Swiss Oberland: the Triftbrücke Bridge and the Trümmelbach Falls

In one day it's about 600 km…..this was our tour de force to visit both the Triftbrücke suspension bridge and the Trümmelbach Falls on the same day. Both are in the Bernese Oberland region, a short distance from Interlaken. Departure from Nova Milanese is set for 5 o'clock, and punctual as a Swiss watch (one had to get in tune already) we set off, four of us (Mauro, Graziella, Tony and Renata). One way or another we already knew what sort of slog awaited us, but that didn't worry us. After travelling the A8 towards Como and continuing towards Lucerne (Luzern), taking the E35 motorway (in Switzerland it is motorway 2). Remember the vignette for the Swiss motorway or there's trouble. Right after passing the St. Gotthard tunnel, at exit 39 we find the signs for Interlaken/Sustenpass/Gurtnellen, taking the Sustenstrasse. Be careful because in winter periods the road is closed to traffic.

We travel the road as far as the Sustenpass (2,224 metres). No fear, the road is good and wide too. For anyone who then wants to ride it on a motorbike, it must be really fun, given the multitude of motorbikes met on the road. After travelling about 42 km we reach a downhill hairpin where we find the funicular station that leads to the Triftbrücke (a nice giant poster hangs on the station façade). It is 8:15. We buy the tickets (cost about 22 CHF, roughly 20 euros) for the funicular and they tell us that our departure is set for 8:36 and…..punctually at the appointed time off we go. The funicular takes us halfway. It should be said that it is also possible to do the whole thing on foot from the funicular station to the bridge, but the hike is quantifiable at 4 hours. Having got off the funicular, we on the other hand are asked to walk for only an hour and a half.

The path is clearly visible and presents no insurmountable obstacles. The only advice is to have trekking shoes. After about 45 minutes we reach a fork. Both roads lead to the Triftbrücke, but while taking the left one is within everyone's reach, the right one requires a certain experience, because you climb the Windegghütte and then descend on the opposite side, and it is not exactly easy. So we take the easier path (we are not great mountaineers) and, after travelling the canyon from above and taking the ritual photos, we reach the Triftbrücke suspension bridge after exactly one hour and thirty minutes. A pity about the weather, which is cloudy and doesn't do justice to the spectacular nature of the place. The bridge is solid, don't worry; the only thing is, if you suffer from vertigo, don't look down, because the drop is impressive.

In the background the lake and the glacier with its blue reflections are truly stupendous. Ritual photos and filming, then a short break to eat and drink something, and we resume our descent to return to the funicular station. We meet several people, and my personal advice is to arrive early, because the parking spaces are not unlimited. Back at the car, we continue to our second destination, the Trümmelbach Falls. We travel the Sustenstrasse again as far as Meiringen and then take the signs for Interlaken/Lauterbrunnen, and we find the entrance to the falls right on the road about 55 km from the Triftbrücke funicular. We rest a little and take the opportunity to eat our sandwiches. After coffee we head to the entrance. It is 11 CHF (about 9 euros).

The Trümmelbach Falls are the only glacier-fed falls in the world with underground access, connected by lift, galleries, tunnels, paths and platforms. They alone in fact channel the meltwater of the Jungfrau glacier down to the valley, with a maximum flow of 20,000 litres of water per second. Every year they erode more than 20,000 tonnes of debris and send an entire mountain crashing down with a roar.(source www. myswitzerland.com). The route consists of 10 small terraces to admire this beauty of nature. After the entrance, therefore, two possibilities open up: either start from no. 1 and go through them all uphill and then come back down by lift, or go up with the latter to waterfall no. 6, go up to see 7/8/9 and 10 and then come back down to no. 1, which is near the exit. We opt for this second solution.

We go up in this lift, fitted with a counterweight, right inside the mountain, and emerge a hundred metres higher. So we go up to see the first waterfalls. Stupendous, simply stupendous. The impetuous force of the water leaves you open-mouthed already at the first terrace. From here we then go up to see 7/8/9 and 10. The Swiss have created a sort of walkway inside the mountain itself, and the waterfalls leave trails of light that go from white to green to blue. Beautiful. We come down and go to see the other waterfalls as far as the exit. In all we took an hour, and it was absolutely worth it. It is only 4 p.m. and we would also like to see other things, but luck is not with us.

The first consisted of taking the cable car up to the 3,000 metres of the PIZ GLORIA, where there is a revolving restaurant from which the glaciers can be seen, but the cloudy weather and the price of the ascent (100 euros) put us off; the second was a tour of Interlaken, but the road to enter the town was literally blocked by a long snake of cars that discouraged us. At this point we preferred to head for home, where we arrived at 8 p.m. In short, a good slog, but it was truly worth it.