, left the car and explored on foot. We had fun looking in the shops and stopped for a good lunch on a terrace overlooking the lake.

Friends from England were staying in a hotel on the lake in Vevey, so we joined them for a drink on the terrace and then a wonderful dinner at the hotel.

About the Author

Pauline Kenny writes about European travel at Slow Europe: Views from the Slow Lane (www.sloweurope.com/blog) and runs Cotswolder (www.cotswolder.com), a travel guide for the Cotswolds in the English countryside north of Bath. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Steve Cohen and cat Buddy.

Day 4 - We walked up the mountain to have lunch

A one lane paved road goes from the eastern edge of Leysin up and across the mountain to the restaurant at Les Fers. The occasional cars and mountain bikers use this road, but not enough to disturb your walk. There are great views towards Les Diablerets.

We did this walk on overcast day, but were rained on only for a few minutes. One minute it was sunny, the next we were walking through clouds. The view down to Leysin and the valley below changed minute by minute. You would see the sun on Leysin and in the next moment the valley would fill with clouds. The wildflowers were out in full force (July is the best month for wildflowers) and were beautiful.

After walking for just under two hours, we reached Restaurant Chalet des Fers. Swiss restaurants are strict with their lunch hours. Plan to arrive between noon and 2pm, or forget having lunch that day. We arrived well before 2pm. As we walked into the restaurant, in our rain coats and muddy boots (from a bit of “off roading”) the owner applauded and said “Bravo” to congratulate us for walking up! Everyone else at lunch had driven. Talking to her later, she said the bad weather keeps away her lunch time customers - the hikers and bikers - but people drive up for dinner because they have live music (and for their great food).

As we sat down for a fabulous lunch (with possibly the best salad I have ever had), it started to rain. Rain turned to hail and then to snow for a few minutes. Snow on July 4! They started the fire going to warm the restaurant. It was quite cozy.

The walk back down was easy but the steady drizzle turned to a downpour. Several very wet bikers passed us going downhill. We were pretty wet by the time we got back to our apartment, but smiling, because even in the rain there is nothing like walking in the Swiss Alps.

About the Author

Pauline Kenny writes about European travel at Slow Europe: Views from the Slow Lane (www.sloweurope.com/blog) and runs Cotswolder (www.cotswolder.com), a travel guide for the Cotswolds in the English countryside north of Bath. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Steve Cohen and cat Buddy.

Day 3 - Revisiting Gstaad and Saanenland

We need a day away from hiking, to let my legs recover, so we decided to do a driving trip and revisit Saanen, a small town near Gstaad, where we spent two weeks on our last trip. The drive from Leysin to Gstaad, via Les Diablerets, takes just under an hour and is stunning. It is a narrow, winding road that cuts along the edge of the mountains, through villages, forests and farmland, with the dramatic rocky Les Diablerets mountains in view. Just before you reach Gsteig, the wide, green Gstaad valley spreads out before you. It is lined by steep, rocky mountains on each side.

Somewhere on the drive from Leysin to Gstaad you cross into the German area. The signs are in German, not French, and everyone is speaking German.

Gstaad is a jet-set ski town, but in the summer it is more relaxed. It still feels a bit jet-setty with its expensive jewelry and watch shops, and well dressed tourists, but it is a pretty town in a beautiful mountain valley and is well-worth visiting. The main pedestrian street is about twelve blocks long and is lined with hotels, restaurants, cafes, shops, delis, and more. When we were there, they were preparing for the Beach Volleyball World Championship – yes, beach volleyball in a country with no coastline.

Sitting on a hill above the town is the Palace Hotel. This is where part of “The Return of the Pink Panther” was filmed (1975 with Peter Sellers). Remember where Inspector Clouseau is checking into the Swiss hotel? “Do you have a rume?” Pretty hilarious. The middle part of the movie is set in the Palace Hotel and in Gstaad. When we visited the hotel, the desk clerk said we were not the first to come and talk to him about the movie. Good thing we did not try the “Do you have a rume?” routine.

We drove back through Château-d’ Oex and Col des Mosses, another spectacular drive through the mountains. At one part the road is cut into the steep side of a mountain with a dramatic gorge below you. You could make a longer day trip and visit Gruyeres, with its famous castle and cheese. Then drive to Montreux on Lake Geneva, and then back to Aigle and Leysin.

About the Author

Pauline Kenny writes about European travel at Slow Europe: Views from the Slow Lane (www.sloweurope.com/blog) and runs Cotswolder (www.cotswolder.com), a travel guide for the Cotswolds in the English countryside north of Bath. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband Steve Cohen and cat Buddy.

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