14/7/24 To & at Interlaken , Harder Kulm

     Today we leave Basel & head to Interlaken . Up & organised , we head up to the train station to get across to Basel SBB to catch our train , not missing this one !! and we didn't . The train was waiting at the station so we boarded and found our seats , anticipation was rising . It didn't seem to take long , as we cruised through the countryside to Bern - plenty to look out as we go . From Bern to Interlaken things started to get interesting - we started to see the Swiss Alps in the distance ! We've seen snow before , but not like this .

    The further we went , the closer we were getting , the views were getting better .

    We rolled through more countryside and into the town of Thun , mountains even closer , but still far away . The scale of these just getting bigger & bigger .

    Now we got to throw in a lake in as well , views over Thunersee towards Interlaken were great .

    Very picturesque , we were always looking & clicking , trying to take it all in . Thunersee ( the lake ) was spectacular .

    The train was climbing a bit to stay away from the houses , a quick tunnel here & there and we were close to our destination .

    

   The train arrived on time , and as it was after 12 , we settled in for some lunch at a local restaurant - not bad views for lunch .

    We headed down to our accomodation , crossing a river The Aare .

    Surprise , surprise , we crossed it again very shortly after , there are a few branches of the river flowing from Brienzersee to Thunersee . It's all very cloudy glacial water , flowing pretty quickly as it goes from one lake to the other . Buildings are built right to the edges .

 

    Depositing our bags in our room , we headed back into to town and found the Information Centre , picking up our free transport pass for buses & trains around Interlaken - all tourists staying in Interlaken get one !! 

   We ended up buying a Jungfrau Pass , which gave us access to Grindewald - somewhere we wanted to go - it includes a boat ride on Brienzersee , trains , buses , cable cars & cog railways . Here's one of the larger hotels in Interlaken .

     It was still early in the afternoon , so we decided to go up to Harder Kuln , which was a ride up the cog railway , it was across the river from the train station & dock .

     Tree lined streets & pedestrian malls were good .

   Another of the hotels in town The Krebs Hotel .

     There were plenty of quaint Swiss cottages , all decorated with shutters & planter boxes .

    After a steep climb up the mountain , we walked up toward the restaurant and viewing area , views over Interlaken were amazing . You can see the many branches of the river below .

    Views over to the Alps were also amazing !

   Here's the restaurant & the playground behind .

    The surrounding countryside has lot's of chalets , with grass so green it almost hurt your eyes .

    You can dine on the edge , with views , views & more views .

    This little fellow was beside the track back down to the cog railway building , views are over Brienzersee . Then we enjoyed queueing for over half an hour while waiting for our trip back down .

  Well what a day that was , looking forward to tomorrow and what it will bring to us . 

Here's a map link :- https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=17fi3nZL_Vr4aajtcKx96bp8iVrR8Joc&usp=sharing