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Finalising my itinerary for Murren in July

Could you please help me finalize my itinerary for Murren in July?

Day 0: Arrive
Day 1: Schilthorn observation deck AND Murren to Gimmelwald Hike
Day 2: Männlichen – Kleine Scheidegg Panorama Trail
Day 3: North Face Trail (Murren > Murren)
Day 4: First to Schynige Platte trail
Day 5: Depart to the Dolomites

Questions
-Would you replace/change any activities?
-Should I do Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn, bearing in mind I want to do a hike that day, too?
-I'm secretly planning on proposing to my girlfriend. Any recommendations on scenic spots where I can do this in private?

Posted by
74 posts

We actually did the same exact itinerary when we went in September and it worked out perfectly. I would do Schilthorn if you plan to hike the same day since Jungfraujoch I heard takes a whole day. On all the trails are perfect places to propose to your girlfriend. The first to Schynige trail had the most scenic spots for a proposal If the weather is nice but anywhere your going will be scenic for a proposal. One note make sure you start very early for the hike from first to Schynige since it takes a while to actually get to the trail and get home from the trail. I believe the hike takes about 5 to 6 hours.

Posted by
399 posts

I have done each hike/excursion multiple times and they are all wonderful. I would recommend that you don’t tie yourself to that exact itinerary though. For example, what if day #1 is raining hard? No point in heading up to the Schilthorn on that day, instead, switch things around and be flexible.

If you happen to hike from Murren down to Gimmelwald on a rainy day (sans Schilthorn), take the lift down to the valley from Gimmelwald, walk adjacent to the river into Lauterbrunnen. Lovely valley floor hike, rain or shine. Allow an hour to side step to Trümmelbach Falls. Congrats.

Posted by
37 posts

Thank you both. It bodes well that you have both done these trails and you had the exact same itinerary, Adam :)

May I ask, since you both have done all of these, which would you say is your least favourite/scenic? In other words, which should I save for the rainy day? Everyone seems to speak very highly of the North Face Trail.

Posted by
74 posts

That’s a very tough call, we were lucky enough to have sunny days everyday so all the hikes were beautiful. I can say our favorite and most rewarding hike was the First to Schynige Platte trail. But the other two were just as beautiful, they all had different view points of the alps.

Posted by
399 posts

"May I ask, since you both have done all of these, which would you say is your least favourite/scenic?"

The entire region is beautiful. I have been there 3 times in the last 4 years and what amazes me is the variety of landscapes between the various hikes. In pure beauty, I guess I would vote for the Mannlichen-Kleine Schleidegg trail, with one caveat. Go early in the morning. As beautiful that trail is, by 930AM, it becomes very popular with hikers and it takes away from the beauty. If you want to feel alone with your girlfriend/fiancee and are looking for the hike where you can privately propose, that would be various sections of the North Face trail or the trail from Murren down to Gimmelwald. A stop off at the water fall between there is lovely and each time I have done those hikes, we run into much less people. You have the typical Alps scenery but then your hike takes you through a pretty dense forest as you come down into Gimmelwald. Conversely, the hiking from First to Schynige Platte (consider seeing Lake Bachalpsee from First as well) takes on a more dry, almost plateau landscape with Alps and lakes in the distance. Each of your hikes will most likely take much longer than you think as you will stop and take in the views throughout.

To your question on rainy days, more specifically, I find that I tend to hike the valley from the lift station below Gimmelwald next to the river into Lauterbrunnen as one of my go to rainy day options. Or, consider heading into Interlaken and take that town in a bit along with some boat rides on either of the lakes. Also, be prepared for rain every day, even if the sky is a crisp blue in the morning. The weather is very variable there.

Posted by
768 posts

You're getting good advice about rain/clouds and being flexible on what you do which day.
My rule of thumb is, do Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg on the first sunny day, because it has vistas in all directions.
Also, that's where I would propose. There's 2 good places. One is what I call the Mannlichen overlook, which is a hill 15 min walk to the North of the cable car station. (North is toward Interlaken.) The other is a single sitting bench about 2/3rds of the way to Kleine Sch., off to your left with a great view of Grindelwald in the valley. (The whole hike is about 1.5 hrs.)

Not only would I propose at that bench, but then wait for passers-by to take a picture with your camera of you two re-enacting it with that Great view of Grindelwald in the distance

If you want to see what this hike and others look like, click on my name and you'll find a link to our dozen favorite trails in the area, with maps and pics.

Posted by
37 posts

Thanks, everyone!

I was actually thinking of asking the question during a picnic off the beaten path a bit? Do you know if there are any areas like that near your suggestions?

I'm happy to hear that my itinerary is a good one! All my hours of research have not gone to waste!

Posted by
37 posts

Thanks, Shoe. Just spent the last half an hour on your great website. I really like the look of Spielbodenalp!

I'm actually picturing popping the question while having a picnic off the beaten path. Can you suggest anywhere with that in mind? It doesn't even have to be the most scenic spot. Just somewhere green, private and, hey, a couple of cows grazing nearby would be lovely :)

Is there a particular hike where a picnic would work best?

Posted by
64 posts

I would suggest Gimmelwald to Chilchbalm and back to Gimmelwald hike. We did this last August. We were staying in Murren, we woke up early and looked at the weather. We were on the second car up to the Schilthorn, where we spent almost 2 hours at the top, the James Bond story was interesting even though we aren't big 007 fans. When it started to get busy, we took the gondola down to Gimmelwald. We had snacks and water and hiked to Chilchbalm. So beautiful and when you reach the top it opens up into the most beautiful valley with waterfalls, like a big bowl. We saw about 10 people on the hike, there were about 10 people at the top, so very private for any proposals. It was a weekday when we did this, weekends may be more busy? We hiked back to Gimmelwald and we were drinking a beer by 3pm and we didn't rush at all. A lot of the trail is shaded so nice on a sunny day.

FYI we found that the other side of the valley, Wengen, Grindelwald, etc was more crowded on every trail that we hiked. The Murren, Gimmelwald, Lauterbrunnen trails were considerably less crowded.

https://suesohn.weebly.com/gimmelwald---chilchbalm---gimmelwald.html

Good luck and enjoy!