Gimmelwald, Switzerland - July 13th to 16th, 2025

Gimmelwald is a small farming village in the Swiss Alps, not far from Lauterbrunnen. It was a welcomed contrast to the large city of Lausanne that we had just visited. We heard that it was a peaceful place with stunning scenery. It did not disappoint.

Sunday was a travel day, from Lausanne to Gimmelwald, both in Switzerland. We ate breakfast and checked out of our hotel around 9:45 am. After a 15 minute walk, with our luggage strapped to our backs, we reached Lausanne Gare (train station). Then we pulled out our phones and looked up what trains we needed to take to get to Gimmelwald. The combination of our Swiss Travel Pass and the SBB app gave us the flexibility to not be on a strict schedule. Of course, we had looked up the route ahead of time to make sure there were plenty of connections running frequently enough to get us to our destination.

There were a couple of different routes to reach Gimmelwald. The SBB app warned us that there was construction along the first available route which might cause delays, so we chose to wait half an hour to take a different route. We took the IC 5 to Olten, which was the same train we came into Lausanne on a few days earlier in the opposite direction. We were able to get two seats together this time, since Lausanne is the train’s end stop. It was about a 45 minute ride to Olten, going past the two beautiful lakes we saw before.

In Olten, we had 11 minutes to transfer to the IC 61 to reach Interlaken Ost, about an hour and a half ride. The closer we got to Interlaken, the more dramatic the scenery got. Interlaken sits between two lakes (hence the name), the Thunersee and the Brienzersee. We were coming from the west, so we rode right along the southern shore of Thunersee, with the steep mountainside rising up from the northern shore.

At the Interlaken Ost station, we had five minutes to transfer to the regional train, R62, to take us to Lauterbrunnen. We had plenty of time to make our connection, as the train was just one track over. Twenty-two minutes later, we arrived in Lauterbrunnen. The journey from there became a little more interesting, as we now had to take a bus and a gondola to get up to Gimmelwald.

It was surprising to us that the SBB app gave us directions right to Pension Gimmelwald, where our lodging was for the next few days. The app not only showed us which bus and gondola to take, but also showed us the walking route to get from the train station to the bus stop and the gondola stop to the Pension. What also surprised us, was that not only did the Swiss Travel Pass cover the bus, but it also was good for the Gondola ride from Stechelberg to Gimmelwald (and also Murren, if we wanted).

We only had to wait about ten minutes before the 141 bus took us from the train station to the Schildhornbahn gondola station in Stechelberg, about a 12 minute ride. After another ten minute wait, the gondola whisked us up the mountain to Gimmelwald in five minutes. From there, it was only a couple minutes walk to the Pension.

The day was filled with lots of transfers and different modes of transportation, but everything went smoothly and it was rather enjoyable. We were checked into our room by 3:20 in the afternoon.

Pension Gimmelwald is small, with only about a dozen guest rooms. The ceilings are low and the floor squeaks. The building was an old farmhouse that was converted into a hotel. Our room, as with most of the rooms, were not “ensuite”. It had a sink, with another public sink out in the hallway. Down the hall were two toilets and two showers.

Breakfast and dinner were not included with the room. We needed to notify them the day before if we wanted breakfast and we needed to make a reservation for dinner. The only other restaurant in Gimmelwald is in the Mountain Hostel where they serve pizza. Dinner at the pension is served at 7 pm and it is a fixed, three course menu. There are no choices. The meal that evening would be a small salad, chicken with a sweet pepper sauce with roasted potatoes and garden peas, and chocolate cake for dessert. We made a reservation.

We had a few hours to kill before dinner. The sun was still shining, but there was rain in the forecast, so Ann grabbed her camera and we took a walk around town.

Gimmelwald (not to be confused with the resort town of Grindelwald not too far away), is a small farming community. There are a handful of guesthouses sprinkled among the village homes. Large cow bells hang above the balconies of the homes. Goats and chickens are out grazing in the grasses. No automobiles are allowed in the village. The homes and barns line a narrow road, which switches back on itself as it climbs higher on the mountain. Wild flowers dot the grassy fields. Several self-service cheese stands sit next to the road, where you can buy cheese made by the local farmers. Jagged mountain peaks were in every direction. One set of peaks was covered with glaciers. Idyllic is not a strong enough of a word to describe the scene.

