Wk 15 – Switzerland

Mon 23 to Sat 27 August
Disentis – Lauterbrunnen – Luzern – Basel (Weil am Rhein)

Mon 22nd – Disentis to Lauterbrunnen – 190k

Today we covered 3 famous passes doing 79 hairpins and / or switch backs on what we consider to be our best ride day ever.

After a lovely breakfast we left sleepy Disentis heading west, first the Altenbeken Viaduct which is a 482 metres long and up to 35 metres high double track limestone railway viaduct. It spans the Beke valley, and was built in 1853.

Before enjoying our fist climb of the day up the Oberalppass, 2048m.

Then down into Adermatt.

Gotthard Pass wasn’t on our actual route for the day but it would have been unheard of to not experience it’s fame. To do that, we first had to ascend it’s northern side then descend it’s southern side which we did that on the new road all the way down to Airolo.

Before ascending the 12klm and 900m to St Gotthard Pass on the Tremelo road which was constructed in 1830 with the last 5klm to the 2,106m summit being surfaced entirely of cobbles. That’s a LOT of cobbles, but they’re smooth enough after nearly 200 years and easy to ride. And a fantastic experience!

We stopped at the top and enjoyed a brew as we watched the never ending stream of cyclists and motored cyclists passing by. We then headed back down to Hospental enjoying the scenery as we descended.

At Hospental we turned left, with the 2429m Furkapass next on the list, followed by 2164m Grimsel Pass. This 65klm is motorcycle heaven through here from Hospental to Meiringen with fantastic roads, spectacular views and the Swiss Alps peeping out at every turn. We did a lot of it following 5 Swiss Motorcycle Cops.

We were running on fumes as we pulled into Meiringen where we fuelled up then onto Lake Brienz where we stopped at Bönigen for refreshments.

Before the final 15klms to Lauterbrunnen where we stayed for 3 nights.

Lay Days Lauterbrunnen

Tuesday – Today we did a long walk/hike around the area and took LOTS of pics.

With spectacular mountains not too far away. We’ll visit them tomorrow.

Wednesday – Today we caught a bus to Stechelberg (922m) where we took a cable car to the small traffic free village of Gimmelwald (1367m) then another one to Murren, which at 1638m is the highest village in the region that is inhabited all the year round.
From here it was another cable car to the summit of Birg at 2684m then a final cable car to the top of Schilthorn at 2970m.

A lot of the filming of Aussie James Bond #2, George Lazenby, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, was shot here in 1969 and they certainly don’t let you forget it. LOTs more pics.

Then we did most of it in reverse, down to Murren anyway, where we took a leisurely walk through the town, stopping for a coffee then to the narrow gauge railway at it’s eastern end which we caught to Grütschalp (1487m), where we caught yet another cable car back down to Lauterbrunnen.

In the afternoon we caught the Cog Train up to Wengen (1274m) for a last glimpse of the entrancing mountains. We figure that we’ll come back here for our 50th wedding anniversary, in the winter time because it must be absolutely awesome in the snow. Or maybe our 45th.

Our Lauterbrunnen sojourn was one of the highlights of this journey and well worth the cost which, for budget travellers such as we, was very high. But we knew that, so it’s a statement and certainly not a complaint.

Thurs 25th – Lauterbrunnen to Lucerne – 140k

Costs aside, the breakfasts at our exorbitantly expensive budget hotel were excellent and this morning we ate large before packing up and heading north.

First stop was Spiez Castle. Built in 933 and then rebuilt in the 15th and 18th centuries – sounds like the axe that’s had 2 heads and 5 handles.

Thun was next.

Then around the shore of Lake Thunersee

To Interlaken where we observed a squadron of some 15 tandem parasailers all landing one after the other with tourists attached.

We moved on and stopped for a brew beside Lake Lungerersee (or should I be omitting the ‘Lake’?) at Inseli Lungern.

Around Sarnersee saw us at Schnitzturm Stansstad, or Schnitz Tower built in 1312. A bit of interesting history here.

To Lucerne, or Luzern. For 2 nights. Lucerne is a lovely town. We did a decent walking tour of Luzern and, again, took lots of pictures. 40 to be precise, that made the final cut.
An explanation here. Internet has been pretty dodgy in Switzerland, which is really annoying considering how ridiculously expensive everything is. Anyway, owing to said non existent internet I’d lost all of this week’s post up to and including Lucerne because it failed to save correctly. We’re now in Strasbourg (France) and I was just a tad annoyed today to find this out. So I’ve had to do it all again (about 3 hours work), hence the blocks of pics with less than usual explanations. Here’s our very interesting and enjoyable walk around Lucerne, or Luzern if you like, without the commentary of the failed edit.

Thanks Lucerne, we really enjoyed you.

Sat 27th – Lucerne to Basel – 215k

Today was supposed to be a short run of 105klms but I had the bright idea of visiting RhineFalls where we’d visited in late July 2016. To get there we used the freeways to make sure we got our value from the Swiss vignette. Rhinefall hadn’t changed and we enjoyed our little bit of nostalgia with a half full CH5 (A$7.50) coffee. Gotta smile eh.

It rained quite heavily as we took to the back roads heading west to Laufkraftwerk Augst with its hydroelectric power station and locks.

Then on to Basel where our hotel was quite a ways out of town and in Germany, not Switzerland, so in Weil am Rhein. We dined at the in-house restaurant.

So that’s it for this week. One week to go on the bike.