Oops - Bob another question please.

When we arrive/depart is the Chalet walkable from the station with luggage?

Thanks

ttt.......

Hi Maudie,

I don't know where Bob_Brown is, but perhaps this link will answer your questions:
http://www.lauterbrunnen-tourismus.ch/graf53.htm

It says no washing machines, and there is no mention of a grill or barbeque in the garden. The chalet is four minutes' walk from the Lauterbrunnen train station.

Hope this helps.

The web site answered the questions you asked. There is a washer-dryer business not far away along the main and just about only long street.

Each apartment has a kitchen unit.

Frau Stäger will meet people at the train station if she knows when to expect you.

Relative to the direction of the train, be sure to get off on the right hand side.

We were in the largest apartment last summer which would hold 4 people fairly well. The bed room for two was adequate.

We usually have stayed in the studio on the lowest floor, which was more than suitable for out needs.

We were there last year the 3rd week in June and the weather got hot. One never knows!! We actually drove up to the Grimsel Pass to escape the heat.
Brienz was steaming the day we went to the wood carvers' shops.

I still think Brienz would have some of its own charm. Lauterbrunnen is a tourist town in the summer, with plenty of Americans it seems. I think Brienz might give you more of a Swiss flavor.

I know we spent a week in Saas Grund in an apartment and found that the whole picture changed in terms of shopping, etc. Our landlady spoke no English, so exchanging information was interesting. She was tolerant of my mediocre German and would help me phrase my sentences correctly, which was a good learning experience.

The main appeal of Lauterbrunnen is the proximity to transportation. Grindelwald, Wengen, Kleine Scheidegg, the Jungfraujoch, and Interlaken are within easy range.

Let me add a couple of after thoughts.

We have returned several times to Chalet Horner because after the second time we knew the route and the attractions very well. No problem finding anything, which leads to a hassle free trip.

For convenience in a smaller village close to the rail station I don't think I have spotted a better place.

As for the chalet being 4 minutes from the train station, well that depends on how much luggage you have and how fast you walk.

I am not sure I could make it there in 4 minutes pulling my suitcase up the hill from the train station. It is not much of a hill, but ...

I suppose a 25 year old in average condition unencumbered with luggage could walk it that quickly.

You will need to take wash cloths and your own hair dryer. Teresa provides towels and soap. The kitchen has the tools you need.

If you elect not to cook, there are three or four good restaurants in town. The Hotel Oberland restaurant is very close and the Hotel Silberhorn is not far either. There are a couple more scattered up and down the street.

The bakery is close as well. We usually got there for the fresh goodies most mornings and ate them in the apartment.

Come to think of it, I don't recall seeing outdoor BBQ type facilities at apartments in general. Perhaps there are some, but we never stayed where there was one.

Bob, Enzian, thanks so much for replying - I know the site said there was a laundrette down the road but I was just curious to see if there was one in the chalet.
I thought a BBQ would be handy to have the use of. Walking to the chalet wouldn't be a problem for us but that gives me an idea anyway.
My main concern about the apartment in Brienz is that the website has not been updated with prices since 2004, I think I shall have to fire off an email see what gives.
Thanks again for your time.

One item you should check for is the final cleaning fee. Teresa does not (or at least last year she did not) charge the extra amount. Some of the apartment renters add the fee on as an extra and it is about the same as an extra day's rent.

Also, many of the more traditional Swiss vacation apartment renters insist on a Saturday to Saturday rental period.

Teresa in years past has been more flexible when she can, but in the high summer season she is often booked solid for weeks on end.

I did not get the studio apartment last year because I waited until 5 months ahead of time to book for late June!

Many thanks for your observations Bob, you are such a wealth of information and I do appreciate it.
I get what you are saying about Lauterbrunnen and I guess Brienz is my first choice as it seems to be more of Swiss village in my way of thinking. But for some reason I am a little hesitant to deal with people that don't update their information however I will try going through the Tourist office and see how I get on.
Now I have all the info on Chalet Horner I can use that if I need too.
AND I have only just started looking at rail passes!!!!!

Well, let me put it this way.
There will be absolutely no communications problem with Teresa Stäger. her English is shall we say impecable.

After our first visit, I have simply called her or emailed her and found out the availability. No fuss, no muss.
We know what to expect and how to manage the situation. After several visits, going there is easy because we know the route so to speak.

Never a hassle or a debate over the rent.

Bob,
On alpenregion.ch I found that the prices and info had been updated so that makes me feel better.
Also found www.map.search.ch and was able to put in the address and zero in on it. It is an interactive site and I was able to pinpoint the post office (with ATM), train & boat stations etc so that also eases my mind. The price at the Brienz chalet with cleaning and linen is very similar to Chalet Horner so at least I know the price is in the ball park.

