The Luxury Travel Magazine
The Luxury Travel Magazine
Switzerland as a destination is most well-known for its winter sports activities. Spanning over Christmas into early Spring, travellers flock to regions all over the Swiss Alps to get their fill of adrenaline through skiing down sublime snow-topped mountains. However, one might not have considered the Swiss Alps as a summer vacation site. While during the winter, the temperature can drop to a frosty minus five degrees Celsius, in the warmer months, one can slip on a pair of shorts and go for a hike into the mountains like the Eiger or the Scheideggwetterhorn.
If a traveller finds themselves in the Swiss Alps during the summertime and is looking for a quaint, charming village to stay in, then we encourage you to consider the village of Grindelwald. The sweet alpine destination is embedded at the bottom of the mountain Eiger’s north face. While the village is small, it is abundant with gourmet restaurants serving traditional Swiss cuisine, boutique hotels, and beautiful sporting Swiss chalets. There is also a range of activities and excursions such as trips to the Jungfrau region, such as Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe, Grindelwald First, and Kleine Scheidegg.
To reach the mountain Jungfraujoch – Top of Europe, a visitor must ride the Eiger Express from the Grindelwald Terminal. The new sleek gondolas can hold up to ten people at a time and offer a smooth and swift journey up the mountain, only taking fifteen minutes to reach the majestic Eiger Glacier. From there, guests have a direct transfer train option straight up to Jungfraujoch, where the train travels silently through the middle of the mountain.
Sphinx Observation Deck
Upon leaving the transfer train, a visitor finds themselves inside the Sphinx, an international research station embedded within the mountain. To get to the famous Sphinx Observation Deck, a visitor must take an ultrafast lift, which climbs 108 metres in 25 seconds. Once at the top, all a visitor need do is survey the spectacular panoramic natural views of Switzerland’s mountain ranges; one can really see almost all of the country from this height. A piece of advice for travellers visiting Jungfraujoch is to dress for the winter during this excursion. While down at Grindelwald, it might be summertime, in the mountains next to glaciers frozen in time, it can be around minus two degrees Celsius. So, we advise you to wear lots of layers.
Ice Palace
Another attraction inside the Sphinx is the regal Ice Palace. Visitors can tour inside the glacier of Jungfraujoch and wander through alcoves created by mountain guides and miners during the 1930s. While they carved the silky walls with fine pickaxes and saws, today, the cave is decorated with figurine ice sculptures. In nooks throughout the cave, visitors will discover ice animals such as eagles, penguins, and bears, creatures of ice that receive international guests all year round.
Hike to The Mönchsjoch Hut
After emerging from the Ice Palace, guests will want to hike to the Mönchsjochhütte and enjoy a spot of lunch. The hour and a half hike starts at Jungfraujoch and is a journey into the mountains surrounded by a world of snow and ice. Visitors can hear every crunch and crackle of fresh snow with each step they take, visualising a Swiss hot chocolate in their hands when they reach the top to thaw their chill-bitten bodies.
The Mönchsjoch Hut offers breathtaking views of Central and Eastern Switzerland and the Valais mountains. Once guests are seated and rested within the warm hut, they finally take in the realisation that they are 3,650 metres above sea level. This makes dining and staying in the Mönchsjoch Hut a one-of-a-kind experience since guests wash themselves from a 3000-litre tank of glacier water, and staff members have to journey down to Jungfraujoch on a snowmobile to collect food for their guests. Visitors can book a room for the night and wake to watch the sunrise over the Swiss mountains and frozen glaciers.
The Eiger Selfless Hotel is based in Grindelwald and always considers their guests’ wellbeing. The hotel’s mantra is “selfness is a way of life,” which involves an “outwards selfness” towards all who stay in the hotel and is designed towards cultivating individual self-development. They offer a range of activities to further one’s self-improvement through physical activities such as fitness classes, then workshops to develop awareness around a guest’s mental wellbeing, like meditation classes. So not only can a guest stay and dine at The Eiger Selfless Hotel, but they can put themselves first by working on their own mental wellbeing.
