Author Archives: yellowvanmountaineering

Meinisberg – Solothurn – Aarburg

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Criss-crossing the Aare and enjoying the slightly cooler weather. One more (long, due to a scarcity of campsites) riding day to finish the Swiss part of our cycle tour…

Morning over Meinisberg (Jo off running again)
Forests, fields and power lines
We set J the challenge of cycling the whole day by herself (27 km, mostly flat except the descent at the start)
Wooden bridge at Büren
Found enough open (bakery and Spar) to avoid Hungry Sunday
Out of town again
Lunch by the river (again)
Challenge successfully completed!
Into Solothurn in the evening for well-earned pizza and gelato
Exploring the old town
Sunset view from  camp
Stop at some benches in a sort of community woodland
After being nearly left behind in various toilets, Captain Bear continues his adventures…
Wangen an der Aare
“Fishing” (lunch is boring)
Scenic views
Random playground in the middle of a forest
Rolling into Aarburg
Last campsite
We were persuaded to buy squirty cream for our Linzertorte and then had to think of ways to use it up!

Grandson – La Tène – Meinisberg

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Heading back towards Zurich along the lakes and canals south of the Jura.

Scenic roads through the vineyards along Lac de Neuchâtel, always with a few sharp ascents!
Pretty towns
Croissant stop in the shade
Lunch by the lake
Into Neuchâtel – railway, road and cycle lane squeezed into a narrow lakeside strip
There were a few spots of rain which did nothing to lift the oppressive heat!
Our campsite guest card gave us a free boat trip, so we headed out on the lake for views of where we’d been…
…and where we were going
Another campsite, another beach – after the pool, this one was deemed too sandy and too shallow for swimming!
But we enjoyed an evening stroll along the breakwater
The end was further away than it looked!
Calm morning – goodbye to Lac de Neuchâtel
First stop was the town of Erlach, which marked our transition back into German-speaking Switzerland
And German-style pastries – this one was so amazing we didn’t need lunch until we got to the campsite
Hundreds of little boats everywhere
Alongside the Bielersee – not that we saw much of it
Up a killer hill to the campsite, where the pool was very welcome (it even had flippers to borrow, which the girls loved), until we were chased out of it by a thunderstorm
This one did succeed in cooling things down, so we have had quite a pleasant evening!
The girls did the washing up all by themselves (and loved it)
Then we explored the meadows next to the campsite, and were in bed before 9pm for the first time in weeks.

Chilling in Grandson

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Unfortunately not literally, as the heat wave has been in full swing for our two days here, but we have probably fared better than if we had been in a tent…

Garden time before the sun hits
Adding an electric cargo bike and a Brompton to our convoy
Up the hill through the vineyards
The “self-service cafe” – a hillside oasis of cool barns, fresh juice and delicious florentines
Enjoying tomatoes
The descent was more enjoyable!
I think we may now be petitioned for a pool in our garden
Another early morning exploration (the only sensible time to do anything remotely active)
Grandson chateau
Morning coffee (also the only sensible time to drink anything hot)
In the lake again
Playground was too hot, so ditched in favour of ice cream
A popular choice!

Muntelier – La Corbiere – Grandson

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From the Murtensee to Lac de Neuchâtel, passing the westernmost point of our tour in Switzerland at Yverdon.

Captain Bear wishing he could go for a sail
Murten
Above the Murtensee
Over the hill to a bigger lake
I think we’ve only stayed at one campsite so far that hasn’t had a playground
Nice shady campsite for a bit of bike maintenance (tweaking after a mid-cycle broken gear cable replacement)
This campsite had a private swimming beach, but it was 40 vertical metres down a set of ladders!
View from the pitch into the evening
Jo went for an early morning explore of Estavayer while it was still (sort of) cool
Then we had a lazy morning, heading off about 11
Into Estavayer for shopping, pastries and a little wander
Then we whizzed along the side of Lac de Neuchâtel to a shady lunch and swimming spot
Looking over to Grandson, where we are staying for a couple of nights with another set of friends
Local wine and a barbecue in the garden before an evening dip in the (bath-temperature) pool!

Bern to Muntelier

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Hot hot hot – the perfect time for a rest day with our tent two feet from a brilliantly swimmable lake…

About to roll through and out of Bern
Along the Aare again
On our way out of the city we managed to break a chain – amazingly it happened right next to a bike shop and caused barely half an hour’s delay!
Mostly scenic tracks and quiet lanes, with a few vicious ascents
Some bits of non-cyclable nonsense to keep things interesting – this one needed two adults per loaded bike (very sweaty)
Lakeside pitch living up to its billing for once
Much time was spent in the lake
With occasional breaks for ice cream
Also much sitting in the shade and looking at the view (night and day)
Forest picnic wander
Friendly ducks (also ducklings, swans, coots, dragonflies, bats and even a hedgehog snuffling round our tent)
Bistro dinner for a treat

Interlaken – Brenzikofen – Bern

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Out of the mountains and into what looks like a week of wall-to-wall hot sunshine as we hit the halfway point.

