Hello All,
I will be traveling to Interlaken and would like to maximize my two days there. I have looked at some of the activity packages including Outdoor Interlaken Adventure Pass, Canyoning the Grimsel, Schilthorn Pass, etc and was wondering if anyone had suggestions on how to make the most of the time my fiancee and I will be spending there.
Thanks,
Brian
You can make better use of your time by traveling from Interlaken 20 minutes into the valley at Lauterbrunnen.
Do you have 3 nights so two full days? From Lauterbrunnen, you can spend one day going up on the Mürren side of the valley and one on the Wengen side. Do you like to hike?
My two perfect days there would be to spend 1/2 of one day hiking between Grutschalp (just above Lauterbrunnen) to Mürren. You can then decide, weather depending, to go up the Schilthorn in the gondola or walk down to Gimmelwlad then take a gondola to the valley floor and perhaps walk back to Lauterbrunnen on the valley floor. (There's also a Post bus if you are tired of walking.)
Day two I would take the hike above Wengen from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg train to gondola, gondola to top). Have lunch there looking at the Eiger, then walk down to Wengen and finally descend to Lauterbrunnen by train.
All of this is well explained in the Rick Steves' Switzerland guide. The book also has lots of advice on more adventurous activities, but by all means do NOT stay in Interlaken. Get up to the mountain valley. FYI, I like Lauterbrunnen as a base as then it is easy to go to both sides of the valley.
The first thing that would make the most difference would be - if your reservations are changeable - to not stay in Interlaken. Stay up in the mountains. Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, Wengen (maybe Gimmelwald). Then you see the mountains right in front of you, not off in the distance. Otherwise it is like staying in Williams if you want to see the Grand Canyon or in Denver if you want to see the Rockies.
Before I went to Switzerland, I used this forum for advice. I had planned to stay in Interlaken, and was strongly urged to stay at Lauterbrunnen/Murren/Wengen. I followed the advice, thank goodness. Not only were those areas amazing, but staying in Interlaken would have meant an extra hour or more of travel time every day.
YES YES YES! I'm so glad to see other people echoing the fact that you should bypass Interlaken and stay in Lauterbrunnen or one of the other surrounding alpine villages.
WHen you travel from Interlaken to see those amazing sights like the Schilthorn you'll travel right through the heart of Murren and you'll pass by all of the wonderful hotels and restaurants and scenery...and you'll wonder why you chose Interlaken instead.
I most definitely agree with the others - don't stay in Interlaken! Lauterbrunnen or Mürren would be a much better choice. As Laurel mentioned, the RS Switzerland guidebook would be an excellent resource. If you'll be travelling with a Kindle or iPad, you can download the E-book version.
I'm not sure if one of the Swiss Passes would save you any money, since you'll only be there for such a short time. Two nights only allows about 1.5 days for sightseeing, once travel times are included. Is there any possibility you could add some another day or two?
Add me to the stay in the mountains camp. I’ve yet to see someone suggest staying in Interlaken. Google images of both and decide for yourself.
Thank you everyone for the great council! I have taken the given advice and booked our stay in Lauterbrunnen! We are looking forward to exploring the region for a couple days and then heading down to Geneva, Lausanne, and finally back over to Milan. Again I truly appreciate the help and thanks for saving me from making the mistake of staying in Interlaken.
Brian
You did the right thing. It's not that Interlaken is bad - it's just that Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Wengen are SOOOOO much better!
