Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen or Muerren

I wouldn't stay in Interlaken; that's really just a jumping-off place. Some people here like Lauterbrunnen because it is centrally located and in a pretty valley. But of your choices, I would stay in Murren in a heartbeat. You've traveled all that way to see the mountainsyou should sleep in the mountains! It will amplify your Swiss experience. You could also consider Wengen on the other side of the valleynot exactly the same but the same sort of place. Getting around from Mueren is easy. There is a gentle paved walk over to Gimmelwald, many trails, a funicular to Lauterbrunnen (where you would catch the Jungfrau train), and a cable car that goes both up (to the Schlithorn) and down (Gimmelwald and the valley floor a bit away from Lauterbrunnen). Many walks, hikes, and other trips are possible. Wengen is similarly connected. Have a great trip!

Thank you! Can you also please help me understand rail passes? In addition to traveling around the Bernese Oberland area, we are also taking he train to Como and then back to Zurich. Do I need to buy tickets online ahead of time or can I just buy them there on the day of travel? Also, should I buy any kind of rail pass? Thank you again.

By all means choose Muerren and choose the Chalet Fontana if you can get it. Muerren is stunning and absolutely perfect for a family. Obviously there are families who live in Muerren so there were several kids of all ages playing outside all of the time. Your kids will travel free with you all over Switzerland - which is a great plus. There is really no need to book ahead for Swiss Trains...they are clean, punctual and very user friendly. You will have a BLAST in Muerren. I'm jealous!

Thank you! I have been looking at Hotel Eiger in Muerren - any thoughts on that? Also, you mentioned children travel free in Switzerland - do I need to buy any kind of a pass for that ahead of time? Thank you again and I truly appreciate the advice.

You will see much more of the Alps by staying somewhere in the Lauterbrunnen Valley (Wengen, Lauterbrunnen or Murren). I left out Gimmelwald as I don't think there is much family stuff there (it's really small). Any of the three are just great. Wengen and Murren are higher up the valley walls. Murren is at 5,200'. Lauterbrunnen is the transportation hub to the areas. But, all are great. Several things to consider on a pass. If part of the "we" is you and your spouse, the Swiss Seletc pass can be an option. It provides a discount for two adults traveling together. The best of all is that if you purchase in advance from the U.S., you can request the Swiss Family card. This will permit your children under 16 to travel FREE. For the adults, no pass, Swiss or otherwise, will cover you completely up to the Jungfraujoch. The Swiss passes or cards will cover 50% of the fare (162CHF from Lauterbrunnen). But, it's still FREE for the children with the Swiss family card. Finally, with or without a Swiss pass or card, you can get some great discounts on tickets in advance (40%) on www.rail.ch if you know precisely when you will travel (tickets have firm train numbers, dates and departure times and are generally non-refundable). For Como-S. Giovanni, there are two ways to go from Interlaken Ost. 1) north to Lucerne and then south to Como or 2) Spiez/Milan/Como. The journey will take just over 5.0hrs. From Como to Zurich, you can get the 3hr6min train with no train changes. There are several that depart Como at 7:45, 9:45, 11:45, 13:45 and later. There are several other runs as weil but they require train changes. See the official Swiss rail webiste at www.rail.ch

Agree with other comments. Interlaken is not a charming place but works for train changes. Muerren is nice and Lauterbrunnen is down in a valley so you will not have the views. We love Wengen for the great views and will be there next week-our second stay there.

I agree with Adam and Tim about staying in Murren. We stayed there in '06 and loved it so much we returned again in '08. The whole area is wonderful, but Murren is above all the rest imo. It's at 5,000' elevation (unlike Lauterbrunnen and Interlaken) and we felt enveloped by the Alps, like we could just reach out an touch them. The town itself is very child-friendly (virtually no cars), it's small, yet big enough for everything you need. They have a playground and a sports center with kids stuff to do and the walks from Murren are really great. Murren is beyond wonderful! We stayed at the Hotel Eiger both times and really, really liked it. We had a room with a balcony which made it even better.

Thank you all!

