Berner Oberland Itinerary questions

The weather is USUALLY better in the mornings for the summits. You can hike when the peaks are hidden by the clouds.
Perhaps eat breakfast at the revolving restaurant at the Schilthorn?
Make sure you get a timed ticket for the Jungfraujoch, I think it's 5 CHF more per person. The upper connections have special lines for the timed tickets, and you may not get on the first train that arrives, or get a seat without a timed reservation..
It would be ideal to have another day on the BO, due to the temperamental mountain weather. Consider yourself lucky if one peak is clear on your visit. However, even on cloudy days, the BO is special and hiking is great!
Safe travels!

I'm struggling with similar plans as your day 2 so will be interested in the answers. By all accounts, the hiking from Mannlichen to Kleine Shiedegg has better views than the reverse, but there's a better chance of Jungfraujoch having clear weather if it's visited first. One might consider the weather in the morning and heading to Jungfraujoch first if it is clear, and otherwise re-evaluating after the hike to KS, but the recommendation for advance reservations also makes that a complicated plan.

The timed tickets can usually be bought the day before, when you should have a good idea of what weather to expect. Timed tickets are not required, however, just a convenience.

My first thought is, do you need to do both Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch? We just went up to Schilthorn. My favorite part of my trip was walking around Mannlichen with all the cows. And we had a nice time in Gimmelwald too. I much prefer walking at these lower elevations than the trips up the big mountains, just to look around and come back down. I also really liked walking down in Lauterbrunnen. If it was me, with such limited time, I would pick just one of the big mountains.

I would be too nervous being further way than Lucerne for my last night to get to the airport. The Swiss trains are reliable, but we did have a couple that were cancelled on us when I was there in Sept. So, I would want to be closer. But, obviously, you hate to take away from your time in the Berner Oberland.

One question, IF the testing requirement for the US is still in place, is how do you plan to test? There wasn't much available last Sept in the BO. You would need to bring the proctored self-test, which isn't a problem, as they are user-friendly. But testing MAY be a consideration for which to plan.

I would keep your itinerary open and determine the plan for the day when you wake up. There are live cameras on the mountain tops that can be used to determine if and which mountain you'd like to go up. I wouldn't purchase Jungfraujoch ahead. It's expensive and kind of pointless if the summit is fogged in. Mountain weather is often better in the morning.

I'm not sure, especially with your short time frame that I go to the top of both mountains. FYI, Historically, there has been a Schilthorn discount for Swiss Travel Pass holders. Another option is, if you can get up Schilthorn by the appointed time, breakfast is free or the ticket is discounted.

Hi All. Thank you so much for your feedback!
I guess I don't need to go to both peaks. I think if I had to choose 1, I would choose Jungfraujoch even though it's harder to get to and more expensive. I feel Jungfraujoch might be more unique with the glacier and ice palace. Do you all agree?

And, I guess if the weather is clear in the morning, I should book a timed ticket and head straight up. Don't do anything before. I feel like that is what I am hearing from you all.

So, can I do this in a day? Take a 7am train from Lauterbrunnen to Jungfraujoch. Enjoy 2 to 3.5 hours at Jungfraujoch. Take a train to Wengen, then the lift to Mannlichen, then hike to Kleine Scheidegg. Then, finally, a train from Kleine Scheidegg to Lauterbrunnen. Does that sound feasible in 1 day? Or too much?

I'm flying to Greece from Zurich, not the US. I'm not sure exactly the testing requirements, but I'll have to look into it. I am a bit nervous going from Lauterbrunnen to Zurich airport the morning of my flight, but since it's to Greece, I'm less nervous, as that flight it 4 times cheaper than the flight back to the US.

Thanks again for all of your feedback. I look forward to hearing your replies again!!!

I'd question the half day on arrival from Rome.

Looking on a random day in May the first train I see is the 07:20 arriving in Milano Centrale at 10:40, leaving on the train to Frankfurt at 11:20, arriving on that train at Spiez at 13:53, with a quick change to the train to Interlaken Ost (14:05 to 14:26), a quick hop over to the Lauterbrunnen train leaving at 14:35 (be sure to get in the correct half of the train or you wind up in Grindelwald) which arrives at Lauterbrunnen at 5 minutes to 3 (14:55). By the time you find your hotel and say hello it will be 3:30 after a 7 hour and 35 minute train journey. whew! I'd count what you might be able to accomplish in the remainder of the day as much less than half a day.

Had you found a faster train?

So, can I do this in a day?

Here’s what I learned about plans when I was in Switzerland last year: It’s great to have them, but you need to be flexible.

It’s possible you can get all that done in one day, but you might not be able to or you might decide you want to spend more time on Jungfraujoch. We ended up doing Schilthorn and Mannlichen in one day to take advantage of a nice sunny day. Later in our trip, we had to slow down because my sister hurt her knee. So, make plans, but be flexible. The Berner Oberland area is fabulous. So, even if you don’t get everything done on your list, it will still be a magical trip.

Nigel. That is the exact train I found. I guess it's not a half day in BO. We'll see how we feel. Maybe a trip up to Murren for dinner. Or dinner in Lauterbrunnen and a stroll around the valley and staubbach falls if we are up to it. Or head back to interlaken for a stroll around town. Wasn't planning too much for that time. Do you have any ideas for that time?

