Suggested Hikes from Murren and Wengen

The north face trail from Allmendhubel was one of my favorite hikes when I went to Switzerland! Found it in the RS guidebook. You take the funicular train up the hill from Murren, start the trail there, and the trail drops you right back down in town. Gorgeous views and walking through wildflower fields and pastures with cows... it was what I had always envisioned when I thought about Switzerland!

Trummelbach Falls was fun; I walked from the bottom of the cable car station to Trummelbach and then continued into Lauterbrunnen. It's paved the whole way, and if I were to do it again I'd do it on a bike rather than by foot.

we were there in 2014. There were trail maps available all over the place including, hotels, the BLM train station and the gondola station that showed detailed trail options and with time, distance and difficulty details. The hotel staff were full of recommendations as well. Its an easy level walk from Lauterbrunnen or Stechelberg to the T-falls. Go down one way from Mürren and come back the other.

Thanks, mp125, will certainly consider the North Face trail. Sounds lovely, though I assume there won't be flowers at the end of Sep or early Oct.

Which cable car station are you referring to for T-falls? Hard to picture all the transport options if one hasn't been there, lol.

Thanks, stan. So wish I could get my hands on those maps ahead of time. What does BLM refer to?

From Murren to Trummelbach falls you take the cable car down to Stechelberg to get down into the valley. From Stechelberg you can walk to the falls. I think the Poste bus stops there too so that may be an option.

BLM simply refers to the railway station at Mürren. It stands for Bahn Lauterbrunnen Mürren.

The designation for the cable car station in Mürren is LB for Luftseilbahn.

Agree that the North Face trail is a winner! Be forewarned though that if you choose to finish in Gimmlewald vs. Murren it's a bit of a knee buster. The walks between Murren and Gimmlewald, and between Murren and Grutschalp are both very nice and fairly easy.

Thanks, Jill. Will probably shy away from any knee-busting options, lol.

I just left Murren yesterday. I would give yourself about an hour to go from Murren to Mannlichen. I didn't really keep track of time however! Lol.
We did love that mannlichen trail!!

I agree, the Northface trail is all stunning mountain and meadow views. It's my favorite, too. The Rick Steves Switzerland guide book gives good directions, but it's well marked with blue signs once you get to the trailhead. Take the funicular from Mürren up to Allmendhubel, walk by the alpine garden, and you'll come to the Northface trail. You won't have the knee-busting part if you follow the guidebook's directions and head to Mürren from Spielbodenalp. The knee-buster is only if you head toward Gimmelwald or Sprutz Waterfall instead of straight back to Mürren. (Although that Gimmelwald route is gorgeous, I did pay for it with my knees the one time I tried it.)

The Männlichen-to-Kleine Scheidegg walk is short, easy, and beautiful. I think you should allow a bit more than an hour to get up to Männlichen from Mürren. From Mürren, you'd have to take the train over to Grütchalp, then the cable car from Grütchalp down to Lauterbrunnen, then the train from Lauterbrunnen up to Wengen, then walk through the town to the cable car to get up to Männlichen. Once you've hiked to Kleine Scheidegg (about 2 1/2 miles) you can take the train from Kleine Scheidegg down to Lauterbrunnen.

Another easy lovely hike is from Kleine Scheidegg. Cross the train tracks, and there's an easy hiking path along the tracks to Wengernalp, where you can take the train down to Lauterbrunnen.

Another short hike with stunning mountain views is from First to Bachalpsee (a mountain lake that reflects the mountains when the air is still). Take the cable car from Grindelwald up to First. Enjoy the views at the top of the cable car station, including a cantilevered overlook, and then follow the signs to Bachalpsee. On the way back, when you're near First, you can take the cliff walk back to the First cable car station, or follow your original hiking path back to the station.

Trummelbach Falls has a bus stop each way, whether you're coming from Lauterbrunnen or from Stechelberg station.

Thank you, Linda L. Lots of useful info there. There seems to be a consensus that the North Face trail is excellent. Appreciate the Bachalpsee tip, hadn't heard of that place. How does one go from Murren to First?

