Schilthorn and James Bond, Switzerland

Schilthorn is a summit in Switzerland at 9,744 feet with a evolving restaurant Piz Gloria on the top. Any travel ad about Schilthorn and James Bond photos can be seen in the posters. This place was prominently featured in 1969 James Band movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”.  From the photos, it looked like a nice place to visit. It was very near to Lauterbrunnen. More importantly, the cable car to the top was free for Swiss pass holder!! Else, the ticket costs 100+ CHF. It is cheaper than Jungfrau but still costlier for most of us!! These things prompted me to visit Schilthorn.

I took the early morning bus to Stechelberg to reach the cable car station. There was some time before the cable car started, so I roamed around the place. The place was beautiful with a huge waterfall. The cliffs in that village looked very steep.

Contrast to Jungfrau, I was the only Indian among nearly hundred people in the cable car. That was surprising as the tickets were “free” for Swiss pass. What could be the reason? My hypothesis was that it was early (7:30AM) for tourists to come from Interlaken. Other point was that James Bond may not be popular in India (when compared to Bollywood movies). The truth must be somewhere in between. But who were those other 99% people in cable car? They were all skiers with their skis. In the sea of adventurous people, there was one tourist from India with a camera in hand. 

A series of cable cars took us to Schilthorn. I think we changed the cable car 4 times. It was stunning to see the cable car crossing the steep cliffs near Stechelberg. Within minutes, the green patches gave way to snow!! The weather was perfect. Even though the journey involved changing cable cars, the timing was well co-ordinated with very little waiting time.

As we reached Schilthorn, all skiers got down to business and jumped on the slopes. I headed to the viewing platform. It was almost empty. It is not everyday that one gets in that situation and I thornily enjoyed the 360 digress viewing platform. Most of the high peaks in Alps were clearly visible from the view point. Even Mont Blanc in French Italian border could be see at a far distance. I spent a very long time savouring the place.

While returning back, I also stopped at couple of places that provided nice view. At one point, there was a walk way around the cliff. For a person who is scared of heights, it was hard for me to walk. My heart beat went up a lot!!

Overall, it was a great visit. A must see if you are having a Swiss pass.