Trip Report: Alsace/Wengen/Murren/Lucerne

The Details

Strasbourg: 5 nights
Day/night 1 (Wednesday, June 5) —Arrival: We arrived at Zurich airport and travelled to Strasbourg by train, arriving at about 2:30 pm. We were met by our Airbnb host, who introduced us to our apartment, perfectly located on a car-free street just one block from the Strasbourg Cathedral. The apartment was bright and cheerful during the day and quiet after about 9:00 in the evenings. While we don’t typically cook much on trips, we enjoy being able to make tea in the morning, have a little space to relax before dinner, and sometimes have a simple supper when we are too tired to go out in the evening. As soon as we could, we set out to see the impressive Strasbourg Cathedral (wow!) and visit the Strasbourg TI. At about 5:30 we took the Petit Train’s Neustadt route, which was a relaxing and enjoyable activity for arrival day. We had an Alsatian dinner of choucroute (sauerkraut) with duck leg confit at a nearby restaurant, walked around a bit more, and went to bed early.

Day/night 2 (Thursday, June 6)—Colmar: This was a very tiring day, because we did not sleep well our first night despite the quiet apartment and comfortable bed. We grabbed pastries and tea on our way to the train station and took the train to Colmar, where we spent most of the day exploring, beginning with a visit to the TI. While Colmar is undeniably touristy, it was not overwhelmingly crowded in early June. We walked all over, using the walk in the RS Guidebook as our guide to the very attractive town. One highlight was when we saw a stork protecting its nest on the top of St. Martin’s church—just where the RS Guidebook said to look for it.

We had lunch at Winstub Schwendi, recommended by a forum friend and the RS Guide. Then we visited the Unterlinden Museum, where the highlight is the magnificent Isenheim Altarpiece. Except for a well-behaved school group that was in the room with the altarpiece for about 10 minutes, there were only a few others appreciating the exhibit when we were there. We ended the day with wine-tasting at Maison Jund, which was excellent and relaxing, and then took the train back to Strasbourg. Since we had had a late lunch, we picked up a baguette and some cheese, olives, and tomatoes for a light dinner back at the apartment.

One take-home message from this trip is that we have gotten to the age where we need to plan an easier first full day. While we enjoyed everything we did in Colmar, we were pretty wiped out after 7.5 miles of walking and seeing so much on so little sleep.

Day/night 3 (Friday, June 7)—Wine Villages: On Thursday, we had purchased tickets from the Colmar TI for the Kützig Hop-On Hop-Off bus (about 30 Euro each) to the wine villages. I had really debated between this approach and one of the tours offered by Ophorus, and finally settled on this. The bus drives a circuit through six of the wine villages, with a stop in each village every 90 minutes. We were almost to Colmar when I realized we had left the tickets back in our apartment. After an initial panic, my husband suggested that I call the TI, and fortunately they were able to reprint our tickets. Phew! However, there were more people than the bus could accommodate, and they had to send another. They said it might be a 40-minute delay, but it turned out to only be 15 minutes, and then we were on our way.

Our goal was to visit two or three of the villages, depending on how the day went. We skipped Ribeauvillé and Hunawihr, and got off the bus at Riquewihr. I was expecting to love Riquewihr, even though I knew it would be crowded. I know many on the forum do love it, but it just didn’t appeal to me. Once we went to the side streets, we did enjoy the village more than on the main street, and we saw two storks flying above us—very cool. We left on the very next bus, after only about an hour in the town. Our next stop was Kaysersberg, which we liked much better. It had fewer visitors and is larger and felt more natural and open than Riquewihr, with a very pleasant stream running through the village. We stayed for 3 hours, enjoying a leisurely stroll through the main and side streets and a flammkuchen (tart flambée) lunch. We decided that we would enjoy time back in Strasbourg more than trying to visit a third village, so we skipped Turkheim and Eguisheim and returned to Strasbourg. We went for a drink on a terrace with a view of the amazing Strasbourg Cathedral and planned to go out to dinner, but my husband began to feel a bit under the weather, so we picked up some soup and had a light supper in the apartment.

We only walked 5.5 miles on Friday, which felt much better than the previous day.

