Hi,
We'll be staying in Wengen for 4 days in Sept. - looking forward to returning to that spectacular valley! We know the weather changes frequently; could you share a few ideas of things to do within an hour train ride if hiking isn't possible during a couple of days?
It's only a little over an hour to Bern or Luzern. =) They both have museums and shopping and great food. Also, I'm from Seattle--so what do you mean by rain? Do you mean grey and overcast with light rain for an hour, or do you mean full-on, unrelenting splatter? From what I've read if it's just an hour of showers, more waterfalls appear from the cliffs in the Lauterbrünnen valley--which sounds magical to me.
I found a great site that let's you search for museums in Switzerland--you can narrow your search to kind of museum that interests you, like: Art, Natural History, Technology, etc.
Here are two large rainy day Art Museums:
- in Bern: http://www.museums.ch/org/en/Kunstmuseum-Bern
- in Luzern: http://www.museums.ch/org/en/Sammlung-Rosengart
You know, there are also cool indoor museums and castles only 30 minutes away in Thun:
http://www.thunersee.ch/en/culture/places-of-interest/castles.html
One of my rainy day plans is to visit the St. Beatus caves on lake Thun:
http://www.beatushoehlen.ch/index.php?lg=3&sec_id=24
I would add the Grand Hotel Giessbach on lake Brienz. It is a turn of the century hotel that was saved from demolition and restored by the Franz Weber association. You can go there for tea or for a meal. For reference, the same association saved the Lavaux vineyards from developers in the 1970s.
The hotel is just breathtaking next to a gorgeous waterfall. It has its own funicular to the lake and nature trails.
http://www.interlaken.ch/en/giessbach-falls-grand-hotel-brienz.html
As you probably know, if it's poor visibility weather but not pouring rain, then Rick suggests the open-air folk museum at Ballenberg. I think you were not planning to travel with a Swiss Pass, but if you do, the full-coverage days also work as a Museum Pass.
Thanks for sharing these excellent ideas! Hopefully the weather will be perfect, and one of these might just be a "day off from hiking". Jer, being from Seattle it would take a downpour for us to consider staying inside. : )
The Ballenburg outdoor museum has umbrellas you can rent, which could make it a rainy day activity depending on how adventurous you are. St. Beatus Holen (Caves) on would make a great rainy-day activity, too. We took a trip to Bern on a rainy day. We usually rent a car so on another rainy day we did a cross-country drive to Gruyeres with some beautiful scenery.
Also, don't knock the mountain top excursions off your list just because it is raining on the valley floor. On our last trip we had really wanted to take the Brienzer-Rothorn Bahn (steam train) trip to the top of the mountain. It was raining but we took a chance and were blown away by the warm sunny weather above the clouds. It was stunning to see all the mountain peaks rising up out of the clouds below. It was a very different, but equally as beautiful view than if it had been a clear day in the valley.
