Meiringen – Interlaken

The Bernise Oberland is so impressive area to fly even in a simulator, that it was worth taking a small hop from Meiringen Air Base to Interlaken Airport (LSMI). The journey was only about crossing Brienzersee (Lake Brienz), which lies in the same valley as Meiringen and Interlaken themselves.

Takeoff from Meiringen Air Base

Over Brienzersee

Approaching Interlaken Airport

Another landing

Interlaken is a small city in the Bernese Highlands region of central Switzerland. Located between two alpine lakes (Lake Brienz (Brienzersee) and Lake Thun (Thunersee)), Interlaken is a popular base camp for outdoor sports and travel in the surrounding Bernese Oberland Alps. Interlaken itself is a superb holiday destination.

Interlaken, Wikivoyage

Lake Constance – Meiringen

It was raining and bit cloudy, but the Swiss Alps were waiting for us. My first destination there was Meiringen Air Base (LSMM), which is a military airfield in middle of the most famous mountains of the Bernise Oberland.

Over the mountains of St. Gallen

The lake after Stansstad

The flight was short and you had to fly through the valleys carefully. Crossing the ridge between Lungernersee and Brienzersee was a quite adventurous experience, that almost resulted a crash, but somehow Cessna managed to gain enough altitude just on time…

The tires didn’t get grassy during the landing, that probably means, that some improvement has happened. Meiringen Air Base has a breath-taking view between the massive mountain ranges on the both sides of the valley.

Meiringen Air Base

Time to stop engine just before the sunset

This is probably the finest area of the Swiss Alps. Most people will come into Interlaken, sitting between two lakes, the Thunersee & the Brienzersee. From Interlaken, twin valleys go to either the resort town of Grindelwald, or the Lauterbrunnen, which has cable car connections to several stunningly located and isolated towns. Several glaciers are in this area.

Bernise Highlands, Wikivoyage