Bettmeralp: The start of a Grand Tour!
Honestly speaking I wrote the title first before seeing this location in Bettmeralp. I had no idea there would be a public viewing area with a church around a “Grand Tour” frame! Such is luck.
I arrived Geneva this morning flying out of Newark. I was very skeptical if I would be able to make it on time or not. Newark is terrible regarding flight schedules. However nothing bad happened and I slept through the flight, I arrived Geneva right on time at 7:40 am. Plan was to head straight to Bettmeralp via train from there.
Geneva to Brig
The train goes along the northern shore of Lake Geneva (or Lac Léman). I am sitting at the right side of the train as recommended, but the haze today is terrible and sun on my side of the window doesn’t help the photos.
Yes the haze is that bad. That is a view towards Montreux towards the eastern termination of the lake.
By the way, this is my route in the SBB mobile app, a must have tool if you are traveling in Switzerland.
With the haze outside I rather focus on my co passengers. I always enjoy when I see someone reading a book. The young couple opposite me got off at Agile, likely for a day hike.
The guy was reading The Baron in the Tree by Italo Calvino while the young lady was reading The End of Loneliness by Benedict Wells. I haven’t read either books, but looked up both in Wikipedia. I like the plot of the Calvino novel, note to self to read it later.
It is mean time the train arrives at St-Maurice and looks like haze clearing up a bit. It is time to look outside.
Train pulled into Martigny station, people change trains here to get to Chamonix and Mont Blanc area in France
In about 2 hr 36 min, 12 stops later IR95 arrived at Brig. Here I changed train to head to Bettmeralp Talstation.
Brig to Bettmeralp Talstation
Brig is a relatively large station and the little that I saw seems like a decent sized town. I was a bit confused to find platform 14, as it was outside the main station.
However, when I found it, the train was completely empty.
The short 25 min ride was over in no time and I found myself at the base of the cable car ride up to Bettmeralp.
An important point of note, is that this gondola ride is not covered by the Swiss Train Pass, but it least it is half price and that is 17.5 CHF. For a 7 min ride that is a bit steep don’t you think? Well everything in Switzerland is expensive, I need to stop saying this over and over again! :)
Bettmeralp Talstation to Bettmeralp
Well this is the gondola that brought many of us from base of the canyon to a bench where Bettmeralp and Reideralp is located. Both are fabulous looking villages and not that crowded!
The ride was over real quick and the gondola dropped us on a sunny “balcony” like mountain shoulder. Most people came here for a day hike to Bettmerhorn to se Aletsch Glacier, the longest mountain glacier in Switzerland. It is about 20 KM long and I will also go to check it out, but first I checked in to the hotel.
Hotel Slalom
It is hard to find a bad hotel in this village! I am staying at Hotel Slalom, which is a cozy and comfortable place with absolutely stunning view of the valley below from my balcony!
After checking in I walked through the town to get up to Bergstation. Which is another gondola ride that will take me to the mountain top right next to the Aletsch glacier. This spot is typically considered one of the best views of Switzerland!
There you have it. Enough said. Just less than 24 hrs ago I was sitting in my living room in Houston and now I am eating lunch in front of this view! It is stunning!
That is all I have to you guys today. I wrote this post live on my phone. To travel really light, I am not carrying any laptop on this trip! My first in a long time!
Saw some sheep too! They are pretty and blends with the landscape.
Ok I really have to stop writing and look at some rocks! Later!!
Bloody hell. Jaw droppingly beautiful pics!! My wife has been to Switzerland and loved it. Bet that glacier will be good
No laptop, now you will truly get the sense of freedom!
Trouble is, almost broke my phone dropping it on Granite! If that thing breaks on this trip, I will be royally stuck!
That would be an issue!! That's the thing when you are somewhere beautiful and you keep whipping it out to take photos!
This place, Bettmeralp is a bit of a hidden gem. People know about it but it is not loved to death like Grindelwald or Zermatt!
