This week we gave Kourtney’s back a little time to recover, then pointed Lightning McQueen toward some of the prettiest campsites and mountain views we’ve ever seen. We also learned that traveling with two little kids does not improve your odds of catching a train on time.
Escholzmatt-Marbach
We started the week with a cable car ride to the top of a mountain, where we played on the playground, had lunch, and took in the views before heading back down and driving to our Airbnb in Escholzmatt-Marbach. The road to the apartment was beautiful, winding through the mountains, making the drive one of both Mom and Dad’s favorite parts of the day. Lightning McQueen did a fine job, although those breaks were feeling it after a 1,500 meter descend.
Nolan had a lot to report. His favorite things included going up the cable car, eating lunch, visiting a cheese man who was “very big and taller than Daddy,” and eating dinner with the family. It was a thorough review of the day, complete with transportation, dairy, comparative heights, and family time.
Nina chose going to the playground as her favorite part, because mountain views are nice but slides remain undefeated. At least on these mountain top playgrounds there is something for everyone!
We stayed at the Airbnb for two nights to give Kourtney’s back a chance to rest, and thankfully it was getting better. The next day was intentionally quiet. Mom got a productive morning while Nolan and Nina played independently, then walked with both kids to the store to get supplies for dinner. Our host gave us fresh blueberries, the kids got chocolate eggs, and mom cooked what Nolan called “the feast” for the family. Nina said her favorite part was taking a gondola, which we had actually done the day before. Time is a loose concept when you’re three.
Brienz
After two restful nights, we checked out around noon, stopped at a grocery store, and set off on another amazing drive through the mountains. We climbed up and over before descending toward a series of gorgeous blue lakes, eventually arriving at Camping Aaregg Brienz am See. We had no reservation but somehow snagged a spot for three nights, which felt like a major victory once we saw the lake surrounded by mountains.
We kept our first afternoon simple. The kids did school, Dad worked, we cooked, and Nolan and Nina spent plenty of time at the playground. Asked for their favorite parts of the day, both kids independently chose the playground. Mom and Dad chose the drive and the lake views. Everyone was happy to be in Switzerland.
The next day was rainy, so we slept in and hung around the campsite. We made it down to the lake in the morning, Kourtney taught school in the afternoon, and Nina apparently spent part of the day being a unicorn. We don’t have much more information on that transformation, but it seems unicorn life is not all that different from three-year-old life.
That evening we went to a local brewery for pizza and beers, which was Coons’ favorite part of the day. Nina’s was getting dessert after dinner.
Back at the campground, they showed Frozen 2, and Nolan and Nina were the only kids there. The staff put it on in English just for them while Dad worked and took calls. A private English screening of Frozen 2 on a rainy night in Switzerland is a pretty solid campground amenity!
Giessbach Waterfalls
Our last full day in Brienz started with a plan to take the steam train up to Brienzer Rothorn. We got everyone up, dressed for high-mountain weather, onto the bikes, and over to the station—only to discover that the tickets were sold out. More than 70 had still been available the day before, because apparently every other person in Switzerland had the exact same Thursday morning idea.
We quickly came up with option B: take a boat across the lake. So we ran across the street to find we just missed the boat. At this point, the only transportation we had successfully boarded was our own bicycles.
Rather than completely unraveling, we waited for the 12:40 boat. We got delicious sushi bowls from the COOP grocery store, ate lunch by the water, and found a playground for the kids. A missed boat is considerably easier to handle when everyone has food and there is a playground nearby.
We did manage to board the next boat and rode across the lake to Giessbach Waterfalls. From there we took the funicular—the oldest mountain train in Europe, according to Mom, although she immediately followed that statement with “we’ll have to fact-check that”—up to the hotel. Then we hiked for about 30 to 45 minutes up and behind the waterfall.
Both kids did the entire hike by themselves, which was easily one of the best parts of the day. Watching a five-year-old and a three-year-old climb all the way up and walk behind a waterfall was pretty special, especially after the morning’s failed train and boat attempts. We celebrated with snacks at the hotel, rode the funicular back down, caught the boat across the lake, and biked home.
Back at camp, we squeezed in more lake and playground time before Kourtney taught school and Dad cooked dinner. Nolan found some new rocks for his new sack (a dirty red Mickey Mouse sock he found by the lake), walked in the water, saw a little lizard, and discovered what he called a “sea snake.” It was on land and dead, so he picked it up and put it in the woods, as one does. Nina selected TV and the playground as her highlights. Perhaps tomorrow she’ll recount the beautiful waterfall hike. Stay tuned!
Interlaken & Lauterbrunnen
The next morning we packed up Lightning McQueen and walked to a local bakery, where Nolan and Nina each got bread that looked like a turtle.
We ate by the water before hitting a grocery store in Interlaken and filling up with gas.
We still had time to kill before we could check in at Camping Jungfrau, so we stopped at a park in Interlaken. There we met a family from California traveling with five kids. Nolan and Nina played with them for a while, presumably enjoying the sudden abundance of potential English friends while we chatted with the parents and quietly considered the logistics of traveling with five children.
Eventually we continued toward Lauterbrunnen, and the drive into the valley was incredible. Camping Jungfrau turned out to have an amazing location, complete with a waterfall visible right from camp.
Mom’s favorite part of the day was learning that we were camping near a waterfall, while Dad chose arriving at such a spectacular campsite and walking along the river to get ice cream.
The kids played at the playground, Nina bounced on the trampoline, and Dad did some work. Nolan’s favorite things were watching Nina bounce and eating ice cream. Nina, consistent as ever, chose the playground. Mountains, rivers, and waterfalls may come and go, but she knows what she likes.
Männlichen & Kleine Scheidegg
We woke up early at Camping Jungfrau and were out the door by 9 a.m. for a big mountain day. After stopping at a local bakery, we hurried to the station for the train to Wengen and ran onto the platform just as it pulled away. We had now narrowly missed a boat and two trains in three days, which is a fun way to learn that Swiss transportation is very punctual even if the Coons family is not.
It was all good. We ate breakfast, caught the next train to Wengen, and bought Dad a pair of sunglasses because he had forgotten his. From Wengen we took the cable car up to Männlichen, where we decided to skip the Royal Walk to the peak and head straight to the awesome cow playground instead. Dad even ran into someone he knew through work, because apparently the top of a Swiss mountain is now a reasonable place for networking.
From the playground we set off on the Panorama Trail with Nina in the backpack and Nolan hiking. The views stretched out toward the snow-capped mountains and glacier, and Nolan did an incredible job walking. We stopped halfway for snacks, then continued to a restaurant near the trail’s end at Kleine Scheidegg.
Mom and Dad had beers, meat, and cheese while the kids played at another playground, which is about as close as we get to fine dining these days. Nolan said his favorite parts were going into nature, hiking, and getting chocolate and ice cream. Nina said hers was going to a new campsite, which had happened the day before. Again, time is merely a suggestion. What day is it?!
When it was time to leave, we missed yet another train. Rather than fight it, we got drinks and chocolate while we waited for the next one, then rode back through Wengen to Lauterbrunnen. We walked to camp and finished the day with dinner at the campground restaurant. The kids rocked it!
By the time we got back to Lightning McQueen, everyone was wiped. We put on Yotos, read books, and went to bed after a day of cable cars, playgrounds, hiking, mountain views, chocolate, ice cream, and only a couple missed trains. We’ll get there.
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