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Getting around The Berner Oberland?

We will be staying in Murren for 3 days and want to see all we can of the Berner Oberland. We bought Rick Steves Switzerland book and was reading the section about the BO. It looks like trains and gondolas take you from town to town and run twice every hour. It seems like it will take a few hours to get from Murren to Grindewald according to the book. Is there easier ways to get from town to town? We were thinking about just walking from Murren to Gimmelwald and Wengen. Is there anything we shouldn't miss? We will be there in late June of this year, Thanks!!

Posted by
32352 posts

Brendon, The transportation options will depend on where you're going. It's easy to walk from Mürren to Gimmelwald (after all, it's downhill) especially as the "trail" is paved. To return to Mürren, you can either hike back up or take the Cable Car (the cost is reasonable for that short trip). For the trip from Mürren to Grindelwald, I believe you'll have to get to Lauterbrunnen. You can either take the Mürren - Gimmelwald - Stechelberg route and then Post Bus to Lauterbrunnen OR the the small mountain railway to Winteregg and then Cable Car to Lauterbrunnen. While in Mürren, you might enjoy taking the Allmend-Hubel Funicular up the hill, and then hiking down. It's an easy walk and there's a small Hotel / Bar part way along where you can stop for a "cool one". Happy travels!

Posted by
12040 posts

As Ken mentioned, Mürren to Gimmelwald is an easy down hill walk along a paved road. To Wengen, though, you would have to take either a cable car to the valley floor, or walk the much longer route down from Gimmelwald. It's worth mentioning, however, that the towns of the Berner Oberland are not the attraction in and of themselves. As pleasant as Mürren and Gimmelwald might be, nobody would go out of their way to visit them if an identical collection of buildings sat in, say, the suburbs of Basel (Gimmewald isn't nearly as unique as Mr. Steves would have us believe). It's their locations in the glorious Alpine mountain settings that make them so popular. If you're staying in one town, there isn't much reason to go out of your way just to visit another. Spend your valuable time hiking, don't worry about checking out all the villages.

Posted by
515 posts

THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE GREAT HELP!!! Chris, we are staying at Hotel Jungfrau.