Switzerland blog …

This Switzerland blog highlights that even having visited Switzerland umpteen times over the decades, it never ceases to amaze me just how beautiful it really is. The different seasons and different weathers add to the variety, even when transiting well-trodden roads.

This time around we wanted to revisit Interlaken which I visited as a teenager, to see whether it reflected my memories, and to remind myself just how stunning it is. We also wanted to capture some images of some of the passes to add to our collection – so we went via the Berninapass, the Flüelapass, the Grimselpass, the Furkapass and the Oberalpstrasse 🙂

Mountain passes in Switzerland

Some of the most famous mountains in the world are in Switzerland, e.g. Mont Blanc, the Eiger, the Matterhorn. Switzerland has some of the best roads on the continent of Europe.

There are a multitude of passes that are world famous, all of which offer stunning views. We’ve driven extensively throughout Switzerland and some of our favourites that we’ve driven on include the Berninapass, the Flüelapass, the Furka pass, the Gotthard pass, the Great St Bernardino pass and the the Susten pass. Our main page on Switzerland provides more information on these mountain passes.

Switzerland is expensive

I guess that if your country is as beautiful as Switzerland is, and if your population enjoys one of the highest GDPs in the world, then it’s going to be expensive. Coupled with the fact that there isn’t an awful lot of and to build property on, and there are some very restrictive clauses on where you can build property, then again, Switzerland is bound to expensive. They even have intergenerational mortgages, where grandchildren pay off your mortgage, and as such property does not tend to exchange hands very often.

Then there’s the toll roads, of which there are many. They too are expensive, and in our view best avoided. That said, you are excluded from numerous cities if you follow the non-toll roads. On the plus side however, you get to see much of the life that many of the people that live in Switzerland pursue.

One positive though is that the mountain passes are free of charge :), as opposed to in Austria where they’re charged for 🤨

Neu-Falkenstein Castle – Balsthal

One of the things that we particularly like about overlanding by car is that we often randomly come across things that we had no idea were even there. Neu-Falkenstein castle in Balsthal is a case in point:

Interlaken, Wengen, Scharnachtal

Interlaken lies between two lakes, Lake Brienz to the east and Lake Thun to the west. It’s overlooked by three massive mountains: the world famous Eiger – one of the world’s most difficult mountains to climb, the Mönch, and the Jungfrau. At least sixty-four climbers have died while attempting to climb the Eiger.

Wengen and Scharnachtal are villages that lie just outside of Interlaken. This is great for those saving money, as it means that they are both outside of the toll route that Interlaken sits on.

It’s a funny thing memory, as I couldn’t reconcile my memories from my teen years with the reality of today – this was the case for Interlaken and Wengen?! That said, the whole area is still as beautiful as I remember, if not more so. It’s one of those areas where I would definitely like to go back again and again – highly recommended!