Overtourism in Lauterbrunnen valley

I’m thankful we were there before the hoards arrived. Truly sad for the residents. Playing football in the cemetery and other antics is disgusting. I can’t imagine ever walking into a private home and use the bathroom. What is wrong with people?

I’m thankful we were there before the hoards arrived.

So are we! And that applies to most of Europe. Unfortunetly, the hoards may be a fact of life for another year or two until the pent up demand brought about by covid is satisfied. In the meantime, there's still a lot of the U.S. to be seen.

I have a feeling this is the new status quo. We were there on a return visit this past August. The biggest change we saw was Murren.

Remember that it takes only a few people found intruding into a home or cemetery to generate the deserved outrage. However, that means that thousands and thousands of other tourists are behaving correctly...or somewhat correctly.

We did hear that the mayor wants to build tourist infrastructures while the population has a "if you build it they will come" attitude and are against it.
Good idea selling tickets to the falls.

I wasn't at the district meeting that is mentioned in the article, but did read about it. I usually go to the district meetings in Wengen, and to the twice a year general meetings in Lauterbrunnen. I will bring up at the next meeting that it is not a smart idea to create even more parking spaces. In fact, I believe that Lauterbrunnen should completely eliminate all visitor parking spots. That may change the mix of tourists we get for the better.

Thank you for posting this. I had heard a different account of this event that went into detail. When I read it to my husband, he said "Right? This is someone's home, not Disneyland!" Anyway, thanks for sharing. I'm all for making these places car-free except for residents. Also I agree with starting to charge an entrance fee (except that will make some tourists feel even more entitled to bad behaviour . . . how about an entrance fee and a signed code of social conduct?)

Unbelievable! I suppose it's not surprising that this type of boorish, ignorant and inconsiderate behaviour would eventually reach places like Lauterbrunnen. What is wrong with people these days!!! Why would anyone think that it's acceptable to enter a home without permission and use the bathroom, and the egregious behaviour in the cemetery is outrageous!

I'm also very thankful that I visited that area before this madness started. I really hope the hordes of tourists that descended on Europe this summer are a post-pandemic anomaly which might return to more "normal" levels in coming years?

Thanks for posting.

The Lauterbrunnen valley is one of those places where people traditionally do not lock their houses. It is a very low crime area (but we did have a murder last year. We will be talking about that for a generation I think).

When a package gets delivered to my house, and I am not at home the guy just puts in in our kitchen.
We also often do not have fences around houses. You can't really see where our neighbours land ends, and ours starts for example, and we have a public footpath running in front of the house on our land. And I don't mind people walking there. But yes, when they start also sneaking a peek in to our cellars that is not ok. But I have already put up cameras...

When a package gets delivered to my house, and I am not at home the guy just puts in in our kitchen.

I love this! Hope it stays that way for you in Wengen - so wonderful to live like that!

I was in that area at the beginning of September for 10 days and it was extremely crowded. Much more visitors than
any of my previous visits.
Every train coming in was packed to capacity.
In fact, upon arrival in Zurich we had to stand all the way to Interlaken Ost because there were no seats available and endless luggage piled in all areas. It has certainly gotten very popular and after 6 previous visits I think this one was my last.
We did spend a lovely day in Gstaad and Saanen where it was much quieter and very pleasant.

Having to stand all the way from Zurich to Interlaken is very unusual, as I would normally expect enough people to get off at intermediate stations to be able to move to a free seat.

I will bring up at the next meeting that it is not a smart idea to create even more parking spaces. In fact, I believe that Lauterbrunnen should completely eliminate all visitor parking spots. That may change the mix of tourists we get for the better.

Agreed! I think Maureen mentioned recently, or perhaps posted an article, about additional parking near the church. It would be far better to build more parking in Interlaken or Wilderswil and have all arrivals by train, like in Zermatt. Of course, the BOB would have to run more often.

We are here now, completing the second of our usual four weeks in Lauterbrunnen. 2021 and 2022 lacked the large tour groups that have now returned. They certainly pack the gondolas and trains, especially with the “steamer trunks” favored by the fashionistas. We love the car-free travel we can do here and I fail to understand the attraction of having a car in Switzerland at all as a tourist.

The other day a local woman told me her daughter’s daycare mother has caught people in her garden photographing her ornamentation. they come through the gate without announcing or asking permission!

The education of tourists mentioned by the village president is on-target but oh-so-hard to do with the Travel-by-Instagram crowd. Perhaps when lodging is arranged, the establishment could send out a guide to culture and behavior.

Basically the hit-n-run Instagrammers can just stay away. We don't need them here. This is an area that you need to allocate some time to in order to properly appreciate.

