It rained all night, but on waking we found clear blue skies and sunshine and no wind – what a contrast to yesterday. This changed our plans as it made scenic viewing possible, so we decided to go up the Jungfrau on the train. We set off for Interlaken but somehow missed the entrance to the autoroute and found ourselves on the northern side of Lake Brienz – and what a lovely route it was through little villages with their Alpine chalets and window boxes.


 There was a distinct lack of stopping places though, so we continued on to Interlaken. This was a real contrast, full of visitors, coaches and traffic and very commercialised, so we didn't stop. We did though see more of it than planned – roadworks prevented us from going the way of my map, and after a few back streets and a hotel’s parking garage (I don’t know why we keep missing turnings....) we eventually rejoined the lake route and headed onwards.




 We had decided to drive up to Grindelwald and get the train from there – the furthest place up the valley you can drive/park. We’d been warned about the exorbitant charges for parking everywhere, but on arriving at Grund station were delighted to find it was only £2 for 4 hours and £4 for the whole day. Bargain! I’d taken advice from the folks on Tripadvisor who said the most scenic part was from G’wald to Kleine Scheidegg, so if we didn’t want to go the whole way to the top this was the best bit to do. After KS there are 7km of tunnels in 9km and it would cost £96 each as opposed to £75 for the two of us; added to that the webcam at the station showed it to be in cloud, so we did the shorter run – and it was fabulous!


 The train has huge windows which pull down for good pictures, and it winds its way up the base of the Eiger through fields of wild flowers, forests and eventually snow, giving wonderful views over the valleys and up the mountains as it twists and turns. Green pastures, blonde cows, ginger chalets, blue skies, white snow – a photographer’s dream.


 The Eiger stayed cloud-free for the whole trip and we had great views of the North Face, a place we have always wanted to see after watching Clint Eastwood in "The Eiger Sanction".


 

 We passed through mini tunnels which were snow shelters, and the snow was still piled up at the sides, in places higher than the train. We alighted at Kleine Scheidegg in temps of 7°C but the breeze made it feel colder; this is the transfer station for those going up to the top of the Jungfrau, but we left them to it and walked one of the trails to gaze upon the mountain.


 

 The panorama from just above KS station was fantastic: the light was wonderful, showing the array of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau in all their glory, but the top of the Jungfrau was still bathed in cloud. It did lift for a little while, but we felt we’d made the right decision (and saved a lot of money!)


 

 Driving back down to Interlaken, we decided to complete the circle and drive round Lake Thun, on the western side of the town. The water was turquoise in the afternoon light and looked beautiful, but again there were very few places to stop and admire it. We saw more than planned of the town of Thun though – roadworks prevented us from going the way of my map, and after a few back streets and a hotel’s parking garage we eventually rejoined the lake route and headed homewards. Deja vu of Interlaken....




  Although “our” valley and mountains don’t have the same Wow factor as the Eiger, Jungfrau etc, they still looked beautiful in the sun, and sitting in the sun chilling with a beer and a book outside the caravan with the kite whistling above us made a perfect end to a great day.