Gimmelwald lodging

Gimmelwald is a bit too tiny, in my opinion. I'd stay in either Murren or Wengen.
What season is your trip?

Thanks. Thinking of September to beat large crowds and hike. I like the description of Gimmelwald as car free, rustic, non touristy, and the most spectacular scenery. If we switched to Murren, where would you suggest we stay?

You are actually late to be booking for September. Look on booking.com for availability, then contact the available hotels directly for the best rates. Gimmelwald doesn't even have a grocery store. Murren is pretty much car-free, and I think Wengen is. Enjoy!

We stayed in Mürren in an apartment for a week in September 2023. It was wonderful, and with the BO pass we were able to travel all over the region. We did the walk to Gimmelwald and had a lunch there at the Mountain Hostel-great-but felt the village was really small for an overnight stay for us. We really loved Mürren and it was the first place we revisited on our recent tour.

Just a heads up-between Sept. 8-13 on our trip, weather went from 74 and sunny to a steady drop in temps, rain, clouds, and a surprise snowfall of 5 inches on the last day-which was early according to the locals. It was a wild week. We still traveled all over, thanks to our pass, but several trips were through clouds and snow, with no visibility. We had layers and all was well-it was an adventure!

Recently we stayed in the Hotel Staubbach in Lauterbrunnen with our My Way tour. I’d highly recommend that hotel, and being in the valley saved some time for traveling, as from Mürren we had several connections to get to Wengen and beyond, for example. Both choices were delightful-I love that part of the world!

Laurie

Thank you so much! Helpful information. Rick Steves has never steered us wrong, so I wonder why he recommends Gimmelwald.

There is nothing wrong with staying in Gimmelwald. It’s all the things you described and it’s just as easy to explore the region from there as from Mürren, except for that with the new cable car directly to Mürren now the Gimmelwald cable car only runs every 30 minutes, instead of every 15 like it used to. Yes, you have to go elsewhere for groceries and shopping, but if you want to truly get away from it all and love moderate level hiking, Gimmelwald is lovely.

There isn’t much for lodging there, but look into the Pension & the b&bs Esther’s Guesthouse and Ollie & Maria’s. Ollie’s has the best views and peaceful outdoor space, the Pension & Esther’s get the best reviews.

If your intention is to explore the region every day, then I recommend Wengen as the best combo of views and convenience for day trips.

Gimmelwald has a population of 100, it is very small and not as convenient to access. I think that for RS it is a nostalgic place from his childhood - I personally think that if he had just come upon it with no previous emotional ties, he would not recommend it as a great location for overnight stays.

The mountain views are very beautiful - you see the same mountains as in Mürren, only Gimmelwald is at a lower altitude, and therefore some of the mountains are hidden from view. The Jungfrau, for example, cannot be seen from Gimmelwald.

You can read about the hiking trails on their website.

https://gimmelwald.ch/?page_id=83&lang=en

There are some hikes that are easier, but many are difficult. Take note of this as there was recently a trip report posted from someone who did one of the hikes in the area. Apparently they had read about the hike on this forum and found it to be more difficult and dangerous than described. Everyone has their own ideas of 'easy' or 'difficult' hikes, that's why comparing opinions shared here with the ratings given by the tourism websites in the area are always a good idea. The Gimmelwald website describes that hike as “difficult, good physical condition required, only for experienced mountain hikers”.

If you are interested you can read their trip report. They did not stay in Gimmelwald, but spent a bit of time there:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/switzerland-trip-report-rick-steves-sighting

" If we switched to Murren, where would you suggest we stay?"
We stayed at hotel alpina in Murren. Just wonderful (tiny rooms but oh oh that view!).
You are asking about this September? Yikes, you may be hostage to "what's available"... Best of luck!
https://alpinamuerren.ch/en

Thank you to everyone who has given my feedback on my question. I wish I could reply directly to each of your posts in this thread, but I see that's against the rules.

Pat, I should have been more specific. I'm looking at September 2027, so hopefully that gives me enough time.

Laurie, thanks so much for sharing your experiences in Murren and Lauterbrunnen in September. I may rethink my idea of the last two weeks in September. I'm wondering if going in shoulder season significantly reduces crowds hiking and staying in the BO?

Wanderweg, I greatly appreciate your first-hand experience and advice. I was getting tangled up in reviews of Gimmelwald lodging!

SwissNomad, I think you may have hit it on the head regarding R.S.'s affinity for Gimmelwald. In addition, with Hotel Mittaghorn being closed, I'm less inclined to stay in Gimmelwald. Thanks for the Gimmelwald hiking website (why didn't I think of that? haha).

Joan, I will be sure to check out Hotel Alpina.

I'm now thinking my choice of a base in the OB needs to be informed by which day hikes I want to do. Convenience to trailheads seems key. I see R.S. "must sees" are the North Face Trail, the Mannlichen-Klein Scheidegg, and the Panorama Way Loop trail. All trails seem to need trains, cablecars, or other means besides my feet to get to trailheads from Gimmelwald, Murren, Wengen, or Lauterbrunnen. Please tell me if I should start a new topic, but now I'd like to know your favorite day hikes and trailhead access.

To really help you with that you need to share your physical fitness/hiking ability. There are many hikes directly from Gimmelwald, but without knowing what you're capable of it's not helpful to share them. In regards to Rick's "must dos", they aren't bad options by any means, but you're talking about 3 out of hundreds of options in the region. It's not necessary to focus on those to have an epic trip.

Are you hikers or just want scenic walks? What type of distance and elevation gain/loss can you do?

Hi Wanderweg,
Some strolls would be nice, but also actual hikes. We are athletic people in our mid-60s. We would want some easy and some moderate hikes. We would throw in one, two, or maybe three difficults, especially if they are spectacular. I'd say 3-6 miles generally, with a few longer hikes. This great site for Gimmelwald hikes was already shared, and was super helpful: https://gimmelwald.ch/?page_id=83&lang=en

I cannot find a similar site for Murren or Lauterbrunnen. Their tourism sites seem to be glitching. I'm tempted to not stay in Wengen since R.S. doesn't include it in his Switzerland guidebook.

Here is where you find hiking info for Mürren, also has the status of the trail - good to know if your route happens to be closed for some reason.

https://muerren.swiss/en/maps/summer-maps/hikes.html#area=60825263&cat=Hiking%20Trail&filter=r-fullyTranslatedLangus-,r-openState-,sb-sortedBy-0&q=Mürren%20(Switzerland)&wt=Mürren%20(Switzerland)%0A60825263&zc=12.,7.85505,46.55083

Sorry for the long link - you can just google ‘hiking Mürren’. The muerren.swiss website is the tourist one, same with wengen.swiss.

https://wengen.swiss/en/destination/about-wengen/hikes.html

They include some good information regarding hiking preparation. Most accidents happen because people overestimate their ability and underestimate the trail.

Easy walks in Wengen can be found here:

https://wengen.swiss/en/destination/about-wengen/hikes.html

In Switzerland the two broad classification of trails that most people are capable of hiking are the Wanderweg (marked with yellow signs) and the Bergwanderweg (white/red/white stripe) the second category requires a person to be sure footed, have good physical fitness, the routes are often steeper, narrower and you might encounter rough terrain. You need to have a good head for heights.

All directional signs will show you the classification, and along the hike there will either be yellow rhombus or red/white/red stripes painted on rocks, etc.

Good to know for yourselves is how much ascent/descent is comfortable for you. You can test that at home if you are not sure, it will help you choose suitable hikes. These websites will also have an elevation profile so you can see if there are really steep sections vs a slow incline.

Starting a new thread can be helpful, if you don't get enough hiking recommendations here - that way you can get a variety of perspectives.

I am in my early 60's, hike often, live in Switzerland so I am pretty used to the kinds of hikes/terrain in the area. I usually hike alone, and that also influences my route choices.

I prefer a mix of up and downhill, definitely do not like only downhill because - hard on the knees and also much easier to make a misstep going downhill. I also wear hiking shoes or boots because the tread helps a lot, even on an easier hike since these are often along farm roads with loose gravel. It is very easy to loose your footing on downhill sections of loose gravel.

I almost always use hiking poles as they give my arms some exercise, provide stability when needed - especially on loose gravel during downhill sections, can help to lighten the load of my backpack when it is heavy and help to set a rhythm.

Hikes I like:

• Grütschalp - Mürren - an easy walk, very scenic, benches along the way, best views closer to the Grütschalp end.
• Mountain View Trail - similar route, higher elevation, more like a hike than a walk (ie. if done in this direction suggested on the Mürren website you will get a sweat going during the uphill climb at the beginning. First you go up through the forest, then it flattens out and you also have wide, sweeping views. You will probably encounter cows roaming at large. Keep an eye out for the neon green signs showing a drawing of a mother cow with her calf - if these are up you have to be aware that you do not walk between them - the moms can get quite upset at this.
• Northface Trail - again I like to do it in the more uphill direction, as described on the Mürren website. I love the feeling of climbing up and the joy of 'making it to the top' in a way...kind of a reward for my hard work. This hike has less elevation gain than the previous one, but a higher difficulty rating. Many tourists like to hike in the opposite direction, so mostly downhill.

Thank you so much, SwissNomad! Great information and links. I definitely plan to bring my hiking boots. I've always eschewed hiking poles, but it sounds like time to get over that, haha. I know we can pretty easily do a 2000 foot elevation change, though we're more concerned about altitude. We live and do most of our hikes from sea level. We will start with easy walks/hikes to acclimate. Do you also have a good link for hikes out of Lauterbrunnen?

If you have time to venture further out of Murren/ Wengen two of our favorites were schynigge platte (we did that one twice in a week) and the Eiger trail. We were in Wengen for a week so had time to do hikes in various areas - plus the weather cooperated-
(I looked at earth trekker’s web site for recommendations that helped as a resource particularly where to start and end the Eiger trail .)
We are athletic 50s/60s and enjoy moderate and moderately difficult hikes.

Thanks mggtravel! I have also read elsewhere that these two trails are good, so good to hear it from real people. 😁

Jenny,

I've stayed in Gimmelwald in the past and quite enjoyed my time there. I stayed at the Pension Gimmelwald and found the room very clean and comfortable and the food was wonderful. I believe some of their rooms have ensuite facilities. I had a look at the Mountain Hostel and the facilities there were clean and well appointed. I haven't stayed at Esther's Guesthouse but the rooms on the front should provide some good views towards Wengen. As it's a smaller community, I found Gimmelwald to be a bit more of an informal and relaxed atmosphere. It's easy to take the cable car up to Mürren for dinner and then walk back down the paved trail to Gimmelwald.

I've stayed in Lauterbrunnen the last few times as it was the most central location and the most convenient for transportation to both sides of the valley.

You might have a look at this book for good hiking suggestions in that area - https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Switzerlands-Berner-Oberland-Jungfrau/dp/B0DS2473XB .

I've always eschewed hiking poles, but it sounds like time to get over
that, haha.

They are extremely popular here, so at least you won’t be alone in using them if you choose to do so.

I know we can pretty easily do a 2000 foot elevation change, though
we're more concerned about altitude.

Great! This will give you more options to choose from, and the more difficult hikes generally have fewer people on them - an added bonus! I still feel the altitude when I go up to the mountains from the area in which I live (437 m/1,434 ft), but I think you will adapt quickly. I usually just have to remind myself to start out at a bit slower pace than usual, when I forget and start marching along at my regular pace my heart and lungs will quickly remind me that this is a bad idea. :-)

Do you also have a good link for hikes out of Lauterbrunnen?

Take a look at lauterbrunnen.swiss, but since Lauterbrunnen is on the valley floor there are not a lot of options. You can walk to Stechelberg and enjoy all of the waterfalls along the way. You can hike up to Wengen or Mürren, of course, but the one time that I did that I was a little mad at myself for using up all that energy when I could have taken the train or gondola up and then had better starting point from which I could do a much more scenic hike.

One more thing I will share are the Swiss based hiking apps.

Swisstopo

Choose ‘hiking’ and then under routes ‘hiking trails’. Now you will see a map of Switzerland with all of the hiking trails. If you zoom into the Lauterbrunnen Valley area you will see lots of red lines - Bergwanderweg, and yellow lines - Wanderweg. There are loads and loads of them. Far more than are actually listed as hikes on the various village websites.

There are many areas in the Berner Oberland where I just follow along any one of these yellow lines. Not saying that you should do that on your visit, but it is good to get an idea of just how many of them there are. Hiking is a big deal here!

Also great in this app is that you can look at the mountain panorama to see what mountains you are looking at. Symbol in the top left.

SwitzerlandMobility (SchweizMobil) is the app that I actually use while hiking or cycling. Same mapping system as described above and includes a lot of hikes with photos at the exact locations along the way.

It will show you closures and detours, bus stops along the way, if any, and provides a link to the SBB imetable for that exact stop.

Lots of hikes are listed here with good descriptions and photos of exact locations. Not that many of the Lauterbrunnen area hikes are on there though, but here are a few:

https://schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/route-351

And the Grütschalp - Mürren one is listed under their winter hikes

https://schweizmobil.ch/en/winter-hiking/route-711

And here is one on the Wengen side



https://schweizmobil.ch/en/hiking-in-switzerland/route-352

Thanks so much! Book recommendations, map apps, and websites are all really helpful.

This is a vote to keep your September timing. We visited in September, and one morning were awakened by the cows coming down from the high hills, clanging and dressed to the nines. We were only in Murren for 3 nights, and the fog was daunting. We hiked anyway, and although we did not see the magnificent views, it was spectacular fun going through all the gates (each one is different it seems) and hearing the cows before we could see them. Every now and then the fog would lift and we'd see the amazing landscapes. So, moral of the story: if you wake up to fog or drizzle, dress accordingly and go for it anyway! It will still be wonderful.
Happy planning!

I have stayed in Gimmelwald many times, mostly at Hotel Mittaghorn, which has been closed for quite awhile now. Supposedly it is being renovated and will reopen, but when I was just there in late May there did not seem to be any indication of that. The only other place in Gimmelwald I have stayed was at Esther's Guesthouse in 2016. I thought it was quite overpriced as there was no breakfast offered and there was only 1 shared bathroom for each floor. Stayed in Murren on my last 2 trips (2024 & 2026) and enjoyed it even more than Gimmelwald. There were many more options for hotels and restaurants and oh, those mountains are so close! And it is an easy walk down to Gimmelwald.