The Best Things to do in Meiringen

This is, without a doubt, one of the best things to do in Meiringen! This might possibly even be one of the best things to do in Switzerland. The spectacular path through the Aare Gorge will leave you speechless! This walk simply is a 40-minute feast of “AHs” and “OHs”, an explosion of colours, an incredible experience. Enjoy it!

One of the best things to do in Meiringen | The Aare Gorge (Aareschlucht)

The Aare Gorge (Aareschlucht in German) is surely one of the most impressive natural wonders we have seen so far in Switzerland. It is situated in the Hasli Valley (Haslital in German) in the Central Alps, which stretches from the Grimsel Pass to beautiful Lake Brienz.

An astonishing area full of natural beauty. The lower part of the Hasli valley is separated from the upper part of the Hasli valley by a rock formation. Over thousands of years the river Aare eroded a path through this rock formation. This resulted in an extraordinary gorge which is 1400 metres long and up to 200 metres deep. Remarkable!!!

Colleagues recommended a visit to the gorge, so I started researching the location. “One of the best things to do in Meiringen” the websites shout from all corners. After having seen one, maybe a second picture, it became clear: We have to go! We have to go as soon as possible!!

Great weather in Switzerland

Therefore, on yet another warm, sunny, cloudless day, we went down to the city of Meiringen.

At this point, it must be mentioned that the weather here in Switzerland is simply great!

After having lived for six years in the Mediterranean, we were somehow expecting the weather to be cooler. This is probably normal once you lived in a country like Malta, which prides itself with more than 300 days of sunshine each year.

We were proven wrong. Our first spring was amazingly warm and consequently the summer was hot, almost unbearable even. After that, the autumn was lovely and colourful and the winter was mild.

The second year seems to have followed the same pattern. In conclusion, we agree that the weather in Switzerland is truly great!

Read ALL the facts before you go out on an excursion

We arrived in Meiringen and headed towards the west entrance of the Aare gorge. I am ashamed to admit it, but at this point in time, we were unaware that there are two entrances. A western entrance and an eastern entrance. 

I got completely distracted by all the beautiful photos. As a result, I must have overlooked to do the necessary research for this excursion. At least, that´s how I was trying to justify this embarrassing situation to myself.

There is such a comprehensive and very informative website of the Aare Gorge. Moreover, this site is not the only one which elaborates in detail everything you need to know. Somehow, however, I missed to read properly it through. Ouch! Consequently, we missed out some very useful information. Our visit was therefore still great and impressive, but it could have been even better!     

Important facts you need to know!

Hence, before I go on and describe our experiences, let me give you the most important information upfront. It is one of the best things to do in Meiringen! In order to truly make it one of the best things to do in Meiringen, have a look at the facts below:

• The path through the Aare Gorge is an easy and very enjoyable walk of about 40 minutes
• You can enter the Aare Gorge from either the west (Meiringen) or east (Innertkirchen) entrance
• The return journey can be made via hiking trail over the “Lammi” pass (this takes approximately one hour) or simply by taking the Meiringen-Innertkirchen railway
• The admission fee to the Aare Gorge includes the one-way journey by train.
• The walk from the western entrance to the train stop takes about ten minutes and is accessible to wheelchair users. The walk from the eastern entrance takes about five minutes and is not suitable for wheelchair users.
• The most amazing parts are accessible by wheelchair from the west entrance until the middle. From there, you can return via the same route you came from.
• In general, the trek through the Aare Gorge is built up of one-kilometre wooden path built on steel girders which are anchored in the cliff walls. Furthermore, there are 400 metres of tunnels and galleries and 250 metres of gravel or asphalt roads.

To let the cat out of the bag, we walked from west to east and back on the same route.

In a way we got to enjoy the wonderful Aare Gorge twice. The downside to this is, however, that we missed the cool hike back via the “Lammi” pass. Possibly with the hiking experience, we also missed some unbelievable views over the gorge! The train ride would have probably been quite cool as well…. what does that tell us? We definitively have to return!

Let the journey begin

At this point in time, however, we were innocently unaware and simply enjoyed the journey. With the bubbling river to our left and impressive rockface to the right, we walked towards the entrance. The colour of the river is incredible. A mixture of blue, green and turquoise which takes your breath away.

Firstly, we walked through a tunnel and soon the first galleries appeared. Oh my god, the “best things to do in Meiringen”-statement already proved itself correct after a few minutes!  

The cool air inside the tunnel came as a welcome addition to this experience. We walked on and took what felt like a million pictures and videos. We tried to capture the colours of the river Aare, along with the ever-bubbling sounds of the water.

The Aare Gorge is pretty popular and since it was a public holiday, it was crowded. Nevertheless, we enjoyed every single moment and could simply not believe what we saw.

A little bit of history

• In 1887 construction of the pedestrian route through the gorge began.
• In the summer of 1888 12,000 people already visited the Aare Gorge.
• The works continued over the next couple of years and with it the numbers of visitors grew year after year.
• In 1912 the first railway (Meiringen-Reichenbach-Aare Gorge) started to operate. Ten years later, in 1928, the first restaurants and kiosks opened.
• A large flood in 1942 destroyed major parts of the walkway. The paths were restored and continuously improved.
• Ongoing constructions, such as a suspension bridge, kiosks, restaurants and a playground, guarantee visitor numbers. The walk through the Aare Gorge has surely established itself as a main tourist attraction in the area.

Interested in more?

We kept on being stunned be the natural beauty and the clever way it is displayed to the public.

For all those who are interested in the formation of the gorge, we recommend to do further research. All the geological facts and much more can be found on the internet. As previously mentioned, the website of the Aare Gorge is very informative, too.

AHs and OHs | Once and twice

What followed was an hour of “AHs and OHs”, pictures, selfies and videos and the feeling of being absolutely amazed. From walking through the tunnels and exploring the galleries to emerging into the open valley. Whilst walking on wooden paths which are anchored in the cliff walls, we could enjoy the gorge´s full beauty. From a picturesque waterfall to the roaring river Aare, every path of the way leaves you speechless.

Once we reached the eastern entrance, we finally learnt that there is a second entrance. Unaware, however, of where it would lead us, we simply turned around and did it all again! As a matter of fact, we kept on taking photos as if we had not been there before. Once again, this is, without a doubt, one of the best things to do in Meiringen!

We walked back out of the western entrance and what did we see? The railway! Typical and ironic.

Sherlock Holmes everywhere

We laughed it off and decided to walk over to Meiringen city centre and check out the little town.

What we found will certainly provide enough food for another blog. However, one fact we can reveal right away. Meiringen was the setting of the final showdown between Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty.

As mentioned before, there is simply too much to discover in the Hasli valley region. For now, however, we finished this spectacular day with a walk around Meiringen. We took a long breath in and a long breath out. So much more to explore!