The Panoramic Suite is a luxurious room guests can choose to stay in while visiting Grindelwald. This suite has a generous amount of room, an ideal choice for a family or a couple’s holiday. The suite is 40 m² and includes a dreamy four-poster bed, a large and spacious living area, and an indulgent bathroom with a whirlpool spa bath. The room is a guest’s private alpine retreat since it includes a private balcony showcasing stunning views of the Eiger’s north face.
The Selfness Spa
Coming back to Grindelwald after the long hike to Mönchsjochhütte, a guest will want to relax and recentre their bodies with a soothing massage. The Eiger Hotel’s Selfless Spa offers all of this and more. A guest can opt for the Selfness Full Body Massage, where a visitor will have a consultation with a massage therapist and discuss which body zones need the most attention, depending on their physical or emotional requirements. Through this massage, stress in the head, shoulders, and neck are relieved of discomfort, and one will feel a sense of renewal throughout the rest of the body.
Alternatively, if massages aren’t for you, one can visit the spas Blossom Pool. In a large 40 degrees hot tub, a guest can lie weightless in the steamy, bubbling water. The pleasurable pressure from the massage jets relieves tension built up within the muscles while also ensuring good blood circulation. The water carries roughly 90 percent of one’s body weight, so the usual energy stimulated in the joints and spine feels a sense of relief. While guests unwind in the water, the Blossom Pool becomes illuminated and changes colours during their experience. These changing colours have an uplifting effect on a visitor’s mental health and can grant them access to even deeper relaxation.
Zipline down First Mountain
The First Flyer is one of the many summer activities a visitor can experience while staying in Grindelwald. One takes a twenty-minute gondola up the First mountain to enjoy this adrenaline-filled activity. First, an individual is strapped in and secured in a stable seated harness, waiting for the instructor to shout “genhen” in German. Then one whooshes down an 800-metre-long steel cable from First to Schreckfeld at 84 kilometres per hour. The fresh alpine air immediately rushes around a visitor’s face, ruffling their hair as they zoom, awe-struck, at the natural beauty surrounding the First mountain.
Mountain Carting
If one would rather stay on the ground but still experience the titillation of speed and the pump of excitement in their blood, then mountain carting is another option. The activity is a strange cross between go-karting and sledging. A visitor sits in a three-wheel cart with hydraulic brakes. One flies down a three-kilometer-long winding road from Schreckfeld to Bort, zipping past herds of Swiss cows with their bells ringing in the distance and chalet-style residential homes. Once a visitor reaches the end of the road, the only thought in their mind is, “I want to experience this all over again.”
Harder Kulm – Top of Interlaken
On a cable car from Interlaken Ost train station, one can reach the top of the majestic Harder Kulm Mountain in just ten minutes. At an altitude of 1,322 metres, Harder Kulm lies north of the town Interlaken and offers sensational views of the Jungfrau region. After a short walk from the cable car station, one will find the Harder Kulm Panorama restaurant. While, of course, known for its all-surrounding views, the restaurant’s cuisine is also exceptional. A guest can sit and enjoy the wonderful art nouveau interior design, as well as dine on traditional Swiss cheese fondue, served with bread and potatoes. However, another excellent option is the schnitzel, a bread-crumbed escalope of pork served with French fried potatoes and seasonal vegetables.
However, one of the most intriguing aspects of Harder Kulm Panorama restaurant is the Two Lakes Bridge viewing platform. After an evening dinner, a guest can walk across the steel-constructed viewing platform attached to the mountain and absorb the unique perspectives across the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, as well as Lakes Thun and Brienz. Standing at the edge of the viewing platform, a visitor feels like a deity as they look down with wonderment at what mother nature has created.
While the Swiss Alps is arguably known for its winter sports such as skiing and snowboarding, the destination can equally be enjoyed in the summertime. The Swiss Alps offers travellers charming villages such as Grindelwald, where one can appreciate the region’s natural beauty by whizzing down mountains in a cart, but also prioritise one’s mental wellbeing at The Eiger Selfless Hotel. This destination has something for everyone, whether that be a reflective hike or mountain activities that kickstart an adrenaline spike.
