The Hills are Alive, with the Sound of …Cowbells? Hiking in Switzerland

We were on a knife edge ridge, 2000 m high, east of Luzern in the Swiss Alps.

“I can’t even see them!” Scott complained. “How can they be so LOUD?”

But they were. The cows were like insects in the pastures far below us, yet the clanging of their bells was omnipresent and impossible to ignore. Anywhere outside of a city, we could always hear the bells.

Before coming to Switzerland, I had seen the beautiful vistas. I’d hear about the incredibly pure air. But no one told me about the cowbells! It’s like the month before, sitting in a sidewalk café in Paris. It was exactly like I imagined— except for the ubiquitous stink of cigarette smoke. We don’t get the all-senses reality until we are there.

My perception of hiking in Switzerland was skewed in other ways. The magnificence and magnitude of the scenery surpassed all my expectations. As my son said years ago, after his first solo teenage travels, everywhere you look it’s a postcard.

I also pictured sturdy hiking boots and a backpack as I traveled long trails from one mountain chalet to another. Of course, you can do that— but you can also take a cable car, funicular or gondola (or a combination) and arrive at a luxury hotel at the top of a mountain. The Swiss have been doing this for a long time!

We purchased a multi-day pass that gave us access to all trains, buses, boats and every type of mountain ascent apparatus, including chair lifts. The Tell-pass covers Central Switzerland, around Lake Lucerne, but other areas have similar programs.

Another surprise about Switzerland was the state of the paths. Never once did we wonder where the trail was, quite the novelty for a British Columbia and Barbados hiker. Even the steepest paths were well marked and usually had chains or railings near steep drops.

We did a half day ridge hike above Stoos, climbed to the top of Pilatus, traveled on Lake Lucerne. I learned the difference between a funicular and a cog railway, between a gondola, a cable car, and an aerial tramway. When the weather closed in too much for our hike at Rigi, we took a boat and funicular to the mountaintop resort of Bürgenstock, and consumed decadent hot chocolate and cake while we waited for the clouds to part.

I only have one regret about Switzerland. I wish we’d spent another week there, in the mountains.

Even with all the cowbells.