I was planning to take our kids to that infamous playground in Allmendhubel in 2 weeks time. Unfortunately , the funicular will be closed(accdg to their site) for maintenance.
Does this mean the whole area: playgrounds, restaurants, hotels etc.., are closed as well?
If not, how’s the hike up?
Thanks in advance
thunder,
As you've noted, the Mürren - Allmendhubel Funicular will be closed for maintenance from 15 October to 14 December. I suspect the playground will follow the same schedule as there will be virtually no visitors if the Funicular is not running.
I've only hiked down from Allmendhubel, which as I recall took at least two hours. Hiking up will of course take longer, and hiking up and then back is not something I'd want to do with kids.
Are you going to be staying in Mürren? I'd suggest asking the staff at your hotel, as they'll be able to provide the best advice on the playground.
We are staying at the Lauterbrunnen, it’s unfortunate that we will miss the funicular just by one day.. Guess, I’ll take your advice of aborting the round trip hike.
As everything in Switzerland follows a precise schedule, there will likely be no delays in the maintenance. However I'd still recommend having a chat with the staff at your hotel, as they may know an easier route to Allmendhubel than the one I used.
How old are the kids?
I would ask your hotel if the playground and Children's Adventure trail are open. It is worth the hike up. The elevation difference is 885 feet and we did it by the shortest route from Mürren in about an hour (we are experienced hikers). My 6-year-old grandchildren could have hiked with us, but to save time, and because it was free on the Swiss Pass, they rode up with their parents. After playing in the playground, they took the Adventure Trail (mainly a series of slides) back down with their parents, and had a great time.
I believe there is a nice playground in Wengen as well, and a funnplaybstructure (huge cow with a slide built in) up at Männlichen (take the cablecar up and down).
The funicular was closed during our stay in June. I was really sad since my kids were really enjoying all the Swiss playgrounds (Mannlichen and WInteregg are great also). So... we hiked up. It took an hour. It was challenging. We went up a fairly boring way from the train station end of Murren and came back via the "adventure trail" to the Shilthorn cable car end of Murren.
Playground was "open" - how do you close a playground? And the restaurant was open. It was just really quiet up there!
Whole area = playground, flower trail, connections to hiking trails, restaurant. No hotel up there.
My kids ages are 8,9 & 11, i showed them a YT video of the playground prior to learning that the funicular would be closed (or perhaps the whole area) for our visit, needless to say, their eyes lit up and are looking forward to it. Now i have to deal with alternatives.
Speaking of challenging, is it the kind of “sweat inducing, knee busting” hike?
