I have been offered a room at both places. Has anyone stayed at either one?

I haven't, but the website of Grindelwald shows the Schweizerhof as a 4* and the Alpenhof as a 3*.

Hi char60,

I've stayed at the Schweizerhof three times; it was where I took my mother on our trip to Switzerland. Terrific service, cozy rooms, great food. I also like the location, a bit removed from the hordes on the main drag.

Today, though, I think I would head to Wengen.

s

Hi Swandav,
Why Wengen instead of Grindelwald?
Have you stayed or heard of Hotel Tennerhof in Kitzbuhl?

Hi char60,

I think the views are better in Wengen, I like a car-free town, Wengen is smaller, and I just think Wengen is prettier.

Grindelwald has its advantages too -- more hotels, more shops, more restaurants, better access to specific ski areas I like.

No, sorry, don't know much about Kitzbuehel; only spent a few hours there.

s

swandav, I'm spending 6 nights in Wengen in mid May. Glad to hear you recommend Wengen. Any other tidbits of info you can pass along???? Inquiring minds want to know!

I'm spending 7 days in Grindelwald in mid-May as I will have a car and want to take day trips throughout the area. I realize I'll have to take the cog train/gondola to get there.

Is there that much to do in Wengen for 6 days -- I was only planning for a one-day day trip?

Budman, I'm using Wengen as my "home base" to explore and do some hiking. I basically chose it because it is car free and didn't seem quite as "touristy" as Grindelwald but want to take a day to head over and explore. I will not have a car and will have to rely entirely on the rails/gondolas although I have to admit, the entire Swiss Pass, BO pass info has my mind totally blown away. I'm only spending one night (the last) in Zurich therefore a Swiss Pass or even Half Fare Pass seems silly. From my limited calculations, I believe, and I could be totally wrong, that I'll be much better off getting only the Berner Oberland pass. When will you be in Grindelwald? Perhaps we will bump into each other on a gondola!!

Hi All,

I'm afraid I'm woefully inadequate to give good summertime tips for the BO; I usually go there to ski and was only there in the summertime once, with my mother (not the hiker . . .).

But there have been a lot of suggestions for hiking the area (any of the towns will do as a base for any hiking in the area), and off the top of my head I think the destinatins may have been Buchalpsee (Bachsee??), Bussalp, Faulhorn, Gimmelwald to Murren -- you can use these terms to do a text search here or a Google search.

Other than that, some ideas for activities might be a ferry ride on Lake Thun or Lake Brienz, exploring the town of Thun (some folks like it more than Luzern), exploring Interlaken (I found a great fondue place once that I don't know if I could ever find again), exploring the cute town of Brienz, exploring Spiez, getting to the waterfall of Lauterbrunnen, and of coursse the open-air museum of Ballenberg (haven't been there).

You know, I think there's enough to keep someone happy here for, well, a lifetime!!

s

ps, Budman, what do you mean that you know you'll have to take a cog train/gondola to get "there"? Grindelwald has regular road traffic. Do you mean Wengen?

Wengen, Muerren, & Gimmelwald are car-free.

Sorry if I'm being dense.

s

csroe, I was just thinking going up/down the train/gondola to get anywhere for 6 days might be old hat. Since you will only be taking the train, that should work.

The Pass thingy has me confused too. I'm thinking the 1/2 fare pass for 7 days might work -- I haven't done any research on it yet but thinking it would be good for the cogs/gondolas/ferry rides in and around Grindelwald & Luzern. Would appreciate any first-hand experience but will start another thread on that issue later.

We'll be in Grindelwald from the 20th to 26th. Maybe a glass of wine or a 1/2 liter of beer in Wengen?

swandav2000, yes I'm aware of that. That's why I picked Grindelwald to base - drive to Lauterbrunnen to get to Murren/Wengen/Gimmelwald Thanks for the great ideas for day trips.

Budman, I'll actually only have 5 full days and plan on taking a couple of those for hiking and the rest to hit some of the other towns and of course, weather permitting, Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch. I'll arrive in Wengen early afternoon the 16th and I'm heading back to Zurich on the 22nd.

swandav, no apology needed! I'm just glad to know of someone who recommends Wengen! I'm not planning on scaling the Eiger, trust me! I'll leave that to Clint Eastwood, but I do have a couple of books that indicate some nice hikes for the area around Wengen and Murren that do not involve being an iron man (or woman!). I had thought of heading to Thun one day.

Personally, I'd chose Wengen over Grindelwald in a heart beat. If you're a hiker, you can easily fill 6 days there. It's also easy enough to get from Wengen to other towns in the BO, so Wengen is a good choice for a base IMO.

Csroe- if you need suggestions for hikes in the area, let me know and I'll post a few here or e-mail them to you if you'd like.

Char60 - I envy you going to Kitzbuhl -it's on my short list, but haven't made it there yet.

A word about Swiss Rail passes - they can be very confusing, but if you plan to travel extensively within Switzerland, you might look into the Swiss Saver Pass. This is the pass we use on our visits to Switzerland. It pretty much covers all rail, bus and boat travel within the country, except for private trains, such as to the Jungfrau and Schilthorn and some cable cars (such as the Mannlichen). It does offer 25% discount on these excursions though, and it also covers the train as far as Wengen, the train and funicular to Murren, and the cable cars from Murren to Gimmelwald and Steckelberg, etc.

You'll no doubt get many differing opinions on Swiss rail passes, but it comes down to what you plan to do...

Have a great trip - you'll love Switzerland.