Wengen or Murren accommodation advice

Wengen and Mürren are both equally accessable. They are on opposite sides of the valley.
You get to both from Lauterbrunnen. To get from one to the other you need to go down to Lauterbrunnen and back up the other side.

In Murren you can have some cheaper accommodations:

https://www.thehotelguru.com/en-us/hotel/eiger-guesthouse-murren

https://www.thehotelguru.com/en-us/hotel/blumental-hotel-murren

https://www.thehotelguru.com/en-us/hotel/hotel-bellevue-murren

Those hotelgugu.com links are not accurate. The one for Hotel Blumenthal takes you to booking.com which shows different prices from the $170 displayed, and all come with a 10% cancellation fee.

The one for Hotel Bellevue (which would be my choice in Mürren) does not show availability and price for any dates I checked in summer 2019. On the hotel website, a standard double room is 180 CHF, lower than the Edelweiss in Wengen chosen by the OP.

I suggest always booking directly on the hotel,website, especially in Switzerland.

To answer the Op's question, we stayed in Chalet Fontana the first four times we visited Mürren. It is a very good value, especially in the bed and breakfast rooms with shared bathroom. The main downside is no view and no balcony.

Wengen and Mürren are both above Lauterbrunnen with similar access. From Wengen youndescend by train; from Mürren you ride a train to Grutschalp and transfer to the cable are down to Lauterbrunnen. If you have luggage they transfer it for you in a little cart attached under the cablecar.

Onlynif younwish tomgomto Grindelwald would Wengen have the advantage, as youncan go over the ridge that divides them instead of descending to the valley level and going around. Over the ridge is more expensive however, as even if you have a Swiss Pass it is not fully covered.

For views, I much prefer Mürren, especially from the far end of the village (Hotel Bellevue).

What made you pick those two hotels? If we knew the characteristics you were after, we might be able to suggest cheaper alternatives.

To get from Murren to Lauterbrunnen, you take first a very small train for about 3 minutes, then you take a cable car, also about 3 minutes, and you're there. Wasn't hard at all. Can't speak to Wengen as did not go there, but loved staying in Murren and loved our two-room suite at the Hotel Alpenblick.

Wengen is beautiful, but so is Murren. However, I'd go to Murren because it has 4 great trails there plus the cable car to Schilthorn and also quick access to Gimmelwald and Stechelberg (and then Trummelbach Falls).
Wengen doesn't have the same sort of trails, though it does have cable car access to Mannlichen, and that trail (Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg) is my all-time favorite. You should not miss it. So if you want to score them that way, that's Murren 5, Wengen 1.

Also, if you have budget concerns, you might also check out renting a trailer at www.campingjungfrau.swiss which is just outside Lauterbrunnen. Those are around $100/night and depending on the time of year they will rent for half a week. Having a small kitchen, as in those trailers, can also be a money-saver.

I would choose Murren (and have for the past 10 or so years) and we ALWAYS stay with Denise in Chalet Fontana. Stroll across the street and say hello to Lydia and Reudi at the Stager Stubli for some absolutely scrumptious hearty Swiss Alpine meals. Murren is our home away from home, and Denise only makes it better!

Fresandkell - inpicked thise 2 hotels based on reading a lot of reviews. Ideally, my budget is 200 CF/night. The Wengen hotel is about 280 and the Mirren one is 150 - quite a difference for 4 nights.

Shoe - I will definitely read more about your trail recommendations! This will be my 3rd time in the area, but never with my kids and never experienced any of the trails. And, it’s been 20 years - so excited!

But, it’s so frustrating... I can’t decide between Wengen and Murren as a base. I was leaning to Wengen, but now it’s more Murren ...

Wengen has more shopping and restaurants and tourists. Murren is more of a quaint village with a few shops and few freestanding restaurants. But many of the hotels have very nice restaurants which are open to everyone.

Well... you could always stay 2 nights in Murren and 2 in Wengen and get the best of both worlds!

I also stayed at Hotel Alpenblick in Murren like FredandKell. The views from the balcony were wonderful and it was one of the best prices in Murren when I looked. I stayed this past October and I'm a budget traveler. I went over to Wengen and up to Mannlichen for a hike and it was easy to get there from Murren. Murren is smaller, which is what I wanted, but there are lots of hikes and it's easy to get up the Schilthorn. Just walking through town every day with the view of Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau were awesome. Owners of Hotel Alpenblick were so very nice and helpful and they have a nice little restaurant there as well and it's just a few steps from the train (and the train is not bothersome at all - it's quiet). Wengen is beautiful but I was glad to be in Murren because I wanted the peace and quiet and to just sit on my balcony and take in the mountain beauty.

Thanks again everyone..

Murren sounds ideal, but I’d love some feedback regarding dining options. I was leaning towards Wengen, as being a little bigger, there would be more choices for food. My daughters are very picky - scratch out sitting down to a traditional Swiss meal. One is a vegetarian. They prefer Italian and Mexican food.