I think the Brienz experience would give you a little more latitude in your travels in some respects.

The second year we were there we had a rental car and drove around the area extensively. We did the same thing last year as well.

I think it all depends on where you want to go and what you want to see.

Once we got locked into Lauterbrunnen the familiarity with the place and the ease of the rental process fit my needs.

I am one who likes the familiar more than the strange if it gets me to the mountains. I have been told I should experiment more, but somehow one facet of my senior years has been a desire for no surprises.

For example, at age 23 I went chugging into Paris with no hotel reservation and no idea of how to get around on the Metro. I figured it out on the fly.

Today, I would not dream of doing that type of winging it.

There is a new aspect to the Swiss Pass complex. The Flexi Pass and the Pass now yield a 50% discount on the mountain excursions such as the Jungfraubahn.

That extra discount will skew all of my earlier calculations.

I have no current travel plans for this summer but, should they develop, I see where I have some more figuring to do.

I will be honest with you on one issue.
Last year in Lauterbrunnen we went to the hotels to eat more than in previous years. We might as well have been in Estes Park or Gatlinburg! I don't think there was a non native English speaker on the terrace or inside.

I think Brienz would be apart from the main tourist stream at least enough that you could get more of a Swiss experience.

The shop keepers in Brienz and Meiringen did not automatically speak English.
I had to labor with German in a couple of instances. Every time I have that happen, I wish I knew more.
Good thing I had my pocket dictionary!
Harper-Collins is fine, but it weighs the same as a most unabridged dictionaries. Movable yes; but portable? Perhaps for weight lifters.

One correction. My wife just reminded me that a hair dryer is available.

Again, we used Chalet Horner for many years because we were comfortable there. After the second visit, I felt like I knew the area fairly well.

If we did not like it there, we would not have gone back to often. To visit the Berner Oberland, I know of no better place except for the 5 - star hotels in Interlaken which are well out of my price range!!

After looking at apartment sites in many, many areas, I found one suitable for three of us in Brienz. Now I have found this one and I am impressed with Chalet Horner. Would walking up the hill to the chalet pulling a suitcase be too much for a seventy nine y/o in pretty good health? I'm not planning on doing it in four minutes.

It's a pretty steep hill but if the suitcase wasn't too heavy and you took your time I think it would be fine. This is where we actually stayed in the end.
http://www.jobins.ch/e/brienz/region_brienz.htm

We were two couples and rented the holiday home. It was very clean, had no problems at all, owner will pick you up from the station if you ask. We corresponded by email, it was easy. I would stay there again without hesitation. And the view was to die for!!!!

You will really enjoy Brienz, we found it to be a great base with excellent train connections. There is a Co-op (supermarket) almost over the road from the station so it was easy to pick up snacks etc on our way out for the day and then pick up things for our evening meal.

Let me know if you need any further suggestions.

ronkala,

We very much enjoyed our stay at Chalet Horner in April 2010.

We walked to and from the station many many times during our week there (taking the trains up and down) and managed quite well. We are/were in our 70s, too.

We had the one bedroom apartment, the balcony of which has magnificent views of the Lauterbrunnen valley.

Ahh--wish we were there right now!

Byrd

thankyou Maudie and Byrd for your input.
I will need an apartment with one of the bedrooms having separate twin beds which is why I am considering Sonnenblick I or II in Brienz. I'm also concerned about the hill to C. Horner a far as my cousins are concerned.

Glad to be of help. The holiday home we rented had one big main bedroom at the front which had two beds together to form a king and the smaller second room had twin beds. But I agree it is a fairly hard slog up the hill after a day of site seeing.

I have been trying to remember the name of an apartment that we nearly booked and finally the light bulb went off - well my excuse it that is was back in 2007!

http://casagrande-beo.ch/chalet/index.html?chaletpage=alporto

This is right on the lake front not far from the train station, which would be a flat straight walk. There are a few apartments on this site to choose from so it might give you some other choices. I think from memory they are owned by someone in the village that owns a jewellery shop but I could be wrong there.

Maudie, that's very nice looking but I think I'll be going with the one in Brienz that I mentioned. A big factor being that both bathrooms have showers, and it's only about a half mile from the train station.

No problem ronkala, wasn't sure if you had seen these apartments. But I agree, two bathrooms is certainly a bonus.

Hope you have a great time, it's a magical part of the world.

Oh I know it is. The highlight of our trip five years ago was a visit to the church in Tagerwilen where my grandparents were married in 1889. We were given a tour of the church, its history, (started as a convent in 700) a copy of the register page where my grandparents signed in, and a copy of their civil ceremony certificate.