Meiringen the chief town in the Hasli valley, lies on the Aare, which flows into Lake Brienz a few kilometers west of the town. It is a popular summer holiday resort and a good base for excursions into the Bernese Oberland, and has a long tradition of wood-carving and hand-weaving.
This annual two-week festival runs from late June to mid-July and includes various concerts in venues throughout the town. Musicians from throughout Europe perform repertoires ranging from classical to contemporary during the music weeks.
The parish church of Meiringen, on higher ground, was built in 1684 on the remains of an earlier church (13th C.), and has an 11th C. crypt. The tower, with round-arched windows, dates from the 14th and 17th C. There is also an interesting local museum, the Haslimuseum.
Meiringen's Neo-gothic English church (1893) became a museum for the famous English fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in 1989 with a reconstruction of his drawing-room at 221B Baker Street, London.
Memorabilia relating to the immortal character are on show and a life-size statue by John Doubleday, complete with deerstalker and pipe, stands in the tree-lined church square.
Address: Sherlock Homes Museum, Bahnhofstrasse 26, CH-3860 Meiringen, Switzerland
In Switzerland there are more than 100 riding centers where horses for riding either in the open-air or in covered riding schools can be rented. The riding center of Haslital in the Bernese Oberland has offered riding holidays for more than 20 years; a week spent trekking on horseback is also very popular.
2km/1mi southeast of Meiringen is the Aare gorge, 1,400 m/4,593ft long, through which there is a footpath (half-hour, through tunnels and galleries.) to the Lammi inn, on the road to Innertkirchen.
From Gschwandemaad (1,298 m/4,259ft) there is a celebrated view of the Engelhörner (2,781 m/9,124ft) and the Rosenlaui (1,330 m/4,364ft), in a magnificent setting. A footpath, largely hewn from the rock, winds uphill (30minutes) through the Rosenlaui gorge.
From the left bank of Meiringen's Aare gorge (parking) a funicular takes five minutes to reach the Upper Reichenbach Falls. From the upper station there is a good view of the falls, which plunge down in two stages. This is the spot where Arthur Conan Doyle had Sherlock Holmes killed in a fight with his arch enemy Professor Moriarty. Footpath (20) minutes to the Zwirgi inn.
From Rosenlaui the road climbs in a sharp bend and comes in 2.5km/2mi to the Schwarzwaldalp (1,467 m/4,813ft) which is carved out by the Weissenbach. From here a bridle-path leads in 2-2.5 hours to the Grosse Scheidegg or Hasli-Scheidegg (1,961 m/6,434ft), from which there is a view of the Grindelwald basin (descent, two hours).
In the hamlet of Willigen a narrow road branches off the Grimsel road and winds its way up through the forest reaching Schwendi (779 m/2,556ft) after 3km/2mi. After another 2km/1mi comes the Zwirgi inn (976 m/3,202ft), with a fine view to the rear of Hasli valley and Hasliberg. The road then continues high above the Reichenbach on the slopes of the Hohbalm (1,371 m/4,498ft). Straight ahead is the Wellhorn, with the Wetterhorn and Eiger to the right. From here it is 4.5km/3mi to Gschwandemaad.
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