The Road Less Travelled: Gimmelwald

Dan Segal

Recently my Facebook feed has been flooded with photographs and itineraries of loosely affiliated acquaintances from high school travelling to Interlaken, Switzerland. So when the Travedu staff decided to launch a “Road Less Travelled” column, I knew I had to write about Gimmelwald, a small town slightly higher up in the Alps. Upon seeing the aforementioned posts, all I could think was, “So close.”  Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Interlaken and all the skydiving, paragliding, hang gliding, etc. it offers; it simply pales in comparison.

To put this into context, Gimmelwald is a train, a bus, and a gondola ride away from Interlaken. Sitting at about 4,500 feet up in the Alps and boasting a booming population of 130, the town consists of log cabins and wooden storefronts, with one hostel, one (small) general store, no TVs to my knowledge, and the nicest people you’ll ever meet. The first thing you’ll notice as you disembark the gondola is a small rustic playground consisting of only a slide and some woodchips. Sitting next to it is a bench facing the striking frost-tipped Alps. It’s a very simple, nostalgia-inducing greeting. While that alone should warrant a visit, the town also serves as a gateway to a plethora of hiking trails that go as high as 11,000 feet and offer incredible waterfalls, beautiful countryside, panoramic views, and a lot of farm animals. If it sounds like a paradise reserved for nature-enthusiasts, that’s because it is. The caveat here is that Gimmelwald will convert you into a nature enthusiast upon arrival, no hallucinogenics necessary. (Editor’s Note: Travedu is not suggesting you need to take hallucinogenics to enjoy nature elsewhere.)

 Getting there is a bit of a hike, pun intended. Starting from Interlaken, the quickest way to Heaven-On-Earth Gimmelwald is taking the Interlaken Ost train to Lauterbrunnen followed by a bus to Stechelberg, and finally a gondola to Gimmelwald. The entire trip takes about an hour and feels much quicker thanks to the immaculate scenery and just how entertaining it is to attempt to pronounce Lauterbrunnen.  

I can only describe Gimmelwald as the embodiment of that yearning everyone gets at one point or another for a simple, worry-free world. It is a town that spurs, and answers, fantasies of trading your career-centric 10-year plan for a log cabin and a view. It would take a bona fide poet to begin putting the experience into words.

Dan is a junior Business major from Livingston, New Jersey. A self-proclaimed history geek, cinephile, and avid traveler; he aims to walk away from every new destination with a good sense of the cuisine and a great story. He once jumped off of a moving train at the wrong station.

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