My first Swiss rail trip part 12: Meiringen and the Reichenbach Falls

After our magnificent first big rail trip around Scandinavia the year before, my best friend suggested we went to discover Switzerland by rail in 2013. He was inspired by his aunt’s trips to Switzerland and always wanted to go there himself, of course I couldn’t say no as the country spoke to me too. So off we went on a second rail adventure together.

After spending a few days in Interlaken to discover the Jungfrau and the region of the Berner Oberland we continued onwards to our final stop of the trip, Lucerne. We embarked on a brand new “Adler” train of the Zentralbahn towards Lucerne in Interlaken Ost end travelled along Lake Brienz towards Meiringen.

While we could stay onboard the train to continue our trip to Lucerne, we decided to get off in the ‘Sherlock Holmes‘ town of Meiringen to visit the famous Reichenbach Falls. One of the first things we encountered was a statue of the famous English detective Sherlock Holmes, who happened to die here when falling into the Reichenbach Falls. Of course the tourist agency of the town makes good use of the story to attract the tourists.

As per usual, the falls aren’t located in the town centre so we had a short scenic walk through the town towards the outskirts where the falls are to be found.

To get closer to the falls you need to ascend the mountain using a cable car. This one was a very classic example, still very much in the style of when it was first opened. It sports wooden benches and is fully opened along the sides. After a nice ride up the mountain you better prepare to be wet, as the magnificent Reichenbach Falls produce a lot of water.

After being soaked by the waterfall we returned downstairs to the valley and back to the station to continue our trip to Lucerne. While strolling through the town looking for something to lunch, we also discovered that at that day the Tour de Suisse would have it’s finish there and the entire town was getting ready for it. As a non-sports fan I wasn’t even aware they had their own bike tour, but it was nice to discover it this way.