Day/night 4 (Saturday, June 8)—Gengenbach, Germany: My maternal and paternal great- or great-great grandparents arrived in the U.S. from Germany sometime in the mid- to late-1800s. I don’t know much about where any of them came from, except that my maternal grandfather always said that his family was from “near the Black Forest,” so when I realized how close we would be, I decided we needed to make a day trip to Germany. Thanks to the advice of several forum members, we had hoped to visit the Black Forest Open Air Museum in Gutach in the morning and then visit Gengenbach in the afternoon, but to do that we would have had to catch a very early train to Gutach. We decided it was better to sleep a little later, given that my husband wasn’t feeling well, which was a good call. He felt much better in the morning, so we headed to Gengenbach. We loved it. It was lively, with an outdoor market in the main square. While it felt busy and there were plenty of tourists, it was not at all overwhelming. We walked all over the town, using the map and audio guide available at the very helpful TI to enjoy this beautiful village full of half-timbered houses. We took our time to enjoy the town sights, including the abbey gardens, and a nearby park.

We took a break for a late lunch, and I had another flammkuchen, which was much tastier than the one I had in Kaysersberg. We had to laugh because in Kaysersberg, when we had trouble cutting our flammkuchen, my husband had said “They should really give you a pizza wheel to eat this,” and my flammkuchen in Gengenbach came with…a pizza wheel! After lunch, we visited the Museum Haus Löwenburg, which had an entertaining exhibit of art by Olaf Hajek, a successful German graphic artist whose whimsical art was used for the 2023 Gengenbach Advent Calendar. Every year, the windows of the Town Hall are transformed into the world’s largest Advent Calendar. I had heard about this from some forum friends in our San Francisco East Bay Travel Group. I bought three beautiful postcards showing the calendar in the windows of the Town Hall over the last three years. I’ve never seriously contemplated a Christmas Market trip, but if I could visit Gengenbach during the Christmas season, I would be tempted.

The weather was deteriorating, so we were unable to hike up above the village as we had planned. Instead, we returned to Strasbourg for a pasta dinner on a square near the Cathedral—where there were large umbrellas to protect us from the light rain. Six miles today, and we felt good. We found that even short rests of a few minutes on a bench from time to time made a huge difference in how we felt, which was encouraging. Every day of our trip was great, but this was one of my favorites.

Day/night 5 (Sunday, June 9)—Strasbourg: We started this warm and sunny day with the Batorama boat tour, walked around, and then visited the Strasbourg History Museum. My husband tends to like to spend a lot more time in history museums than I do, but I found plenty to interest me, including a wonderful and humorous 1666 painting called “Water Jousts,” which depicts men in boats jousting—and sometimes falling out of the boats. After lunch, we returned to the Cathedral for a second more leisurely visit, and took the other Strasbourg Petit Train route to Petit France. Unfortunately, it was hot, and the train had to move slowly because there were many tourists and local people out enjoying the day. Our last activity was a visit to the Strasbourg Folk Museum—the building itself and the exhibits were well worth the hour or so we spent there. We ended the day and our visit to Alsace with another drink near the cathedral and dinner back at the same restaurant as the night before. I would gladly return to Strasbourg and Alsace—we made a list of additional things to do if we ever return.

Wengen: 3 nights
Day/night 6 (Monday, June 10)—We took the train to Wengen and our next base at the very nice and friendly Hotel Edelweiss. Our room had a terrace with a view of the hotel grounds and partial view of the mountains. The hotel breakfast was good, the staff was enthusiastic and helpful, and they provide hiking poles. We had grabbed a sandwich at the Bretzelkönig in the Basel Train Station (thank you, Carrie, for recommending the avocado sandwich), so we were ready to get going as soon as we had settled into the hotel. We decided to take the Monchblick walk, which ends at a bench with a view of the Monch. This walk was recommended by our hotel and by the Bartons in their book. Although there was a fair amount of fog, we were able to glimpse the Monch, and enjoyed the hike. We should have taken the hiking poles with us, as the walk was a little more challenging than we expected, so on our return we hopped on a train at Wengwald to take us back to Wengen. We enjoyed some wine and pretzels on our terrace and then went to dinner at the Hotel Bären, just next door to our hotel. This was probably the best dinner of our trip—everything was delicious. We ended up with more than 6 miles—pretty good for a travel day.

Day/Night 7 (Tuesday, June 11)—The weather in the mountains didn’t look great, so after our tasty hotel breakfast we headed down to Lauterbrunnen for the Lauterbrunnen Valley Walk from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg. On the way, we visited Staubbach Falls, but decided not to take the extension to Trummelbach Falls since by then our knees were less-than-happy. We ended our walk just a little before Stechelberg, at the Schilthorn station, but still ended up with 6.5 miles for the day. We took the postbus back to Lauterbrunnen and grabbed a quick lunch before returning to Wengen. Dinner that night was at our Hotel Edelweiss: it was a great deal for hotel guests and the service and food were both very good.

