Lauterbrunnen or Murren as home base to travel

Lauterbrunnen is on the valley floor, Murren is up on the side of a mountain. I prefer the view from Murren. It's convenient for getting to the Schilthorn but inconvenient for the Jungfrau.

Checking the Swiss rail site, it looks like Zurich airport to Lauterbrunnen is about 2:45 to 3 hours. The trip to Murren would take another 45 minutes or so. The trip will involve changing trains and a bus from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg and then cable car lifts up to Murrren. The lift has stairs on one side and an elevator is available. Murren itself is very small maybe 10 minutes from the lift to the opposite side of town.

http://fahrplan.sbb.ch/bin/query.exe/en

Lifts run from Stechelberg until 23:45 Sunday to Thursday, later lift at 0:55 on Friday and Saturday.

http://schilthorn.ch/cmsfiles/Fahrplan20174.pdf

Edit: Tim is correct. SBB rail estimates it's about 25 minutes to Murren train station.

Is Lauterbrunnen or Murren better as home base to travel around .

I'd say opinions are split between Mürren and Lauterbrunnen. Lauterbrunnen is equally convenient for both sides of the valley, but Mürren has the views and is car-free (so quieter). I stayed in Mürren, and would do so again, but you can't go wrong with either one.

What time would the cable cars or trains close for the evening to get to Murren if we keep Murren as base to travel around ?

There are two ways to get to Mürren. The last train up to Mürren BLM station is about 8 PM. The last cable car up to the Mürren Schilthornbahn station is about 11:30 PM.

Is getting luggages upto Murren going to be a hassle ? Would we be climbing a lot of stairs ?We plan on carrying 2 big luggages and a carry on bag ,hence my concern.

Not a problem. From the Lauternbrunnen train station, you take the escalator up to the lift, take the cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp, then flat transfer from that cable car to the train from Grütschalp to Mürren. When you get off at Mürren BLM station, it looks like you have to climb stairs, but you don't. Instead, go out the station towards the way you came, and you'll find an inclined path up to town (ask if it's not clear). For a fee, you can also have Swiss Rail do the transporting.

I've stayed in Murren, Lauterbrunnen and Wengen. They all have a different "feel". As Harold said - Lauterbrunnen is the most convenient if you will be visiting both sides of the valley. Murren is more quiet as it is car free and you do have incredible views looking down into the valley. You have great views in Lauterbrunnen also, but it's a different view - looking up at the mountains. Murren will give you a more unique experience.

A previous poster stated that it takes 45 minutes or so to get from Lauterbrunnen to Murren - that's not true. It takes exactly 20 minutes.

Someone else mentioned that it was "difficult" to travel to Murren. Again, not true (imo) - I don't know how it could be any easier.

You can see all train, gondola, boat, bus, funicular schedule for Switzerland at www.sbb.ch

plan to travel to Lauterbrunnen the same day and to go to Murren the next day.

No need to split this stay into two locations: stay in one or the other for the total number of nights you have available. Either will work. How many nights do you have for the area?

Thank you everybody for the fast reply , it definitely made my decision easier. I am going to go ahead and book 3 nights stay at Murren . I am currently looking at the Blumental Hotel and it looks like they have a double room available with Mountain view. Hopefully the views are great.

You'll love Murren. We did. If you haven't booked Hotel Blumental yet, and haven't checked out Chalet Fontana, its worth a look. Best view I've ever seen from our room.

Chalet Fontana is almost next door to the Blumenthal. Keep in mind the CF only has a few rooms with 2 shared bathrooms - but it is a fabulous place.

There are no bad views in Murren, everywhere you look is just another magnificent view.

On our recent trip we did split between lauterbrunnem and murren. We felt it was not needed. Make lauterbrunnen as the base and visit murren luggage free. Murren is really wonderful place but you don't have to actually stay there. We found moving with luggage to murren little cumbersome. Others might have different opinion, but I felt that way.

Depends on what you're after. If you want to take cable-cars or trains up to surrounding high points from the valley, Lauterbrunnen may be better, logistically. But if you're after breathtaking views, you might choose Murren or Gimmelwald or one of the other high villages. I chose to stay in Gimmelwald, despite there being no grocery and just a backpacker's hostel for basic dinners at night, but I loved every bit of it. My day hikes took me into Murren (30 mins uphill on foot) where there is a supermarket for snacks, picnic lunch supplies, drinks, etc. The Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald is a great spot to meet other people and have a cheap dinner/beers after a long day of hiking, or just to put your feet up and enjoy the view.

Pack light - summer is an easy time to wash and line-dry clothing. You won't regret taking less stuff.