We have only one full day in Wengen to go exploring the Alps. What would be your suggestion for the best use of our time or place for us to see on our day. We are not interested in hiking that much. I like good photo opportunities of great views of the mountains.
Posted by
Green Bay
20081 posts
Hope it is a nice day. I'd take the train up to Kleine Scheidegg. Great views of the Eiger, the Monch, and the Jungfrau, as well as across the valleys to the other distant mountains. Go up to the Jungfraujoch if it is a perfect day and you want to splurge.
Posted by
Idaho, USA
7278 posts
Wow, you will not want to leave after one day! Either take the train further up the mountain, or take the gondola up. If you take the train, there’s some nice views of the Jungfrau, etc.
If it’s a rainy day, there is an interesting internal mountain waterfall, Trümmelbach Falls, near Lauterbrunnen.
Posted by
Fort Myers, FL
1668 posts
I know you said your not interested in hiking, but if you take the cable car to Mannlichen you can walk to Klein Scheindegg and train back. Its really more of a walk than hiking, but the views are terrific. You are walking towards the North Face of the Eiger the whole way. If the weather is good you will have plenty of photo ops. Also, when you are in Wengen walk to the church and you will get great pictures of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Enjoy. Wengen is a excellent place to stay.
Posted by
Grand Rapids, MI
768 posts
Threadware is right. I HIGHLY recommend taking the cable car from Wengen up to Mannlichen and taking the 1.5 hr walk to Kleine Scheidegg. This is my favorite hike in all of Switzerland because the views are fantastic in all directions. It's also very easy--almost level. You can see for yourself by doing a Google image search of "Mannlichen hike".
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
Your title says Staying in Wengen and then also day trip into the Alps. I hope you realize that Wengen "is" in the alps.
Posted by
OP
35 posts
Yes, I am very well aware of where Wengen is.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16241 posts
Your posts suggest you are staying 3 nights in Wengen. What will you be doing on your other full day? Just so we do not duplicate that with our suggestions.
Posted by
OP
35 posts
We get in late afternoon/early evening of first night. We have a full day and the next day we have to make our way back to Basel to board a riverboat cruise. I am not sure when we will have to leave Wengen that day but I am sure it will be late morning at the most.
Posted by
OP
35 posts
Woops-- Lola" you were right; we do have 2 full days. We arrive late on the 28th of July and leave the morning of the 31st So... that gives us two full days instead of one. I am sure there is plenty to do in addition to the suggestion mentioned several times in this post. Sorry for the mix up in the configuring of my time in Wengen. Kathy
Posted by
Seattle, WA
16241 posts
Good. For maximum scenery and photo ops, assuming a sunny day, I suggest you head up to Mannlichen on the cablecar (already suggested above). Then you have two choices.
You can walk from there to Kleine Scheidegg, a level walk talking about an hour, with the Eiger in front of you and the Grindelwald Valley spread out below you to the left. At Kleine Scheidegg, you take the train down, not to Wengen, but the other way, to Grindelwald, for an even more scenic walk. Or,
Wander around Mannlichen a bit, photographing as you like, and as far toward Kleine Scheidegg as you feel like going. Then return to Mannlichen and take the gondola down to Grindelwald.
In Grindelwald, you can wander through town, admiring the Eiger and many other peaks you can view from town, but heading to the First gondola. Ride up to the top and take the one-hour walk to Bachalpsee, a lake which is famous for the reflections of peaks across the valley. You can see examples of the photos and a description of the walk in this blog:
https://www.travelcaffeine.com/hike-swiss-alps-bachalpsee-lake/
Then ride the gondola back down and head to the main train station in Grindelwald (not Grindelwald Grund where you arrived). You can return to Wengen by the valley route, via Lauterbrunnen, instead of back over the Mannlichen ridge.
A question about your cruise. Do you depart Basel on July 31? Or the following day? August 1 is Swiss National Day and there may be quite a celebration in Basel, such as fireworks the night of the 31st, or maybe a parade on August 1. But if your cruise departs on the 31st you will miss that.
Posted by
OP
35 posts
Lola: I just finished reading your blog about your hike around that beautiful lake. I think that is exactly what I would like for us to do and I especially wanted to go to Grindelwald as I visited there 20 years ago and fell in love with that village. However, it looks like it has grown a lot in 20 years and is not that quiet little Swiss village I experienced. It will still be nice to visit it and that Lake you shared with those beautiful photos. Thanks