Swimming in Leukerbad, high in the Alps

Loading the car onto the train
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Yesterday Pam, Walter, Pascal and I decided to head to the resort town of Leukerbad located a few hours away in the canton of Valais.

The town is a ski resort town in the Alps, but it is really well known for their natural hot springs that feed into the resort called, "Burgerbad".

Swimming in the Frozen Alps

To get there, we first drove around 40 minutes and finally reached a train that you drive your car onto.  It is literally empty train cars and you simply drive right on and park in a row, and stay in the car.  Then, the train takes you through a tunnel carved through a mountain that has to be at least 12 miles long.  It is pitch black when going through the tunnel, so if you want any light whatsoever you have to turn on your car interior lights.

In Leukerbad with the mountains behind us.
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Once we were through the tunnel, we headed up a steep winding road to Leukerbad but not before going through a breathtaking valley that separates the  Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps.

Burgerbad resort in Leukerbad with the outdoor natural hot spring pools.
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Once in Leukerbad, I could tell it was a ski town right away.  There were several people cross country skiing as we drove immediately to the Burgerbad resort and purchased a 3 hour pass to the natural warm springs pool areas throughout the resort.  Imagine swimming and bathing in nice warm pools outdoors with  views of snowcapped Swiss Alps right on top of you.  It was amazing.

Unfortunately we did not get a lot of pictures at the resort as you are around too much steam and water to have your camera with you, however I did get a few shots outside.  After spending 3 hours in the hot spring pools, we head back to Thun and Pascal dropped Pam and I off at their grandmothers for Fondue and a nice visit.

It is 9:10 am here an in a few hours we are headed to Luzern for the day to explore that Swiss city.