MEDIEVAL CASTLES in Switzerland, Canton Solothurn
CASTLES and medieval castle ruins are present in all areas of Switzerland, some built by rivers, some placed in old town centers, and others built on top of rocks and thus very easy to defend from enemies. This post is about four of these medieval castles and ruins, all in the area within and around Balsthal, in the Canton of Solothurn. It is possible to…
OESCHINENSEE, Lake Oeschinen, Switzerland
OESCHINEN LAKE in the summertime is a completely different experience as in the wintertime. The last time we visited was for the Ice Walk – fantastic! But this time it was without snow and together with good friends. Again, with the cable car from Kandersteg to the mountain station and then just 1,4 km almost flat hike to one of the restaurants, the Zur Sennhütte,…
SIMMENFÄLLE Waterfalls, Switzerland
SIMMENFÄLLE, the Simmen Waterfalls, is a series of waterfalls just outside Lenk im Simmental. Arriving at the restaurant, of the same name, at the end of the paved road, you will already see the first part of the falls. Then there is only a short and bit steep hike (exactly 1 km) upwards to Barbarabrücke (bridge) where the stream can be crossed and the view…
ZUG old town, Switzerland
ZUG originally got its name after the fisher men pulling fishing nets from Lake Zug, zug = pull/drag. The town, which is also the capital and biggest town in the Swiss canton Zug, is settled by the shore of Lake Zug, Zugersee, with beautiful views to Mount Rigi, Pilatus and other mountains. The old town, Altstadt, is relatively small but interesting with a marketplace and…
BUVETTE de JAMAN, mountain restaurant, Switzerland
BUVETTE de JAMAN is among the cutest mountain restaurants we have visited and with outstanding views from the tables in front of the restaurant when the weather allows sitting outside. During our last visit to Montreux we took the train from the main railway station in direction of Rochers-de-Naye but jumped off a couple of stops before at Jaman. It is just about a 40…
The VERENA Gorge, Solothurn, Switzerland
The VERENA GORGE, just outside Solothurn, invites all to a short and easy walk-through along a rippling stream in a fairytale landscape with mossy stones and narrow bridges where you wouldn´t wonder if trolls shows up. Many of the places we find are completely random others by thorough research. The Verena gorge is an example of a mix, Lene had seen a picture of the…
CHEESE-FONDUE IGLOO, Adelboden, Switzerland
OMG! It was an incredible experience, sitting in Europe’s largest igloo – seating 200 guests in rooms of various sizes and with different decorations of ice sculptures or reliefs made directly in the ice-cold snow walls. The fondue-igloo is built on Engstligenalp at a height of 1964 meters high above Adelboden. The easiest access is by cable car from Unter dem Birg about 4 km…
POËTA-RAISSE, a hidden gorge, Switzerland
POËTA-RAISSE, a well hidden gorge in the French speaking part of Switzerland is probably one of the most beautiful gorge hikes in this region of Val de Travers. Poëta actually (perhaps?) means awful or terrible… And in the old days where the path followed the stream, there were definitely some horribly difficult places to cross. Since then, the path has been made accessible for normal…
LAUTERBRUNNEN, the waterfall valley, Switzerland
LAUTERBRUNNEN, in the valley of the same name, is another of our favorite villages in the Canton of Bern. The origin of its name is subject to many discussions, but we usually translate it to the “valley of many waterfalls” . And yes, there are 72 of them. Many, many years ago, there were iron and silver mines in the very end of the valley,…
SUSTENPASS, beautiful mountain pass, Switzerland
The SUSTENPASS is the 10th highest mountain pass in the Swiss Alps with its 2224 meters elevation. The pass has been known as a mule pass for trading and used since the 17th century but was never strategically important, so the road used today was built as late as from 1938-1946. But for us tourists and travelers it is a very interesting and beautiful pass.…
