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4-5 Days at Wengen with kids aged 2,4,6

Hello everybody
We are a family of 5 travelling to Switzerland in July. We will be spending 4-5 days in Wengen Could you please have a look at my itinerary and give me suggestions or recommendations.

Day 1: Arrive in Wengen in evening from Lucerne. Walk around the village

Day 2: Go to Lauterbrunnen. Take cable car to Grutschalp and walk around. Train to Murren and walk around village. Take cable car down to Gimmelwald. Check it out and then head to Stecheberg. Take the bus back to lauterbrunnen. Maybe stop at trummelback falls.
Would this trip take the whole day? I hope the route is kid and stroller friendly.

Day 3: Wengen , Maybe breakfast on a farm?! Kids might enjoy that. Any recommendations?
Take cablecar from Wengen to Mannlichen. Hike with kids to Klein. Kids have not hiked before and we are using an umbrella stroller. Is this still doable. How long would the hike take? From Klein take the train to Grindelwald and relax there. Head to Wengen later.

Day 4: Train from Wengen to Interlaken. From there do a cruise on Lake Brienz and get down at Brienz. Take bus to Ballenberg museum. Train from Brienz back to Wengen.

Day 5: Optional Jungfrau. Is this worth it? Tagging kids along? How long does the whole trip take from Klein? If we don't do this any other suggestion?

Day 6: Send luggage to Zurich station. Is this actually possible to do from Wengen?

Looking forward to all your inputs, Thank you again!

Posted by
11507 posts

The path from Mannilichen to Klein is easy enough.. fairly level etc.. but its not stroller friendly , unless you have a stroller thats got those bigger tires like on jogger strollers. The path is not paved so too rough for the usually much flimsier umbrella stroller tires. If 2 yr old is not too heavy a back pack carrier would be much smarter .

Posted by
768 posts

I'd modify day 2 this way. At Grutschalp there isn't much to "walk around". There the station and a trail and RR tracks. The latter 2 go in the same direction; the trail parallels the track.

Instead, get on the train (buy tickets at Lauterbrunnen) and get off at Winteregg (half way) where you can "walk around". I believe there is a playground by the restaurant there. If you walk up the hill from the tracks you should see a wooden building that turns out to be a cheese factory. Get on the porch and look thru the windows. After the break, you can catch the next train (about 25 min) to Murren.

In Murren find the Coop store in the middle of town where you can buy snacks for the kids. Then keep walking in the same direction until you get to the cable car station. Inside, you can view TV monitors that show the top of Mt. Schilthorn. If clear, you can go up there instead of to the JungfrauJoch for day 5. I say that because it takes a long time via slow train to get up to the Jungfraujoch and back--pretty much all day, and kids might do better with a shorter ride such as the Schilthorn. And this is cheaper. This would also save you a day, which you may need anyway since it is likely to rain/fog up one of your days.

You could easily do in one day: Grutschalp to Winteregg (half hour walk around) to Murren (walk thru town) cable car up to Schilthorn and back, down to Gimmelwald via cable car, then to Stechelberg, bus to Trummelbach, see falls, bus to Lauterbrunnen, train to Wengen.

Breakfast on a farm? I don't know of any, but Tourist info in Wengen or Lauterbrunnen might be helpful on that.

Stroller on the paths? That's open to debate. The paths are mostly leveled gravel, but with some marble size stones mixed in. I'll send you some photos (click on your name in upper right of this page to read your mail) and you can see the paths. If your 2 year old has walking energy, no problem because paths are smooth enough. I saw a 2.5 year old on a difficult mountain path doing just fine. All the paths I suggest, except for Schynige Platte, and Pfingstegg to the hut, are kid friendly.

Posted by
16895 posts

I heard recently that the number of stations for station-to-station Express delivery might be reduced. And the web site seems to be both changing and not showing the station list to me. Try again in a month or so at https://www.sbb.ch/en/station-services/services/luggage/luggage.html.

The train from Kleine Scheidegg to Jungfrajoch takes 35 minutes each way. Mt. Schilthorn above Muerren is cheaper, or covered by Swiss Travel Passes, so I'd fit that in before deciding whether you want to go even higher to Jungfraujoch.

Posted by
11786 posts

I think the walk from Grutschalp to Winteregg to Mürren is much easier than Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg. You might consider walking at least half of that (Winteregg is the midway point) to see how the kids and stroller do before deciding on Männlichen to KS.

he Jungfraujoch trip is long and maybe a bit boring for the 2 and 4 YO. Decide when you get there, but if they like the cable cars/lifts, the one up to First from Grindelwald is lovely and the hike to Bachalpsee is very easy. First has a great deck with a view for breakfast or lunch.

Posted by
7 posts

@Pat : Thank you for the update regarding strollers. We will just carry it along and see how it goes. Ours is a maclaren techno XT so a light gravel road should be ok.
@Debbie: Thank you so much for the link. The trail looks lovely. Its definitely something that I will keep in mind.
@shoe: Thank you so much for a detailed reply. Will follow the route you suggested.

