Continued from the previous post : Trip to Switzerland: Part 1
Lucerne to Interlaken: 10th May
Pics: Views from the Golden pass line to Interlaken
The next morning, we took the early morning (7 a.m.) Golden Pass Line to Interlaken. The journey was around two hours. We had booked our hotel (Hotel Steinbock) at a beautiful place called Lauterbrunnen, which is a small mountain town, around 15 minutes away from Interlaken by train (changed train at Interlaken West train station). After checking-in into the hotel, and having light breakfast at a coffee shop, we headed for most looked forward part of our trip..
Reaching the top of Europe: Jungfraujoch: 10th May
After breakfast, we headed to the Tourist information center at Lauterbrunnen train station, and like all others, they were extremely helpful. We purchased tickets for Jungfraujoch, which are not included in Swiss pass and cost around 100 Euros per person (if you have the Swiss pass, else even more). The journey consists of a train ride from Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg first, and then a change of train which takes you to Jungfraujoch, the highest railway station of Europe. The train, to our utter disappointment, enters a tunnel soon after leaving Kleine, and there is no view available. You can feel the steepness of the ride though. Just before reaching the top, the train stops at an observatory from where you can get some views of what’s about to come….
Pics: Top row: View at Kleine Scheidegg, Entrace to Ice Palace, Inside Ice Palace | Bottom Row: Views from the outside observatory
Upon reaching the top, the first thing to see was the Ice Palace, a tunnel with a collection of elaborate Ice Scruptures. Everything inside, including the pathway and the walls were made of ice (it was cold of-course!). Then, we took another tunnel, that brought us outside to a snow covered area offering spectacular and breathtaking views of the surrounding mountains as well as the Aletsch Glacier. The weather was not that good and a snow storm hampered our visibility, but still, the experience was one of its kind. Also, we could feel the bollywood impact with a huge poster of famous Indian movie DDLJ and an Indian restaurant by the name Bollywood at the top. After spending a few hours there, we took the train back and headed straight to Interlaken town.
Interlaken West to Ost by foot…
Pics: Interlaken town
We spent the evening exploring the Interlaken town by foot. The town spreads between the two train stations West and Ost. Spring flowers were in full bloom and the whole town was beautifully adorned with a variety of flora… It was a typical hill town with small shops selling souvenirs, roadside restaurants, parks and churches. We kept walking untill our legs gave up, had dinner and returned to our hotel to retire in bed.
Trummelbach falls: 11th May
Pics: The Trummelbach falls
After breakfast, we headed towards the Trummelbach falls, around 15 minutes by bus from Lauterbrunnen. It is the world’s first inside the mountain waterfall made accessible to tourists. From outside, you only see a mountain cliff, but a lift and tunnel takes you inside to reveal the waterfall. I have seen better falls for sure, but the fact that it was inside-mountain made it special.
Visit to the St Beatus Caves
Pics: Top Row: Outside the cave, inside the cave | Bottom Row: Biggest Stalagmite named Kohinoor, more pictures limestone formations
The St Beatus Caves, normally not on normal tour itineraries, was one of the highlights of our trips. To reach there, we had to take a bus from Interlaken Ost train station and journey time was around 20 minutes. 
The place consists of 1 km of lighted limestone stalactite/stalagmite caves with impressive underground gorges, awe-inspiring halls and waterfalls. Site included park with a waterfall and a wonderful playground with a dragon slide. We had to take a guided tour, and luckily we were the only ones in that tour, so the guide allowed us to take photographs as well!.
Short trip to Zermatt
Pics: Top Row: On way to Zermatt by Glacier Express, Wooden Chalets in Zermat, Matterhorn peaks | Bottom row: Inside Matterhorn Museum
We were back from the caves by around noon, and decided to explore the Matterhorn mountains, so headed towards Zermatt from Interlaken, a two hour train ride. The journey included a ride on the famous Glacier express from Visp to Zermatt and views justified its tag as the best of the scenic routes in Swiss. This was an instinctive trip, not planned earlier, but we would have really cursed ourselves had we missed it. The place finds a mention in “Top 100 places to visit before you die list” currently making rounds on Facebook. The town is as beautiful as it can get, famous for its wooden chalets and snow covered peaks. I can’t explain enough in words, but the place was special. We also visited the famous Matterhorn Museum (entrance included in Swiss pass).
Visit to the capital city of Bern: 12th May
Pics: TimeBell, Bearpit, Market street
The next morning we headed towards the city of Bern, capital of Switzerland and checked into our hotel (Hotel Continental) at around 11 a.m.. After all the scenic mountain towns this place was a slight dampener, and we could have given it a miss in hindsight. 
Places that we visited in Bern included Time Bell, Einstein apartment, Old town, Federal palace building, The bear pit, Zentrum Paul Klee and the main market area. Eva spent good part of the evening shopping some souvenirs for friends/relatives.
Zurich: Rhine falls: 13th May
Pics: Rhine falls from the side, base of cliff in the middle, view from cliff top
The last day of our trip had come, and we wanted to end it on a high… Our flight back home was from Zurich, so we reached Zurich airport in the morning, kept our luggage in an airport locker, and headed towards the Rhine Falls. We took a train from airport to Schaffhausen and then to Rhine falls (Schloss Laufen). The falls are the largest plain waterfalls in Europe in terms of per second water flow (its very wide, but not high). A boat took us at the foot of a small cliff right in the center of falls, and views of the falls from the top of cliff were simply beautiful.
That, unfortunately, brought us to the end of our 7 day Swiss excursion, and we took the evening flight back to Stockholm. We already had huge expectations from the place and still we were completely awed by what we experienced.
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