There is currently a station under construction between Interlaken and Wilderswil (you may have seen the building site) that comes with a big park-n-ride. It is also the plan to develop a business park there. And the BOB is intending to run more frequently from there during high season. So yes, we should reduce car parking in Lauterbrunnen and make people park their cars there.

...oh-so-hard to do with the Travel-by-Instagram crowd.

It's the same with the "It's all about me" crowd. Or maybe they are the same people. What ever happened to raising kids to become respectful, polite, and considerate adults? The behavior of some tourist is so appaling it's not only driving me to drink, it's also making me less inclined to travel. Sorry about the rant, I'll get off the soap box now.

The Jungfrau railway did not build the Eiger Express to handle fewer tourists headed to the Jungfraujoch. They planned for this influx. The Schilthorn is following suit building a faster way to Piz Gloria. This will only exacerbate the situation by attracting the worst element in the area and that is BUS TOURISTS. (Not RS tours of course).

The Lauterbrunnen/Wengen/Murren area can still be otherworldly beautiful but when the loud, pushy, non-queuing, flag-following bus tourists arrive, all you can do is endure the chaos until the swarm has passed.

Having said that, I will continue spending several weeks in the area each year, seeking out places and experiences out of the reach of the motorcoaches…

And that applies to most of Europe.

It applies to parts of Europe. It's especially obvious on this site, that certain places are more popular than others. There are many charming small towns in Germany e.g., but it seems like everyone has to visit Rothenburg o.d.T.

In fact, I believe that Lauterbrunnen should completely eliminate all
visitor parking spots.

Sounds like a great idea imo. Why not just close the road to the valley for non-residents? Forcing tourists to take the train might help a bit.

While most tourists behave fine, there are too many that just don't seem to care at all about how they behave. Earlier today I had some errands to do, and while biking from one shop to another, I saw two coaches coming out of from a street where they really should not have been. Being professionals, I would assume that the drivers know what this sign means.

@wengenK, the planners may need to look at controlled, ticketed entries much like some of the US National Parks have done as well as museums and other venues in Europe. Certainly the train schedule will control somewhat if you can shift car arrivals to elsewhere but limiting may be what happens down the line. Limit to only those who have overnight accommodation? Limit to those with tickets to ascend the Jungfrau or Schilthorn? Some hard thinking will need to be done.

I'm glad you go to the meetings because at least you can assume most of us on the forum are well-behaved tourists so you know there are a few and can pass that on!!

Controlled entry tickets would not be possible, as the Swiss Constitution guarantees free access to public spaces. But you can charge more for parking. I was recently in Rosenlaui (went their by bus and then walked to Grindelwald) and cars need a permit to get there, but if you look closely you will see that it is a parking permit.

A long time ago I studied civil engineering, and then already got an interest in urbanism and traffic issues. It is something that traffic planners and urbanists worldwide have known like forever: If you want to reduce traffic you need to reduce parking spaces. That is the only thing that really helps. Parking attracts cars. If you want less cars, provide less parkings. Lauterbrunnen should just close the parking at the Church, and reserve the station parking for long term parking (minimum three days). From december onwards the new P+R in Matten should be operational, and day trippers can park there.

It certainly is distributing to here of outsiders behaving unorderly and not respecting the local way of life, territory, and privacy. I can not figure out why people do not understand the definition/meaning of being a visitor in order to be understanding, appreciative, and respectful of your surroundings and hosts. We are going to be staying in the valley for the first time in the first week of December and hope it will be much quieter and peaceful at this time of the year.

I'm not sure reducing or eliminating parking would solve the problem. I just left Murren/Wengen 9/24 and the train out of Interlaken was packed until we got to Bern. It won't solve the problem with the buses. The tour groups at Kleine Scheidegg were given priority boarding on the trains back down the mountain while the normal ticket holder had to wait. I hadn't been to the top of the Jungfrau since 1989 and decided to go on our last day as the sun came out. I couldn't believe how much it had changed - there were way too many people at the top of the mountain.

@simvik - regarding tour groups boarding the train at Kleine Scheidegg. As is the case on most Swiss trains, larger groups make a reservation. Specific seats are then reserved for them and unavailable for regular passengers to use. Often this is indicated by a sign on the seats or train window.

The most efficient way to process groups with reservations at KS is to bring them through as a group and walk them along the platform to the end of the train where their designated seats are. It feels unfair when you are standing there waiting, but it is merely Swiss efficiency in action. The entire train can be more quickly and orderly this way.

I also felt annoyed when I saw this, but once you realise what is happening it doesn’t seem so unfair anymore.

Even though the article says tourists, it really is about people and their behavior. Tourists act now like they do at home. There isn't a standard of behavior for "outside" the home any longer. People behave exactly like they do at home. That's the scary part. I am sure the same people playing football in a cemetery have done it before. I am sure people taking pictures of themselves laying on graves have done it before.

