We (family with 2 teenagers) would like to spend 4-5 days in this area to hike. We will likely have a car (coming from Venice).

I have read many threads here about multiple options . They all sound terrific.

I would love being up in Wengen or Murren from what I have seen described here but am wondering if this might be a bit boring for the kids.

Yet I would be disappointed if Grindelwald is too crowded or touristy (early August).

Also looking for accomodations that are modest. Caprice and Alpenrose would be a bit extravagant for the four of us.

Any suggestions ? Thank you.

I found Murren rather boring after a few days, and I'm not a kid, and I'm usually able to just lounge around and do nothing. I changed my hotel arrangements in order to be able to get a change of scenery. (I went down to Spiez, which I loved.) I also noticed that a man and woman about my age staying at the same hotel were also quizzing the staff about what else was nearby, since they too had done most of the hikes and sightseeing they wanted to do.

I had beautiful weather for my entire stay in Murren, but one of the advantages of staying at a lower elevation (like Wengen or the Lauterbrunnen valley) is that should it rain or fog up, you can more easily get to a nearby city for some urban sightseeing.

I also happen to think that the mountains are most spectacular when seen looking *up* from the valleys, as opposed to being on the high, barren peaks.

My family has, on several occassions, used the Hotel Adler (http://www.chalethotel.ch/) in Kandersteg as a base for exploring this region. I haven't been back in over 15 years, so I don't remember the geography or distances well, but I recall that we visited both Wengen and Grindelwald and did a number of awesome hikes from the area right around Kandersteg. We will be there again in late October and I can't wait!

We were in Wengen for four nights this summer with my three kids (13 year old twins and 16 year old), and I had the same concern, but we loved it. At night, though, the main event was dinner and then cards, but my kids really got into that. We stayed at the Alpenrose, so we did not climb up the hill at night to see if there was anything going on in the town, so I don't know if there might have been more to do. There were a number of families staying at the Alpenrose, and they all seemed to be into the "family game time togetherness" thing after dinner like us! You could also take a day to go into Bern to float the Aare River and do the ropes course (it's listed somewhere on the Bern website). There are also other great adventure things like hang gliding and canyoning available, but these don't address the nightime dilemma, except that maybe everyone will be so tired out that the activities won't matter as much!

I hope some of the other families with teens who visited there this summer will check in for you, too!

Hi okoshi2002,

Because you'll have a car, you should eliminate Wengen & Muerren from your list of possible base towns -- you probably know that you'll have to park in Lauterbrunnen.

So that leaves Grindelwald from your list, but then you say you don't want it to be over-run with tourists. I visited Grindelwald twice in the winter, so I was completely shocked when I found an almost different town when I visited in August -- tour busses going through town, sidewalk overflowing with day-trippers, etc.

For these reasons, I think you should consider a few other towns like Thun (on Lake Thun) or maybe Lauterbrunnen. Both are pretty much undiscovered by tourists, and Thun's position on Lake Thun is very stunning. Lauterbrunnen is pretty small, though, and your kids may get bored there too.

Good luck!

s

Hello okoshi2002 - I have recently returned from an early August trip to Switzerland, and we visited the areas you mentioned. Oh my, you are in for a wonderful trip indeed!

Although you will get many differing opinions here, I personally do not think you can go wrong with basing yourselves in Grindelwald. What concerns me is why many call it crowded. Okay, the trains fill up with tourists heading to Kleine Scheidegg, Jungfraujoch, etc. But if you are like most and will be hiking or riding trains most of the day, this should not be a concern for you. After all, won't you be one of those tourists as well?

At night, we found the town very calm and relaxing, got into the restaurants without a wait, and were even surprised that some shops stayed open late (although most nights we were too tired to do anymore walking, lol!)

Murren, OTOH, was a bit too quiet for us. In fact, one night we were looking for a place to eat dinner. Aside from us, only one other couple was on the main street. A little too quiet for me.

For your family of four, have you considered renting a chalet apartment? Many places may only take weekly rentals, but I think you will be surprised at the value and quality of the places available, and it could be that with a 5-day rental, it would still be cheaper than 2 hotel rooms for 5 nights. Plus you'll have a car, so your options are wide open as to just how far up the hill you can go. Check out grindelwald.com for listings.

Happy travels!

for kopp:

You wrote: "What concerns me is why many call it crowded. Okay, the trains fill up with tourists heading to Kleine Scheidegg, Jungfraujoch, etc."

If you read my post, you'll see that my own concerns are not just the people on the trains, but rather the tour busses. When I was there, I saw three or four of these monsters on the main drag, disgorging their passengers onto the already-crowded streets. It was beyond crowded: it was flooded with day-trippers.

I also said that it shocked me. My main point in posting was to alert the OP about this, so s/he won't be similarly surprised. After all, s/he says s/he would be "disappointed if Grindelwald is too crowded or toursty . . ." Forewarned.

In contrast, when I went to Wengen for lunch, it was deserted. If it were me, I'd ditch the car and stay in Wengen.

s

I stayed in Lauterbrunnen with my 2 12 year olds this summer. We stayed at the Silberhorn overlooking the valley. It was not on the main drag so we didn't hear noise from any cars or busses going to the parking lots. We also did the family time/card games at night, and didn't go looking for nightlife.

What I liked about Lauterbrunnen was that we could easily go any direction without backtracking - the train lines branch off from there to their different destinations. It wasn't any more touristy than any of the other towns we saw (we didn't go to Grindlewald so can't comment on that)

Lauterbrunnen had an enjoyable Folklore evening one night.

Wengen had a bit more shopping (but not a whole lot) It is still faily small.