Day/Night 8 (Wednesday, June 12)—After breakfast, we started the day with the Staubbachbänkli walk, which was an easy walk recommended by our hotel and the Bartons' book. It was beautiful, with views over the valley of several waterfalls and the mountains. It was foggy at first, but the fog lifted enough for some great views. The walk is easy, mostly on a paved road, and goes by chalets with pretty gardens. Then we took the train to Kleine Scheidegg, where we looked around at the partly foggy view, had lunch, and hiked down to Wengernalp. With the two hikes, we ended up with over 8 miles, and again we felt good while we hiked. We took the train to Grindelwald, and then back to Wengen. After some wine and paprika chips (thanks again, Carrie and others for alerting us to this Swiss treat), we would have eaten at our hotel, but they don’t serve dinner on Wednesdays, so we headed to Pasta and More. While our main dishes were good, the service was not—in fact, it was the only poor service of our trip.

Murren: 3 nights

Day/Night 9 (Thursday, June 13)—This was forecast to be the nicest day of our trip, and it was also the day of our transfer to Mürren. We arrived in Mürren at 10:30. Denise, our welcoming host at Chalet Fontana, hadn’t quite finished preparing our apartment, but we were able to leave our luggage, borrow hiking poles, and head out to do the North Face Trail from Allmendhubel to Mürren. It was a glorious day and the hike and views were fantastic—everything I had imagined while planning the trip. The wildflowers were in bloom everywhere during our trip, and they were especially amazing during this hike. We met two young women who offered to take our picture. They took about 20 photos, saying “This is for your Christmas card!” They were right—one of the photos will surely be on our card this year. After agreeing that we all felt like we were in “The Sound of Music,” they walked on ahead and we continued at our slower pace to enjoy the views. This was my favorite day of the trip, and exactly what I was hoping for. We live within a few hours of Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, the large California redwood parks, and many other gorgeous places that I love, but the scenery around Mürren is probably the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. It was a good day for hiking, and we ended up with about 6.5 miles.

After our hike, we had a very late and delicious lunch (I had rösti--yum) on the beautiful view terrace at the Hotel Edelweiss in Mürren. Then we walked around some more, and had another simple dinner of baguette, prosciutto, olives, tomatoes, and wine in our apartment. Now I know why the Chalet Fontana is a RS and forum favorite. We loved staying there and talking at breakfast to our host, Denise, and to another forum member and her family.

Day/Night 10 (Friday, June 14)—The weather was drizzly, so we decided it would be a good day to hike from Grutschalp to Mürren. This was an easy hike, with just a bit of uphill on the first third or so, then almost flat the rest of the way. It was mostly cloudy, but the clouds were fairly high at times, so we could see the mountains on and off. After a delicious lunch at Stäger Stubli, where I had spätzle with vegetables and cream, we walked down to Gimmelwald. The walk was beautiful, but a bit hard on our knees. The wildflowers were a highlight. Gimmelwald was very quiet on a Friday afternoon. We had planned to stop for something to drink, but we were still too full after lunch to even think about it. We took the cable car back to Mürren and relaxed a bit before dinner with more wine and paprika chips. Our dinner at the Hotel Alpenruh was very good that evening. We walked 8.6 miles this day, still feeling good, as long as we rested occasionally.

Day/Night 11 (Saturday, June 15)—More clouds and light rain were forecast, so, much as we would have preferred to enjoy views in the mountains, our host agreed with us that it made more sense to head down to Interlaken for a cruise on Lake Brienz and a visit to the Ballenberg Open Air Museum. We took a train to the museum, which is huge and fascinating, with buildings that have been moved from every area of Switzerland. It’s also in a nature preserve, so it’s a beautiful place to walk. We spent three hours there, including time for a delicious lunch of potato pancakes on ratatouille. One of my favorite meals. We easily could have spent another hour or more there, but we wanted to return to Interlaken by boat in time to do some packing before dinner, and the next boat wasn’t for two hours. The boat trip on the beautiful waters of Lake Brienz, with views of Giessbach Falls, was another experience that was as good or better than I had hoped. Although we walked at least 6 miles, this was a very relaxing day overall. We ended the day with one of our three best dinners, at the Hotel Blumenthal’s restaurant.

