From     To Nights
  Denver -   Paris 1
  Paris -   Strasbourg 1
  Strasbourg -   Bern 1
  Bern -   Thun -
      -   Thun (Oberhofen Castle) -
  Thun -   Spiez -
  Spiez - Interlaken 1
Interlaken - Grindelwald 2
    - Grindelwald First -
Grindelwald - Lauterbrunnen -
    - Grutschalp -
    - Murren -
    - Schilthorn & Birg -
    - Gimmelwald -
    - Stechelberg -
    - Trummelbach -
    - Wengen -
    - Kleine Scheidegg -
    - Grindelwald -
Grindelwald -   Zermatt 1
      -   Zermatt (Gornergrat) -
  Zermatt -   Sion (Tourbillon & Valere) -
      -   Montreux (Chillon Castle) -
      -   Lausanne 1
  Lausanne -   Lyon 1
  Lyon -   Dijon 1
  Dijon -   Paris 3
      -   Chartres -
  Paris -   Denver -
        Jungfrau Region 13
On this two week trip we flew to non-stop on Norwegian Air from Denver to Paris.  (Norwegian now has non-stop flight from Denver to either Paris or London)  This was a self-planned trip and we traveled with only 40L Backpacks so we were not required to check our bags on our flights.  Traveling with only a backpack made it very easy to walk around, board trains and use train station storage lockers.

With the exception of a few days, we traveled by train most every day, leaving in the morning to a different location.  With the exception of a couple days, most travel was fairly short giving us the entire day at each new location.  We planned and researched our activities including travel time and the amount of time we needed to spend at each location.  There was not a single location where we felt we should have spent more time although there were some optional activities we could have done.

At some locations, we either arrived at our hotel early and dropped off our backpacks and only carried small daypacks with us until we could return and check in.  At other locations, we stored our backpacks in train station lockers while we explored the town.  For example, in Switzerland we arrived in Thun from Bern in the early morning and stored our backpacks in a locker while we walked around the town and explored Thun Castle.  We also took a bus to Oberhofen Castle and back before collecting our backpacks and boarding a boat to cross the Thun Lake to Spiez.  In Spiez we walked around the Castle, through the small town then boarded a train to Interlaken.

In the Spring and even into July, France was experiencing rail strikes so we were a little worried as it would have really disrupted our trip.  Fortunately the strikes ended a few weeks prior to our trip so trains were not an issue.  Other than missing a train from Grindelwald to Zermatt (that was totally our fault requiring us to take the next train 30 min. later), we had not issues with trains.

Another concern was the weather as we had several days in Switzerland consisting of outdoor activities.  Watching the weather reports on weather.com showed cool temps with rain the entire time.  Checking accuweather.com, it showed sunny and 70s.  We were not sure what to believe but luckily accuweather was correct as we had sunny blue skies and warm temp the entire time in Switzerland.

Read more about our trip on our Trip Notes page.

This entire trip can be viewed on our modusTravel Website .

The Jungfrau Region of Switzerland

The Jungfrau (maiden or virgin) at 4,158 meters (13,642 ft) is one of the main summits of the Bernese Alps, located between the northern canton of Bern and the southern canton of Valais, halfway between Interlaken and Fiesch. Together with the Eiger and Mönch, the Jungfrau forms a massive wall overlooking the Bernese Oberland and the Swiss Plateau, one of the most distinctive sights of the Swiss Alps.

The legend goes that the Moench (Monk) peak is protecting the Jungfrau (Virgin) from the nearby Eiger (Ogre) .

On this trip, we traveled through the Jungfrau region of Switzerland.

Enlarging the map, we did all the red lines with exception to taking the train from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfraujoch (Top of Europe).  We also did the black lines from Murren to Birg and the Schilthorn then Gimmelwald to Stechelberg.

Future Trip: Return to Grindelwald and take the train in the opposite direction up to Kleine Scheidegg.  We would do Jungfraujoch then the hike over to Mannlichen to take the cable car back down to Grindelwald Gund.  From Gund, you can take the short train ride back to the main Grindelwald station or walk.

See the maps on the Wengen & Kleine Scheidegg page.

Trip Notes Our Travelling Sheep Favorites
     
Trip Options 2018 Christmas Card  
 
France

We arrived in Paris in the late afternoon where it was lightly raining.  We found our hotel located close to the Gare de Lion station as we had an early train the next morning to Strasbourg.  Strasbourg is located in the Alsace area of France close to the German border, 1h-45m away by high-speed TGV Train.  It was raining in Paris when we left in the morning but by the time we arrived in Strasbourg it had cleared up and we had mostly sunny skies.

With the exception of rain during dinner our Strasbourg, we had perfect weather until we returned to Paris towards the end of our trip.  It lightly rained the first day back but was warm and sunny the remaining days.

In France we visited Strasbourg, Lyon, Dijon and Chartres; places we had never been.

In Paris we revisited several of our favorite locations but new locations were the Notre Dame Bell Towers, Eglise St. Gervais, Pere Lachaise Cemetery and Cemetery des Chiens.

Strasbourg Lyon Dijon
     
Chartres    
   
 
 
Paris (Page 1) Paris (Page 2) Paris (Page 3)
-Flights & Food
-Gare de L'est
-Jewish Quarter
-Latin Quarter
-St. Severin
-French Bread
-Around the Town
-Charles de Gaulle-Lunch
-Eiffel Tower
  (Day/Night/Views/Dinner)
-Arc de Triomphe
-Cool Bar
-Lamborghini & Ferrari
-Laduree Restaurant
-Cluny Museum
-Pont Neuf
-Princess Diana Memorial
  (Liberty Flame)
-Metro
     
Paris (Page 4) Paris (Page 5) Paris (Page 6)
-Cite Flower Market
-Notre Dame Cathedral
  (Bell Tower/Gargoyles)
-St. Jaques Tower
-Eglise St. Gervais
-Crepes
-Montmartre
-Sacre Coeur
-The Seine
-Russian Orthodox Cathedral
-Hotel
-Lunch
-Luxembourg Gardens
-St. Sulpice
     
Paris (Page 7)    
   
-Cemetery des Chiens (Dogs)
-Pere Lachaise Cemetery
   
Switzerland
All through Switzerland we had perfect weather with bright blue skies and temps in the high 70s.  On top of some of the high peaks, we were able to wear shorts and t-shirts as it was so warm.

All the Switzerland locations were new to us as we had only previously been to Lugano and Lucern.

Bern Thun Thun (Oberhofen Castle)
     
Spiez Interlaken Grindelwald
     
Grindelwald First Lauterbrunnen, Grutschalp & Murren Schilthorn & Birg
     
Gimmelwald Stechelberg & Trummelbach Wengen & Kleine Scheidegg
     
Zermatt Zermatt (Gornergrat) Sion (Tourbillon & Valere)
     
Montreux (Chillon Castle) Lausanne