Wengen or Grindelwald

Grindelwald is a cute place , and certainly worth a wander , but for for the views and atmosphere , Wengen is what you want . As far as getting back to the main railway line that runs from Interlaken Ost to Zurich , there is no time or convenience factor that makes Grindelwald more desirable .

Steven, bless you! That is exactly what I needed to find out. I appreciate you taking the time to respond.

Deb

It's not that much further to Wengen, and so worth it. Actually, once you consider Wengen, you open the Murren vs Wengen ongoing debate here.
Which peaks to you plan to explore- the Jungfrau or the Schilthorn? That could help your decision.
We were in Murren this past September, stayed four nights, and I could have stayed longer in this delightful pedestrian-only village.
Safe travels to this beautiful country!

Grindelwald is in a shady valley at least Wengen is up in the sunshine. I think you should keep reading, RS recommends Gimmelwald and Murren. Unless you like t-shirt shops both of RS recommendations are better. To travel to Zurich from any of these is not hard just takes more time from Wengen. J

We aren't planning on going up to the top of the mountains--just fairly level hikes and gazing at the mountains. I've had four surgeries this past year (one was spinal) so am taking it easy. Plus my husband's knees aren't up to hiking up and down. I realize we could take the cable cars up and down, but still....not interested at this point in time.

We preferred Grindelwald as there were many more options for dining. We felt as though we could reach put and touch the Eiger from our Chalet's balcony, breathtaking views. We had lunch in Wengen and were glad we were staying in Grindelwald.

You can't go wrong with either.
I suggest you shortlist some hotels within your budget and requirements, and then decide based on this shortlist. GW tends to attract more package tourists, but this may not be the case during Covid.

A few thoughts....

1. views from Grindelwald, Wengen and Murren are all fabulous. The difference in transport from any of them to Zurich is minimal - don't factor it into your plans. Wengen and Murren are car-free. Grindelwald a bit more lively/large and allows cars. If views from your lodging are the priority, they are all wonderful so you should make your decision based on finding a lodging with views you like, and then secondarily the village atmosphere you want.

2. RS bonded with the tiny hamlet of Gimmelwald but even his fans mostly advise against staying there. If you find it on a hike then fine, but don't make it a priority.

3. If you want to venture out to see/experience peaks without a lot of strenuous physical activity, I would recommend the Schilthorn above Murren (the rotating restaurant with James Bond theme is kitschy and fun and has amazing views both inside and outside), the flower walk at Almendhubel above Murren (the funicular is fun getting there), and "First" summit above Grindelwald which has a nice panoramic walk just outside the top of the gondola ride.

4. If you can manage a basically flat and easy (smooth train, not rocky etc.) roughly 3 mile hike/walk, do not miss the one from Mannlichen to Kleine Sheidegg (that direction gives the best views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau peaks). You get to Mannlichen from Grindelwald or Wengen by cable car/gondola.

We have stayed in all three on our numerous Swiss trips; sometimes 2 of the 3 on the same trip to do different hikes. I always choose a room with balcony facing the view, but those were harder to find in Grindelwald. And I prefer the car-free villages over the traffic and buses of Grindelwald. There are indeed more restaurant options there and shopping, but we generally stay in apartments or take half-board at our hotel, so we don’t need restaurants. But I do like the hiking options there.

For views from a balcony, Mürren is my favorite, especially higher up in the village, like Hotel Bellevue. You are looking across the valley to the Jungfrau massif, and it is particularly beautiful at sunset, with Alpenglow.

Wengen and Mürren have very different “vibes” to me, with Wengen feeling more resort-y, in an old-Europe style way. Many large, rather grand hotels with spa facilities. Mürren has a couple of those, but most hotels are more in the mountain chalet style, and the focus of the town is more on serious mountain sports like skiing, hiking, and mountain biking. At least that is how it feels to me, and probably why I am happiest there.

When are you going? Depending on that, you might hit a village festival ( Dorffest) which is lots of fun.

You might enjoy staying at Hotel Bellevue des Alpes in Kleine Scheidegg, featured in the movie The Eiger Sanction.

Of the two choices you listed, I'd recommend Wengen. IMO, Grindelwald doesn't have the same incredible views or "ambience", and it tends to be more posh and touristy, with lots of pricey stores and expensive hotels. It's also a bit more "off the beaten track" so will take longer to reach other sightseeing destinations in the area.

