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Review of Engleberg/Lauterbrunnen Itinerary in late June - any thoughts/comments welcome

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All - family of 12 (my 6 (wife, 4 kids (20, 17, 11 and 11); in-laws; and sister-and brother-in-law and kids (16,10) are heading to Switzerland for 5 nights June 24-29.

Renting a car in Germany for 14 days (spending time in Munich, Fussen, Rothenberg, Berchtesgaden prior to Switzerland, and then Black Forest area after Switzerland trip). So we'll have car in Switzerland to get to Engleberg (from Fussen) and then from Engleberg to Lauterbrunnen.

Purchasing half fare card as well as 3-day Jungfrau Travel Pass (i've run the numbers 99 times and have determined this is our best bet financially).

First night in Engleberg - and next morning (Wednesday) plan is to head up to Mt. Titlis for 1/2 day. Then drive from Engleberg to Lauterbrunnen through Susten Pass (realizing this is a bit more of a drive - but family wants to drive this route). Likely arriving Lauterbrunnen 4/5pm. Likely just explore Lauterbrunnen a bit - and have dinner in town.

4 nights in Lauterbrunnen at the Hotel Staubbach.

Thursday - Plan is to reserve early morning seats (10 CHF PP) both Thursday morning and Friday morning for the 8:30 CC65 KS Jungfrau train for potential Top of Europe trip - plan to wake up and determine if we want to go X morning and then pay the 75 CHF for the Top of Europe train. Looks like we can get from Lauterbrunnen up to Top of Europe on early train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen around 7am (through Wengen to KS) arriving as early as 9:10 to Top of Europe. Plan to spend 2-3 hours at Top of Europe, and then on way back down, we plan to maybe hang out a bit in KS, and then take cable car from Wengen to Mannlichen for hiking/etc.

Friday - On either Thursday or Friday (depending on weather above to Top of Europe), we plan to head to Grindelwald First as early as possible. I believe the route we plan to take is Lauterbrunnen to Wengen (as early as 6am); Wengen to Manlicchen; Manlicchen to Grindelwald Terminal; then walk to Grund/First. On reverse trip back to Lauterbrunnen, likely will hike/explore again in/near Wengen or Manlicchen.

Saturday - we have reservations at 9am at Piz Gloria on Schilthorn. Probably will go regardless of weather. I believe the route we'll take is Lauterbrunnen to Murren through Grutschlap; Murren to Schilthorn transferring at Birg. Will stop at Birg on way back down, and then explore Murren area as well later that day once we depart Birg. Possibly head to Allmenduhubel from Murren to hike as well that afternoon.

Plan to visit and explore Lauterbrunnen/Trummelback Falls and Staubbach Falls as well during our time there - likely depending on when we do the rest of the above.

Depart Lauterbrunnen Sunday to head to Triberg/Black Forest.

Thanks in advance for any tips/thoughts (or confirmation my planning skills aren't that bad :-).

Posted by
75 posts

I think others will chime in and say the same thing- the weather can upend your plans. We spent 4 days in Wengen last summer and had 3 days of rain, at times pouring and at times the sun was in and out. The Jungfrau was not visible until our last day. On that day, even in the early morning, the crowds heading to the Top of Europe were astonishing. This was in mid-June.

We made the most of our time in the rain and traveled from Wengen to Mannlichen to Grindelwald, then up to the Eiger station and walked down to Kleine Scheidegg. My kids were 9, 7, and 4 at the time.

Another day, we took a boat ride on Lake Brienz to Giessbach Falls which was quite fun. The weather was better out of the mountains. Just as a word of caution, look into other activities in case your first choices are clouded over and storming.

Posted by
24 posts

Yep - thanks. Have read a good bit in planning things that confirms your suggestion in that the weather will play a role in the mountain excursions. Our plan is to get reservations super early 2 straight days for Top of Europe ($12 each), and frankly we'll just eat that money if weather doesn't cooperate. Much like DisneyWorld, sounds like early is better and while still likely crowded, it's not as crowded super early. I would assume weather is not as much a factor at Grindelwald First so that will be an excursion for sure. We are planning otherwise for some general hikes in the area if weather is bad. And will have boat rides as a back-up (train down to Interlaken if weather is iffy in the mountains).

I've also run the numbers on the train passes for the 100th time (:-) and I now think we're about $200 better off NOT booking the JF Travel Pass and just going with the Half Fare Card. And I don't think there's any benefit with the JF Travel Pass for any of the Interlaken area boat rides, but I'm going to triple check that also.

Posted by
317 posts

Hello! Looks like you have a wonderful trip planned!

sounds like early is better and while still likely crowded, it's not as crowded super early

Yes! Exactly! And on that note when you head to Grindelwald First, there is no need to go the slower and more expensive route over Männlichen. On sbb.ch or the SBB app put in Lauterbrunnen - Grindelwald and you will see that by train it is 39 minutes, you change trains in Zweilütchinen. This is very easy, lots of people will be doing the same thing. Cost with HFC is 4.70 rather than the 36.60 you will have to pay to take the hour plus trip over Männlichen.

On your return journey you can certainly go via Männlichen if you want to - a beautiful trip, and as you say you can explore/hike while up there as well. You can take the train from Grindelwald main station to Grindelwald Terminal (3 min.) or just walk there. No need to go to Grindelwald Grund at all (something you mention in your first post).

Note that the earliest train can sometimes be much earlier than the opening of the mountain gondola. If you were to head up to Wengen at 6am you will have a couple of hours wait in Wengen before the aerial cableway up Männlichen opens at 8:10.

https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/summer/information/timetable.html

Best way to plan a journey is put in your starting point and final destination. Eg. Lauterbrunnen - First (Grindelwald). Click to see the details and you will see that the last stage of this journey shows the icon for Gondelbahn (GB). That means it is taking you to the very top of First. By choosing the first option of the day you can see the earliest you should leave to catch the first gondola up. Cost with HFC for the entire journey one way is 24.20. This can also help you as you decide if the Jungfrau Travel Pass is worth it or not.

Yes, the JFT does cover the boats on Lakes Brienz and Thun. On the map you will see “Cruises Brienzersee + Thunersee”

https://www.jungfrau.ch/en-gb/jungfrau-travel-pass/

Posted by
24 posts

Thank you for the feedback - and for the note on the Grindelwald First quickest route (I had found that this weekend as well - the train down to Zweilütchinen) - so i've routed us that way early morning, then if we decide to go back the more "scenic" (and expensive) route back through Mannlichen, we'll do that on the way back.

Upon revising things again, my latest calculations on pricing show we're about $250 USD (300 plus CHF) better off NOT purchasing the JF Travel Pass, and solely going with the Half Fare Card. I think we'd have to take a host of smaller trips throughout the area (in addition to what we're already planning to do) to get close to the 300 CHF extra we'd need to make the JF Travel Pass worth it. Though I'll continue to fine tune it. I've been using the Travel Pass Calculator that Carolyn Schönafinger's Holiday to Switzerland website provides (for a fee - but well worth it).

Greatly appreciate your feedback -

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