Tuesday 14th: Trip to Murren

The first leg of the journey is by train to Lauterbrunnen, just outside which is located the Steubbach Falls, Switzerland’s tallest, 300 metres high. It was first measured in the 18th century by dangling a rope from the top and adding lengths until it reached the bottom. It is impressive, and especially so in springtime from the volume of melting snow. The picture shows the waterfall apparently showering onto a house roof, but it’s actually well behind the town.

The ingenious Swiss have created a tunnel and walkway behind the waterfall’s base, so you can look through it to the beautiful Lauterbrunnen valley. Unfortunately, the water has fallen such a long way that it has atomised and just creates a mist that prevents you from clearly seeing the valley. The mist also blows back through the observation holes and soaks you, or to be more precise in the photo below, soaks Jane. Now was all that engineering effort worth it?

So on from Lauterbrunnen, up on the cable car to connect with the cliff-edge railway that runs to Murren. Wonderful views of the valley and mountains from the cable car and railway.

Murren itself is a walking resort in summer and a skiing haven in winter, discovered by the English as long ago as 1840. “No motor vehicles”, the guidebook said, but on arrival we were nearly bowled over by a Land Rover. Were we really expecting only milk floats in the 21st century? It was in fact a real town, as opposed to a purely tourist creation, with a number of old wooden buildings, although the example below has been dressed up a bit.

What Murren has got is unparalleled views. It’s on this clifftop 5,300 feet up, with vistas into the valley below and the snow-clad Alps above. You can’t reproduce this panorama with a camera (well, I can’t!), but this is the best I can do, looking towards the Eiger. Question of the day – is that the Swiss national flag in the photo, or the flag on the 18th green? Bear in mind that any balls landing in the rough would need to be chipped back from the valley 2,500 feet below.