Wengen is on one side of the Lauterbrunnen Valley, on the same side as Kleine Scheidegg and the Jungfraujoch. It's relatively easy to reach the other side by taking the Wengernalpbahn cogwheel train down the hill. If you want to visit Mürren, Gimmelwald or the famous Schilthorn (also a beautiful revolving restaurant) it's an easy trip through Lauterbrunnen (which is the transportation hub for the area). The Schilthorn was partially used for filming the James Bond movie On Her Majesty's Secret Service a number of years ago, and it's reached by a series of cable cars (three or four, depending on where you start from).

Switzerland has an incredible transportation system, and the rail system is totally electrified. Renting a car is not usually the best idea, as Wengen is car free (as is Mürren) so you can't drive there anyway.

I normally stay in Lauterbrunnen, but many here prefer Mürren. The group here can provide lots of information on sightseeing in the area, but you may also want to buy the RS Switzerland guidebook.

One final note.... if you haven't been to Switzerland before, be sure to budget lots as it's an expensive country to travel in.

Thanks everyone. We do have the RS Switzerland book and I was dismayed to find NO mention of Grindlewald in it. I was thinking that at least Grindlewald wouldn't have all the folks clutching their RS book to their chests and wandering the streets, as I have seen in Paris, Rome, Florence, Sienna, etc. :) Ken, thanks for chiming in--you've always responded to my questions in the past when we were planning our travels. Good to see you are still around! I still haven't made up my mind, but I do appreciate everyone's thoughts.

Deb

Getting to a hotel in Wengen or in Grindelwald is exactly the same: you do have an extra connection to get to Wengen, but it is timed, and Wengen is smaller so getting to your hotel at the end will probably take less time. Do not let it influence your judgement.
Both have more than their fair share of spectacular views. Wengen maybe more so, and with more sun. Grindelwald has more going on, but the novelty of staying in car-free Wengen does give it the edge in my opinion.
It is ultimately a matter of opinion: many people on here prefer Mürren to Wengen, yet I find Mürren way too small for more than 2 nights - admittedly, my view is skewed by winter visits, during which Wengen has much more to do.

Edit: I had the wrong hotel. We stayed at Hotel Kirchbühl.

In Grindelwald you are staring at the north face of the Eiger. The glacier has gotten smaller every year though. Easy access to the Gondel to the First Mountain, and train to the Jungfraujoch. In good weather the walk from one of the Jungfraujoch train middle stations back to Grindelwald next to the Eiger is great. Years ago we stayed at the Hotel Kirchbühl. I've never been to Wengen. Maybe one of these days? With time and means why not stay at Both? I drive my own car.

If you are Sportlich: https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/konkordiahuette/
When the camera clears: https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/glecksteinhuette/

Deb,

Yes, I'm still around but there hasn't been a lot to comment on lately. Hopefully that will be changing in the near future ;-)

There's probably a good reason that Grindelwald isn't covered in the RS Switzerland guidebook. I suspect it doesn't meet the same level of interest as the other Berner Oberland locations. It's less attractive to me as I usually travel by train and Grindelwald is definitely out of the way, so it's not as convenient for getting to the other destinations in the valley.

As I recall there are two rail lines out of Grindelwald....

• via Berner Oberland-Bahn down to Zweilütschinen and then to Lauterbrunnen or Interlaken

• via Wengernalpbahn up to Kleine Scheidegg and then down to Lauterbrunnen.

Both methods are going to add time and cost to getting anywhere else in the valley. I prefer the more efficient approach by staying in the transportation hub and that way it's easy to reach either side of the valley in the shortest time possible.

I don't quite get the latest comment; Grindelwald is perhaps less convenient than Lauterbrunnen, but certainly more than RS-recommended Mürren. It gives good access both to the Jungfrau / Männlichen side and to the First / Bachalpsee / Faulhorn side; only Schilthorn is further away.
It IS a bit more overrun with day trippers, true, and this is possibly worse since the completion of the Eiger express gondola which greatly speeds up Jungfrau access from Grindelwald.

I've decided that we will stay in Wengen--due to the better chance for sunshine. One of the posters said that Grindelwald is in the shadow of the mountain, hence my decision. Now, on to hotels--I'll look on the form to see what folks think of lodging in Wengen, but if anyone wants to chime here, that would be great!

Deb

A little different perspective on Grindlewald here. We liked it, found it cute, but for a couple of hours. Having lived in Aspen, Colorado, when traveling to ski towns in the off-season, they are pretty boring. Unless you go for specific reasons, ie the hiking, it may not be the experience you are hoping for. You will find some restaurants open, mostly souvenir shops, and just not the same ambiance you would find during the in-season. Wengen will just give you a different experience that will be more memorable.

I have hotel schoenegg in wengen booked for my june trip based on recommendations from other forum members.

https://www.hotel-schoenegg.ch/

JR - that's the best reason yet to stay in Wengen. We also live in a resort area that is very quiet part of the year, so I understand what you are saying. Wengen it is! Carrie, thanks for the hotel recommendation--I'll check it out.

