Europe 2022 Day 14: Hiking Schynige Platte to First

Our last full day in Switzerland. This post is difficult to write just because it is so hard to put into words what an amazing day it was.

We decided to save one for the best hikes for our final day. We were so fortunate to have a beautiful day for such a beautiful hike. We hiked from Schynige Platte to First back in 2017 and we knew we had to do it again!

We took an early train to Wilderswil to catch the Cog train up to Schynige Platte. The train was super busy. It seems that most people like to take the early Cog train.  The entire hike is roughly 10 miles with around 2800 feet of elevation gain. Once you arrive at First, most people take the cable car down to Grindelwald to avoid the long steep descent down the valley. The last cable car leaves at 18:00, which is why everyone tries to get one of the first Cog trains to Schynige Platte.

The views from the train definitely do not disappoint and I was so excited knowing we were going to have a beautiful day to hike!

The view from the cog train. That is looking into the beautiful Lauterbrunnen Valley.

You have two choices of trails. A lower trail and a higher panoramic trail. Both trails eventually meet and you end up on the same path. We like to hike the panoramic trail to see the views of the lake.

The Monch, Eiger, and Jungfrau were definitely showing off for us!

Cowbells and peaks, how Swiss!

I would love to have one of these cowbells! We have a smaller version in our house that we bought in Murren in 2017. I love bringing things like this home to remind us of our travels!

When you see a wooden cow while in Switzerland, you obviously have to hop on it!

I hope I never lose my ability to have fun! That backdrop sure looks amazing.

The panoramic trail does not disappoint and offers up beautiful views of the lakes and Interlaken. The color of the water gets me every time. 

So picturesque. The sound of the cowbells certainly adds to it!

The view of Interlaken and Lake Brienz. We were just at the opposite lake, Lake Thun, a few days prior. The color of the water is simply unbelievable.

My handsome hiking partner for the day loving his favorite hike.

Wildflowers and mountains, two of my favorites

If you are looking for a full day hike with incredible views, this is the hike for you.

Loving all of the sunshine!

Every turn you see a more beautiful view

 

You definitely have to allow extra hiking time for all of the photo stops!

One of my favorite parts of this hike was when we ended up behind a British family. It was a mom and dad and two children. The dad was telling fun facts about the mountains to the children. Ken and I both enjoyed learning all of the trivia knowledge from him!

We reached the top of a climb and again had beautiful views of Lake Brienz

Panoramic peaks

We were definitely enjoying our day together.

In 2017, we hiked in June and it was a little early. We were disappointed that we did not get to visit the Faulhorn. We knew it would be open in August so we planned to stop there for lunch.

Getting a view of the Faulhorn

I have to say, when you arrive at the sign to start the climb to the Faulhorn, it looks rather steep and intimating. It really is not as bad as it looks! Plus, the views are pretty darn amazing.

Beautiful views on the way to the Faulhorn!

Lunch and wine views at the Faulhorn

Views for days

We were delighted that the Faulhorn accepted credit cards as we were on our final day and running low on Francs and were trying to avoid a visit to the ATM.

We descended the trail from the Faulhorn and found a field of cows. 

Ken loves the Swiss cows just as much as I do!

Please excuse me while I post way too many photos of the Bachalpsee. The views were simply incredible. We were hoping to be able to capture a photo to enlarge to hang in our house. Now the difficult part will be choosing which one!

Bachalpsee showing off for us 

Each view of the Bachalpsee was more beautiful than the last

Wildflowers joined the show

We ended up seeing our British friends again and chatted with them for a bit. We were so impressed with their children completing such a long hike. It was nice to exchange travel stories with them and we also took a few family photos for them.

Bachalpsee

Absolutely stunning

As if it were not gorgeous enough, we descended further and saw the cows. My beloved Swiss cows!

Loving our amazing day and sad that the hike is coming to an end.

Hello Mr Cow!

Bachalpsee cows

This one is probably my favorite photo

So beautiful

Alpine lakes, mountains, and cows. Simply Switzerland.

Bachalpsee

We hiked away from the lake and found more beautiful views and more cows. I joined the cows for a photo and one of the cows tried to lick me. I almost peed my pants.

Sit Mrs. Cow, sit!

Then this happened. The Switzerland that no one wants you to see. Yes, I took photos of this. I was dying laughing like a teenager.

In case it is not clear, I adore Swiss Cows

We arrived in First and bought tickets for the cable car to get down to Grindelwald. We took the train from Grindelwald back to Lauterbrunnen. I stopped at the Co-op to stock up on chocolate before we went back to the hotel. We were pretty undecided about dinner as we did not want to do anything fancy. We settled on going to Camping Jungfrau to get a pizza and drinks, but sadly the restaurant and bar were both closed that day. 

We decided to walk down the valley and get food at our favorite little spot by the Schilthorn cable car. I am sure very few people walk three miles to get dinner, but we wanted to visit Margie's one more time. We ended up talking to the guy running the place and learning about his life in Switzerland and about his bike travels with his wife. It was the perfect end to our time in Switzerland.

We enjoyed a last drink and walked back down the valley one last time, feeling so grateful for an amazing trip. We arrived at the hotel and packed up and we were both happy with our final day doing one of our favorite hikes.