Changes afoot in Wengen

interesting. one wonders if it is good or bad news or some of each

Nigel, I think some of each. Certainly positive for local employment, although with ownership of two of the hotels in France, the profits will leave the area. The Palace remains local and is one of those grand old places.

Bad news as more tour groups descend on the village. Those big hotels attract myriad large groups. The sweet character of the village will certainly change. We have found Lauterbrunnen to have changed so much during the 11+ years we've been going there. The traffic is horrible. At least Wengen will not have personal vehicles.

We have found Lauterbrunnen to have changed so much during the 11+ years we've been going there. The traffic is horrible

Laurel, we last visited Lauterbrunnen in June 2018, and will be there in July this year. The horrible traffic that you mention, is it cars and tour buses or foot traffic? And assuming most of these people are not staying in Lauterbrunnen because of limited hotel capacity, do you think they are visiting just to see the sights around Lauterbrunnen?

We've been coming to the Jungfrau region since 2010. It retained most of it's relaxed charm through 2019 and post COVID it feels very different. There is massive crowding at the train & cable car stations and on the boats (particularly Lauterbrunnen train station, Lauterbrunnen to Grutschalp cable car, Stechelberg to Schilthorn cable car, Interlaken to Grindelwald train, Grindewald First, Harder Kulm, the boats on Lake Brienz/Lake Thun & Jungfraujoch) --- so basically everywhere except the hiking trails. Lauterbrunnen village is overrun with car traffic. Mostly day trippers finding it necessary to drive through Lauterbrunnen Valley, which is really frustrating, as they create dangerous situations for pedestrians and congest the area for no good reason. Personally I don't love the move towards more and more hotels, tour groups, etc. in the area but also understand why businesses are drawn towards the expansion. We can only hope that they continue to take measures to retain the charm of the area. My hope is that one day they close off the Lauterbrunnen Valley to car traffic for non-residents. But the owners of the Schilthorn will fight that solution to the death.

Wanderweg nailed it: Our experience, exactly. Still good in the trails, awful in the stations. We did find mid-to-late May to be a decent time with respect to crowds, but of course then a lot of high trails are still not open. Mid-to-late October has also been less insane in the village but of course some things are shutting down and the weather can be iffy.