We're planning a trip to Europe next year and are thinking of travelling to the Berner Oberland region of Switzerland in May. We were thinking of Murren as our base but a number of hotels seem to be closed down during May and I am wondering whether this means many other services are also closed at this time. I'd appreciate any feedback anyone has.

Do a search on this Forum because this subject has been discussed numerous times in the past. My take on it is that the town is not yet at full swing. <BR>The trails are still snowed in, or terribly muddy. And the question always looms, after the view and the Schilthorn, what do you do? <BR>Murren is not the most approachable place in the Alps -- you don't drive to front door. If you want to go to Interlaken, you have a little trek involved including a train ride, a cable lift to Lauterbrunnen, and the train to Interlaken. Perhaps 45 minutes to make the journey, if you hit the connections. (Or take the Luftseilbahn from Muerren to Stechelberg, post bus to Lauterbrunnen, train to Interlaken.) <BR>

Many hotels in all the mouutain resorts (certainly in the Oberland) close between seasons. In Muerren at least the Alpenruh, a very good *** hotel, is open year 'round. You'll find hotel restaurants closed if the hotel is closed, but others are open. (And the Alpenruh has a fine dining room.) <BR> <BR>Most other things are open in the area. Cable cars and such do require periodic maintenance so it is not unusual on occasion to find one closed for, say, a week in between seasons. <BR> <BR>As to the speed with which one can get to Interlaken from Muerren (or Wengen or Grindelwald) ... why would you want to, when you're in heaven?! <BR> <BR>Seriously, the mountains are the place to be. And when you want to visit the lakes or take an excursion elsewhere it's really a pleasant and prompt journey. Unless you're like some Americans who would prefer an instant Big Mac, rather than a pleasant, healthy lingering meal in a fine dining room.

Well, if it is cloudy and rainy all day, and most of the village is inactive, any of those Swiss villages start to lose some of their charm. At least they do for me. I only enjoy staring at clouds, rain, and fog for so long. Having done my share of that less than inspiring pass time, I feel quite experienced. <BR>

Bob and Ed <BR>Thank you both for the information you gave. It's been very helpful and we will take it into account as we finalise our plans. <BR>Glen

<BR>We are also hopping to be in that area during May and I was just emailed some information from Grindelwald in response to my question about which cable cars are running. I was informed that the cable from Wengen to Mannlichen LWN and the cable car from Grindelwald to Mannlichen GGM are both not working during May 2000. They begin working on June 10, 2000. <BR> <BR>If anyone knows of other cables or trams in the Berner Oberland area which also may not open until June and go to some of normally visited scenic areas, I would appreciate the information so that we can revise our itinerary accordingly. Thank you.

Wow! Glen and Mary, my husband and I will also be in ther Berner Oberland region in May. We'll probably stay in Bern and make day trips, but our plans aren't totally finalized. We will be spending most of our time in Germany with friends outside Frankfurt, but my grandparents came from Switzerland - a very small village over the mountains from Neuchatel that we plan to visit. <BR> <BR>Interlaken looks like a good place for a day trip and I imagine it is very touristy - something like Silverton, Colorado. <BR> <BR>Keep in touch as your plans get more refined.

I emailed the address listed for the <BR>Wengen - Maennlichen Bahn. The response is that the equipment is down for maintenance and repair all of May, and until June 10. I am not sure if the crew is repairing the equipment all of that time, or if vacation is included in that stretch, or if it is simply not profitable to operate it that time of year. <BR>But the bottom line is this: the Wengen - Maennlichen car ain't going up and down 'til June 10.

PS <BR>I should have included this snipped, too, about the Schilthornbahn. Here it is in German, with my "expert" translation. The German version is a little different from the English version. <BR>Das Schilthorn ist praktisch das ganze Jahr durch geöffnet und die Talstation befindet sich nur 18 km von Interlaken entfernt. <BR>Translation: <BR>The Schilthorn is open practically the whole year and the valley station is located only 18 kilometers from Interlaken. <BR>The German version included the word "praktisch", which equals "almost" or "practically" in English. <BR> <BR>My interpretation is that the trip is so popular that it runs unless weather conditions are extreme -- cold, avalanche, high winds, terrible visibility, etc.

The cable car from Wengen to the Maennlichen (Wengen-Maennlichen Bahn) was heavily damaged by avalanche this last winter. They had hoped to have it repaired by December, but it's taking longer than their original hope.

I am not surprised to hear that the system was damaged. If you have ever been to Lauterbrunnen, you can look up and see the steepness of the mountain side with all of the avalanche control terraces. In the email response I received, nothing was said about any damage. I guess they don't want to shake up the troops. <BR>I was in Lauterbrunnen this past September, but not in Wengen. Nothing was said about the Wengen - Maennlichen car being out of service. We were hoping to take the trip, but it was so cloudy and rainy that we went elsewhere.

We have traveled to Switzerland three times in the past 5 years, twice in May and once in September. Maybe we have been very lucky, but the weather all three times has been wonderful, especially in May. We had no problems with accomodations and we actually enjoyed not having to deal with the mobs of tourists, which is one reason why we go in May. If you want more specifics, please feel free to email. We are planning another trip to Belgium/Switzerland in May of 2000. Diane Moll.