Hey guys,
Appreciate all your feedback here. I posted this last year but finally have the green light to visit Jungfrau/BO region next summer. I’m getting a little worried seeing posts about how crowded it’s become/over tourism. I plan to stay in wengen or Murren. I was thinking sometime from late June to late August. Is it all the same crowd wise? Just go and deal with the crowds? Thanks for the insight
I'd opt for late June which is a little after some higher elevation trails open for the summer. The world goes on vacation in July and August. I went last May 2024 off season and it was crowded. Try to arrive on Monday.
The crowds have become a bit crazy lately. However if you for example base yourself in Wengen you will see less crowds, as Wengen is a bit like an Island, and a lot of the Instagrammers with their AI cars can't be bothered to get on a train.
I stayed in Grindelwald and went through Wengen and Murren. Wengen seems to have a little more elbow room over Murren. I was not impressed with the over crowded cable car to Murren.
There are crowds at the top attractions in late June all the way through September - full trains or cable cars during peak times of the day. If you are from a larger US city, the crowds are bearable. There are quiet places you can mix in with the popular locations.
Crowds should not be a reason to pass on magical Switzerland.
We stayed in Wengen August 2024. Not as crowded as Murren or Lauterbraunnen. You can take a train into the crowded sites but then come back……walk a bit out of town, sit on a bench, take a deep breath and enjoy the incredible views!
We stayed in Wengen end of June to early July this past summer. Noticed crowds / packed trains the most on trains / transport and train stops back to Wengen after our days out hiking. Key is to take the first train/ gondola out (they are early! ) and be the first on the trails. Wengen itself didn’t feel suffocating - crowds you expect in summer but doable for us. The one day we went to Murren it felt much more crowded there. My feeling was many people - like us - were up and out early in Wengen on various area hikes and then trickled back late afternoon to relax and watch the sunset and have dinner .Quiet at night. Half board at our hotel was the best.
Unfortunately the world is well aware of the BO and it's being loved to death. Just do a quick search on Youtube ...
While the trains and cable cars can be very crowded, I’ve found that once off of those, everyone sort of spreads out and it doesn’t feel crowded. I prefer June for the wildflowers.
You can’t go wrong with either Wengen or Murren. Wengen is a little easier getting to and from as it’s just the quick train ride. The cable car up to Murren can often be very crowded, but it’s worth it for the views up there.
Start thinking about booking your hotel ASAP for the best prices.
The local transport companies are trying to adapt to the crowds by offering better services. Busses get trailers added to them at busy times, and this summer they also ran the Lauterbrunnen - Stechelberg service every 15 minutes. The Wengeralpbahn also runs extra trains at busy times.
The big bottleneck is drivers. So they are currently busy training more train drivers and more bus drivers, so that from about 2027 onwards everything in the BO will run on a 15 minute interval timetable during high season.
We are going in Sept 2026. I already have all my hotels booked for the 16 days. Booked directly with hotels. Lot of help on here and the FB Switzerland page. Were excited.
So they are currently busy training more train drivers and more bus
drivers, so that from about 2027 onwards everything in the BO will run
on a 15 minute interval timetable during high season.
That's great to hear!
I knew about the cable car, I wish I had known about the Lauterbrunnen - Stechelberg option since I would have gone up one and down the other
Phred's comment leads me to recommend the book "Walking in Switzerland's Berner Oberland" by Laurel Barton (who posts on this forum) and her husband Ric. She's great at explaining all the transportation options as well as the hikes.