Interlaken ping pong (small tent city partly visible in the background)
Steamer watching
Along the Thunersee – some on lovely separated cycle ways, some at the side of the main road
Spiez
Crossing the Kander river
Evening spent in what was essentially a river-fed lido (and bar) with a campsite attached!
Evening over the fields
Late night trip across the river to the field full of unique homemade play equipment (pool and cafe behind)
Early morning lanes (left the others asleep for a little run)
Rare shot of everyone cycling independently
Leaving the big mountains behind in the distance
Elevenses in the shade
Crossing the Aare (one of several times today)
Hot (aeroplane watching)
Hill of the day
Nap time parked in a tree, as the rest of us got the tent up in time for an afternoon in Bern
Aare and the bear park
Cathedral
Elevator
Famous clock(s)
Gurtenbahn funicular (free with guest card from the campsite)
Fantastic panoramic views (Bern this way) from the viewing tower at the top

Meiringen to Interlaken and Grindelwald

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Blue lakes and big mountains

Heading west – nice and flat at first…
…then up! A spectacular ride along the Brienzersee, though much hillier than you might expect from a lakeside route
At the top we found Giessbach, where we could walk behind a waterfall
20% descent to the lake – glad we didn’t have to cycle up that
Reached the end – into Interlaken for well deserved ice cream and riverside camping
For our “day off” we cycled up to Grindelwald and back – our second longest day yet and hilliest by far. At least we didn’t have luggage!
Beneath the Eiger Nordwand
View of Grindelwald –  another steep ascent to the village
“Unnamed ski instructor” sculpture
A rather belated first pizza of the trip
More big mountains
Last view of the Nordwand
Much more fun in descent!
Interesting wooden bridge
Campsite playground
Peaceful river (occasionally interrupted by paddle steamers)

Lungern to Meiringen plus

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One travel day (over the Brünigpass, the high point of the tour at 1008 m), two nights in the home of meringues and a couple of touristy things.

Up out of Lungern – J did really well cycling up the first bit of hill
Gaining height quickly (and strenuously)
Cycle route between the cliffs and railway line
A brief respite of down
Whizzing down the other side of the Brünigpass, testing our brakes and admiring the views
After an early campsite arrival, we went out again to the Aareschlucht gorge
Drippy rather than rainy
Chocolate waffles make the view better
We found C a donkey
Cycling across a runway!
Ballenberg open air museum of Swiss buildings and crafts. Wood carving, water wheel-powered sawing and pottery were the big hits; cheese making not so much
The most Swiss carousel imaginable
Finally some proper sunshine (shame it didn’t reach out tent and out washing)
Limestone scrambling – who needs an adventure playground?
Bells and barns
Swiss accordions
It would be rude not to…

Two days in Lungern

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Our first “rest days” as we stayed in the same place for three nights. Not quite the relaxation we’d hoped for as the frequent rain disrupted plans and made tent life a challenge. Luckily our friends were happy to share their van awning!

Cable car to a viewpoint above the campsite, which we shared with a horseshoe tortoise (but not the wild strawberries and raspberries we found)
Walking back down
Lots of butterflies, some of which landed on us
A few rather steep adventure paths shortcutting the road zig zags
Garden art (I think the Lungerersee is known for fishing)
A train, bus and gondola expedition to Hasliberg to stay out of the morning rain
We then followed the Kugelweg back down (and managed not to lose our marbles)
Misty mountains and wet waterfalls (there are some glaciers up there too somewhere)
More rain coming for us

Onwards tomorrow to Meiringen, and hopefully some drier weather…

Horw – Ebnet – Lungern

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Further into the mountains…

Short but scenic roll into Hergiswil to visit the quirky but excellent glass museum
Complete with programmable water fountain in the lake, playground-size marble run, giant sandpit and…
…a climbable dragon, obviously
Shopping in Stans then a couple of stiff climbs, including up to the night’s campsite on a farm halfway up a hill
DIY black forest gateau to celebrate making it to the top
A few heavy showers in the evening but managed a dry dinner
The stacking animals were fun
Evening stroll
Morning mist (after raining most of the night and trapping us in our tent until way past coffee o’clock)
Typical lunch stop – playground by a lake with a mountain backdrop
Apparently it’s been wet here. Submerged path in Sarnen
Sarnersee
Ridiculously steep cycle route between the Sarnersee and Lungerersee – no walking but many rest stops!
Lakeside traverse to the campsite at Lungern
It stayed dry and the alphorns played (it was a local festival day)
J and C had a LOT of fun swimming
We enjoyed watching the parapentes landing in the lake
Fireworks – the echoes from the surrounding mountains were amazing!