Lucerne: 3 nights

Day/Night 12 (Sunday, June 16)—I hated to leave Mürren. Although I loved all our bases on this trip, Mürren was my favorite. But it was time to move on to Lucerne. We enjoyed the scenery on the Panorama Express (2nd class) from Interlaken Ost to Lucerne. On arrival, we went straight to the TI in the train station to get maps and some advice for our trip. We grabbed sandwiches and ate them in the lakefront park before walking (15 minutes) to our hotel. We checked into our Hotel Krone Lucerne, which was on a square on Weinmarkt, and perfectly located for touring the city. After a short rest in the room, we headed out to explore and visit the Rosengart Collection, where we focused on the Picasso and Klée exhibits. We found a pasta restaurant on the Reuss River willing to serve us just drinks. After looking at the menu and appreciating our riverside table, we decided to stay for dinner. The food and service were good, the evening was mild, and the setting was great. We did a little more walking before heading back to the room. With so much time spent in transit this day, we only walked 4 miles.

Day/Night 13 (Monday, June 17)—We began the day with the TI’s 90-minute walking tour of Lucerne at 10:15, a good orientation for the rest of our time in this stunningly beautiful city. We had made a tentative plan to visit Mount Pilatus in the afternoon, but the webcams showed clouds at the top, so we made it a city day. After walking to see the Lion Monument and Church of St. Leodegar, we decided to continue along the lake to the Swiss Transport Museum, which we knew my husband would love, and I would like. The walk along the lake was lovely, and we were hungry by the time we got to the museum. We grabbed a light lunch from their café, and started looking around. My husband became fascinated by an exhibit on the tunnels recently built for the Gotthard Express train, so he spent a lot of time there. I also focused on the trains. Then we went to the big Swiss map on the third floor. We both love maps, and we had fun finding the places we had visited and other major Swiss landmarks. This museum, like Ballenberg, really requires more than one visit to take it all in. We enjoyed what we were able to before taking the boat back across the lake to Lucerne and making a quick visit to see the interior of the Jesuit church. We did some shopping for chocolates and a few stocking-stuffer souvenirs for the family back home, and then we had dinner outside at an Italian restaurant that had been recommended by our morning tour guide. Our dinner was delicious—one of our top three for the trip.

Day/Night 14 (Tuesday, June 18)—It was forecast to be sunny and very warm in Lucerne (80 degrees F), so we followed our plan to visit Mount Rigi on our last day. The boat cruise to Vitznau and back from Weggis, the trains, and the cable car were all enjoyable—especially the steep cable car ride down to Weggis. The panoramic views from Rigi Kulm were fantastic. We followed Rick Steves’ suggestion to walk down from Rigi Kulm to Staffel—this was another easy walk yet steep enough to be hard on our knees without hiking poles. We had picked up lunch food at Bretzelkönig in the Lucerne train station, but when we got to Rigi Kaltbad on the way down and were ready for lunch, we couldn’t find a shady spot to relax and eat. We took the cable car down to Weggis and found a cool spot near the lake for our picnic. As usual, we found ourselves eating a late lunch. When we arrived back in Lucerne, we stopped for a drink at the lakeside park. I was planning to have a soft drink, but I couldn’t resist a limoncello spritz—very refreshing.

After doing some packing at our hotel, we headed out to try to find a cool outdoor spot for dinner. We found a good breeze at the restaurant where we had eaten the previous evening, so we returned and were welcomed back by the waiter.

Day 15: Heading Home--We left Lucerne at about 8:45 for the Zurich airport, arriving well over 3 hours before our uneventful flight home. What a great trip! Of all the places we have visited in seven trips to Europe, the one I would most like to revisit is Mürren and the Berner Oberland. But Greece, Sicily, Andalusia, and other places are also calling, so we will see what’s next. Now it’s time to work on my photobook.

Barbara, I really enjoyed reading this, and Switzerland is one of my favorite countries. I never want to leave Murren! I'm bookmarking your very special report , because there's always more to see in the Berner Oberland. Thx again!

Barbara, I so enjoyed reading your report, especially the parts where we overlapped! I had considered Strasbourg instead of Rothenburg and now must look into this wine villages bus as well as add your hiking book to my Switzerland library! The wildflowers, ah, they were amazing!

everything I had imagined while planning the trip

It doesn't get better than that, when a trip lives up to your imagination of it! I love the team effort that added to your planning.

That's quite some compliment about the scenery, given what we have here!