We stayed in the Silberhorn chalet overlooking the valley and had an enormous balcony around 2 sides of our room. We loved being out there at night watching the little trains go up the mountain on the other side. We played cards out there every night as it got dark and all the lights came on across the valley. Nothing could have been more relaxing!!!

My 12 year old son also loved jumping through the window into the room playing James Bond (this was after the trip up the Schilthorn where 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' was filmed)

If I were to choose between Murren and Wengen it would be Wengen for the location and ease of reaching many different areas. It's only a 20 minute train ride from Lauterbrunnen.

How old are your teens?

Hello swandav2000 - I guess it's just a matter of perspective. Numerous buses going through town dropping off passengers is not a problem for me. They tended to come in the mornings and leave by dinner, times when I was not in town anyway.

Now if we were mentioning Interlaken or Lucerne, that's a whole 'nother story.

Have a good day! >-

kwren, my teens are 15 and 17.

We do enjoy staying in at night after a full day.

Yes, an apartment sounds perfect. Any recommendations ? Glethschergarten's apartment is already booked for next August ! They suggested Chalet Hohturnen.Is anybody familiar with this apartment ?

I have looked at many maps and am still a bit confused about how Murren, Wengen, Lauterbrennen , and Grindelwald are located in relation to each other. Is Lauterbrennen considered to be hanging valley above Grindelwald ? And Murren and Wengen perched above Lauterbrennen ?

Hi again,

Well, I'll give it a try to explain the geography. But first, here are some stats on these towns:

Wengen 1274m -- pop 1,050
Muerren 1650m -- pop 450
Grindelwald 1034m -- pop 3,733
Lauterbrunnen 796m -- pop 2,663

So the area forms a "V" with Interlaken at the apex.

Looking south (slightly southwest), the leg on the right is the Lauterbrunnen valley, with Lauterbrunnen just about on the valley floor on the left side of the valley and Wengen above it. On the other side of this valley is Muerren.

On the other, left, leg is the Grindelwald valley, where Grindelwald sits.

You may be able to understand it better if you find a ski or hiking map at www.grindelwald.ch or www.wengen.ch.

s

>I have looked at many maps and am still a bit confused about how Murren, Wengen, Lauterbrennen , and Grindelwald are located in relation to each other.

The Lütschine valley forks at Zweilütschinen (hence the name). Lauterbrunnen sits on the floor of the western valley, while Grindelwald occupies the floor and the lower slopes of the eastern valley. Wengen sits on the steep shoulder about 300 m above Lauterbrunnen on the eastern side of the valley, while Mürren is also on a shoulder on the western side of the same valley, but about 5-6 km further into it. The Kleine Scheidegg is a pass between Grindelwald and Wengen. Both Wengen and Mürren do not have a road access.

>about 300 m above Lauterbrunnen

Oops, make it 500 m.

Thanks, I think I am getting the picture !

So Grindelwald is like a small town, and I gather regardless of where we stay , we are within walking distance to everything in town.

The listing of apartments at Grindelwald.com is a bit overwhelming. I have emailed several -
Gletschergarten (who may be booked for the time period we need next year already !), Chalet Eigergrat , Residence Hotel, Chalet Adlerhorst(booked).

Can anybody name a few that we should focus on ? Thanks.

okoshi2002 - while I would highly recommend the Chalet Eigergrat (we stayed there 2 summers ago), I would not consider it within easy walking distance to town. Well, I guess that depends on what you call "easy". Maybe I'm a woos. But from the main road to get to the chalet is up a very steep hill. And I would think the walk into the main part of town would be a good 20 minutes, maybe more.

But we LOVED the place, the views are awesome, owners are delightful, very nicely furnished. On that trip, we took my parents, so there were 4. DH and I were in the bedroom, Mom & Dad were in the living room which had twin beds. Both rooms had doors, which was essential for privacy. The kitchen was really large and nicely furnished with typical Swiss furniture.

Oh, we had the top floor, and once you got to the chalet, it was up 25 or so stairs to get to the unit.

I would say the only negatives were the proximity to town (but we had a car so it was absolutely no problem); and the fact that the rooms had slanted roofs (attic). So you just had to watch out for your heads when getting out of bed.

And yes, the Grindelwald website is overwhelming. I've stayed at a couple other places, a new one just this summer (but I won't be recommending that, lol!). I'd be glad to help you in any way I can.

Also you may find that many places appear booked right now. It turns out that some do not post their openings for summer until after the ski season.

Happy travels!

I was confused about the geography of the area too, and was rescued by the following map (click on summer):

http://www.wengen-muerren.ch/index.p...ang=en&L=1

Hope it helps - it did for me.

kwren-thank you . These maps do help visualizing the lay of the land.

So, okoshi2002, you're going from Venice to Switzerland. I don't know where else you're going, but for either Venice or Switzerland, you don't need or want a car. Switzerland has a wonderful train/bus/boat system. Using public transportation, the driver gets to sightsee too, and there's no navigation problems.

Unlike everybody else, I liked staying in Interlaken. (We stayed at the Hotel du Lac adjacent to the Interlaken Ost station.) It was convenient not only for the trains up into the mountains (including the little train up to the Schynigge Platte and the Alpine Botanic Garden) but also to the boats on Lakes Brienz and Thun.

I stayed in the town of Lauterbrunnen and was quite happy. It is a very small town on the floor of the valley. There is a very nice looking campground at the end of the town which rents cabins; perhaps that might be an option.

Hello Mimar

We feel the car is our best option because there are four of us, and the time and cost of rail travel really does not save us either.

The other reason for the car is so we can drive through the Dolomites which would be difficult by any other means.

We have taken rail in the past in Italy, including Milan to Cinque Terre, Florence to Venice, Venice to Paris overnight. We think we might enjoy driving ourselves this trip.