Carrie. Thank you for the feedback. It's very helpful! It's nice to know that you don't have to book everything far in advance. So many places these days need 90 day book ahead reservations. I guess when mother nature is involved, you have to work around her schedule ;-)

If you want to see Interlaken why not pop your bags in a locker at Interlaken West or Interlaken Ost and walk through the town before going up the hill instead of travelling down and back again? When you bail out your bags you can finish the journey. Your ticket will be valid on any train heading up the hill.

I think the direction of walk from West to Ost is better than the opposite but either direction works.

That's a great idea Nigel! Thank you! I think we will do that!

depending on the time, you could pop into the MMigros centre at Interlaken West or the Coop at Interlaken Ost to garner picnic supplies or have a simple cafeteria meal. Or as you walk through Interlaken gawking at the tourists from around the world - and a town 100 percent oriented towards them - and the extremely expensive Swiss watches etc., you could either pop into the McDonalds or stop at the Schue bakery for a snack. If you walk through on the main road you will all the old hotels and then the hang glider landing field (just past Schue) on the way to rejoin the river and Interlaken Ost.

It isn't much of a town but it serves as a jumping off point for tourists who don't know that the best thing to do is stay in the mountains. I even did it a couple of years before I realized the right way to go.

The little town of Unterseen just across the river from Interlaken West had a camera shop pre-covid and a restaurant, as well as tons of B&Bs and residence for the workers.

Before deciding if you really want to take the time to stop in Interlaken, I’d suggest watching a video to see if it interests you. I think Interlaken sounds more appealing than it really is. We had to go there to find a pharmacy and thought we would spend the day there. Once we were there, there was not much to see so we got what we needed the pharmacy, had a quick walk around, and headed back to Lauterbrunnen.

Video on Interlaken:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZGTsgExc4Y

Compare to Lauterbrunnen, where with your limited time, I would want to get to as soon as possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xqgW2Ha7kg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI3IH6KJjFY

Thanks guys. So much to consider. I just wish I had more time. Watching those videos made me wish I was staying in Murren. But, I just don't think I have enough time, and with my train travel, I think I need to be down on the valley floor. Anyway, thank you all so much for your help! I think we are just going to have to figure out what we want to do when we arrive. We will see how tired we are and decide. Thanks again everyone!!!

I wouldn’t feel bad about not staying in Murren. It is so easy to get to Murren and Wengen from Lauterbrunnen. You will be up there in no time. I stayed in Lauterbrunnen this past Sept. and loved it!!

I think it makes sense to have a list of things you’d like to see. Pick a couple of “must sees” and then have lots of “extras.” Once you’re there, depending on how you feel, time, interest, and weather, you can decide what you’d like to do. No matter what you do, it will be a fabulous trip. Enjoy!!!

Note that the last transit from Murren back down to the valley is at 19:58 (see jungfrau.ch). That kept us from eating dinner elsewhere when we stayed in Murren. Might impact your day planning. Transit takes 22 minutes + boarding. And I heartly agree that it is Mannlichten to KS, not the other direction and that way is downhill too. Planning to do it again this fall.

Thank you all so much for your help! I feel like I have a much better handle on this wonderful journey we are going to have.
Carrie. Your positive posts are really fantastic. Thank you so much!

It sounds like you have some great advice so far. We took our kids last summer and it was amazing to share one of my favorites places with them. I definitely recommend checking cameras before going up to any peaks. One morning in Murren it was very cloudy, so I figured the Schilthorn would be, too. The camera showed clear skies so we hustled up there and there was hardly anyone in the cable car or up at the peak. I prefer the Schilthorn experience to the Jungfrau. The North Face hike was one of our highlights, so I hope you can work that in. I’ll link my trip report in case you want more details.

Also, if you’d like to explore Murren or Gimmelwald in the evening, the Schilthornbahn cable car runs later—you’d take it to Stechelberg and then bus the short distance to Lauterbrunnen.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/italy-and-switzerland-trip-recap

In ‘16 my wife and spent 6 days in the BO and stayed in Lauterbrunnen. Like you we arrived in the afternoon (train arrived at 2:35 PM in Lauterbrunnen) from Frankfurt, Germany, We spent 8 hours on a train and wanted to stretch our legs. After checking in and dropping off our luggage what we did is we went straight to Wengen just to walk around to see the town. Granted we didn’t have a ton of time but it was nice to walk around, get a little lay of the land, and to stretch our legs after sitting for so long. So it wasn’t a half day but with the sun setting so late we did have a few hours to enjoy being outside.

We loved our time in the BO. We stayed at an apartment in Lauterbrunnen. We loved it! We had a patio and ate outside 3 of our 4 evenings. The other night we ate in Murren. We loved just being there. It was so beautiful. We went to Jungfraujoch and loved it! We had so much fun! We also did the Royal ride from Wengen to Mannlichen and that was wonderful! I highly recommend it! The hike to Kleine Scheidegg was fantastic! We did not go to Schilthorn as we were happy exploring Murren, Gimmelwald and other places and still had great views. We also went paragliding from Murren. That was wonderful! Thank you all for helping! Our trip to the BO was amazing and I'd love to go back!

For those who are curious about the Royal Ride, it means riding on the roof of the cablecar from Wengen up to Mannlichen. Looks pretty cool.

https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/summer/experiences/royal-ride.html