A Valley of Waterfalls: Lauterbrunnen Valley

The first time I visited, in 2008, I said it was the most beautiful place in Switzerland. My friend Amy describes it as “a valley of waterfalls.”  Rick Steves refers to it as “a powerful dose of natural wonder.” And in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was Tolkein’s inspiration for Rivendell.

Lauterbrunnen Valley.

This week, my wonderful friend Ashley, who’s currently studying in Coppenhagen, came to visit. Although Interlaken and the nearby Lauterbrunnen Valley are just on the verge of being too far for a day trip (around 3 hours from Lausanne), I knew this was a place she just had to see. While I adore Lausanne, and could gaze at Lac Leman all day, I’ve found that Central Switzerland continues to enchant me. 

After arriving in the rather touristy Interlaken, we quickly took the quaint mountain train to the charming Lauterbrunnen Valley. From there, we walked the length of the valley, stopping to admire the rustic farm houses, tall waterfalls, and magnificent snow-capped Alps.

welcome to lauterbrunnen valley!

sleepy, closed-for-the-season town, in the midst of the alps.

as we meandered through the town, I stopped to admire
the unique sculptures.

I've always through there was something beautiful
about cemeteries.  

beautiful ashley!

While there are definitely downsides to traveling in the offseason- the scenery usually isn’t at its peak, the weather might be non-ideal, and almost all restaurants and shops are closed, I love it. True, the hills weren’t summertime-green and the landscape wasn’t blanketed in dazzling snow. However, I found the barren landscape, dotted with late-fall foliage to be just as beautiful, and despite having to  search and search for a restaurant with grumbling tummys, it was absolutely fantastic to feel like we had the entire valley to ourselves.

late-fall foilage. 

while walking through the valley, we came
across an enormous waterfall. naturally, we
had to go closer to it. 

as it turns out, there was a (very slippery!) path
that allowed us to actually go behind the
waterfall!

looking through the waterfall. 

hiking behind waterfalls made ben a little thirsty!

cabin, cliffs, cows.

me + ben

grass growing on the roof!

more waterfalls trickling down the cliffs.

spotted cow with an enormous cow bell! as we walked through
the valley, we were constantly listening to the wind chime-like
tinkle of distant cowbells. 

a new friend?

ashley + me! 

looking down the river, towards the town of lauterbrunnen....

.....and then looking up, towards the magnificent alps.