Aaron and Meg on Tour: Schynige Platte and Aareschluscht Gorge

I’m just gonna say that for having NO schedule or plans, we are totally crushing it with this whole vacation on a whim thing. We do Switzerland like it’s our job. Make us influencers. We will convince you to plan nothing ahead for yourselves, just get the kids taken care of and get outta dodge. Everything else falls into place just as it should. 

[edited to add: Well…except for photos, I guess. Those are loading out of order for our day.]

Aare Gorge was one of those things we saw reels of on Instagram and said, “we should go to Switzerland and see this!” But it is about an hour out of the way from other notable tourist destinations, so many people skip it. There were no luggage storage lockers at the tiny train stop, but the lady in the ticket booth saw our backpacks and was kind to let us store our bags in the office there. This also happened at Schynige Platte. Swiss people are SUPER kind and accommodating to tourists. 

I’m so glad we did not skip this stop! This was the most beautiful walk ever and one of our favorite things we did our whole trip! About a mile and a half slot canyon carved out by rushing turquoise water. We walked on a planked walkway that was attached to the side of the tall rock walls. It was just beautiful and just other-world-like. We were awe struck and my photos don’t even begin to depict the beauty or scale of this place. 

 

We rode in the dining car and sipped hot cocoa and took in beautiful views on the 2 hour train ride to Brunnen where we stayed in a hotel on Lake Lucerne. 

Ok here’s the actual first part of the post! 

We checked out of our hotel in Wilderswil and headed to the train station with a plan to leave the jungfrau region for Lucerne…but then we saw this cutie open air train at the station and hopped aboard. We sat with two adorable Swiss children age 8 and 10 and their super kind grandmother, who gave us loads of suggestions for places to visit in her beautiful country. 

The train delivered the views of a dream. I’m no photographer, the views are just perfect models and beg for photo after photo to be taken. 

Off the train we were greeted by alpine horns, little mountain goats, wildflower lined trails that made you feel like you were in a scene from The Sound of Music, and breathtaking views. We hiked around and breathed in the crisp fresh mountain air.