The bus was crowded and with hindsight we should have walked down as it was probably only a couple of miles, but we are here now. The village was very busy, every cafe / bar doing a great trade on this beautiful afternoon and in fact after the serenity of Murren we were quite keen to see what needed to be seen and then move on, we started at the bottom and walked up the main street….

Pretty but too busy, so enjoying the part shade we joined the few other walkers on this glorious afternoon walking up the footpath back to the car park at Stechelberg, taking a few moments to wonder at Staubbachfall one of 72 waterfalls in the valley surrounding Lauterbrunnen….

From then on it was almost just us and nature with our guiding beacon the Jungfrau, oh and a few tunefull cows and goats proudly clattering their bells as they munch on the lush grass….

You could just loose yourself here….

We passed a couple of small picnic areas with benches and tables on the way, one with a compostable toilet and barbeque area and several other stopping points with fresh water fonts / troughs and plenty to bins – very walker friendly. There was even one of those vending machines selling cheese and random cooked sausage as well as drinks and normal snacks.

A short drive back down onto site after a lovely day, some much needed food and a bit of planning is now required and some decisions need to be made.

Considerations:

• I am struggling to find anywhere to stay in Switzerland for the weekend as the sites are either fully booked or massively expensive. As an example the site we are currently on, that we would have happily stayed on is £55 a night and even at that, I would have had to have booked it when we arrived as they only had a couple of spaces available. The ACSI card that we used to stay at £28 per night doesn’t apply at the weekends.
• I had wanted to do the 3 pass route through the mountains – the Furka, Susten and Grimsel but they do not open until June.
• It is incredibly difficult to find places to park up and leave the van to explore on foot without incurring a ridiculous parking charge.
• The weather is forecast to be very hot over the next week or so which will make driving around and visiting places a bit of a challenge.

After a fair bit of thought and research, mindful of my remaining time in Europe and the weather forecast I have decided, not totally unsurprisingly, that we are going to head back up to the coast and complete the section from Honfleur to Calais and enjoy the sea, beach and sunshine before returning across the Channel.

Today’s stats:

• Miles driven – 25
• Miles walked – 6
• Excursion – £38.69
• O/N – £28