Love Muerren! It's a car-free charming village. It has a small grocery store. Just walking from one end of the village to the other, and then up into the hills, is a swiss delight. I stay at the Hotel Alpina. It is a bit worn, however, the rooms with a balcony overlooking the valley and at the mountains is breathtaking. It is a family run hotel with a huge breakfast buffet. They have free internet in the lobby. Make sure you take the Rick Steves' tour book with you. He'll take you on a walking tour of the sites in Gimmelwald. We stopped to buy cheese at the cheese shed. The kids will enjoy it. Have fun on your trip making lifetime memories with the kids.

Muerren or Lauterbrunnen for sure. As Rick always point out in his Switzerland Guidebook (which I strongly suggesr you get and use, if you don't have it yet; he makes seeing all of the best sites super easy), Interlaken is more of a "jumping off point." Many people stay in Interlaken, but it's by far the busiest of all 3. If I had to choose ONE; I'd prob go w/ Mueren, but I do agree that Lauterbrunnen is beautiful. The entire are is spectacular; eirher area would put you in close and easy proximity of all there is to do and see in the Bernese Oberland. It' prob my favotire region of Europe; for sheer natural beauty, it's pretty hard to beat.

We are here right now for the first time! We are staying in Wengen. I thought about Rick's suggestions for Gimmelwald or Murren, but someone elsewhere steered me in a different direction. Murren seemed a bit more expensive than Wengen when we went over there (it is a bit smaller, too), although you would think it would be the other way around. If you stay in Wengen, stay in Chalet Wengen ( http://www.chaletwengen.ch - we are staying in Nellie's and it would be perfect for us and our three kids... 12, 11, and 9, although we are very easy going, and not high maintenance). The place is clean, and has a private bathroom, breakfast area/kitchen with a separate living area (room for a couple of kids there - couch and a twin pull out). The balcony on this place looks over Lauterbrunnen and directly at Staubbach Falls!! Beautiful! I would totally do Gimmelwald (maybe only for a couple of days) if it was me and my wife only on our NEXT trip... However, we are excited to be back here with our kids. There are playgrounds all over here and there and when I was up the hill tonight at the waschsalon there were a few kids out past 10 PM.

As far as a pass, it depends on where you are coming from. For us, we were staying for four days coming from Germany, and we are also doing France (Paris). We opted for a France-Germany Flex Eurail (because we checked long trip prices and it was cost effective), and got a Swiss Pass for 4 days. This covers most of the things you will need (of course, this is depending on itinerary), and also gives you half off Jungfrau (I don't think we will make it there, unfortunately) and Schiltorn (we were) which made it worth it for me (but, then again, we aren't making it to Jungfrau...). The thing that made the pass a good value for me in afterthought is not having to spend time fighting machines and walking around only to find that the ticket counter is closed. I tried to somewhat plan my trip, and even I was thrown off by the train travel. Add in extra time for this, and check ALL schedules ahead of time (my recommendation). Today we did Lake Brienz and the Ballenberg at the "spur of the moment". It took most of the day due to missing a connection or two fumbling for connections. If you do this, my advice is to take the train out to Brienz (follow your connections), bus to Ballenberg Ost (important!), plan at least 2 hours for the open air museum (Ost to West is going to be more downhill walking), catch the bus from Ballenberg West back to Brienz and ride the boat back (AMAZING!!! We took the last one at 17:45 from Brienz). Ask more if you need to know anything!!! I'm not an expert since this is our first time, just very observant ;)

After exploring both sides of the Lauterbrunnen valley skip going to the Jungfrau and head to Grindlewald. A lovely town with great hikes.

I'll chime in for Grindelwald. I have stayed in both Murren and Grindelwald. Grindelwald is by far the better (and cheaper) place to stay if you intend on taking lots of cable cars to places like First, Mannlichen, Kleine Schneidegg etc. Murren is a lovely, sleeply little place with no (or few) cars but it is on the "wrong" side of the valley for accessing some of the places you've mentioned. Wengen is on the correct side and is also nice. I will warn you though that this is mountain country and nothing is truly flat. The flattest hike you will find still climbs or descends significantly so it will all depend on your perspective. If you do have kids you might consider renting an apartment in one of the chalet. September might be getting into the low season so you might be able to rent one for a few days. That will give you more room and a kitchen.