Bernese Oberland, Christmas Time
 

In Dec. my wife and I are considering 4-5 days in the Bernese Oberland area after visiting friends in Lugano. If so,from there we'll take the Golden Pass on to Montreux for Christmas then visit Lucerne for New Years. I've read through the forum re: best BO locations, etc., but lodging options seem mixed depending on where we might stay. What's the nicest hotel in Lauterbrunnen or in one of the other village locations that offers more than the just the creature comforts? The chalets and inns online look pretty basic, and this is a special trip. Looks as if we choose Interlaken, we trade location and charm for a nicer hotel. Hoping we we can find something extra nice closer to the slopes and the sights.
Thanks, K

The 'other' villages, like Wengen, Mürren or Grindelwald have plenty of fancy 4-star hotels and even one 5-star hotel. Lauterbrunnen doesn't have a 4-star hotel, it's max. 3-star. I would definitely NOT stay in Interlaken.

Thanks. Get the same vibe re: Interlaken from my friends. Any personal recommendation? We want to do as much as we can in the time we are there.

Tentatively booked Hotel Caprise, Wengen for 5 nights, 12/19-24. Hoping this is a good staging area for Berner Oberland/ Junfrau area. Any opinion re: Caprise, Wengen, other options are welcome. A number of hotels did not want to book for less than 7 nights.

King

We stayed in Interlaken and found it just fine. It is so convenient to all places in the BO, whereas the smaller towns can take much longer to get to from the other smaller towns. We went in September and there weren't an crowds in Interlaken.

Thanks very much. Some people on here seem to differ re: Interlaken. It looks as if Wengen is on the way to everything, so, unless the altitude is going to clobber us the first day, we are fine with staying up the way. What will we be missing? We have 5 nights. Thx

Hi kingster,

I'm another who favors Wengen -- it's perched up IN the mountains rather than sitting in the flats looking up at them. Your views will be over to the other mountains and down into the valley, just heavenly.

I haven't ever stayed at the Caprice, but it's where I would stay if I wanted a 4-star there; good choice, I think.

Have fun as you plan!

s

Great. Sunstar looked nice, but limited nites available.

We like the Hotel Bellvue in Wengen - I'm not sure how many stars it has, but they have a lovely corner room that faces the Alps and good food.

Spelled it wrong, sorry. Here's the link:

http://www.bellevue-wengen.ch/?id=106&L=1

Lugano to Lauterbrunnen. What is the easiest way to get there. If I punch both destinations in the train locator on the myswitzerland.com web site, it routes me through Lucerne and over 4.5 hours of travel. There has to be an easier way. We would prefer a train, but is the bus the way to go?

There is no easier way. What I get from sbb.ch is 2 changes in Luzern and Interlaken Ost, 5:13 hrs.

Why *must* there be an easier way? You have to cross the Alps!

Right, but if you enter the two destinations into a mapquest type site, it says it's a 3 hour drive. Is bus travel a reasonable option, or what about commuter flights. I wonder if Lugano and Interlaken have small airports with any type of scheduled air service. Just curious re: options. Thanks

We stayed at the Caprice. The week before Christmas was a great time to visit. Other than a number of Chinese tourists, we had the area mostly to ourselves. People seemed to start streaming in on Christmas Eve, the day we left. Perhaps timing was on our side with Caprise accommodating us for 4 nights at a time when a lot of places want to book for a week. We loved this location, but for the price (at $440/night incl. breakfast.) we were not terribly impressed with the property itself. The couple who appear to be the owners were friendly and seem to be very service oriented. The young man who serves as a manager during the day seems like he could care less. Rooms were on the small side, and while the place was clean it needs a makeover to match the rate and the 4 stars. I understand we were paying for the view, but comfort and appearance are important. The Caprice is supposed to be known for its restaurant, but while other places were filling up, we noted that there were no more than 2-3 tables of customers dining each night. Eating there did not seem appealing.

We had several great meals while in Wengen. We ate at the restaurant at the Hotel Schonegg and liked it so much we went back on our last night. Service and food were over the top in a very nice atmosphere. Atmosphere was such a contrast to our hotel that we asked to see one of the rooms. I'd say for similar or slightly lower rate the Schonegg would be my choice on a return visit. (Trade of is that location is farther away from the train station, and I'm not sure about the views from the rooms as we toured the hotel at night after dinner.) From the front desk to the dining room, Schonegg had a more experienced management team and staff, hands down.

We were very happy with the suggestions to stay in Wengen this time of year. If for skiing and touring the Jungfrau, it was perfect. It was easy to take the train to the other spots via Lauterbrunnen. Thanks for all the advise and suggestions. We had a great time.

Thanks for posting your review of Wengen and the Caprice -- as one who would have stayed at the Caprice, I really appreciate it!

Glad you enjoyed the village; in my view it's a sure-fire winner.

s