Our second destination as exclusive ambassadors of Switzerland Tourism was Schilthorn - Piz Gloria - Mürren. What an amazing weekend we had : we followed in James Bond’s footsteps, we tested our vertigo at the “Skyline Walk” and the “Thrill Walk”, enjoyed the beautiful village of Mürren and embarked on Toboggan safari.
We are always excited to set off early for our outings. It reminds me of holidays as a child when my parents would bundle me and my three siblings into the car to make the journey to the airport to go on holiday. The same feeling of anticipation dominated a couple of weeks ago when we woke the children for our trip to Mürren/Schilthorn. We started our journey in the dark and enjoyed the changing light as we headed towards our destination.
Mürren is car free so we left our car the car park in Stechelberg and unpacked the children and our luggage before heading to the cable car, which was the first step of our ascent up to Mürren. The cable cars are frequent so we didn’t have to wait long, and there weren’t too many people, which meant we could look out at the views as we soared above the countryside below. We were so fortunate to have a clear, sunny morning, which afforded us the chance to see for miles around us. Jude and Alba were really excited and were giggling together as they pressed their noses against the windows!
We soon arrived at Gimmelwald where we changed cable cars for the second leg of the journey. This next part too was beautiful and we saw more and more snow as we climbed, which was magnificent. When we emerged from the cable car station in Mürren, it was like stepping into a story book, with charming buildings, incredible scenery and the absence of cars lending it an other-worldly feel. We organised for our luggage to be taken to our hotel and continued up to the first activity on our program.
We got off the cable car at Birg and emerged onto a large terrace where we decided to take some pictures at the Skyline Walk. The platform is situated over a vertical precipice, offering stunning and exhilarating panoramic views!
Since we started the blog, we had seen a lot of videos of the Thrill Walk and it was on our « must-see » list so we couldn’t believe our luck when we discovered it was on the agenda for our trip.
It’s hard to accurately describe the view from up there but it was awe-inspiring! We were glad to have had reasonably bright skies so that we could fully appreciate the sight of the snowy mountain peaks which surrounded us. We put Elio in the baby carrier so that we could navigate the steps (there were quite a few) and so that I could more easily shelter him from the wind as it was whipping around the mountain up there. The walk itself is great, with various different aspects designed to get the adrenaline pumping. Jude, as ever, amazed us by being the first to cross the wire and rope panel suspended at 2,677 metres. The boy didn’t even blink!!! Discover the video!!!
Following our fearless leader, we were led over glass floor panels (a bit slippery underfoot) before he dove into a wire tunnel. I must admit that my heart lurches when I look back at the video of him doing all this without batting an eyelid. The walk was so exciting, we had to keep reminding ourselves to stop and enjoy the spectacular views all around us. Elio wasn’t loving the wind so we followed the path back the way we came, with Jude retracing his steps with further impressive confidence.
Our next stop was Schilthorn, so we hopped back into the cable car up to the summit. We had already done our homework and knew this to be the location of the James Bond film "On Her Majesty’s Secret Service" featuring George Lazenby as Bond, and we chatted about that with Jude on the way up. He’s interested in all things English at the moment and was excited to hear more about this famous spy. Our plan was to have lunch in the 360°-Restaurant Piz Gloria which REVOVLES!!!
This is easily one of the most exciting places we have ever eaten and we were soon comfortably installed with a glass of prosecco and ready to attack the buffet. The food was good with plenty of choice for everyone, including our currently rather fussy eaters. It was a really novel experience to be turning while eating and we all found it funny that each time we stood up we found ourselves in a different location in relation to the food. We began to learn more about the James Bond film as we passed screens playing the movie, and we could easily identify the room where we ate in the film.
With full tummies we went outside to take some pictures from the Skyline View Platform and face an incredible +200 summits including the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.
Afterwards, we went downstairs to the James Bond Experience. This was a really fun visit where we learned so much about the film, the actors and the local area. It’s really interactive and the children loved pretending to fly the helicopter and driving a bob sleigh. We love Bond films so it was really interesting to learn about the making of one, including the incredible stunts and huge amount of logistical organisation involved. It must have caused such a stir in the area and is clearly an exciting legacy.
We had some free time in the afternoon so we took the cable car back down to Mürren to check into our hotel and explore a bit. The village itself isn’t large but it has a lovely selection of shops and restaurants interspersed with beautiful traditional chalets. Since there are no cars, there was quite a build up of wet snow and icy patches on the roads so we had to watch where we were walking and pushing Elio in his chair was a challenge (for Jean :-)) but the hotel wasn’t far and we weren’t in a hurry so we could enjoy a leisurely stroll.
We let Elio have a bit of a nap while Jean went out for a walk, and before long we were tidying ourselves up for dinner. We set out again and headed for the Hotel Alpenruh which was a nice, cosy, chalet style restaurant with very friendly staff. Indulging Jude's newfound love of fondue, we all decided to take that and we had so much fun! Elio was on top form and kept laughing very loudly and Alba fell in love with a nearby dog and her attempts at courting him had us all in stitches.
We slept well and after a good breakfast we went to the Alpines Sportzentrum Mürren sports shop to collect our sledges for our tobogganing adventure! With sledges in hand, we took the cable car up to Allmendhubel to begin our descent. We had been due to complete a longer run but the slope was closed due to insufficient snow so in the end we just went from Allmendhubel to Mürren. We didn’t have the best weather for this as it was windy and rainy but we are hardy folk and pressed ahead. The run was great fun and the children spent the whole time giggling and telling us to go faster. You have to be careful as the route crosses the ski piste in a few places but keep your eyes open and it’s fine.
The sledge run didn’t take long (not long enough for Jude who was in his element) so we were back in Mürren before the rain got worse but even with the bad weather, it was a lot of fun. There is something liberating about swishing through the snow on a sledge and it's a great family activity. We dropped off our sledges and went back to the hotel briefly to dry off and pack our suitcase before heading back up to Allmendhubel for lunch. We ate in the Panorama chalet restaurant, which was really nice and cosy, serving things like burgers and sandwiches. It seemed to be a popular spot with locals as well as tourists, with a group playing cards at the table next to us. Don't miss the Children's Playground Flower Park before you leave!
We really loved our weekend in Mürren/Schilthorn which really exceeded our expectations. Before we arrived , we were imagining a beautiful village and spectacular views and we were absolutely right, but there is also such an incredible amount of things to do, and so much to see in the surrounding area, you need never be bored. It's a paradise for skiers in the winter and it must be a breathtaking place in the summer, surrounded by greenery and places to walk. The fact that there are no cars is no inconvenience as everywhere is easily accessible and the hotels have little taxis to get you about if you need them. The advantage is that you feel nicely cut off from the hustle and bustle of daily life and we really loved that.
It’s a beautiful oasis of calm in a stunning corner of this magnificent country.
ATTENTION! GIVEAWAY CANCELLED DUE TO CORONAVIRUS RESTRICTIONS
Information
SCHILTHORN CABLEWAY Ltd.
Höheweg 2 CH-3800 Interlaken Switzerland
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360°-Restaurant Piz Gloria
Hotel Alpenruh
Panorama Restaurant Allmendhubel