Part of me is thinking that it doesn’t matter - we could always eat in a different are I.e. Grindelwald or Interlaken - wherever our day is spent, before heading ‘home’. Thoughts?

Most of the restaurants in both Wengen and Mürren are in hotels. Mürren does have two stand-alone restaurants, the Stäger Stübli which is traditional Swiss, and Tham's Asian restaurant, which offers a number of vegetarian dishes. So that would be one good option in Mürren.

As for Italian, according to TripAdvisor, the top-rated Italian restaurant in the whole Jungfrau region ( Wengen, Mürren, Lauterbrunnen, Grindelwald, and more) is in Mürren, at the Eiger Guesthosue. Have a look at their menu:

https://www.eigerguesthouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Speisekarte-Winter-2019.pdf

Second is Onkle Tom'e Hütte, a pizza restaurant in Grindelwald. (I have eaten there several times and agree it is good).

Just about any casual restaurant in Switzerland, unless it is ethnic (I.e. Not Swiss) will have at least one pasta option on the menu, and several vegetarian offerings. You can always view the menu outside before going in.

Another option would be to book the ground-floor apartment at Chalet Fontana. The Coop grocery just up the street has a good selection of produce, eggs, cheeses, and other foods in addition to meat and poultry. We had an apartment there for a week last August and never had dinner in a restaurant; we found everything we needed to cook nice meals right there.

Those restaurants look perfect! Thanks!

In addition to Chateau Fontana and Alpenblick, is there another place I should look into. Woul love a balcony with a view and breakfast included at a budget of 200’CF

Thanks

How many people? You mention two daughters. So 3 or 4 people? That will affect the room price.

The afore-mentioned Alpenblick has an apartment in the hotel with two balconies. It is higher than you ask, but the possibility of making dinner instead of dining in restaurants could make up some of the difference.

http://www.alpenblick-muerren.ch/#alpenblick

They also have a family room and triples, both with balcony and view.

We have not stayed there, but I did correspond with them about the apartment for our stay last summer, and Jeanette was very kind and helpful.

We ended up with a larger apartment ( for 6) at the far end of the village, and loved that location. But Alpenblick is more convenient to the train station.

Thank you for your advice.

There are 3 of us traveling, so a triple room is fine. I’m looking at Alpenblick, too.

I’m also open to suggestions - my budget is 200CF, but I currently have a room booked for 270 CF, so I could make that work.

Here’s my dilemma with the 2 properties I mentioned in the original post:

Chalet Fontana: would have to move rooms on the 4th night, has no balcony or views

Hotel Edelweiss: in Wengen and I’m now leaning towards Murren, but when I booked it in October I got it for 270 CF - it’s now 360 CF, so I feel I got a really good deal...

Also, I just read this morning that the Mannlichen-Klein Schidegg trail rarely opens before June 15... is that true? What about the Murren trails?

The Hotel Alpenblick wants $267/night for a family room for 2 adults, 2 kids. (At first it looks like all they have is the apartment for $315/night; you have to scroll down and manually change it to family room.) I put in a dummy reservation on booking.com for June 13-17 since I don't know your dates). This has a balcony, two rooms with a closing door, and includes breakfast. Most breakfasts in Switzerland are at least $15/pp, so really the rate is more like $200/night before the meal. I highly recommend this hotel - see my TripAdvisor review on it and my trip report on it here (scroll down to Day 8 for Switzerland).

Thank you fredandkell - there will be 3 of us traveling from June 9-13. Hotel Alpenbick shows a triple room for 225 CF as our travel dates are considered low summer season. Chalet Fontana has an apartment for 180 CF. Is the difference of 45 CF/night worth it? That’s a difference 180 CF worth it? I don’t envision us spending a lot of time in the room.

Only you can decide what’s a good deal for your family. Chalet Fontana gets excellent reviews on Trip Advisor and also includes breakfast so that saved $180 can buy y’all a couple of meals.

Denise at Chalet Fontana gets great reviews from me too

Wengen has a lot of vacation rentals (AirBNB) which we have had luck with over the years. Some folks frown at the AirBNB platform but having a balcony and kitchen is ideal in the area. Sina’s Pub/restaurant is a good pizza place in Wengen. (http://www.dasina.ch/en/about-us.html).

In Wengen, the Hotel Baren has an outstanding restaurant.

Thanks everyone! I've decided to stay in Murren. I appreciate all the advice. I'm sure I'll be on with more questions :-)

We stayed at Hotel Edelweiss in Wengen s few years ago. We went in March with my Son and his family. They all went skiing. My hubby and I don't sky, but enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Did day trip to Murren and we all agreed we liked Wengen more.

We're returning to Wengen in September to do some hiking. Staying at Edelweiss again. Great place to stay. We ate dinner at the hotel 3 nights. Food was very good. Owner and staff super friendly.

A lot of great and helpful information here. My wife and I and another couple will be traveling to Lauterbrunnen in September. has anyone stayed at or have an opinion of the Hotel Wengener Hof Wengen?