I arrived in the Swiss mountain village of Mürren on August 11 2024 after spending almost 3 months in the UK which was my longest continual period in the country since 2009!

I had spent the time in the UK with and visiting family, competing in Backgammon tournaments and exploring Wales, the West Country and London with my Filipina friend who was visiting the UK to select a university to continue her postgraduate studies.

But for me summer is not really summer until I get to Mürren in the magnificent Bernese Oberland which I have visited every year since 1990 except for the year of Covid (2020).

When I tell people I have a home in the mountains they nod and probably think I live in a town in a mountain region like Denver Colorado, Chamonix in France or Fort William in Scotland.

But in fact Mürren is located high in the mountains and is only accessible by cable car and there is no vehicular access. It is certainly not the only mountain car free village in Switzerland let alone the world but everyone who has visited Mürren will confirm that the combination of a spectacular location and tranquil ambiance makes Murren a truly unique and special place.

The only access is by cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp  and then a 5km journey by mountain railway or alternatively by the steepest cable car in the world directly to Mürren from Stechelberg on the floor of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. That is where I park my car and I have always thought there was something almost spiritual and certainly refreshing in leaving the hustle and bustle on the valley floor behind and being swept upwards and often through cloud, to our home in a location that combines a spectacular location with solitude.

My wife and I bought a three bedroom apartment in the village in 1997 on the top floor of the Sports Centre. (There are only 4 floors!)  As the Sportzentrum is located at the highest point of the village and as we are at the end of the longest wing of an L shaped building our balcony affords the best view anywhere in the village and an almost 270 degree sweeping view of some of the highest and most famous peaks in the Swiss Alps.

The summits of the fabled Eigar, which has played such a dramatic role in the history of mountaineering, Monch and Jungfrau are just a few kilometres from our balcony.

With my telescope I can make out climbers on the final ascent to the summit of the Monch and I can see two Mountain Huts, the Schmadrihutte and Gugglihutte. And the back door from our building leads directly onto a network of mountain footpaths.

We recently transferred ownership of the apartment to our children to ensure that in the years ahead they and their children will continue to get so much pleasure as we have when visiting this very special place.

And even after 28 years, I can still linger on our balcony, never tiring of taking in such a spectacular view just like the dozens of visitors who have stayed with us.

As a Tour Operator for most of my working life, I have visited and stayed in many of the world’s most famous and spectacularly located hotels, and I can truly say I have never seen a view from a residential building as magnificent as the one from our balcony in Mürren. I never take the privilege of gazing at such an amazing panorama for granted.

Perhaps I should add that many guests and family members have commented over the decades that it would not be very spiritual if I had an accident, racing along the narrow and twisting road from Wilderswil through Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg in an effort to catch the next cable car, as so often seems to be the case!

In November 2018 I started planning a Hiking Guide that I had decided to write based on Murren and the Lauterbrunnen Valley and in 2019 and 2021 I hiked, made notes and wrote descriptions of many of the 57 routes I wanted to feature. And in order to complete all the trails that I wanted to include I made a big effort in 2022 and 2023 to get all the hikes completed, which was no mean feat when some were of 2, 3 and even 4 days duration.

In 2022 I hiked up and crossed the 2684m (8805ft) Sefinenfurgge Pass three times in 6 days when researching and describing three different routes that crossed the pass and a year later in 2023 aged 74, I hiked up the Schilthorn 2969m (9,741ft) no less than 3 times to describe the three different routes to the summit.

Indeed in 2023 I had pleaded with my friend Ampai to come from Thailand to join me for ‘one last push’ to complete the hikes as I felt it was essential that I completed all the main and more challenging hikes that year. Every year with age I am a little more slower, my balance a little less steady and the effort required was significantly greater and it was silly and dangerous to be doing long hikes in remote areas alone at any age let alone at 74!

Ampai had already made 8 visits to Mürren and was an experienced hiker as familiar with the trails as me and we were also joined for parts of the summer with friends Art from Thailand/Vietnam and Backgammon Guru Lawrence from London.

And as a result, it was on October 2 2023 near the Alpine Tarn of Grauseeli and just below the summit of the Schilthorn that the long 5 year saga of hiking with a notebook came to an end. We had hiked from Almendhubel to Schiltalp and then made the steep ascent to Grauseeli to complete most of a Schilthorn ascent as far as a point where it joined another route that I had already completed.