Deb

Deb:
I know you were deciding between Wengen or Grindelwald, but your initial post stated your reason for staying in one of those two places: "My main reason for staying in Wengen is the views--I've always had a dream of sitting on the deck outside our room, gazing up at the mountains."
Well, we stayed in Wengen and Mürren this past September and the view from the Bellevue meets your criteria. You must ask for a balcony room overlooking the valley (See Lola's post above). And if you stay at the Hotel Bellevue, you don't need to walk far for a good meal. The meals there are excellent.
I also read about your surgeries and your husband's knees, well, at Mürren you could take the funicular to Allmendhubel, and sit on the deck and have a bite to eat at the restaurant there, and gaze at the mountains to your heart's content. I think the views from there are my favorite in the area.
And...taking the cable car up to Birg (one stop below the Schilthorn), you could also have lunch on the deck and gaze at the mountains.
One thing about staying on the Mürren side of the valley, is you get to look at the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau.
Can you tell I preferred Mürren over Wengen?

I read the Murren, Gimmelwald, Wengen, Grindelwald debate on these forums with interest before our week in long trip to the Berner Oberland last summer. I anticipated wild distinctions, but discovered that the debate is silly puffery.

These are all great places, and any of them is perfectly suitable to stay.

Grindelwald is at one end of the alpine transit pass network. Long way from Murren, but not uninteresting trip. Grindelwald is bigger but not too big, beautiful town, beautiful views, gorgeous small farms spreading up the sunny slope behind town.

Other end of the transit network Gimmelwald and Murren have stunning mountain views, cute towns, decent amenities.

Wengen is in the middle of the transit network. It's a wild disservice to call it somehow less authentic than Murren. Both are charming ski villages with a lot of holiday rentals.and hotels. Wengen shows more of an active agricultural setting than Murren, and has good mountain views compared to Murren's spectacular mountain views. The walking immediately around Wengen is really nice, and it's an easy trip to everywhere else.

Bottom line is they are all charming, all perfectly worthwhile places to stay.

silly puffery.

????

“Puffery”—-wild exaggeration, inflated claims, or outright misrepresentation, usually with respect to advertising. The only place I have heard or seen the word is in legal briefs and courtroom argument, where it is used as an acceptable way (to the judge’s ears, at least) to dismiss or deride the other side’s claims as “ mere puffery”.

I don’t see any of that here, just differing viewpoints on three very nice Swiss villages. I offered mine above. But I want to amend my views on Grindelwald: when I said it is hard to find good views from a balcony in Grindelwald, I was referring only to the hotels along the Main Street, such as Die Spinne, where one is looking up, up, up at a wall of rock, such as the Eiger North Face, but you cannot see the peaks beyond. If you pick a place above town, you can get very nice views across the valley to the peaks beyond and behind that wall of rock.

We had dinner one night outside at Hotel Bodmi, on the Terrassenweg above town. They are situated next to the meadow where the paragliders land, and there was a special area on the deck set aside for the Gleitschirm Piloten. The views from that deck are wonderful. You can get an idea of the views from their website:

https://das-bodmi.ch/en/das-bodmi-the-spirit-of-swiss-nature-2/

And further along, toward Grosse Scheidegg and also above the village, is Hotel Kirchbühl (mentioned above), a place I wanted to stay 20 years ago, but could not afford at that time. Instead, we booked their sister property Alpinhotel Bort, partway up the First lift—-a simpler place with even better views. But in the end, we decided not to stay in Grindelwald that time.

https://www.kirchbuehl.ch/en/hotel-kirchbuehl/

https://www.huettenzauber.ch/en/hotels-accommodation/alpinhotel-bort

(I might take another look at that place for our next trip—I think the grandchildren would love it).

I have to wonder if JR’s comment above, about a village that was boring and dead quiet in the off-season, is referring to Gimmelwald rather than Grindelwald.

And why be concerned about the off-season atmosphere? When are you going on this trip? ALL the villages will be pretty quiet in the month or so between the end of ski season (usually Easter) and mid-May.

I just have to add my 2 cents to this forum. I stayed in Grindelwald about 25 years ago and I thought it was wonderful. Until someone on this forum told me about Wengen. I decided to stay there because I liked how the only access to this town was by train. I visited Grindewald again while staying in Wengen, and was so disappointed in it. That quiet little village was overrun with tshirt shops and lots of traffic. It reminded me of Gatlinburg N.C. I was so glad that we were staying in Wengen at the hotel Jungfrau with a beautiful corner room surrounded by the alps and the valley beyond.