After our little stroll and lots of picture taking, we headed back to the bar at the Pension. Keith ordered a Schwarzmönch beer while Ann tried their homemade iced tea. The beer is made right at the Pension and is named after one of the nearby mountain peaks. The beer was created 2017 in the style of the dark beers monks used to traditionally brew in the area. The beer was good, but Ann was not a big fan of the iced tea. It had a strange color and was very sweet. She normally drinks unsweetened iced tea, so this one just tasted like sugar water to her.

We drank our refreshments out on the terrace of the pension. It overlooked a valley, with multiple waterfalls gushing down the mountainsides, starting at the many visible glaciers up on the peaks.

After we finished our drinks, we moved up to the porch or balcony above the terrace. Up there was additional seating for the bar along with comfortable couches and blankets to lounge in. At 6 pm, the rains started. The roof above the balcony extended far enough that we could remain outside, even during the downpour, and not get wet. The temperatures were down in the teens Celsius (60’s Fahrenheit) which felt good after being in the heat back in Lausanne.

The restaurant was full for dinner, with every table taken. The meal may have not been gourmet food, but it was delicious. We may be eating here every night.

Monday, it was raining in the morning, so we hung out at the pension until after lunch before heading down to explore Lauterbrunnen. After a continental breakfast, we started out by sitting out on the balcony again. There seemed to be more waterfalls and they were flowing heavier than the day before due to the rain. It was a little cooler outside, in the low teens Celsius (50’s Fahrenheit). So Keith didn’t stay outside very long and Ann didn’t last much longer, despite using one of the blankets available on the porch.

We at lunch at the pension. Ann had the baked nachos while Keith had the tomato soup. To drink, Ann tried the “green lemon”. It was a homemade lemonade with lime, mint, and cucumber. It was pretty tasty.

Then we took the gondola back down to Stechelburg and the bus from there into Lauterbrunnen. We got off at the “Ey” stop, near the Staubbachfall waterfall. We picked out a short, easy walk from AllTrails that looped around the valley, called Lauterbrunnen - Spiss along the Weisse Lütschine River. After crossing over the river, the route takes a little spur up to the Staubbachfall waterfall.

We probably should have looked at the trail description a little more closely. We thought the spur just went up to the waterfall. However, it went through a tunnel and behind the waterfall. Luckily, we had our rain jackets with us, because we got wet from the mist and dripping water. There were a lot of people, so, after the tunnel, the long line of people just inched along. The footing was rough rock and wet, so we were looking at our feet. Ann clobbered her head on the rocky ceiling. The view from behind the falls just looked like it was raining. We were not having fun.

Perhaps, if Ann had been feeling better, had not hit her head, the falls were flowing stronger, and there were not so many people there, like earlier in the day, then we might have it enjoyed it better. But we didn’t feel the view was worth the trouble. The rest of the walk wasn’t anything special, as the views didn’t change much along the way. The town’s buildings were cute. The river had that gray color due to a heavy content of silt from the glaciers above, and the water was rushing. There were multiple waterfalls that we saw from a distance, pouring over the steep, rocky cliff faces on both sides of the valley.

After completing the 2 mile loop, we walked over to the Coop store to buy needed supplies, hiking food and deodorant. The food we bought was landjäger, cashews, and Grindelwalder Bärglerchäs. Landjäger is a semi-dried sausage that the Swiss, Austrians, and southern Germans typically take on a hike. We’re assuming Grindelwalder Bärglerchäs is Swiss German for mountain cheese from Grindelwald.

Then we walked over to Airtime Cafe Bakery for some treats. Keith had his usual cappuccino, while Ann had green tea, wanting to stay away from sugar. Keith was not trying to stay away from sugar, so he had an apple-rosemary blondie.

