First time in Switzerland-Best base Bernese Oberland

Lauterbrunnen is the hub, and with Murren also overrun with visitors, Wengen likely would make the best base since you “hate crowds” and Wengen gives faster access to Lauterbrunnen than Murren does. You also could split your time between Wengen and Murren if you’ll be there for six nights or longer

Without knowing how long you’ll be in Switzerland, and all the mountain excursions you intend to take while in Lucerne—there’s not enough information to figure out what passes will work best.

Since it’s more time-efficient, you might want to go to the Berner Oberland following Milan and then go to Lucerne. Lucerne has one-hour trains traveling directly to Zurich’s airport.

I would recommend at least 5 nights in Wengen. Keep in mind that weather will dictate what you do, and the views you see, so be flexible with your plans. If you have more nights, that is better. We were there in late June and had some rain on 5 of 6 days. Only one clear day at Jungfraujoch, so we went on the first train. It’s a complete waste on a cloudy day, so watch the webcams and go to Schilthorn only if the weather is good.

Look at either the Jungfrau pass or Berner Oberland pass, possibly in combination with a Half Fare Card.

We prefer to use Wengen as a hub.

I didn’t find Murren to be overrun by tourists. The view from the Hotel Edelweiss was amazing. I would recommend Murren, Lauterbrunnen, or Wengen as a home base. There is a campground in Lauterbrunnen that has small cabins. It is in the most picturesque part of Lauterbrunnen. You might want to google it and check out their website. It could be a fun place to stay.

Just to prepare you for reality, Lake Como, Luzern and the Jungfrau Region are all going to have crowds. Not once you get off the beaten path on hikes, but in the train stations, main streets and popular attractions, there will definitely be crowds. September is slightly better than July, but even up through middle of September there will be lines out the door for the cable car up to Murren on a nice day and standing room only on the train to Grindelwald. I've done the walk from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg many times. The first time I walked it in 2010, we had the trail practically to ourselves. Summer 2025, I walked it with hundreds of people. You basically all walk in a line and if you want to pass people, others will have to stop and push to the side, as it's a fairly thin trail. The cable car up to the Schilthorn will be filled to capacity. First Bachalpsee will have many people. If you want less crowds, you have to pick spots that aren't regularly coming up on forums & social media.

Aside from the crowds, to answer your question, you’d want 5 nights to accomplish your list. Wengen is a good centralized base. Prioritize a southern facing balcony and don’t get too far downhill from the train station.

1 day - Wengen > Männlichen > Kleine Scheidegg > Wengen

1 day - Wengen > Lauterbrunnen > Stechelberg > Schilthorn > Birg Thrill Walk > Murren > walk down to Gimmelwald > Stechelberg > Lauterbrunnen > Murren

1 day - Wengen > Lauterbrunnen > walk or bus the valley in the morning + stop at Trummelbach Falls > Murren > Allmendhubel > Northface hike counterclockwise in the afternoon back to Murren > Grutschalp > Lauterbrunnen > Wengen

1 day - Wengen > Grindelwald (via Mannlichen or Zweilutchinen) > Grindelwald First > Bachalpsee > Grindelwald > Wengen

Most people have a favourite home base in the Berner Oberland, and my usual preference is Lauterbrunnen. It's the transportation hub for that area, so it's easy to reach both sides of the valley from there. One concern that's sometimes mentioned with staying there is that it's in the valley and doesn't have the same spectacular views as some of the higher locations. I've found that I'm out of my hotel room most of the day touring in those same higher locations, and I'm only in my hotel room to eat and sleep, so I'm not missing much. .

I think you're referring to Gimmelwald. It's just downhill from Mürren and not so much of a hike as a "stroll". As I recall the path down the hill is all paved and it's about a 25 minute walk. You can return to your home base using the cable car.

If you don't already have one, planning your touring with the Rick Steves Switzerland guidebook would be good idea. You might also get some good ideas from this book - https://www.amazon.ca/Walking-Switzerlands-Berner-Oberland-Jungfrau/dp/B0DS2473XB . I'm not much of a hiker so can't offer any personal information.

Wherever you decide to stay, I'd highly recommend booking early. The best plan is to say in one home base and day trip from there. Especially in that area, it doesn't make sense to be switching hotels every few nights. The Swiss transportation system is very efficient and it doesn't take long to get anywhere.

The question of passes is a bit complicated as which one to use depends to some extent on which places you'll be travelling to in that area. I've used a spreadsheet in the past to try and figure out the most cost effective option for the places I'd be visiting, but that's very time consuming. You might find this helpful - https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes . You could also have a look at.....

• https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/jungfrau-travel-pass/?srsltid=AfmBOopWxyMn0EkmfezDgA5Z1ALMK4v1scLFy89xqOiFfeBmH_K1dDxX
• https://www.berneseoberlandpass.ch/

Every time I go down to Lauterbrunnen I think the same thing: This could be a nice place if it wasn't for all the cars. We should really ban non local vehicles from the valleys completely. Would make it so much more agreeable.

Anyway, if you want to get away from the crowds, and do some interesting hikes you should not do those that you have listed, as those will all be full with tourists.

My favorite hikes are:
- Grütschalp to Lobhornhutte. Then down to Sulwald from there, where you can take take the cable car down to Isenfluh, and then the bus back to Lauterbrunnen.
- From Stechelberg south to Trachsellauenen, and from there you can do a nice circuit that actually has all the good waterfalls in the area...
- Stechelberg up to Gimmelwald via the Selfinental. There are some nice waterfalls there too, and even an old water powered sawmill.
- Wengen to Wengernalp via Biglenalp and Mettlenalp. Forrests, meadows, and some nice viewpoints.

If you are up for something a bit more challenging: Start at Burghlauenen, hik up to Spätenalp, where you can have a break and enjoy some local cheese, and then continue back to Wengen. First part is steep, the last part is rather easy.

Those are all great hikes suggested above, but should be noted that the average tourist would consider them moderate to moderate-difficult, as all are in the 1,500-4,500 ft of elevation gain range. Easy for locals or experienced hikers, but based on the original list shared by Alison, definitely not in the same sphere. For example, Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg is a walk, downhill, with next to no physical fitness required. Murren to Gimmelwald is a paved road walk, again all downhill. Not a hike at all. Northface and Bachalpsee are what I would consider the easy-moderate level for the average first time visitor. The great list provided by WengenK is a step above that :)

Our two favorites - and what I would consider moderate hikes - this summer were schynige platte panorama trail and eiger trail to alpiglen (you can get more info on this via the earth trekkers web site). Murren area wasn’t a favorite for us but I think it was especially crowded the day we went and it was also starting to rain which could’ve been a factor. Next time I want to spend more time hiking in the grindelwald valley / area.

We were the first ones on the trail in the morning to avoid crowds but there will still be a healthy amount of hikers particularly as the day goes on . We stayed in Wengen (recommend half board) a bit downhill from train station which to me isn’t a problem if you are physically fit.

Thanks WengenK, Wengen, Ken and mggtravel for all the trekking recommendations. I’m filing them for the future!