Spontaneously away – hiking and spending the night on the Gotthard Pass

Break out of everyday life, test your own spontaneity and let yourself be surprised? Admittedly, I was critical when the bbacksoon team asked me if I would like to test their spontaneous travel offer. But the concept sounds exciting and so I got involved in the experiment.

From «b surprised» to «b offline», Bbacksoon offers various surprise packages that include accommodation, meals and transport (for trips abroad). During the booking process, the first thing you do is indicate your longing for the short trip. I opted for “b outdoors” – when I break out, I want to shift down a gear, but still be active. After that, you can optionally add your passions, specify the number of people participating, select the destination (Switzerland, border countries, Europe, world) and decide on a comfort level from basic to comfort to luxury. To sum up, for me that me: For two, Switzerland, comfort. Then came the tricky part of the booking. Spontaneous travel means that you don’t have to commit to a fixed period of time. That’s why bbacksoon only wants to know the “no-go days” when booking. Not easy at all, as my schedule for the next two to three months leaves little room for manoeuvre. But I found gaps between all my “no-go” data.

Go! – my breakout begins

You only find out where the spontaneous trip will take you a few hours before departure. Since my first possible appointment passed without ominous “go-SMS”, I was at least able to roughly classify the period of the trip. The difficulty we faced was that we had already travelled to Lausanne for an event one day before the expected date of the spontaneous trip. This presented me with challenges when packing. What do I take with me? I opted for light summer dresses (the weather service reported sunny and warm throughout) and supplemented them with my basic hiking gear and a bikini. So we should be prepared for all eventualities.

The fear of ending up somewhere we’ve just been or being sent to a place that doesn’t suit me worried me in advance. Is there really something cool put together? Since I spend a lot of time planning trips and hikes, I have admittedly become “picky”.

When, on the way to Lausanne, my mobile phone vibrated to announce the “go-SMS”, I could hardly contain my curiosity. In the mail sent at the same time, I found the travel documents attached, which told me where I was going. To the Gotthard Pass. To a rock hotel. I was flabbergasted. Despite my fears, Bbacksoon managed to put together a totally casual package tailored to me for my spontaneous trip. Not only the overnight location in a former bunker complex, but also the reference to the 5-lake Gotthard hike increased the anticipation of the spontaneous weekend trip.

b outdoors – Overnight stay on the Gotthard Pass awaits us

The next morning we took the train from Lausanne via Brig and Andermatt towards the Gotthard Pass. I probably drove over the pass road as a child. I can’t remember that. First we looked at the serpentines of the cobblestone “Tremola” on the southern flank of the Gotthard Pass and then stopped for refreshments at Albergo San Gottardo. The platter served there was mediocre. All the more delicious was the view of the lively comings, goings and posing of the passers-by. A tourist resort that fulfills all the clichés.

Afterwards we marched on the old pass road for about twenty minutes towards Hospenthal down the valley. Directly below the mighty dam wall, Lago Lucendro, is the entrance to the former military fortress of San Carlo. In 2004, the fortress was converted into the 4-star hotel and conference centre la Claustra by the artist Jean Odermatt. The Felsenhotel impresses with its architecture and was named one of the 100 most beautiful hotels in Europe by GEO Saison 2014. Despite all the sophistication, horrendous electricity bills and a lack of guests led to bankruptcy. In 2012, the hotel was auctioned off for CHF 1,000 and has since been run by Rainer Geissmann from Lichtenstein. I was fascinated by the facility, which even has a small spa area. It is a pity that the guests continue to stay away. On the first evening there were four of us in the restaurant, on the second evening there were three. With a total of 17 rooms, this is not very busy for a summer weekend.

Purely in terms of idea and locality, this is a bombastic program by bbacksoon. In reality, it’s more like that, because I feel weird when I’m practically alone in a hotel restaurant on two evenings and the waiter jumps to the table at every little thing. The relaxation factor doesn’t really get going this way.

Hiking happiness on the Gotthard Pass with the 5-lake hike

Despite everything, we slept wonderfully in our bunker room. After a hearty breakfast, we tackled the 5-lake hike. The wonderful morning atmosphere made us linger longer at Lago Lucendro. This was followed by a steep ascent to the Laghi della Valletta. The high plateau offers a great view towards the Gotthard Pass and the two mountain lakes presented themselves in postcard style. Since the weekend was all about spontaneity, we decided to hike to Realp instead of the circular hike via Gatscholücke. So we left Lago Orsino on the left, but enjoyed the panorama high above the Urseren Valley. The steep descent to Realp led through splendidly blooming alpine rose fields. As a reward, we treated ourselves to lunch at the outdoor pool of the Chedi Andermatt before returning to the Gotthard Pass. This wasn’t part of bbacksoon’s surprise package, but I wanted to take the opportunity to see how the luxury hotel was doing 1.5 years after my press stay at the Chedi. Conclusion: Top!

The myth of the Gotthard

Back on the Gotthard Pass, we made a detour to the second fortress “Sasso da Pigna”, which is now called “Sasso San Gottardo” and houses exhibitions on Gotthard topics. The journey on the “Metro del Sasso” into the historic fortification, which was built between 1941 and 1944 according to the Réduit plan under General Guisan, is impressive. Until 2001, this facility was subject to a duty of confidentiality. The rock vault with the crystal group, which was found on the Göscheneralp in 2008, is fascinating. With an extension of around 3 meters and a weight of 1.5 tons, this gem is a unique find in the Alpine region.

The two days off went by in no time. We could have done a lot more on the Gotthard Pass. Outdoor enthusiasts are spoilt for choice up here with all the hiking routes and bike tours. During the spontaneous trip with bbacksoon, I appreciated that I couldn’t plan everything up to the last minute in the run-up to the trip, as usual. The ignorance made me tingle, but on site it was wonderfully relaxing. We didn’t have any “to do’s” and let ourselves drift as we pleased.

The spontaneous travel provider bbacksoon invited me to test their offer. As always, all opinions/impressions are my own.

Merken