lbrown44

I am going to Switzerland in July with my husband and 3 kids, (daughter age 9, and 5 year old twin boys. I have decided that Grindlewald would be a great Bernese Oberland base (as opposed to Wengen) partially because we will have a car. Can someone recommend a comfortable, not too expensive (under $200/night) hotel in Grindelwald. We were also considering Interlaken, but most of the posts on this website seem to like Grindelwald better as a base. Thanks! (Also any mention of child friendly places or activities will be appreciated).

dwzemens

We stayed at the Hotel Alpina while in Grindelwald in 2002. Fantistic rooms with balconys facing the Eiger mountain. Awesome. English speaking proprietor and her son run the hotel. He is the chef in the hotel restaurant. Very nice people. Nice breakfast and breakfast room. The decor in the rooms seemed rather Scandanavian to me. You won't be disappointed.

http://www.alpina-grindelwald.ch/

ms_go

I don't know what type of accommodations they would have for a family of five, but we thought the Gletschergarten Hotel was fantastic. We stayed there for four nights in 2002. Here is the link:

http://www.hotel-gletschergarten.ch/

It is one end of the town, so it is not right in the middle of the traffic, but still convenient to everything. Very friendly proprietors and good food. One of our most memorable nights was spent in the hotel's piano room with other guests from around the world. The views from the hotel are great. Here is a link to our Webshots album, which includes some pics from the hotel.

http://community.webshots.com/album/111416215tDqoRc

Grindelwald worked well as a base for exploring the Berner Oberland.

We traveled with a nine-year-old, who loved the area. Some of her favorites included:

-Trip to the top of the Schilthorn

-Mini-golf in the middle of Grindelwald

-Hike from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg (gondola to Mannlichen from Grindelwald; train back from KS)

-Watching the paragliders take off from First Station (gondola to First is very near the hotel); the hike from there to the Bachalpsee was a bit of a hike for her, but the view is unforgettable

It was a great trip. You will have fun!

lbrown44

Thank you for the advice so far. I will check these hotels out. I may still consider Interlaken if anyone has any recommendations there?

Ingo

Please do not consider Interlaken. I could understand if you considered a place right on Lake Thun - for the lake and mountain views and water sports activities.

You could check Hotel du Lac in Merligen:
http://www.merligen-hoteldulac.ch/start.php?sprache=en
They have suites for up to 5 persons with great lake views. Prices include dinner, but you can deduct 25 CHF if you don't like to have dinner at the hotel.

Grindelwald is great for hiking, but if you like to explore the lakes and small towns as well you might consider my recommendation.

Ingo

Ingo

Read: deduct 25 CHF per person if you don't like to have dinner at the hotel.