All that remained was to walk and describe were some easy half day walks along the lower slopes and floor of the Lauterbrunnen Valley and a lot of writing in conjunction with maps, tens of thousands of photos and 5 full notebooks full of barely legible often rain stained notes.

As a rule of thumb, one days walking requires at least two days of writing.

And that was the background prior to my 2024 arrival in Murren.

I planned to do some of the remaining lower and easy hikes, to hike to a few points to double check that my descriptions were accurate and a lot of writing.

And what did I achieve?

Not a great deal if truth be told!

In contrast to 2023, when I arrived in Mürren in mid August 2024 I did not have a list of challenging hikes that I had to complete and I found it more difficult to get motivated.

Perhaps this was just as well as I felt all of my 75 years after my busy and somewhat stressful visit to the UK (Little did I know what 2025 had in waiting!), where as usual wherever I am, I tried to fit too much into a limited period.

I had brought work with me to complete before I headed off to the USA and there are always countless emails to answer so most of my walking was confined to easy ‘exercise’ walks on the trails close to the village.

And so, whilst I was indeed slowing down both metaphorically and literally the following images will show you that one does not have to stray far from the beautiful and very special village of Mürren to be exposed to some of the most spectacular mountain scenery on the planet.

The images are representative of some of the short walks I made in the late summer of 2024 and all the images were taken in close proximity of the Murren.

Mittelberg and the Blumental Valley

One of my favourite hikes if only to get some fresh air and exercise is to walk up through the trees to Mittelberg barely 25 minutes from our apartment. There is an alternative walk back to Mürren via Kanelegg or I can return via the Blumental Valley or walk towards Pletschenalp and descend to Winteregg

Exercise Walk 1 – Oberberg and beyond

When I am not feeling motivated nor have the time for a long hike I have three short  hikes that I will often undertake to maintain a basic level of fitness and to avoid feeling guilty for not immersing myself in the magnificent scenery outside. If I don’t stop all of these walks are easily manageable in under two hours and combine great scenery with a good work out!

My default hike is to walk up to Mittelberg and Oberberg and join the path leading towards Marchegg and the Soustal Valley for a kilometer. I then turn around and make my way back to Mürren by way of the Palace ski run.

Exercise Walk 2 – The Schiltalp Circuit

My second local exercise is to take the steep trail to Gimmeln and then ascend the Schiltal Valley to Schiltalp, the highest dairy in the Bernese Oberland. There is then a beautiful Balcony route before descending into the Blumental Valley at Suppenalp and an easy walk back to Mürren.

Exercise Walk 3 – To Grutschalp and back

I am almost embarrassed to call this a hike as the walk to Grutschalp and back merely follows the route of the mountain railway which has been running since the end of the nineteenth century and has little more thana 100 metre altitude differential. It is pretty much level most of the way and affords spectacular views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau and of the village of Wengen on the far side of the Lauterbrunnen valley. Furthermore this was the first walk my wife and I ever made in the Mürren area back in 1990 when our kids were 2, 4 and 6. Two of them are still regular visitors to our home in Mürren and the 3^rd who lives in Canada visits when she can. I usually turn about 600 metres shy of the Grutschalp station as this gives a total hike of exactly 8km or 5 miles.

The Lauterbrunnen Valley floor

Normally I confine my walking to the higher altitudes because I love the far reaching views but the Lauterbrunnen Valley has its own unique attractions providing the landscapes that was the inspiration for J R Tolkein and Lord of the Rings. So occasionally I either walk or take the cable car down to Stechelberg and walk along the floor of the most perfect U shaped glacial valley in the Alps.

Snow

I have known the first snow to come in late August and an isolated snowfall which can leave snow lingering for a few days is certainly not unusual in September. However it is normally November/December until March when the landscape is mainly snow covered. In recent years snow in August and September has restricted or modified hiking plans on some days but it also transforms the landscape making it photogenic in a different way.

Our Balcony

Even after 28 years I never fail to be impressed at the views from our balcony and I find myself repeatedly taking  the same pictures year after year because it is such a magnificent panorama. As the light changes and clouds and sunlight play their games it is like a painter creating and changing his picture.