3 day Grindelwald/Murren July hiking itinerary

Your Day 2 is way way way unrealistic.

Grindelwald First/Bachalpsee + transportation to/from + time to enjoy/photos/etc = 4-6 hours

Eiger Trail + transportation to/from + time to enjoy/photos/etc = 5-6 hours

Schynige Platte + Panorama Trail + transportation to/from = 6-8 hours

The Eiger Trail has similar views to Mannlichen/Kleine Scheidegg. If you start early AM and get first cable car up to First at 8 am, you could do Bachalpsee in the morning, lunch in Grindelwald and then Schynige Platte in the afternoon, but it’s going to be a long day.

Day 1 - continue walking to Wengernalp, then train to Wengen. Return to Grindelwald via Lauterbrunnen/Zweilutchinen

Day 2 - Bachalpsee + Schynige Platte if you really want a packed day — personally I’d pick one and extend out the day at one or the other

Day 3 - Grindelwald > Zweilutchinen > Lauterbrunnen > walk the valley to Stechelberg > cable car up to Mürren to explore > funicular up to Allmendhubel > Northface hike counterclockwise (better in the afternoon) > Mürren > optional walk or cable car down to Gimmelwald for dinner > return to Grindelwald via Stechelberg/Lauterbrunnen/Zweilutchinen

Since you’re planning some all day hikes, make sure you check the hours of operation for the different trains and gondolas. We did a late afternoon Mannlichen-Klein Scheidegg hike last August and just made the last train for the day back to Wengen at 6:30 pm.

Thank you for the suggestions! Since they are redundant, which is a prettier hike, Mannlichen-Kleine Scheidegg or Eiger Trail?

Mannlichen > Kleine Scheidegg > Wengernalp

Margie, is it hard to get on the last train? I worry about it filling up and then getting stuck.

We saw one person on the trail, the weather was great, it was a wonderful late afternoon experience. There were maybe 10 people including the six of us on the train back to Wengen at 6:30. There is a trail back down to Wengen that takes about 2 1/2 hours. And make sure you have the right passes for the different trains, the conductor did check our passes and one couple was not happy when they were informed they didn’t and fined.

All the hikes were amazing. We did Lake Bachalpsee and Eiger Trail on day two. I especially enjoyed the Eiger Trail and am glad we did that in addition to the Mannichlen- Klein Scheidegg trails. The North Face trail was quite interesting. There were a couple of cow blockades where passage had to be negotiated. The views from all of the trails were frequently awe inspiring. Thank you for your suggestions!

There were a couple of cow blockades where passage had to be negotiated

I am curious to hear what your exact experience was, or what you mean by this. It is very common for the hiking trails to go through the pastures where cows are grazing. There will be a gate or electric fence to open and close again behind you, or a cattle guard to walk over, is this what you mean?

The Northface hike has multiple gates to walk through to make sure cows don’t escape. This is typical of many Swiss hikes and not a big deal.

At one point there was a cow in front of a gate. I was able to open it a bit and sneak by. After that the cow moved closer to the gate, and the next group had a really tough time opening the gate. Later on there were cows laying on the trail, and we had to climb around them. It was pretty interesting!

Yes this is a pretty normal experience. It is in fact what some people love about hiking here - being so close to the cows, which of course also adds to the great photos you can capture. It sounds like you had good respect for the cows and tried to give them space; this is really important!

I know someone who was attacked by a mother cow. She had inadvertently gotten too close to the calf and the cow saw her as a threat, attacked and broke her femur. Thankfully other hikers came and scared the cow away or she might have been hurt worse than that.

Here is some great info for anyone reading this who will be hiking, especially in spring or early summer, on how to deal with cows when hiking. It also shows the green neon sign that will be posted at the entrance to any field with suckling calves present (I realise that this was not your experience, Peter, just putting it out there for others to see):

https://swissfamilyfun.com/hiking-safely-with-cows/

SwissNomad, thank you for sharing the information about cows and the story. I think we perhaps got too close to a cow when we squeezed through the gate. Fortunately that cow was relaxed and didn’t mind us passing.

The views on the North Face trail are so good! It was a nice relaxing walk after doing the intense Eiger Trail the day before.