The cafe was right next to the Dorf bus stop, so it was easy to make our way back to Gimmelwald, via the bus and gondola. Upon returning, Ann tried to get a nap in. She hadn’t been sleeping very well the previous couple of nights and her body was zapped of energy. Keith, in the meantime, sat outside on the terrace, enjoying a beer, the scenery, and a group of young women doing yoga below the terrace. Yes, he was having a rough time.

Dinner at the pension that evening was tomato soup, spaghetti bolognese, and lemon cake. Ann really enjoyed the soup. It tasted like it had been simmering for hours and was garnished with fresh herbs. Again, the meal portions were satisfying while not feeling like we overate. We appreciated that. Eaing out all the time seems to lead to overeating.

It was nice enough weather outside in the evening, that we ate dinner outside on the terrace. The waterfalls were not as spectacular as they were that morning, but that’s splitting hairs. The views from the terrace were still stunning.

Tuesday, we rode gondolas. Ann didn’t have much energy, so we opted not to walk much so she could rest more. After breakfast, we hopped on the gondola up to the village of Murren. Our Swiss Travel Pass was valid for getting us to Murren. From Murren, we bought a ticket to go up to the peak of Schilthorn. Our Swiss Travel Pass gave us a 50% discount on the ticket, so it only cost us a total of 85.60 CHF for the two of us.

It was then another two gondolas to reach the peak, changing gondolas at Birg. When we reached Schilthorn, it was partially cloudy, with some of the views blocked. So we sat inside and had a couple of hot drinks to wait to see if the views got any better.

Then we walked out to the viewpoint. The views would come and go, but we’re glad we walked out. There were small alpine flowers alongside the path. You could walk out even further, through a gate, but we didn’t go past the gate.

There was quite a bit of construction going on at Schilthorn, Birg, and Murren. It looked like they might be adding another gondola. So to get down to the path to the viewpoint, you had to go up and down a few flights of stairs on what looked like scaffolding. Ann had to take her time going back up those steps. Between not having much energy to begin with and the high elevation (9,744 feet or 2,970 meters), she was feeling it.

On the way back from Schilthorn, we stopped at Birg. There was a little bistro there, so we sat down and had some soup for lunch. Keith had the minestrone while Ann had the vegetable soup. There were nice views from Birg as well, but, just like Schilthorn, the clouds were hiding the views and constantly changing.

Also at Birg is the Thrill Walk. A walkway was attached to the side of the rocky cliff with various “thrills”. First, there is a short section where you can tightrope along a cable (surrounded by a metal cage for safety) with a walkway around the section, if you’re not feeling brave enough. Then there is a glass floor section.

When we were there, the walkway was closed at the glass floor section, but there was enough of it open that you could walk out onto the glass. Past the glass floor, in the closed portion of the walkway, was a section where you can crawl through a metal cage. We’re not sure why part of the Thrill Walk was closed. Perhaps it was due to the construction. Keith tried the tightrope section, but Ann passed. We both stepped out on the glass floor. If you have a fear of heights, then the Thrill Walk is not for you.

After our thrills, we took the gondola back down to Murren. From there, Ann took the gondola back to Gimmelwald, while Keith walked down. Before starting his walk, he went into the Coop store in Murren to get tissues for Ann. It then took Keith about 35 to 40 minutes to walk the trail down to Gimmelwald.

Ann almost got on the wrong gondola in Murren. She already scanned her ticket, but then asked if it was the gondola to Gimmelwald, as the sign only said Stechelberg. No, this was the gondola that goes directly to Stechelberg. So the attendant let Ann back out the gate and directed her to the correct gondola, the one that goes to Gimmelwald, with connections to Stechelberg.

It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if Ann had gotten on the wrong gondola. She could have gotten down to Stechelberg and taken a gondola from Stechelberg back up to Gimmelwald. It wouldn’t have cost anything extra, other than time, since our Swiss Travel Passes were good for all three gondolas. When Ann finally got on the correct gondola, she could see Keith walking down the path below her.

When Ann returned to the pension, she laid down for a nap. This time she was able to get a good nap in. She really needed the sleep and it felt good.

We had dinner again at the pension. The menu that evening was Schaffhauser Riesling soup, roast beef with horseradish sauce, boiled potatoes and garden peas, and vanilla ice cream for dessert. Schaffhauser Rieslingsuppe is a creamy soup with leeks, celery, and onions with Riesling white wine. Schaffhausen is a Swiss town on the Rhine River near the German border. Luckily the horseradish sauce was very mild, because Ann is not a big fan of horseradish. The vanilla ice cream was served with little pieces of meringue and whipped cream. Very nice.

Wednesday was another relaxing day in Gimmelwald. After breakfast, we took the gondola up to the town of Murren and strolled the town. Murren had a ski resort town feel to it. That was not surprising since it is a ski resort town, but it was in direct contrast to the farm village feel of Gimmelwald.

Besides the gondolas coming up from Gimmelwald and Stechelberg and the one going up to Birg, there is a train going up to Allmendhubel and another train that goes down to Winteregg and Grütschalp.

We made a big loop through town, then we walked over to watch the paragliders take off. The Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken area seems to be a big mecca for paragliding. The route of choice for the Lauterbrunnen area seems to be to take off in Murren and land in Stechelberg. It is then a short walk from the landing area to the Stechelberg gondola station, where they can ride directly back up to Murren. It is then another short walk from the gondola station up to the take off point again.

After watching a few paragliders take off, we walked from Murren back down to Gimmelwald. For lunch, we went next door to the Mountain Hostel for pizza. They had paper slips to fill out for the pizza orders, picking your choice of cheese along with four toppings. Ann had mozzarella with spicy salami, onions, peppers, and sun-dried tomatoes. Keith also chose mozzarella and spicy salami, but with mushrooms and ham. The pizzas had a cracker crust, but they were tasty. They were probably a little more to eat than we needed. We probably could have split one and still have felt satisfied. If we had been out hiking, burning more calories, it would have been a different story.

To drink, Ann had a schorle. It was apple juice mixed with sparkling water. Ann enjoyed that the schorle reduced the sweetness of the apple juice.

After lunch, we did the audio tour of Gimmelwald that we had seen posted around town. It started over by the gondola station, with bar codes posted around the village. The bar code brought up an audio recording along with text that you could read instead or in addition to listening along. There were eight different stops. Stop number 5 was 45 minutes outside of the village, so we skipped that stop and continued on the shorter version of the tour. If Ann had more energy, we might have considered the 90 minute extension of the tour.

The tour pointed out different buildings and aspects of town along with the history of the village. We found it rather interesting. Earlier, we had seen a woman outside one of the homes working on lace. During the tour, we learned that there is still a lace making association in Gimmelwald.

For dinner, we opted for the cheese fondue instead of the fixed menu. We didn’t realize that the cheese fondue was an option on the first day, but we saw at least one table having fondue every evening we were there. We didn’t know if we’d have another chance to have fondue, so we decided to have it on our last evening in Gimmelwald.

It was served with bread, whole small potatoes, pears, and pickles. The fondue was delicious. We enjoyed everything except for the pickles. We’re not sure if we were supposed to dip those in the fondue or just eat them plain because the cheese didn’t like to stick to them. It seemed like a rather strange combination of flavors to Ann. We also noticed that the flavor of the wine in the cheese fondue was really noticeable on the bread, but not the other items. We’re wondering if the bread absorbs the wine better.

Although we were hoping to get some hikes in during our stay in Gimmelwald, to prepare for our upcoming trek around the Tour du Mont Blanc (TMB), we still had a wonderful experience. Ann was not feeling healthy during our stay, but we made the best of it. Life rarely goes according to plan and you just have to roll with the punches. As we look back on our experiences in Gimmelwald now, what comes to mind is not how poor Ann’s health was then nor the disappointment of missing hikes, but the stunning beauty that surrounded us there. Of course, we would still like to go back and hike the area.

Check out our related video: Gimmelwald, Switzerland

(Ann)