I'm in Lauterbrunnen right now (second time in the Berner Oberland - first was staying in Mürren in September 2014) , so I can both contribute to and learn from this thread!

To get from Mürren to First, you take the train from Mürren to Grütschalp, the cable car down from Grütschalp to Lauterbrunnen, and the train from Lauterbrunnen towards Interlaken Ost. However, don't stay on that train to the end, but get off at the first stop, Zweilütschinen. Here, you change for the train to Grindelwald. Then, you take the cable car from Grindelwald to First.

"Hard to picture all the transport options if one hasn't been there, lol."

You're right - but the good news is that when you're actually here, it's easy. You see it in three dimensions, plus there are maps everywhere, plus you get all kinds of help from your hotel as well as other visitors.

In that spirit, let me recommend that in addition to hikes you do from the top of the Allmendhubel, allow some time for walking around the top itself. I think it's a very underrated experience, and cheap to boot.

And, thanks to everyone else for the tips above!

The SBB Mobile app is extremely helpful for navigating the Swiss transportation system. Or ask for advice at any manned train station. And the Tourist Information office in Mürren will freely give you hiking maps and advice.

I downloaded the app. Useful now, but I won't be using internet on my phone in Switzerland. But I haven't figured out how to add the trip I booked to the app, which one can do, or how to upgrade to first class on the second Golden Pass leg. I'll just do that in Switzerland. Thanks for all your comments, Linda.

You're welcome, brugesman. Also, making sure you saw Harold's good advice getting you all from Mürren to First so you can hike to Bachalpsee. I would add that the cable car station in Grindelwald is about a 25 minute walk through the village from the train station.

I think Harold's way of getting to First is probably the fastest, but the most scenic is to take the train from Lauterbrunnen to Klein Schiedegg, then down the otherside from Klien Schiedegg to Grindlewald and from there take the lift up to First.

Jill's way (Lauterbrunnen to Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald) works fine and certainly sounds more scenic, but note that it is not fully covered by a Swiss Travel Pass, while the Lauterbrunnen to Zweilutschinnen to Grindelwald way is fully covered. Since I have a Swiss Travel Pass, that's the way I went. However, other passes have other coverage, so depending on what you're getting, it may not be any more expensive to go via other routes.

"But I haven't figured out how to add the trip I booked to the app, which one can do"

I'm using the mobile SBB website on a Samsung phone (saves space compared to downloading the app), so my advice may not work on other configurations. But after I put in my origin, destination, and date and time of travel, I get all the travel options. If I choose one, it then expands to show all the steps (number of stops, platforms each train or tram or any other conveyance will be arriving and departing from, walking required, etc). Scrolling below that, I get the option to "Enter in the calendar." If I choose this, it downloads a small file, and I then click it. This gives me all the details, and I can choose to put it in my phone's calendar.

The big advantage of this is, once I've put it in the calendar, I no longer need a data connection to use the information. I'm roaming with T-Mobile US here in Switzerland, so my data is free but SLOW. Therefore, what I've taken to doing is, the night before when I'm on the hotel's Wi-Fi, I look at various possible trips, and put them in my phone's calander (it warns me that I have conflicts, as I usually have input lots of options). Then on the travel day, I choose the one I need, follow it, and delete the unused ones.

Also, you can put in an address, and the SBB website will give you ALL the door to door details. For instance, I didn't just put in Lautebrunnen to Bern, but I put in my Bern hotel's address; SBB then told me which tram to take from the Bern train station, and even priced the whole thing as one journey (handy if you don't have a transit pass and want to know costs).

How long does it take to go from Murren to First?

Linda, re “I would add that the cable car station in Grindelwald is about a 25-minute walk through the village from the train station”, do you mean that amidst all the steps to go from Murren to First, there is a 25 minute walk though Grindelwald? This all seems kind of complicated to get to a hike starting point.

