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Switzerland 2026
  • Ellen Withers
  • Andy Withers
  • Grace Withers
  • Ellen Withers
  • Andy Withers
  • Grace Withers
  • Oscar Withers

Switzerland 2026

Two weeks exploring Switzerland in our Grand California, with four mountain bikes, a loose plan and a sense of adventure. We’ll chase mountain passes, turquoise lakes, scenic trails and unexpected detours—making memories wherever the road takes us. Read more
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  • Switzerland 2026

    🇨🇭 The coolest school run ever?!

    August 13 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Today’s adventure took us across the Hostalde Suspension Bridge to the Hängebrügg-Beizli – 153 metres long and hanging 38 metres above the Engstlige river. 😳

    But the story behind it makes it even better. A couple, Martin and Karin Wäfler, lived on the isolated side of the Engstlige, where the crossing was originally an old, precarious wooden footbridge called the Blambbi-Stäg. When Martin slipped on the steep path while carrying their newborn son Nils, it brought home just how dangerous the route was. Karin is quoted as saying that Nils would eventually have had to use that route to go to school and that this was simply unthinkable.

    So they approached the local cableway/bridge builder Theo Lauber of Swissrope, who designed the new suspension bridge. It was deliberately made wide enough for a pushchair and for two people to pass one another, and incorporated damping to reduce the bridge's movement. Construction began in October 2006, with help from friends, sponsors and donors, and it officially opened in April 2007.

    And here's the really cool bit: their children genuinely did subsequently use it as part of their everyday school journey to reach the school bus on the other side. Their younger sister Vera later did the same.

    Meanwhile, Oscar absolutely smashed this one! ❤️ After being pretty nervous on some of the other suspension bridges we’ve crossed, he was SO much more confident today and nowhere near as scared. 🥰

    Quite incredible to think that what felt like another Swiss adventure to us was simply the journey to school for the children who lived here!
    And obviously… having a little restaurant waiting on the other side didn’t hurt either! 😂    Read more

  • Switzerland 2026

    A beefy caterpillar 🐛

    August 13 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    🐛 Met a massive local on the trail today! This giant is a Goat Moth caterpillar (Cossus cossus). They spend up to four years eating wood inside tree trunks before crawling out to find a spot to turn into a moth. Fun fact: they actually smell like strong vinegar or goats when they get defensive! Always cool to spot such an impressive chunk of nature on the move. 🪵🍂Read more

  • Switzerland 2026

    We built a den!

    August 13 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We decided to walk the 5k back to Frutigen town and followed the path through countryside and along the river. Much of it passed through forested areas and we couldn't resist taking a break from walking to build a den!Read more

  • Switzerland 2026

    Slow morning

    August 14 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Everyone was a bit tired and emotional, it took us a while to get going... But we eventually decided to head out on the bus to see a small lake in the valley.

    To get to the lake we needed to go up the Elsigbach Gondola and walk a little way...Read more

  • Switzerland 2026

    Picnic and swim at the Elsigen Metsch

    August 14 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We found a shady spot in the Elsigen-Metsch, a beautiful mountain area high above the Frutigen and Adelboden valleys.

    🏔️ With huge Alpine views, green meadows, rocky peaks and wonderfully clear mountain air, it felt much quieter and more peaceful than some of Switzerland’s bigger tourist spots that we'd already visited this holiday.

    We are our lunch next to the lake and had a swim to cool down.

    A gorgeous place to explore, walk and simply enjoy being surrounded by the mountains — another little slice of Switzerland that we’re very glad we found! 🇨🇭🥾💚    Read more

  • Switzerland 2026

    A little walk...

    August 14 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    ...some trespassing and a visit with the cows to try some of their cheese 🧀

    We chatted to the lady there who explained that she and her cows are only there for 11 weeks of the summer (to make the cheese) and then they move everything back to Frutigen (including the cows and cheese!) where they live for the winter and the area becomes a ski resort!!Read more

  • Switzerland 2026

    Baby cows!!

    August 14 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Grace said to the lady about how she loved the baby cows and the lady let us go and see them 😊

  • Switzerland 2026

    Last night ay Fruttigresort

    August 14 in Switzerland ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    It's our last night at the Fruttigresort so we decided to have a meal at the restaurant.

