I will be visiting Switzerland in early September. I want to see the below villages and places but i am not sure where to stay exactly:
Brienz
Grindelwald
Lauterbrunnen
jangfrau
Interlaken
I want to know the best place to stay to discover all these places minimizing the train travel time and the number of train changes. I would also appreciate any recommendations of good hotels. I also prefer somewhere where there are things to do in the evening if possible.
What are you interested in seeing here?
Interlaken is the central hub of rail connections and also the most uninteresting place. The high alpine villages are what most people come here to see, but they’re not known for their nightlife.
I would spend the entire time in Lauterbrunnen and commute from there. Some like Murren and Wengen more than Lauterbrunnen (all the little towns are lovely) but Lauterbrunnen makes you more central to Grindelwald, Jungfrau and Interlaken. The Lauterbrunnen Valley is incredibly beautiful, google some images if you haven't already. Grindelwald will have more to do at night, but that is because it is bigger and more touristy than Lauterbrunnen. It is only 20-30 minutes by train, so it'd be easy to go to Grindelwald (or Interlaken for that matter) in the evening. You might want to look at/consider Schilthorn vs. Jungfrau. Jungfrau is quite expensive, I would make sure the visibility would be good. I wouldn't want to stay in Interlaken. I would want to actually stay IN the Alps.
I agree with Interlaken. A little touristy in some spots, be really not a bad place at all. Certainly a great travel hub, easy to get up to the alpine villages above, plus easy access to the big cities via rail. The two stations have direct trains, so you likely won't have to change much.
We have stayed in Lauterbrunnen many times and had access easily to all you desire to see. It is more a village than a city (which Interlaken is) and the major thing you want to experience near Interlaken is Lake Brienz, nest toured on a lake cruise. Otherwise, not a lot of sights nor activities in Interlaken,
A Berner Oberland Regional Pass will be useful to you. It will cover most of your travel in the area, with a small additional charge for ascending to the Jungfraujoch. I hope you have at least 4 nights and 3 full days for this itinerary and longer is better.
Rick Steves’ guide to Switzerland covers the area very well with useful details on transit as well as hotels and restaurants and hiking. I hope you have a copy.
Thank you everyone for your help.
In fact I was planning to buy the Swiss pass since i will also spend some time in other parts of Switzerland. I am not sure if it is worth it, i will need to do more research on that.
I believe that staying in one of the villages would be nicer and would give a better swiss experience but most good hotels in these villages are already fully booked for September.
And Laurel, do you by any chance know where I can get a copy of Rick Steves’ guide to Switzerland from?
Thank you
RS guides can be purchased on this website, or Barnes and Nobel, Amazon, a bookstore or typically checked out from a library
You can buy a copy of the guidebook on this website:
https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/switzerland-guidebook
But it might be cheaper on Amazon, especially if you have Amazon Prime.
We really enjoyed staying in Murren. It really wasn't difficult to visit other areas and the view is fantastic. Check out Chalet Fontana.
It’s only 20 minutes on the train from Lauterbrunnen to interlaken. Don’t waste your time in interlaken when the beautiful alpine villages are available. People come here to see the alpine vistas...not interlaken.
Chiming in to agree with others about NOT staying in Interlaken but rather Lauterbrunnen or Murren.
The best base is Lauterbrunnen. It is easy to get to all mountain villages around there and it is beautiful and already in the mountains unlike Interlaken.
