jerrylee

Our family will be in lauterbrunnen for 4 nights. One day i we will split into two groups, with one group doing additional hiking etc. and the other group going into town. So now we are deciding on what "into town" means. I was thinking about a train ride to Bern, but my daughter was intrigued by some of the quainter villages. She was looking at both Murten and Gruyere which are hefty 2-3 hour train ride which makes for a long day.

Does interlachen have anything of interest to offer from a city/village perspective?

Does anyone know of a village similar to murten or gruyere that we could get to via train from lauterbrunnen that is not as far?

Or does anyone want to tell me Murten is worth the trip for a day?

Thanks

swandav2000

Hi jerrylee,

There are lots, I think!

The city of Thun is really spectacular, sitting on a gorgeous lake with a river running through it! You can see the castle, shop, hop a ferry to Spiez, have some coffee at a cafe at the flower-lined harbor, then return to Lauterbrunnen by train.

You could also get to Zweisimmen, which I found to be a completely delightful little town that is totally overlooked by tourists.

No, I don't think that Interlaken will have enough to entertain you. And Murten also left me cold.

Have fun as you research this!

s

Ingo

I wouldn't think Murten is worth the long trip. It's really small, nice but nothing spectacular. Quite similar to Bern's old town, just smaller and the structures better preserved. If you're no architecture fan then it will leave you cold as swandav noted (Hi!).

I found parts of Interlaken to be quite interesting. There's the large Höhematte meadow in the centre with the Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel, the nice Kurpark garden with the casino, the old monastery buildings that are now turned into city administrations (but quite nice to see from outside) with two churches and relics of the cloisters. Unterseen, a fraction of Interlaken, is quite nice with old houses and small town ambience. You won't need a full day for Interlaken, though. A combination with a visit of Brienz or Thun in the afternoon would be perfect.

I.

bettyk

We visited Thun and Spiez on our last trip to Lauterbrunnen and enjoyed them both very much. Here are a few of our photos if you are interested:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/554510509SyxotU

We also enjoyed walking around Murren on the way down from seeing Schilthorn.

KayF

I was going to suggest Thun (pronounced Toon) as well. We enjoyed a day trip there from Lauterbrunnen. The train runs alongside the lake which is very pretty. Thun has some nice shops on a pedestrianised mall, good cake and coffee places and it's in a picturesque setting. There are waterwheels over the river at some points in the town. You can also do boat trips on the lake.

We found Interlaken disappointing - dull, touristy but not in a good way - and not much there.

Kay

jerrylee

Thanks so much. This was exactly the information i was needing!

Jean

How about Brienz? Lots to see and do in the area around the town. A cogwheel railway to the top of Rothorn, the Swiss Open-Air Museum in Ballenberg, a wood carving school and museum, a funicular to Giessbach Falls... I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting. You could take a paddle-wheel steamer to Brienz from Interlaken Ost and ride the train back.

ButterflyGirl06

Ballenberg is a great day trip! Nice boat ride from Interlaken to Brienz then a short bus ride to the open air museum. It does take nearly a full day to take it all in. And be sure you are well rested!

annalynn

Another vote for Thun! It was a lovely, enchanting suprise. Not many guidebooks cover it, but we loved it. Not to big, not to small. You can shop for souvernirs to take home, and there is a market for fruits, vegetables, cheeses, etc. Beautiful rivers, a castle atop a hill, and very cool double-deckered streets. We had bad weather for five consecutive days in Lauterbrunnen, so we had a chance to see several towns, and of all the ones we daytripped to, Thun was our favorite.

Ackislander

In a slightly different vein and not meaning at all to be snarky, I would lose the words "cute" and "quaint" from my vocabulary about the time I got on the plane.

I live in a tourist town where a visitor once asked me directions to "quaint cobblestoned Main Street", and it was a major achievement not falling to the pavement in gales of laughter. But she was a nice lady and only reading from the brochure and didn't deserve to be hurt.

More cringemaking is being on a bus full of residents (say, in Paris) with a party of fellow Americans who are commenting loudly on "quaint" buildings, the French political system, and the lack of ice in their hotel, all under the assumption that no one else spoke English. Virtually everyone on the bus spoke enough English to be offended, judging by the stiffening postures and tightening mouths around us.

I know what you mean by "cute" and "quaint" (I live in an exceptionally cute house in a quaint town). But it is not polite, at least here in the US, to call it to our attention with those words because we have real lives and are not on display. I can't imagine that Europeans would feel much differently.

Jean

Considering some of the unsolicited comments about the American political system and foreign policies I've been told to my face (not overheard in a public place) both in Europe and in the U.S., I'd say the cringe-making goes both ways.

As far as "quaint" and "cute," well, I would take those words as compliments. No one has ever said my house was cute, so I'm feeling envious.

jerrylee

Thanks so much for all the information. I will do a little research, and see what fits for us the best.

Thanks so much.

zeppole

Well, what Americans take as compliments isn't the issue. Nor is revenge.

People manage to give the impression they're only interested in their own preconceptions and stereotypes of Your-up when they pronounce historic fortress towns in Italy as 'cute'. I'm not precisely sure what anybody means by "quaint." Surely they don't mean what I mean when I use the word -- amusingly endearing for carrying-on with old-fashioned and useless ideas.

The word "quaint" is understood by a lot of English-speakers, if not Americans, to be a term of condescension.