I was currently in Interlaken for sightseeing and skydiving, which was amazing, when I decided to visit the village for myself. The lofty description I detailed above really does say it all and accurately mirrors reality. Even the hike up to the station through the valley itself starts to prepare you for the other worldliness you are about the experience. I took the cable car up the cliffside enjoying the stunning views all the way up. Once at the top, I stepped off into what seemed like a place lost to time. The few buildings that were there echoed from the past as I admired the large wood-beamed, nail free homes overlooking the valley we just ascended.

The main thing to do in Gimmelwald is to simply enjoy the scenery and tranquility, and if you’re up for it go for a hike around the mountainside. I had a couple hours to kill before heading back down so I decided to take a hike with a couple friends. The most eerie thing about being up this high in the mountains is the quiet mixed with the thick fog that often comes out of nowhere. I was walking through the fog not being able to see only a few feet in front of me, with faint cowbells off in the distance. The silence broken only by the interspersed ringing of cow bells was weird but kind of peaceful. Switzerland has a large cow population and many of them roam the hills and mountains around the country. We hiked for hours through the mountain passes and fog, and occasionally came across a local going about their daily business.

For those of you that don’t know much about Switzerland, gnomes are a big thing in Swiss culture. I don’t know exactly why but you will literally see gnome sculptures, statues, and carvings just about everywhere if you are looking hard enough. The funny thing about that is some of the locals seem to have turned into gnomes themselves. We walked up onto one of these local as we were hiking and I have to say he was one of the more interesting guys I’ve met. He was a small bearded man working in a small wooden hut milking cows as we approached. Wearing what looked like a hat fit for a gnome he proceeded to tell us about his daily life and all the fairy tales he believed in with regard to the local folklore of the area. What an interesting guy is all I can say.

I loved that day spent hiking up through Gimmelwald and while I’ve done many hikes around Switzerland before and since, the little village perched on the cliffside near Interlaken will forever stand out as one of my favorites.