Shilthorn - Switzerland Highlights - Day 10

We began day 10 of our European vacation in Mürren, Switzerland.  From our B&B we walked to the cable car station to cruise up to the Shilthorn.  The Shilthorn served as a set for the 1969 James Bond film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”.  For years, I have wanted to walk around and explore a bad guys hideout for myself.

Today the building houses a 007 museum with artifacts from the film.   The building was intended to be a restaurant but the developers lacked funding.  The James Bond franchise financed the construction in return for access to shoot their next movie first.  

Visitors can pilot a stationary helicopter and learn of the movie’s nearby shooting locations.  Copies of the script are accessible.  You can morph your face into the characters from the James Bond movie.  Visitors can hop in a bobsled in front of a screen telling you which way to lean.  Then you are super-imposed on footage from the bobsled ride at the end of the movie.

In the bathroom there’s an encouraging message over the urinals.  A light above a bathroom stall recreates a hypnosis sequence from the film.

On the patio there is a gun barrel you can take your picture through.  There’s beautiful views of the Jungfrau, Moch and Eiger too.

Out back there’s a Walk Of Fame with plaques featuring different actors from the Bond series.

A number of scenes feature a staircase in the building.  Bond first walks up this staircase and finds many reclining Bond girls.  Now that area contains a revolving restaurant that features a James Bond breakfast.

Then we headed to a peak just below that movie set.  Admission to this Thrill Walk is included in your ticket to the Shilthorn.  There is a ropes course and glass floor walkway on the side of cliff with more views of the Jungfrau and the town of Mürren below.

Then we cabled down to Mürren for lunch at our B&B.  We took one more cable car ride down to the hamlet of Gimmelwald.  This is the town Rick Steves thinks is the closest thing to heaven on earth.  The town is underdeveloped and protected as an avalanche zone to ward off future development.  It is a slow paced life here.  At the self-service grocery store you put your coins in a tray and grab your cheese or eggs.  The backyards of these chalets boast an incredible view.  Gimmelwald is perched right on a cliff overlooking this valley of 72 waterfalls.

We wanted to visit one of the falls so we hiked up from Gimmelwald to the Sprutz waterfall.

After visiting the falls we kept hiking to our home base in Mürren.  The total hike took about two hours or so.  But we couldn’t complain about the views.

We headed back into the town of Mürren where we called it a night.

Stay tuned for our next adventure when we head to the city of Bern by way of Interlaken and the Trummelbach falls.