interlaken switzerland lodging for a week cheaply

I agree that Lauterbrunnen is a much better choice than Interlaken. You might also want to look at Wengen and Murren. We stayed in Lauterbrunnen for a week in 2008 and loved it.

Here are some more resources for you:

If you end up staying in Interlaken for whatever reason (ease of train, more shops, vacancy issues in smaller towns up the mountain), I strongly recommend www.sunnydays.ch/ bed and breakfast.

With 2 teens who need variety to entertain themselves, you may want to consider Muerren. The township website is at www.muerren.ch.

If you do decide you like Gimmelwald (which I like very much as well), here's an accomodations resource: www.gimmelwald.ch/en/accommodation/stay.htm

This is an accomodations resource page for Lauterbrunnen and the outlying townships. If you go back up to the home page you can research lots of stuff about the region: http://www.mylauterbrunnen.com/en.cfm/unterkunft/

Finally, in addition to the Sunny Days B&B above, these are links to the Hotels/Pensions that I've stayed in and can recommend. They are all good for different reasons, and are in different areas:

Leisis heart Place

http://www.alpenruh-muerren.ch/en/

http://www.hoteleiger.com/

http://www.eigerguesthouse.com/

Hotel Mittaghorn

EDIT: One more note! The Eiger Guest House is my favorite on the list for a combo of price & location -- plus they have a great restaurant (so go eat here, even if you don't stay here), and have a massuese on staff (hiking makes me sore, massages then make me happy again).

I enjoyed staying in Muerren. Check Hotel Alpina's website: http://www.muerren.ch/alpina/ Have fun!

Christine,

I agree with the others - the Lauterbrunnen Valley would be a much better choice than Interaken (which tends to be expensive), especially as you indicated that you want to "hike and explore".

As the others have mentioned, Lauterbrunnen would be a good "home base" but you might also consider Murren or Gimmelwald. Murren is a bit larger, so will have a greater range of Hotels, as well as a Co-Op store and ATM's. Gimmelwald is basically a small farming village, that also has tourist facilities. Check the Gimmelwald website for more details and suggestions for lodgings.

While there you may enjoy taking the Schilthornbahn to Piz Gloria (which I believe is the world's first revolving restaurant). The views are spectacular (provided it's not covered in clouds). That's where the James Bond movie "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was partially filmed (NO, the building didn't explode!).

There's lots of hiking in that area. One easy hike is to take the Allmend-Hubel Funicular from Murren, and hike back through the alpine meadows. It's a very pleasant walk, and there's a small Bar / Hotel in a valley where you can stop for "refreshments".

Happy travels!

Christine, we stayed at the www.valleyhostel.ch in Lauterbrunnen. It was my first hostel experience, i was very happy with our choice, room were clean, bathroom were clean (shared), they had a kitchen, laundry, wi-fi. The views were spectacular, we enjoyed Lauterbrunnen very much. Good luck!