Posted by
7 posts

@Laura: Thank you for the link to the baggage delivery service. That is extremely helpful. I will check it for updates closer to my travel.
Regarding Jungfrau, am planning to drop that and head to Schilthorn instead. Is it covered with snow in July as well? Do they have toboganning? I think that is something kids might enjoy. We are not planning on skiing as of now.

@Laurel: Thanks for the input. I think we shall drop the hike from Mannichlein to KS and do the First to Bachalpese instead. Will the route be dry or there is chance of Snow on that route in july?

Posted by
768 posts

Yes, there is a chance of snow on the First - Bachalpsee trail or the Mannlichen - Kleine Scheidegg trail in July. It does depend on WHEN in July you go. We took the Bachalpsee trail on July 4 one year, and there were huge patches of snow around the trail. Still passable. It's the sort of thing the Tourist Info will be able to tell you when you are there. Because the trails are generally gravel, mud is not too common. I hear there was record snowfall this year, so it will be good to ask when you get there.
If you'd like to see in advance, there's a webcam near Mannlichen. You can look at it now:

https://panocam.skiline.cc/lauberhorn

So just keep your options open, which is a good thing to do anyway. If there's too much fog to view the vistas then it's a good day to go to Trummelbach Falls, or Ballenberg. Also, between the two trails you mentioned, Bachalpsee or Mannlichen, because you will be in Wengen you will be "right next door" to Mannlichen, whereas to get to Bachalpsee, you'd have to go to Lauterbrunnen, then Zweilutschinen to change trains, then to Grindelwald, walk thru town, then cable car up to First. Nevertheless, both trails are great, and should have cows around for the kids to enjoy. (Generally able to pet them if you gently approach and use common sense.)

Posted by
768 posts

Oh, and I forgot to mention there is a playground at Mannlichen, so another reason to consider the Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg walk. (About 1.5 hrs walk.)

Posted by
75 posts

I took a look at the cam link...switched to the Mannlichen cam. Klein wasn't marked in the vista but there is still a decent amount of snow around as one would expect in April (especially if there was a lot of snow this year.) Is the clearing of the snow around the cam a measure of whether the trail to KS is more or less clear?

Posted by
768 posts

When there is little to no snow on the live cams, it should be ready to walk. In mid summer there is no snow to be seen on the Mannlichen or Bachalpsee trails.

Posted by
7 posts

So my husband would like to add Zermatt to our trip. Would a 2 day stopover suffice?
One day do the gonergrat and the second day Matterhorn galcier paradise? If the weather does not permit those two days , are there any other things we could do at Zermatt?
Also are there any places to rent winter jackets and boots for adults and kids? We are travelling from Dubai ( a desert) so we just don’t stock up on those.

Posted by
6521 posts

very small playground in Gimmelwald. Also, we ran into some very friendly farm animals in Gimmelwald. If you walk the path from Murren to Gimmelwald, at the beginning of Gimmelwald was a little shop with a friendly cat across from a small farm with friendly horses. There is a small, self serve cheese shop in someone's home in Gimmelwald. The kids might enjoy cheese ""right from the farm".
Trummelbach falls is wonderful, FYI

Posted by
3293 posts

Here is a sport shop in .zermatt, in the Bahnhofplatz, that will rent you winter jackets (and trousers if you want).

http://bayardsport.ch/en/zermatt-rental/

I suspect the boots on offer are only ski boots. But for just going up to these places on the train or cablecar you should be OK with just warm jackets. You can keep your hands in pocket for warmth.

Posted by
14 posts

If you haven't found this while doing other searches, you should check out what this blog has to say about kid activities in Wengen: http://www.momstotszurich.com/?s=wengen
The author is a mother of 2 who is based in Zurich, and she includes lots of details for outdoorsy ideas that might help you in your planning. She covers more of the Bernese Oberland here, too:
http://www.momstotszurich.com/category/region/bernese-oberland/
She includes some reviews of Lauterbrunnen hikes with kids in there. Lots of her hike reviews include whether or not a stroller can be used on the trail.

If you don't go to the Jungfraujoch, there are lots of ideas on that web site for you for things to do. I can tell you that when my daughter was 3, that train to the top of Jungfraujoch from Wengen was too long for her to do patiently because it was 2 hours each way, and we were lucky some friends watched her in Wengen while my husband and I took a day trip up there.

I now live in Zurich myself, but traveled here for a couple weeks each year when my daughter was 18 months, 2.5, and 3. I brought the stroller each time (even though my husband didn't want to bring it) and I found the stroller invaluable while traveling around Switzerland on day trips. The trains are mostly accessible -- I never had a problem getting on and off of the main trains. Some of the older Zurich trams were challenging but when I was solo with my child during the workday and traveling around, usually another adult nearby was happy to help.

Also, keep expectations reasonable for young kids and hiking. My daughter is now 4, and can hike several kilometers without fuss, but that's after lots of practice. If your kids are not used to hiking or walking everywhere, you will be glad you brought the stroller.