STAIRWAY to HEAVEN in Saxon Switzerland, Germany
Do you remember when Winnie the Pooh from the Hundred Acre Wood ate all the honey and got stuck in a small hole in a tree, and had to simply wait to get thinner? This is maybe the best way to explain the feeling of the utterly squeezing narrow experience 😊of the HIMMELSLEITER, literally translated to Stairway to Heaven!! A narrow, very narrow, stairway between…
Hiking by the Thur Waterfalls in Toggenburg
In May we went for our first hike in the Toggenburg area. Close to the town Unterwasser, we wanted to see the Thur Waterfalls, Thurwasserfälle. We parked by the Hotel Sternen, but there are also parking spots for Mobilhomes just 100 meters away from the path to the waterfalls. The path follows the river Thur and into the Chamber Gorge (Chämmerlitobel). Arriving at the waterfalls,…
Hiking at BASTEI and through the SCHWEDENLÖCHER
The BASTEI BRIDGE is a fantastic and not to be missed place in the German national park of Saxon Switzerland, Sächsische Schweiz. At almost 200 meters above the river Elbe, the bridge and the viewing platforms offer fabulous views over a huge part of the area. The Bastei has been a tourist attraction for over 200 years, and even with the first catering at the…
MOUNT PILATUS, Switzerland
MOUNT PILATUS, another very well-known mountain massif in Switzerland with lots of hiking opportunities, can be reached by foot, cable car, or by the steepest cogwheel railway in the world – opened way back in 1889, with a gradient of up to 48 %!!! So, guess which one we decided on! After parking on the huge parking lot (chargeable) by the foot of Pilatus, in…
Hiking and viewpoints in TICINO
ASCONA and LOCARNO in TICINO can be starting points for many excursions and hikes. After parking next to the cable car station Orselina, north of the two cities, the cable car took us to the first stop at Cardada in 5 minutes. At Cardada, at 1340 meters above sea level there is a viewing platform, stretching out over the treetops, with perfect views over Ascona,…
WEG der SCHWEIZ II, The Swiss Path II
Another stage of Weg der Schweiz, The Swiss Path. This time we hiked the short but beautiful part from Bauen to Isleten. The whole part of this trip is almost flat as it follows the shore along the Urnersee, but sometimes through old and dark tunnels, which is actually the originally old road to Bauen. In some of these tunnels, there are “windows” with…
Vertical cliff hike at Galerie Défago, Switzerland
After our first interesting short hike along the Vièze River, we had also planned another hike in the area, being of a completely different character. The first part of the Galerie was opened in 1864 by the local entrepreneur Emmanuel Défago, thus the name. The view over the valley, to the Vièze River and Champéry is fabulous. Most of the trip is secured by a…
Hiking by the Vièze River, Switzerland
The VIÈZE River is a just 22 kilometers long tributary of the River Rhône. Despite its size, it was still a devastating river in the 16th-18th century with massive floods around Monthey until it was channeled. From Champéry, in the western part of the Canton Wallis, there is a 4 kilometers roundtrip hike of which about half of it is along the Vièze River. After…
Tiny villages in Tessin, Switzerland
Arcegno, Fontana, Roseto, Ritorto, Sabbione, Fontana, Faèd, Sonlerto…..all names of some of the beautiful, small villages in the Bavona Valley in Ticino. There is so much more to explore in the valley in addition to the most well-known villages. The Bavona Valley is a really different place from any other place on earth!! All houses are built from local rocks, even the roofs. Open spaces…
LAUTERBRUNNEN from above, Switzerland
LAUTERBRUNNEN, and the valley, is probably best known for the many waterfalls, mainly the very impressive Staubbach fall. But with the many hiking opportunities offered in the area, there is so much more to explore. During one of our many visits, we went for a short hike to the fields over Lauterbrunnen – and what a completely different view there was – so we wanted…
