TThere was indeed a goat in our room. As the wind rattled the wooden shutters above the mattresses on the floor where my partner, I and our two-year-old were huddled, I woke with a start, searching the darkness for the creature whose bleating had interrupted my sleep.
We were in central Switzerland, in the mountains above Engelberg, staying in a barn in Alpe d'Oberfeld. Or – technically – above, in a converted part of the upper floor, under which the 100 goats that the Käslin family looks after during the summer are milked twice a day. I looked at the clock on my phone. It was 6 a.m. They were right on time.
Beside me, my son stirred and yawned. I held my breath, bracing myself for the imminent awakening. But it didn’t come. Instead, he curled up under my arm and fell back asleep—something unheard of for us. Normally, I would have been shocked. But on this morning, our third and final day on the beach, Buiränli Cable Car Safari path, it was the kind of magic we were used to.
Engelberg is a region of Switzerland known primarily to serious skiers who come for the 3,238m (10,000ft) peak of Titlis and its easily accessible glacier. This new 46km (28.9mi) hiking trail is an attempt by the local tourist office to put the region on the map for summer adventures as well.
Buirä Railway means “farmers' cable cars” in local Swiss-German and refers to the series of small, often quirky, cable cars that were built across the country after World War II to transport machinery, building materials and supplies to farms located among the peaks.
Soon there were more than a hundred of them across Switzerland, custom-built and becoming something of a cultural icon. But over the decades, as maintenance costs rose and new roads were built, their numbers in this region, once affectionately known as “cable car valley,” more than halved.
“They are still vital to many of us in these mountains,” Nadine, a volunteer at Alp Oberfeld, told me, “especially in places like this, which still have no road access.” We had arrived late on the second day, on the trail of the resident goats, amid the swirling clouds of a brewing summer storm.
The new circular trail, sporadically marked (useful GPX files and decent maps are available on the official site) departs from Engelberg station and connects eight cable cars under a Buiräbähnli Pass (from CHF47/£41). The route winds through spectacular scenery and promises insights into local farms and traditional life, as well as the chance to spot animals, all for a relatively affordable price, by Swiss standards. Trail runners and challenge seekers can attempt it in 12.5 hours straight, but to fully immerse yourself, it’s best to split the journey into three legs with two overnight stays at farms or mountain huts along the way. Reservations are recommended as beds are limited.
We traveled on Eurostar in Paris, (cheaper than the standard rate with our Interrail Pass) then to Bern, Lucerne and finally Engelberg, where we collapsed Ski chalet in front of the train station.
With a backpack full of waterproofs, sunscreen, snacks, packed lunches and a change of clothes (bedding is provided in all accommodation), and our son in a baby carrier (14kg each), we set off for the first and longest day – a 14-mile section from our hotel to a mountain farm just above the village of Wolfenschiessen.
We moved slowly and steadily, leaving houses and streets behind to reach the lower slopes of a peak called Huetstock, where ibex, chamois, and marmots are often seen. Cowbells rang as we passed through fields of purple-flowered alpine clover and clusters of bright yellow clover. I was already feeling enchanted.
We stopped to eat our picnic among the trees and then continued our walk, the path winding behind a small waterfall with views of Engelberg that stopped us in our tracks.
Swiss brown cows grazed on the high plateaus beneath towering rocky foothills near Lake Lutersee, where we came across a 100-year-old mountain hut with an honest shop. Used by skiers in the winter, in the summer the farmer tending the cattle sources local produce Alpine cheese (alpine cheese), Homemade sausage (homemade sausage), wine and the obligatory Schnapps for visitors like us.
Then we found our first cable car. It looked like an American pickup truck with a blue cabin and a wooden slatted loading area at the front. We eagerly piled inside and waited for something to happen. There were instructions, but not in English.
“What to do?” I asked my partner, whose command of Swiss German is as poor as mine. Each Buiräbähnli on this public safari network is electric and has a slightly different set of controls. He picked up the internal phone to ask the Töngi family, who owned the cable car, to help him down the mountain.
The cable car jerked up and off we went, suddenly hurtling over the edge of a cliff to my little one’s cries of delight. Trees whizzed past and we were joined by Mrs. Töngi at Rugisbalmbahn Farm, who smiled, patted my son on the head, took our tickets and whisked us away to the second of her cable cars to carry us down into the valley. When we reached the bottom, a local woman was heading out for a hike. “You know her son Toni used to take that cable car to school,” she said. And we watched in awe as she went back up the hill.
Three more Buiräbähnli later and we finally reached Berghof Brandlenan organic farm run by Ueli Schmitter who, as his daughter Rita told us over giant bowls of curry and a well-earned cold beer, was always out in the fields. The Buiräbähnlis used to bring everything to the farm, including the cows, she said. More recently, they started allowing paragliders to use it, then hikers, before diversifying the farm into offering B&B accommodation to cover the costs.
That night, before bed, we watched the sun set from the panoramic balcony, as the family peacock strolled and flying humans swirled on thermals under their parachutes toward the valley.
The surrealism continued the next day, after a three-kilometre high-altitude hike from Brändlen, we took two vintage mint-green cable cars from the small village of Oberrickenbach to wander among mountain ridges and small hamlets. We came across Alpbeizli Haghütte where we were told it was cash only. Since we had no Swiss francs, we were about to leave empty-handed when a passing couple offered to change us some euros and we left with cheese toast and a big smile.
We stopped at another dormitory-style mountain hut, Bannalp Chrüzhütte, with a restaurant on site. The host was none other than Rita's mother, Isabelle, who brought us mountain tea and served us homemade cakes while our son napped in the hammock and the chickens ran under his bed.
We finally arrived at Alp Oberfeld where the Käslin family – Trudi, Thomas and their four children – were preparing dinner. They have been coming here for 10 summers to offer B&B-style accommodation to hikers – and escape the mad rush that is upon them.
That night we all watched the goats come home for milking, then headed to our little roost above them as the evening mist swirled.
Our final walk back to Engelberg the next day took a path through the steep rock face like a tunnel. We explored the Brunni Mountain Region (a ski centre in winter, but in summer a popular hiking spot with a toboggan run, cafes and a free playground) and the last Buiräbähnli, Bordbahn.
This once precarious and unsuitable cable car was renovated in 2005 with the help of local residents. It now allows two families to take their children to school from their farm rather than making the long and arduous hike to Engelberg. They can thus stay in the mountains all year round, with the costs covered by the hikers and cyclists who use the cable car.
As we hiked the last few miles to Engelberg, I remembered the alarm that had gone off that morning and was looking forward to spending the night in a hotel bed. Still, knowing that our family adventure on these old cable cars was helping to keep this mountain culture alive, while also allowing hikers to experience a bit of the magic of the region, would help me sleep as soundly as my toddler.
The trip was organized by Tourism Engelberg who offer the Buiräbähnli Pass For 47 Swiss francs (£41)which includes a ride on each cable car. Accommodation at Berghof Brändlen from £49 (berghof.ch); Alp Oberfeld B&B from £106 (under 4 years free); doubles in Engelberg Ski Chalet Since £123 (bellevue-terminus.ch). More information: masuisse.com