Are you ready for some amazing views of the Swiss Alps?
Come along with us as we tackle one of the best hikes near Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen,
the Hardergrat Ridgeline above Lake Brienz.
We're Jana and Brett. Since our honeymoon 9 years ago,
we've spent more than 24 months living and traveling in Europe.
So far, we've ventured to 25 countries,
but our goal is to visit every country in Europe and to explore every nook and cranny of the Alps.
To hike the Hardergrat Ridge, most people ride up the Harder Kulm funicular and hike
3 hours uphill through the woods to get amazing ridgeline views.
But then they have two choices.
1. Retrace their steps for 3 hours back to Harder Kulm.
Or 2. Hike 3 hours down the steep backside of the ridge, then walk an hour and a half on the road to the tiny village of Habkern
and then catch a bus to Interlaken, which only runs once an hour.
We didn't like either of those options, so today we're trying something a little bit different.
We took 2 city busses from Interlaken to Habkern,
than a hotel shuttle van to Lombachalp. Now we're fresh and ready to climb up the backside
of the Hardergrat, walk along the ridge to the Augstmatthorn and Suggiture,
gaze at Lake Brienz and the beautiful Swiss Alps
and end at Harder Kulm.
So far, I'm pretty pleased with this decision. We both got seats on the van.
We made it to Lombachalp and there is not a cloud in the sky.
Today is going to be awesome.
We're now questioning our decision because it's so muddy here and our feet are already wet.
Maybe I'm regretting this decision. Look at my feet. I sank in all the way up to my ankles.
Will Jana continue?
Or will her hike end before it even begins?
Keep watching to find out.
Okay, so far, it's steep, but not unbearably so. And the views are already amazing and we're no where near the top.
Also, there's not a cloud in the sky today.
This is the perfect kind of weather to go hiking in the Swiss Alps.
I know this is really steep going up, but I think it'd be way more difficult going down,
harder on the knees and really slippery too.
Did you get that? Bloober! Let’s try that again?
We're almost there. At least we think we are.
It's so steep, so maybe not.
Not as close as we thought, huh?
I see our destination. We're almost there. Are you ready for some amazing views?
We made it to the Augstmatthorn! The climb up was not as difficult as I thought.
But these views are 100 million percent worth it.
Man, I love a good ridge hike, because where else can we get views like this for miles and miles in every direction?
This literally might be my favorite hike of all time.
But we are not done with epic views yet because now we're hiking to the Suggiture.
Last steep section of the day then all the climbing is done.
When you want to time lapse a steep section of your hike, but you have to come back for the phone.
From here, it's only another 6 kilometers . . . I forgot what I was going to say!
From here, it's only another 6 kilometers downhill through the woods.
You're not very limber. Good luck! How was that for limber? Oh, that was pretty cool.
From this angle, I cannot believe that we hiked all the way to the top,
walked along the ridge and hiked back down.
If I was going in the opposite direction and saw that,
I don't know if I'd keep going all the way to the top.
That beautiful building right there is Harder Kulm. We made it!
I don't want to say that we deserve this, but we deserve this.
I have no regrets about the way that we took the hike.
Definitely starting in Lombachalp is the way to do it.
The views are amazing, but I'm really tired.
Ha, yeah, that really messed me up.
We definitely have tips to share, but honestly, we're so pooped right now.
We don't feel like sharing them, but we'll write them for you in the description below.
It's time to ride the OBB night jet from Munich, Germany to Rome, Italy.
So come on board!
Oh hello there. Welcome to our cabin.