Where to sleep Interlaken, Gimmelwald or Murren

Ho,

Skip Interlaken and stay all thre night "in" the alps. Can't help you decide, as we stayed in Wengen.

Paul

We spent our 3 nights in Murren. With the gondola and train schedules being very precise, it was fairly straight forward to plan day trips. Your "non-hiker" will be tempted to venture out, because the area is incredibly beautiful and there are some easy walking trails which would be worth trying!

You should spend your time in Lauterbrunnen on the valley floor and base out of there. Murren is nice and we have spent one night there and enjoyed having a room on the edge of the valley with a simply breathtaking view. The other five trips we have stayed in Lauterbrunnen. The problem that once you are in Murren to get to other points of interest other than the Schilthorn you have to take an aerial tram and a train or bus to get down to the valley floor. While they may run right on on schedule, they are not free and worse, you are wasting time that cannot be replaced at any price. Stay in Lauterbrunnen and you can make Murren a stop on your trip to the Schilthorn. Other places to see are Tremmelbach Falls, the train trip from Lauterbrunnen all or part way up to the Jungfraujoch, the Ballenberg Open Air Museum, taking a steamer around the Brienzersee with a stop in Brienz. If you are traveling by car you could take a drive around to nearby Lenk in the Simental. Whatever you do, don't waste a night in Interlaken, that would be like going to see the Grand Canyon and stopping at the parking lot.

What day trips to you plan to do? If you want to do the Schilthorn & Jungfraujoch, then Lauterbrunnen is the logical choice. If you want to visit mainly Thun, the Open Air Museum, and other lake-side attractions, then Interlaken is the better choice.

I agree with the others that Lauterbrunnen would be a good choice if you want to tour both sides of the valley, as it's the transportation hub and a central location. If you intend to only tour the attractions on the Mürren side of the valley such as the Schilthorn, then Mürren would be a great choice. From there you can also get to Gimmelwald very easily (walk down, take the cable car back up).

My vote isfor lauterbrunnen valley or gorgeous murren. We did both since we spent 5 days in that area.It was perfect. U cannot go wrong.

Where ever your choose to spend your time Lauterbrunnen (valley floor) or Murren/Gimmewald (high up in the alps) just bypass Interlaken totally and don't waste your time there. It's a prettyish little tourist town, but you came here to see the dramatic alps...not dine at McDonalds (which is in Interlaken).

Staying in Interlaken isn't the end of the world. While it may not have as good a view of the alps vs the mountain villages, it does have a few advantages:
-while it's more commercial than the villages, it's actually less touristy as the municipality has functions outside tourism.
-in case of inclement weather/poor visibility Interlaken is a better base to visit rainy day options like Bern, the Ballenberg open air museum, or a lake cruise.
-Restraunt food is cheaper and with the added benefit of more variety of cuisines.

I'm not a hiker and I always stay in Murren (every year). Don't be fooled into thinking these alpine villages are only for the die-hard hikers. They are truly unbelievable and you'll see that when you arrive. That's why I say skip Interlaken altogether - the alpine villages are SO much better.