In the US in many major cities you can shoplift and not be prosecuted, so why worry about consequences for running around a cemetery. Same with graffiti. Until authorities clamped down on people with consequences, it is only going to get worse. Self regulation of behavior and deportment is waning. No one feels shame anymore, no one gets embarrassed anymore. Everything is a TikTok entertaining moment.

What's the big deal? That is always the question when caught. It is only a tiny initial on a huge Colosseum. We are just running around on the ground, it's not like we are grave robbers. So, I took some toiletries and didn't pay for them, this store makes plenty of money. I just used your bathroom, isn't that what bathrooms are for?

I am no longer amazed at the behavior I read about or see. That worries me the most.

We were just in Mürren for a week staying in an apartment. One night at about 1am someone was ringing and ringing the bell, knocking, and trying to open the outside key box. They were not Americans (thank goodness!). We didn't have any languages in common so we didn't know exactly what they wanted but since we weren't going to let them in, they finally left. We never saw them again so I think they were at the wrong house and thought they should be in the apartment we were in. It was quite a ruckus at that time of night. I was thinking it was good thing they didn't ring the bell at our Swiss neighbor's house. Those neighbors had already made it clear to us that they weren't happy with our apartment being an Airbnb. While we were there, a notice from the local community was left encouraging homeowners to rent long-term to locals and not short-term to tourists.

We've been lucky to have been to Mürren nine times and I think this may have been our last visit. It was packed. I don't blame the locals because that area has changed dramatically and their quality of life has gone down. In the train to/from Interlaken, it's obvious from watching the electronic advertisements that the powers that be are encouraging more and more tourism into Disney-like, cruise-ship experiences.

it's obvious from watching the electronic advertisements that the powers that be are encouraging more and more tourism into Disney-like, cruise-ship experiences.

I had the same thought, PHJ. So many people just go to First, for example, for the Flyer and the zip line and the Trotti bikes. They go to the Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn, take the Birg Thrill Walk.

Luckily that leaves the hiking trails for the likes of us.

Laurel, I agree.

People in Vermont USA can relate: https://www.reddit.com/r/vermont/comments/172jcx4/leaf_peeping_influencers_are_ruining_fall_in/

Instagrammers are the people who ruin things for everyone else...

After visiting the marvelous (trip up/down, location, experiences) of Jungfraujoch, I suggested to my son that we look for Lauterbrunnen's waterfalls before we did the Murren lift. The photo on RS Switzerland is truly a fantasy as there was no way for us to reach the idyllic site pictured.

Our experience there was to walk from the train & see only the closest falls--all the while dodging the constant car-bus-car-bus constant traffic. It became uncomfortable & dangerous for us even on the sidewalks so we moved on.

The photo on RS Switzerland is truly a fantasy as there was no way for us to reach the idyllic site pictured.

You did not walk far enough. If I am looking at the correct photo - this is taken looking back toward the village of Lauterbrunnen (that is why the waterfall is on the left hand side of the road). Sorry that it felt so dangerous, I have not had that feeling, even though it can often be quite busy.

When I go to Lauterbrunnen I prefer to take the bus from the train station to Stechelberg and walk back toward Lauterbrunnen along the path and farm roads. That way it is only the last little bit of the walk that is busy, the rest looks a lot like the photo (taken in spring by the way, as evident by the field of dandelions and the waterfall being in full force).

Three friends and I traveled to Grindelwald and Zermatt at the beginning of October, expecting the area to be relatively quiet and peaceful in the shoulder season. Boy, were we wrong! The trains were packed with tourists and their massive suitcases. Just walking down the street was an undertaking. The saddest part, imo, was that most of the other tourists were just snapping pictures of themselves and each other rather than enjoying the beauty of the area.

We will be in the area in mid-April next year and I am thinking that it should not be too crowded in the spring. I feel the mass of tourists visit in the summer months so if there is a way to visit in spring or fall when it is not so busy, one may enjoy it much more.

Curious if anyone has been to Dolomites and can compare crowds with Lauterbrunnen valley. We were in the ortisei area early July 2022 and while busy did not find it overwhelming with people, particularly when off hiking. Is it the same here or more tightly packed during June/summer months (we would be staying above the valley) ? Certainly not looking for Disneyland crowds and will change some plans if that’s the case.

Mggtravel,
the crowds are the worst at the train stations and on some trains and gondolas. the main street in Lauterbrunnen can feel congested as the sidewalks are narrow and people walk in herds and pay no attention. Once you are off hiking things calm down and people spread out. We’ve taken many hikes this fall where we saw almost no one.