Is Grindelwald worth it?

After all that, I'd skip Grindelwald. We went for an afternoon. We encountered crowded streets and tour buses. Our experience.

The train ride is somewhere between 40 minutes and an hour between Gindelwald and Lauterbrunnen. I stayed in Lauterbrunnen Valley and I felt that side was prettier and less touristy. If you are just wanting to check it out, you might consider going for dinner in the evening or a late afternoon train ride. Grindelwald has more restaurants and shops. If you find yourself liking it you could take some portion of one of your days to go back.

It sounds like you are thinking of riding the train down to Grindelwald from Kleine Scheidegg, after the Männlichen hike. If so, you can walk through Grindelwald to the First gondola, and ride up to the top (First) for more great hiking.

An easy short walk will take you to the famous Bachalpsee, with beautiful reflections in the water of the peaks across the way.

https://www.travelcaffeine.com/hike-swiss-alps-bachalpsee-lake/

If you would like to walk farther, you can continue on to the Berghotel perched atop the Faulhorn for a late lunch or snack.

https://grindelwald.swiss/en/winter/product/page/mountain-hotel-faulhorn-1395/

This is the route of the famed Panoramaweg from Schynige Platte to First, but you will most likely be out of time and energy to complete the walk, so you could simply return to First (passing Bachalpsee for views in different light) and ride the gondola down to Grindelwald. Or rent a Trottibike ( mountain scooter) and head down that way.

There is also a zipline up at First, named the "First Flyer".

If it is dinnertime as you walk back through Grindelwald, there are some good options. Onkle Tom's Hütte is popular for pizza and salads, or there are nice restaurants in most of the hotels. We like dinner on the terrace at a place above town, near the Gleitschirm landing place. You can watch the paragliders land and then stop in for a post-flight beer. This restaurant has a table on the terrace reserved just for them. I will try and remember the name if you are interested.

yes Lola that sounds great!

It is Hotel Bodmi.

https://www.bodmi.ch

I remembered the name as soon as I opened this thread. Click on "gastronomy" and wait for the photo of the terrace. The inside restaurant looks very fancy, white tablecloths and all, but the terrace serves the same menu, and offers wonderful views.

Grindelwald tends to be more posh and upscale, with lots of stores, hotels, etc. If your main focus is to enjoy the spectacular scenery of the area, you'd probably get more enjoyment out of places other than Grindelwald.

I'm not much of a hiker, but I'm sure others in the group can suggest great hiking locations. One important point to mention about Paragliding is that most travel medical insurance policies do not cover "extreme sports". I checked the website of one paragliding operator and one clause in their contract states "The participants have unlimited insurance cover for treatment costs in Switzerland as a result of an accident", but I'm not sure if all operators have that. Should you be injured while doing that, you'd be on your own for medical costs. It's a very safe and well regulated activity so it's not likely there would be a problem, but still something to be aware of.

Grindlewald has some great hikes which start or pass through there. And it has at least one restaurant with a great view of the Eiger's North Face. On a clear day you can probably see some fools trying to climb it. Other than that, Grindlewald has the same thing the other alpine towns in the area have, except with a lot more people, cars, and buses.

The Mannlichen gondola is going out of service after this Spring as it is reconstructed together with the new cable car to Eigerglastcher.

Oh no! Do you know how I would get from there then from Wengen?

If you like classic hotels, consider spending a night at Hotel Bellevue des Alpes at Kleine Scheidegg (where the characters stayed in The Eiger Sanction). The bustling area becomes quiet after the last train departs; all that is left are cowbells.

Actually, the Wengen to Mannlichen cable car is not affected, which most people use for the mannlichen kleine scheidegg hike. Its the mannlichen grindelwald gondola which is being replaced this year.