Landscape photographer and first time visitor to Switzerland/Murren/Wengen/Lauterbrunnen area

Posted by theresa on 06/08/23 11:18 PM

Hi-
My husband and I will be at Lake Como for a wedding, and plan to spend 4 or 5 days in Switzerland beforehand. I'm a landscaper photographer and we both like hiking and love the mountains, so this area seemed perfect. We love little villages, and beautiful vistas. Any recommendations on where to stay, places to hike, vistas not to miss (especially sunrise and sunset), would be great. It's a little overwhelming to start the process - even just understanding the train system and all the different passes.

We'd love a place with a view, but also access to hiking. Also, any other places you'd recommend? We're going in the second or third week of September. Definitely don't want to share a room at a hostel, but not a problem if we can get our own room.

Appreciate ANY information!! We went to the Dolomites in Italy a few years ago and absolutely loved it, so having a hard time deciding not to go back there, lol.

Thanks!
Theresa

Posted by Laurel

Forest Grove, OR

06/09/23 12:12 AM

11880 posts

Theresa,
Good choice of location, one of our top two hiking destinations in Europe. (The other is the Val Gardena in the Dolomites.)

Rick Steves’ Switzerland guidebook will help you a great deal. He lays out transportation very clearly and outlines some hikes, the great vistas.. You will be able to get lots of hiking ideas once you are there, too.

As to where to stay, the area is still very busy in September. Trying one hotel (or other option) at a time will be time consuming. Start with a booking engine like Booking.com but also look at https://chalet.myswitzerland.com/holiday-rentals/lauterbrunnen/ as some options may not be on sites like VRBO, Booking, etc.

Posted by theresa OP

06/09/23 01:44 PM

54 posts

Thanks for the information!! Will definitely check out that link. Also, we went to the Dolomites/Val Gardena/Cinque Torri a few years ago and absolutely loved it. So hard to not go there again, lol!!!

Posted by wanderweg

Nashville, TN

06/10/23 01:59 PM

732 posts

I’m a photographer and if you are able to hike with your camera some great views on these hikes. Most are easy to moderate. Birg to Murren is a decent amount of downhill but the ridge is epic.

-Oberberghorn Panorama Trail from Schynigge Platte
-North Face hike counterclockwise from Allmendhubel (best lighting in afternoon/sunset)
-Birg to Murren via Bryndlii (the ridge above Rotstockhutte) — Ride the Schilthornbahn to Birg and then walk down (there is also a little reflecting pond up there)
-Reflections in Bachalpsee are great but it’s gotten very touristy so may be difficult
-Brienzer Rothorn ridge
-Kleine Scheidegg to Wegnernalp
-Oeschensee but the good lighting is VERY short lived on the lake because of the steep mountains surrounding it
-The castles on Lake Thun (Spiez, Oberhöfen, Thun) - Ride the Boat
-Lake Brienz has a view towards Iseltwald with its castle but a bit tricky to get the right angle and the village is swarming with tourists from the Korean Netflix movie filmed there.
-Lauterbrunnen Valley from up behind the village (there is a hill walk north of town with views of the waterfall, etc)