Wengen Trip Questions

In your situation, I'd suggest staying in Luzern or even Zurich the night before your return flight.

I wouldn't want to go to Schilthorn or Jungfrauoch if it is overcast/fogged in at the top. Maybe Schilthorn, its not as expensive, and there is the James Bond stuff. There are cameras in many places that show the status at the mountain tops. In GENERAL, mountain weather is best in the morning. All this to say, I would be more flexible with the itinerary. If the mountain weather is not favorable, you could consider seeing the waterfalls in the Lauterbrunnen valley.

You can leave Wengen as early as 5:04 am and be at Zurich airport by 8:14 am. At the very latest, the 6:13 am train with only 2 changes (train is direct to Zurich airport from Interlaken Ost) gets you there by 9:14 am. Paying big bucks (or francs) for a car service just so you can get out of bed 1 hour later seems foolish to me, since you are still going to need to take the train down Lauterbrunnen to get picked up.

Thanks very much to you both.

Jules, I considered staying our last night in Luzern or back to Zurich, but I'd like to avoid yet another check-in if I can avoid it. Yes, I fully recognize the need to be flexible, especially given the cost of Jungfraujoch.

Sam, thanks for the input, and I think we may just need to suck it up :) So I am clear, are you suggesting the 6:13 am train is the latest we'd want to leave to get to Zurich? Would the 6:43 be cutting it too close?

Appreciate anyone's comments on the rail pass question. Right now, I am leaning towards just the half-fare cards with the family card, but cannot wrap my head around whether something additional (BO, Jungfrau TP) would make sense.

I'm another who would spend the night in Zurich before a flight that early, although it doesn't give you much time in Wengen.

Your itinerary looks good. We had a full seven nights there in October, and never even managed to get to Jungfraujoch or Trummelbach falls. The time just seems to go so fast in such a lovely area.

Maybe you could change day 4 to exploring Wengen and Lauterbrunnen in the morning, visiting the falls and then continuing onto Zurich for dinner and the last night.

2 hours is too short to arrive at the airport, as you have to walk 15-20 minutes from the train portion of the airport to the check in area. If your flight is at 11:45, the very latest I would do is the 6:13 arriving 9:14. That one is nice since it has the direct from Interlaken Ost to Zurich Flughafen and every time you cut down on stops you avoid the chance of missing trains because of dragging luggage and a bunch of kids. The last thing you want to be doing on your day out is stressing about a missed train/international flight.

You only have a 6 minute connection in Interlaken Ost with the 6:13-9:14 option. With a family and luggage, that’s going to be tight and probably stressful. I can do it with just my husband and all our luggage but one year when I was helping my family visiting with 2 little kids we did end up missing that connection because you have to run up and down a couple ramps and crowds make that difficult with all your luggage. Personally I’d probably leave on the 5:40 am train to get to Interlaken Ost at 6:23 and then have a leisurely walk over to the 6:59 direct train to the airport. It’s going to be a crappy early morning, but that’s the reality of a flight before noon leaving from Wengen.

Your other option is to leave Wengen after dinner on Day 4 and check into a hotel connected to the airport. You’d still get your full day of exploration and then you could all sleep in on departure morning. There are multiple hotels attached to the airport.

Either option will have its annoyances, so pick your poison :)

In terms of your itinerary, I think it looks pretty good. Doing Mannlichen on your first day probably makes the most sense if weather is looking good for you the whole time, since it’s right there and you will have just done a bunch of traveling the day before, but whatever is going on, prioritize your Murren/Schilthorn/Gimmelwald/Allmendhubel day for your best weather, no matter what day it is.

Day 2 or 3: Wengen > Männlichen (playground) > walk to Kleine Scheidegg > optional Jungfraujoch (not my favorite activity, especially with kids) > Eigergletscher > walk down to Kleine Schiedegg with a stop at Fallbodensee kneipp baths > dessert treats in Kleine Scheidegg > optional walk to Wengernalp > train to Wengen (they have adventure mini golf in Wengen)

Day 2 or 3: Wengen > Lauterbrunnen > Stechelberg > Schilthorn > Birg Thrill Walk > Murren > Allmendhubel (playground, lunch) > Murren > easy and lovely downhill walk to Gimmelwald (explore and dinner - kids will probably love the wood fired pizza at the hostel) > Stechelberg > Lauterbrunnen > Wengen

Day 4: Weather buffer for the above activities. Walk through the Lauterbrunnen Valley (optional Trummelbach Falls) or if you plan to go to an airport hotel, bring your luggage down to Interlaken Ost and maybe enjoy a day on Lake Brienz or Lake Thun

I can try to help you with the pass question, but need to know if Jungfraujoch is non-negotiable for you or not, as that affects the answer.