I'm so glad you had such a wonderful trip, full of amazing views, good food and great fun!!

Great report on an area we would love to get to! Thanks!

Barbara- Thank you so much for your trip report. I am in the midst of planning a trip for next June. Out of curiosity how did you feel about your choice of two basis Wengen and Mürren? Most people I have seen recommend one base for this region. How was the construction in Mürren? I am also trying to decide how long to spend in Lucerne and Bern. Your report was very helpful. Thanks!

Barbara, I keep reading about the excellent bike trails between the towns. Did you happen to notice the trails and if they are dedicated bike trails or just side lesser used roads that the bikes share with local traffic?

Great trip report Barbara!! I really enjoyed it. I’m glad you enjoyed the avocado sandwich and paprika chips. I managed to get 4 bags home for my sister. I’ve been trying hard not to eat them before I see her.

Sorry to hear about your experience at Pasta & More. I’ve always had a good experience there, but you just never know. I noticed they changed their menu and I did not eat there this time. They never looked open when I walked by.

Aren’t the wildflowers spectacular? That’s one of my favorite things about a June trip to the area.

Pat, Katherine, CW, and Tammy: Thanks for reading! For those who have been to the Berner Oberland, isn't it amazing? We had planned to go in June 2020, so it was like a dream to finally be there.

Katherine--Laurel and Richard Barton also have a book on the Dolomites, if you are interested. Laurel is a frequent forum contributor.

Tammy--it's not only gorgeous, but all of the trains, funiculars, and cable cars with restaurants (and restrooms!!) at various stops make it such a different experience from our mountains in the US, and much easier to tailor a walk or hike to fit your own preferences, or see a great deal without much walking at all.

I will answer some of the other questions a little later today.

Beautiful TR!
I return to the area this September for another hiking trip! September 2022 got interrupted due to Covid.

islandfam2008: I debated and posted on the forum about whether to split bases or just stay in Mürren the whole time--responses were about evenly mixed. You can see them here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/switzerland/question-about-where-to-spend-six-nights-in-the-berner-oberland

I decided based on the hikes we wanted to do--several were on the Wengen side--and I decided that moving bases once wouldn't be any harder than traveling over to Wengen from Mürren multiple times. While several of those hikes weren't open during our trip due to the late spring snowfall, it was still a fine decision with 6 nights to work with. If I only had 4 nights, I definitely wouldn't split them. I think either way is fine depending on your own planned activities and how you feel about packing and the short move.

The construction at Mürren is at the Schilthorn station at one end of the town, next to the Hotel Alpenruh. We stayed near the middle of the town and heard no noise, and did not encounter any issues with traffic or dust. When you have an idea where you might want to stay, you can post on the forum to see what people think about the location.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Allan, I didn't notice any separate bike paths, but I'm sure WengenK, wanderweg, or Maureen could answer your question.

Carrie, Yes, the wildflowers are great! September isn't an option due to my husband's volunteer activities, so June it is for us. If I returned I might go a week later in hopes that more trails would be open. I've been thinking about the Dolomites, but like you I'm not sure I'd like them as much as the Berner Oberland.

Wynoka54, Thanks! Good luck with the September trip. Despite masking on all transportation and in any crowded indoor settings, we brought home an unwanted souvenir--48 hours after our return I developed Covid, and now we both have it. Fortunately, it's very mild so far.

Barbara, thank you so much! The Dolomites are on my list as well!

Loved your trip report. Thank you for sharing it! Our one and only visit to the area was much too short. It is so beautiful!

Barbara- Thank you for your response and for the thread about splitting your time. It is truly appreciated. Your trip reads as a beautiful time!

SUPER trip report and am totally bookmarking so we can attempt to have a trip this good. So many thanks for writing this all up!

Barbara~
So sorry to hear about your unwanted "souvenir" upon return!

Cheers, Barbara! Sure your Christmas card will be fantastic! It was a North Face adventure to remember for me, as well!
Also hope that you feel better soon!

Wishin and Luv2travel: Thanks for reading!

RickFan and Wynoka54: I am feeling much better, thanks!

Thank you, Barbara, for your wonderful trip report! I read with great interest, as we will be traveling in the same region later this year! I appreciate you sharing the details of your travels.

Laurie

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the wine villages. They have all blended together for me in my memory, and I can't quite remember which ones I'd revisit.

Laurie, have a great trip. Let me know if you have other questions.

Nancy, I think two villages is enough for a day! If I ever return, I will definitely check out Eguisheim.