Hello!
I am considering a couple nights in the Lauterbrunnen area. Would love itinerary help, places to stay, things to do, etc. Grindelwald, Murren, Wegen?? I'll be coming from Lausanne so better to drive or take a train? Looking for views, good food, village scenery, etc. TIA!!!
Well, you will get different answers about where to stay. First, if you drive you should know cars are not allowed in Murren or Wegen. I would advise a train. If you are only there a couple of days, pick either Murren or Wegnen, neither will disappoint as a place to stay. However, please be sure to visit both Wegen and Murren to get a feel for both for future visits. Enjoy.
The good news is that one can hardly go wrong at this location! I have only stayed in Murren before and really enjoyed each time I was there. I have stayed at both the Hotel Jungfrau and the Hotel Alpenruh and can endorse both of these hotels.
What time of year?
Mid -end of November
Stay up in the mountains in either Wengen or Murren rather than in the valley (i.e. Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald). Wengen has more of main commercial street with restaurants, shops than Murren. Views a little more dramatic in the latter. We stayed in Wengen but visited and enjoyed all four plus Gimmelwald and Kleine Scheidegg (both of these are small).
Your other thread mentioned scenic rail trips. Take the Golden Pass line from Montreux to Interlaken Ost via Zweisimmen, then change to the train to Lauterbrunnen. There is should be a bit of snow in Muerren or Wengen. Service on the Muerren-Schilthorn cable car is scheduled down for maintenance until Nov 20.
I can only tell what we did (and loved) and leave it to you to judge if it suits your needs.
We always drive in Switzerland. There seems to be "train-chic" ethos on this forum, that I just don't get. City-to-city sure, absolutely take a train. But if you are going to villages, or if there is scenery you may want to stop and see, or if you just want the freedom to stop wherever your fancy takes you, rent a car.
We parked in Stechelberg and stayed in Murren. Stechelberg is the base of the Schilthorn cable car, and Murren is two stops up the cable car. Very convenient. We found renting a car and paying for parking in Stechelberg still to be cheaper than train.
Highly recommend Murren, but admit I have not been to Wengen. Murren has great views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau. Wengen is on the same side of the valley as those mountains, so not sure what view you get there. Murren is a close walk to Gimmelwald (RS's favourite). Our peak experience was taking the cable car to the top of the Schilthorn and hiking down from Berg station (second station from top). https://muerren.swiss/en/summer/see-and-do/hiking/hikes/
If you decide on Murren, we recommend Chalet Fontana. Get their second floor room which has panoramic view of Eiger/Monch/Jungfrau. http://www.ferntree.ch/chalet/fontana.htm
Are you going in November this year? You may have trouble. We were in Wengen late summer and our hotel was fully booked from the time they reopen all the way through ski season. Some hotels are closed both October and November, then reopen for ski season. If you don’t ski, you might want to consider skipping Murren and Wengen and staying down below in Lauterbrunnen. There will be less snow and you can day trip to both sides of the valley. We have been multiple times but always in summer for hiking, we always stay in Wengen. But you can’t go wrong with any choice in the valley.
Hotel Staubbach in Lauterbrunnen. Opt for a balcony room facing the waterfalls. This is a $1,000,000 view.
Thanks Everyone for all your suggestions. I've booked the Hotel Alphorn in Interlaken as most moderate places in Wengen and Murren are booked.
Darren, thanks for the tips! When you did the hike down to Berg, how was it? I am a complete novice when it comes to hiking and have bad knees, should I attempt it or not? :)
My plan is to base in Interlaken and travel around to the villages I want to explore. I'll have a rental car but I like the idea of taking the Golden Pass since I'll already be in the Lausanne area but I'll have to look at the logistics.
Sam, my dates are 11/21-11/23 so I'll just make the cable car!!
Ok, so how about restaurants? Any place I shouldn't miss?
I hope I don't rain on your parade to say I think staying in Interlaken is a mistake. There is really nothing there, not even views. If both Murren and Wengen are truly booked (which is surprising as November is way off season), even Lauterbrunnen would be a better option than Interlaken.
We did the hike down from Birg in late-June. We wanted to come down from the peak, but there was still too much snow in June. I don't know how much snow you can expect in November. To be honest, hiking downhill is kind of hard on the knees. The trip from Birg was not tough aerobically, but it is a lot of downhill. If you think Birg might be too tough, there are easier hikes that are still very scenic:
If you're staying in Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen, you can tie these all together by going Lauterbrunnen-bus to Stechelberg - cable car up to Schilthorn peak - cable car down to Murren. From Murren you can go back two ways:
