Gondola (and train?) from Lauterbrunnen to Murren - Luggage

Of course there is, albeit it may be a little tight depending on your spot in the queue to get on. There is more space going the Stechelberg way the bus is more roomy and never as crowded as the train. That train is too small and you have to be able to lift the bag up the trains steps; more tourists tend to go via Grutschalp since it is right next to the Lauterbrunnen train station . There is usually a queue and the gondola leaves when it is full.

Those are the only ways to get to Muerren, so everybody else seems to manage to get their luggage to their hotels, why not you?

If you take the Lauterbrunnen - Grutschalp - Mürren route you can hand over your luggage at the cable car station and it gets transported to Mürren for you. That cable care has as special system with cargo platforms that are suspended from it, and then get transferred to the trains at Grütschalp. It is interesting to watch.

The trains are new as of this year btw, and are a lot roomier. There is now place for wheelchairs etc...

The Cable care from Stechelberg to Mürren is new too, and that one is quite spectacular. That one can also transport freight and luggage in containers, so there too you can hand in your luggage at the valley station. But you will be having it with you on the bus.

One last tip: Make sure you buy a through ticket from wherever you start your trip to Mürren. Every day I see people get of the train in Lauterbrunnen and then go and queue up for cable car tickets. There is no need to waste your time on that. Just get the whole trip on one ticket.

read carefully what WengenK wrote just above. If you can't easily handle your luggage on the cable car and/or little train just give to the staff who will give it back to you when you arrive at Mürren. No extra charge.

If you can't easily handle your luggage on the cable car and/or little
train just give to the staff who will give it back to you when you
arrive at Mürren. No extra charge.

Keep in mind that there is not always staff available to hand your luggage to. When I was there last June, there was no one around at the cable car station to hand my luggage to. It was crowded. So, instead of waiting and losing my place in line, I just took my suitcase myself on the cable car and train.

The OP will be on a Rick Steves tour.

I did this tour last year, and we placed our luggage into cages that were rolled onto the cable car. Not a problem.

@LIZinPA wrote

The OP will be on a Rick Steves tour.

I did this tour last year, and we placed our luggage into cages that
were rolled onto the cable car. Not a problem.

Can you tell me, since you were on the tour, did you go via the 'second option' - coach to Stechelberg, then Gondola to Murren?

We don't mind handling our luggage ourselves, my question is only about space being available (we are riding some of the scenic trains before / after the tour and have read about possible challenges on space). However, it sounds like we will be taking our luggage from the tour coach and putting it into special cages, so that sounds great!

Thanks!
PS - just out of curiosity - what would you say is the average age of the tour group?

Yes, our coach went to Stechelberg where we transferred to the cable car. There was another group in line, and not all of our group fit, but they run frequently and some people and most of the luggage came on the next trip. There is really nothing to be concerned about.
After the tour ended in Bern, I stayed in Wengen for 3 days, traveling by train. I couldn't believe the huge size of bags that some people were dragging on! The aisles were often blocked.

The majority of people on all RS tours tend to be retirement age or near, but there are always some younger people.

This is a Rick Steves Tour and I am sure you have read this stipulation.

Carry or roll your own luggage for up to 15 minutes over uneven pavement from the bus to the hotel (not applicable on 7-day city tours), then haul it up a few flights of stairs to reach your room.

So you should be packing light to begin with.

I have never had a problem storing even large luggage on Swiss trains.

As someone already mentioned, you’re on Rick Steves tour, you won’t have to worry about how to get from the valley floor up to Murren. The trams are rather large, if you’re worried about anything it should be making sure you’re in shape and capable of getting a ‘large piece of luggage’ up the hill from the tram station to your hotel. We took this tour a number of years ago and were responsible for pulling our own bags. It was a bit of a walk with one couple not too pleased about it. There is a reason that the RS tour group stresses packing light!

There is a new cable car that goes directly to Mürren, so things aren't like they were last year. (And we don't call these "trams" either).

in the past luggage went via a separate freight cable car. Now it goes in containers underneath.

chris,

I've found that taking the cable car to Grütschalp and then the small mountain railway to Mürren is a bit easier, but either route will get you there. The cable car to Grütshalp is right across from the rail station, so all you have to do is walk across the street. As I recall, the gondola is large enough to easily handle luggage. When you arrive at the top, walk out of the station and board the small mountain railway, which will be waiting. If you want to take the Grütshalp route, you need to specify "Mürren BLM" when you buy the tickets.

Once you arrive there, the layout of the different transport options will be apparent. The ride on the cable car from Stechelberg will likely be more "spectacular". The gondolas are very large and capable of handling heavier loads. On one of my visits there, I boarded the gondola in Stechelberg and found a large concrete hopper inside the car.

*The train from Grutschalp to Mürren is now handicap accessible and twice as large as it was, so some of the statements above are outdated.

*The new cable car from Stechelberg to Mürren requires you to “check” your luggage and pay for the service. You can have a carry on with you, but additional bags are checked.

*The luggage service via Grutschalp you have to know to ask for and they don’t always do it depending on how busy things are, if they’re already hauling cargo, etc. You can certainly ask though.

The new cable car from Stechelberg to Mürren requires you to “check”
your luggage and pay for the service. You can have a carry on with
you, but additional bags are checked.

Wow!! This sounds like it might slow down the boarding process.

From the pictures, it looks like you can carry on a big suitcase yourself with no fee. Otherwise, it’s CHF 3.00 per piece or CHF 10.00 for a trolley.

https://schilthorn.ch/en/Infos/Arrival

Ya, I'll be curious to see how the luggage thing goes in Stechelberg. I think the average person probably just has 1 piece of luggage plus a backpack, which you then wouldn't have to check, but for people coming in with a lot of luggage it's an additional step.