Paragliding in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

I really wanted the name of this post to be something less mundane because paragliding in Lauterbrunnen was anything but boring, and definitely deserves a pithier title! Here’s our experience though, in a straightforward nutshell so I figured I’d go with a straightforward title. There, now we’re done with the mundane part – on to the excitement!

Paragliding In Lauterbrunnen Isn’t Cheap…

I will say that paragliding wasn’t cheap. We paid about $200 USD per person. However, for a once in a lifetime experience (and in our case, celebrating ten years of marriage!) it was 1,000% worth it.

…But You Can’t Get These Views Anywhere Else

There are plenty of other things you can do in the Swiss Alps that will give you stellar views: mountains you can hike, a cable car you can ride on the top of, views in general from some of the mountain towns, etc. But those views are not the same as the ones you will get while paragliding. And the adrenaline rush is definitely not the same.

Paragliding in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland is Awesome x 1,000

There are many places you can paraglide in Switzerland. We were *this close* to doing it in Montreux. However, I watched a bunch of videos online and concluded that the views down into the Lauterbrunnen valley are the most magnificent. This is the only paragliding we did so I can’t compare experiences exactly. But if I had to do it over, I would choose the Lauterbrunnen valley again in a heartbeat.

Paragliding v. Sky Diving

Paragliding is different from sky diving because you don’t jump out of a plane, you simply arrange yourself on the side of a steep slope and run until your chute gets picked up by the wind. Since you don’t jump out of a plane there is no crazy free fall portion. It’s much more relaxed! There isn’t too much athleticism involved, other than being able to make the short hike up to the launch point.

What to Expect On the Day of Paragliding

We paraglided with Airtime Paragliding and they were awesome. Communication was by whatsapp and they were very on top of it. The day we were supposed to paraglide was cloudy with rain in the forecast. There is no paragliding in the rain so they were very good about answering our questions and letting us know what the status of our flight was. Everyone was super chill, which was good because you are strapped to one of them for the whole ride!

We met them at the cable car station in Mürren. From there we hiked up a big, steep hill which is where we took our running launch. The ride itself was about 20 minutes. It was a little shorter for Brian because he is bigger than I am, so he fell faster, lol. At the end of my ride Toby asked me if I wanted to do some loops. Of course I said yes. We did some awesome dips and dives before landing softly. It’s really amazing what kind of control they have over those chutes!

They also took some really great photos with selfie sticks. Photos are available to purchase at the end of the ride but the entire payment for photos goes to the paraglider you were with so it’s kind of like a tip. Of course we bought them because pics or it didn’t happen, amiright? (Plus I needed them for this blog post. 🙂 )

Have you been paragliding anywhere in Switzerland (or elsewhere)? I’m curious to know how the experience stacks up. Leave me a comment and tell me about it!