It looks very serene!
It’s very pretty here.
Dang that's incredible looking. The missus is hankering for it after seeing your pics. We were looking at going last year but switched at the last minute
For you guys it’s even easier. Much closer isn’t it?
Now it is raining, but the place is pretty even when it rains!
Yeah close and direct flights too which is handy!!
Keep posting please, I need to plan a swiss trip, what better than to follow my trusted Hive friend's footsteps.
Naughty you, sneaking that photo of the couple. How did you manage it? 😧
Easy with a phone these days :)
The view really is stunning! This looks like a beginning of a really fun trip! Enjoy!
I already wish I have more time. You know the lodging and condo situation is better than expensive places in US, say SF or Hawaii, which our family visits a lot. It should be easy to convince the ladies to come here :)
Maui is incredibly cheap right now, and has been for about a year now. Think $150 a night for luxury one bedroom waterfront condo...
Yes, after the Lahaina Fire
Thank you for the tour. I think the phone post works really well to give a sense of immediacy. I felt like a tourist as I read. Great pictures. Also, effective direct narrative. You saved the best for last: the goat!
Direct narrative is my style, don't know any other way. :) Thank you for the compliment!
That sheep at the end looking at you like "here we got another hiver shitposting".
LOL! A really funny comment :)
Yep Swiss animals are smart :)
I often travel by such Swiss train. Our country bought them not so long ago. But I forgot when I saw people on the train with a book, only smartphones and laptops.
That's why it was picture worthy. Young people reading paper copy books is as stunning as Swiss landscape!
That's my sort of place! I've been to Switzerland but only to Lucerne. A lovely place but my trip left much undiscovered.
Great snaps.
I have not been to Lucerne. Seen pictures though, and they are very good looking. During this trip I will be in Valais region the whole time, so won't me able to make Lucerne.
Fantastic view from your hotel! How is the coffee there?
That one is grocery store coffee, haven’t had any local coffee yet. Tomorrow morning! :) Too late for coffee now.
You really did it. You left your laptop behind. Wow. I'm flabbergasted.
The Alps look so weird in summer. I really have to go there myself to see it like that. Still, very different from the mountains here, in a few ways.
Did you find involuntary students yet? Maybe the two hiding behind the books?
They are around, I decided not to include them in the post.
Yes leaving laptop was a big deal. However just carrying a backpack with 8 days worth of clothes and stuff. Also staying 1 night in each location means limited opportunity of doing laundry. Also my spine can’t carry a lot of load these days, so it was a trade off. Missing the laptop though
It's a detox then. Almost cold turkey, if it wasn't for your cellphone. Respect!
Is there a PeakD app? or do you log in through the keychain browser?
Yes there is. There is a hive keychain app with a built-in browser. That is what I am using right now.
enjoy the country of the Marseillaise , and the finest wines and cheeses
I will
It's a beautiful place. Sitting in a place like this, looking at the mountains and having a cup of coffee will make all the troubles in your mind go away 😄
There are a lot of new age meditation stuff here
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Bettmeralp looks stunning! 😍 Love the "Grand Tour" frame with the church. Safe travels from Geneva! 🐴
Thank you
I'll follow you now.
You seem quite good ;)
Your last photo with the sheep reminds me of "Princess Mononoce" or how you wanna write it in your language. The Sheep is the Monkey folk :D^^ who wanna eat human flesh to be that strong humanlike.
it is, how it is.
it is, who you are.
it is, how you act.
Wow! The Aletsch Glacier is an amazing sight. 😱 No wonder it’s considered one of the best views in Switzerland.
Hiya, @lauramica here, just swinging by to let you know that this post made it into our Top 3 in Travel Digest #2655.
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Wow, those trains look like they are in really good shape. I took the train from Kalamazoo to Chicago once and it wasn't nearly as nice as that. My wife is always reading books and I have been trying to keep up with her lately. I'm not doing too well. The frame around the church is classic!