Harold, thanks for the SBB website tip. Tried playing with it on my phone for the trip I’ve already booked. It keeps changing the date on me, to one day earlier. Had a similar problem when I wanted to buy the tickets on the SBB website (on my PC), but it turned out that you can’t buy more than 30 days in advance. Once under 30 days, it worked. Well under 30 days now, so any idea why the SBB site won’t show me results for an Oct 4 trip? I can't save it to my calendar if the system won't show me the itinerary I booked.

I'm not sure what's going on with dates on the website for you - it's working fine for me right now, but again, that's on my phone, which is different from yours.

Do check the app, to see if it works better with your system.

As for the walk through Grindelwald, you can always take a bus if you prefer not to walk. Again, I know it all sounds complicated, but once you get there you'll see it's quite straightforward. Yes, you often do have to take many different conveyances to get from place to place, but none of it is complicated, and all of them are timed to connect pretty well. However, this is why a travel pass can really pay off - you're always going up, down, or across on some kind of vehicle, and the costs do add up if you're paying for each one individually.

We've always walked from the Grindlewald station to the First bahn. I don't think it ever took us 25 minutes - maybe 10? Just looked it up on google maps which says it's 10 mintues. Like Harold said it seems complicated, but is really straightforward when you get there. Have a great time!

Thanks for all the great info, everyone. We leave on the 24th. Arrive Murren on the 29th. Hoping the Weather Gods look down on us favorably. A bit worried about shoulder season in the Alps.

We were there for six nights (Sept/Oct) last year. While walking the valley, we enjoyed seeing all the cow bells (awards, we were told) that were hanging on the barns we passed. There was a cheese festival in Winteregg on the weekend we were there. We hiked over from Murren, stopped to listen to the music and have a beer, and then continued on the train to hike the Mannlichen - Kleine Scheidegg trail. Note that if you need to buy a train ticket at Winteregg, you will need money as there is no agent, only a ticket machine. We didn't see wildflowers in the fields, but the flowers at the houses and businesses in Murren were still beautifull! I scanned my Wandern Hiking map. It doesn't have all the trails, but we found it quite useful. You can message me if you would like me to email the six pages to you.

I see what you mean, Jill--Google Maps says 10 minutes to walk from the Grindelwald train station to the Grindelwald-First cable car station. But it's 700 meters (about 7 football fields long?), so almost half a mile. I guess it takes me longer because I get sidetracked by all the shops along the way, like a Coop, souvenir shops, and an old fashioned little shoe shop specializing in German-made hiking boots and my favorite hiking socks, also made in Germany, Rohner brand. There's also a mini-golf with the view of the mountains, but that would really be a long distraction!

It's not hard to find your way when you get there, because signage is so good for whatever you need to connect. Just follow the SBB instructions and the signs. English is spoken everywhere in that region, and you can always ask station attendants for precise directions from wherever you are.

Good luck with the weather. Bachalpsee only mirrors the mountains when the air is still, with no breeze to create ripples in the lake.

Someone asked about maps. Here they are, plus my 10 fav trails in the area.

1. Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg (and even further to Wengernalp)
2. Grutschalp to Murren
3. Top of Almendhubel, go right, generally heading above Winteregg, then clockwise back down to Murren
4. Top of Almendhubel, go left, towards Schiltalp, then Spielbodenalp, then to Murren
5. Murren to Sprutz Falls, under the falls, up the opposite side to Spielbodenalp, then back to Murren
6. Lauterbrunnen to Trummelbach Falls walk through the valley
7. Schynige Platte to First (6 hrs, but great!)
8. First to Bachalpsee and return (shorter version of #7)
9. First to Grosse Scheidegg and bus back to Grindelwald
10. Grindelwald, cable car to Pfingstegg (take the Rodelbahn luge ride there!), hike to Berghaus Baregg Maps: https://terrelledwards.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/hikingmap1-3-2.jpg http://ontheworldmap.com/switzerland/ski/jungfrau/jungfrau-summer-map.jpg http://www.pfingstegg.ch/index.php/en/timetable-prices-4/wanderkarte