Re: Zurich, we always stay at the hotel Ibis (Accor), in Glattbrugg. It has small but clean rooms, and is 50 yards from the tram stop going to the airport (maybe 10 minute ride). It only has a breakfast room, but we walk to the Glatthof restaurant for dinner. Price last month was chf 114 for 2.

I am definitely going to look into staying in Zurich the night before. My primary hesitation is that we'll be coming from Italy and already in/out of 3 AirBnB's prior to Wengen, but the hassle may be worth it to avoid stress in the morning. That said, fortunately my kids are morning people, so the earlier train might be the right answer.

wanderweg, thanks so much for the detailed response. You put into writing what I have been kicking around in my head. In response to your question, Jungfraujoch is very much negotiable and I'm really on the fence, especially also doing Schilthorn/Birg Thrill Walk. I'd rather wind up paying more if we decide to do it vs. paying and then deciding not to or weather. Thanks.

Because you have such a short trip (you won't feel like you have nearly enough time), if you do decide to stay in Zurich the night before, just go late after dinner and stay AT the airport. Otherwise it's not worth the hassle in my opinion and then I'd just get up early from Wengen. The only benefit to checking into a new hotel is if you're literally already at the airport to just sleep and then wake up for your flight. That's the only way I'd even remotely consider it so that you still have a full day 4 and no logistics the morning of your departure.

Fair points. After looking at some hotel options, I think I am just going to stay in Wengen and get up early. However, I don't see the particular connection from Interlaken Ost direct to the airport you were referring to with a 5:40 departure from Wengen. Both seem to go through Bern unless I am missing something.

Any ticket you purchase is for a route, not a time, unless it's a a Supersaver ticket.

I'm suggesting you go on an earlier train from Wengen to Interlaken and then even though you would technically be there for the earlier train via Bern, you just wait for the direct. If that's confusing, then just purchase as 2 separate tickets. One for the 5:40 from Wengen to Interlaken Ost and then a separate ticket on the direct Interlaken Ost to Zurich Flughafen. If you end up with a rail pass it's not going to matter because all the rail passes include until atleast Interlaken Ost, so you'd just be purchasing the ticket from Interlaken Ost to Zurich Flughafen and getting on whatever Wengen to Interlaken Ost train you want with the pass as your ticket.

Thanks, that is helpful. I was just curious why the SBB app didn't provide the direct option in the first place.

I still need to figure out the pass question, but you have been super helpful.

SBB always calculates fastest routes, so for the 5:40 option it's going to send you through Bern to get to the airport earlier, but with more connections. So if you personally decide you want more time for a connection then what the fastest option is, you have to calculate that yourself. It is physically possible to make the 6 minute connection in Interlaken, which is why SBB gives it to you, but I will say that I have done this connection in Interlaken more times than I can count and every single time I'm still hustling. With 3 tired kids, early morning sleep deprivation, luggage and the need to make an international flight, I'd be doing the extra buffer for the connection. Especially because the backup options if you miss that direct train....
Train to Spiez (6 minute connection), Train to Bern (6 minute connection), Train to Zurich Flughafen - arriving 9:51
Train through Bern with another 6 minute connection - arriving 10:14
It's kind of a recipe for disaster :)

just purchase as 2 separate tickets. One for the 5:40 from Wengen to Interlaken Ost and then a separate ticket on the direct Interlaken Ost to Zurich Flughafen

Point-to-point ticket Wengen - Zurich Flughafen is valid for the entire day.
46.00 with HFC. It does not matter if you take a train in which you transfer in Bern or the one with no transfer (ie. stay on the same train all the way from Interlaken). They both follow the same route through Bern. No need to buy a separate ticket for each stretch, no matter what time you are traveling that day.

I’d probably leave on the 5:40 am train to get to Interlaken Ost at
6:23 and then have a leisurely walk over to the 6:59 direct train to
the airport.

I personally think that the six minute transfer is more than enough. At that time of morning you will likely not have crowds of tourists to deal with. Anyone who is communing to work know what they are doing and will not be in your way like loads of tourists will be. I would never feel the need to give myself more than half an hour at the train station, especially one as small as Interlaken Ost, through which you will have already gone at least once and will be somewhat familiar with the layout.

As far as a pass is concerned, remember that it is not always cheaper to have one. In your case the HFC makes sense because you have kids in your party. It could just very well be that your best savings is just to have that.

If they had good backup options for missing that train, I’d agree and say go with the 6 minute connection and just catch the next train if you miss - but the backup options should they miss that train are not good for their scenario. After only a few days in Switzerland, they may not be confident experts at the train system and realistically with 3 kids and luggage it will physically take 4-5 minutes to get off the train and to the new one with speed walking, leaving a small buffer for the error of turning the wrong way. There is a 95% chance they absolutely make the 6 minute connection, so I’m just offering a solution to mitigate that 5% stress if that’s of personal value to them knowing their kids, risk tolerance, etc.