    Oscar was the 'VIP' with the all-you-can-eat buffet... Which Grace obviously helped him with 🤣

  • Switzerland 2026

    All sorted and ready to go

    August 15 in Switzerland ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Although we are ready to leave, we've never stayed in one place for anything like 6 nights on a road trip, we're also sad to go.

    It's been lovely here and the campsite is great!

  • Switzerland 2026

    Ending Switzerland on a High!

    August 15 in Switzerland ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Before leaving the campsite today, we decided to squeeze in one last adventure – the high ropes course – and it turned out to be an absolutely brilliant way to finish! 😂

    Considering Andy and Oscar are both scared of heights, I genuinely wasn't sure how this was going to go. But they were AMAZING. Andy pushed himself through everything (with varying degrees of enthusiasm 🤣), while Oscar absolutely shot ahead of us all and just got on with it!

    No fuss. No panicking. Just clipped himself on and went.

    He even made it all the way up to Level 3 – the highest level – and somehow treated dangling around over 20 metres above the ground like it was completely normal. After some of the wobbles he's had with heights on this trip, it was so lovely to see how much his confidence has grown. ❤️

    We spent two hours climbing, balancing, swinging, scrambling and laughing in the blazing heat. By the time we finished, we were absolutely boiling, completely exhausted and ridiculously pleased we'd done it.

    I strongly suspect tomorrow morning is going to involve discovering muscles we didn't know we had. 🤣

    But the undisputed highlight?

    Andy. In. The. Shopping. Trolley. 🛒😂

    Of all the obstacles they could possibly have suspended high above the ground, somebody apparently thought “You know what this needs? A supermarket trolley.”

    Watching a man who's scared of heights trying to negotiate his way across the course in a shopping trolley may genuinely be one of my favourite memories of the entire trip. 🤣🤣

    Hot, sweaty, exhausted and very happy – 100% worth it. ❤️    Read more

  • Switzerland 2026

    🇫🇷 An Unexpected Stop in Langres

    August 15 in France ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    We’ve decided to start making our way home a little earlier than planned. We’re not in a mad rush to get back, though, so rather than simply pointing the van towards Calais and driving, we’ve decided to turn the journey home into a little adventure of its own.

    Tonight that has brought us to Langres – a place we knew absolutely nothing about before deciding to come here! 😂 Apparently it’s one of France’s oldest fortified towns, sitting high above the surrounding countryside with nearly 4km of ramparts, impressive old gateways, towers and a maze of historic streets inside the walls.

    Whether it’s actually as lovely as it sounds remains to be seen… tomorrow we’ll find out! 😂

    For tonight, though, we’ve parked up at the Aire de Camping-Car du Grand Langres, just outside the old town. It was cheap, wonderfully quiet, really easy to get into and within minutes of arriving we were level, plugged in and settled for the night. After a long drive from Frutigen, that was exactly what we needed.

    Tomorrow morning we’ll wander through the old town and around the ramparts before continuing our slow journey north towards Calais.

    Not quite the direction we expected our adventure to take today… but perhaps Langres will turn out to be one of those completely unplanned stops that surprises us. ❤️🚐🇫🇷    Read more

  • Switzerland 2026

    🇫🇷 Langres – A Very Happy Accident

    August 16 in France ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Well, Langres turned out to be a lovely surprise! ❤️

    When we arrived last night we really had no idea what we'd find here. It was simply a convenient place on our route towards Calais with a cheap, quiet aire – but this morning we headed through the gates into the old town for a wander and ended up really enjoying it.

    We stumbled across an art exhibition near the cathedral, had a look around and then made our way onto the old city walls. We walked most of the way around the ramparts, stopping along the way to learn a little about the history of this beautifully preserved fortified town and taking in the huge views across the surrounding countryside.

    There was no big plan and nothing we particularly had to see – we just wandered, explored little streets, stopped when something looked interesting and enjoyed being somewhere we'd never even heard of until yesterday! 😂

    Eventually we picked up some snacks and wandered back to the van for lunch before continuing our journey north.    Read more

  • Trip end
    August 17, 2026