We spent the first 4 days in Gimmelwald, Switzerland. This is a small (SMALL) town just south of Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland of the Swiss Alps. If you have a Rick Steves Best of Europe or Switzerland book, this is his first recomendation in Switzerland. Gimmelwald is set in a deep valley, on a plateau above the valley floor about 1300 meters. There are no cars in the town, but you need to park in the valley and take a telecabine up to the town. The town itself consists of about 30 houses, one hotel (Walters), a hostel, several bed&breakfasts and a dairy/deli store. The view is heavenly! We stayed at Walter�s � Hotel Mittaghorn at the top of the town. It�s very simple [several rooms with showers, toilets down the hall, several family rooms that will sleep up to 6, as well as a loft area with a dozen or so beds] but clean and comfortable with wonderful views. Walter serves breakfast and dinner, if wanted, to his guests. We spent 3 days in Gimmelwald, hiking, visiting the Schilthorn and JungFrau peaks, relaxing and eating. It is a great place for relaxing, slowing down and enjoying the Alps. There were endless hikes available from our doorstep, and great, quiet views from the front of Walter�s. You can listen to the cow bells and the birds.
Another stop that we made was near Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. We stayed in the town of Schwangau, at a bed and breakfast/hotel called Rubezahl. There was also a restaurant in the hotel which we highly recommend, whether or not you have the opportunity to take a room at the hotel. It was excellent. The hotel cost about 50 Euros per person per night, a bit more luxurious than Walters! It also had bikes available for use by guests, and we took two and rode all over town, on paths around a nearby lake and to the town at the foot of Neuschwanstein Castle. There are many excellent hiking and biking trails, for all levels of skill and enthusiasm. One day we hiked up from the town past Neuschwanstein Castle, over Marien Brucke and followed the path all the way to Tegelberg peak, at 1700+ m. If you enjoy hiking in the mountains, we highly recommend this hike! We spent about 7 hours going up and back down, with a picnic lunch at the top and a pause to watch the parapenteurs take off, but it was one of the most beautiful hikes we�ve ever been on, with fantastic, often-changing views all the way. We also toured Neuschwanstein Castle, the �model� for the Disney Castle � but be aware, you have to buy a ticket ahead of time, for a set time, at the tourist office down in the town. This was a very interesting castle, even after having seen several dozen chateaus throughout France. It was built by Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria in only the last couple hundred years, and is a marvel of �technology� for it�s day, having running water, indoor toilets and a call system for the servants. It is a beautiful structure too, in a lovely setting.
Contributed by Oudyn's
We recently spent a few days in Zermatt, Switzerland. Zermatt is a car-free town, nestled in a beautiful valley, close to the Italian border. Zermatt is best-known for the Matterhorn mountain peak. Not the highest mountain peak surrounding Zermatt, but the most impressive.
Since Zermatt is car-free, we parked our car in one of the car parks in the town of Tasch, which is the village just north of Zermatt. The drive from our house to Tasch is about 4 1/2 hours, and that even includes taking the scenic route thru Albertville and Chamonix, which is also very beautiful.
Once you get to Tasch, just buy a round-trip ticket for the cog train that will take you to Zermatt. There are luggage carts at the train station in Tasch that you can rent, put on the train, and return in Zermatt. Once you get to Zermatt there are electric-powered taxis that can take you to your hotel or apartment. Some of the nicer hotels have their own taxis or horse-drawn carriages.
Zermatt isn't a cheap town to stay in, and we found an apartment to be more economical for our larger family. There are lots of apartments, chalets, hotels, etc. in Zermatt and you can find a nice one online at www.zermatt.ch. One helpful hint...I would checkout the location of your hotel/apt. in the village, as some of the lodging was on the very outskirts of town and quite a walk to the "action".
We were in Zermatt for 3 whole days, so we bought a 3-day pass (available at any of the lift stations) for all of the cable cars, trains, lifts, etc., and even for one of the bus lines that runs around the village (be sure and ask which line, as we tried to use our passes on the wrong one!). Again, not cheap, but well worth the money. We took all the lifts available and enjoyed beautiful views, a glacier palace, mountain lakes, hiking, and food! There are tons of hiking and mountain bike trails in the mountains there. You can also rent bikes in Zermatt. Be sure not to miss the photo opportunity with the Saint Bernard dogs at the top of the Gornergrat lift!
Our girls love to swim and we found a few swimming pools at some of the hotels that can be used by the general public as well. Our kids enjoyed the indoor/outdoor pool at Hotel Mont Cervin. Since we weren't staying there, the price was quite high for us to swim, but the girls had a blast and it was neat to swim outside and see the mountains.
Even though the temperature in the village can be warm in the summertime, don't forget to pack sweatshirts for use up on the mountains and at nighttime. And, we found that the mornings were the best time to take the lifts up. By lunchtime, clouds and high winds were common. One last tidbit, on one or two of the lifts, kids under the age of 3 aren't allowed up, so keep that in mind if you have little ones.