We have one day and night. Where should we spend it?
Also, hotel and restaurant (authentic Swiss) recommendations would be much appreciated.

Wengen Wengen Wengen Wengen. Sleep and eat at the Alpenrose Hotel. You will thank me and you will remember it the rest of your life.

Add Gimmelwald, the most isolated of all to the list - but easy to get to by cable car - once there you are confronted largely with the rugged Alps looming just across the valley - a couple of typical Swiss hotels, a hostel and the chance to "sleep in the straw" - a cow barn converted to hostel in the summer when the cows are pasturing in higher levels.
Gimmelwald for something far different - a few minutes from Murren by cable car.

Wengen-I agree with teacherlady.

Thank you for the great responses.
Teacherlady-Can I ask what you like about Wengen over Grindelwald? The Alpenrose looks adorable.

PalQ-How do you get to Grindelwald by cable car (where do you pick it up)?
That sounds like fun.
How would I find the cowbarn?

JES: Don't confuse Grindelwald (big and very touristy) with Gimmelwald (the place PalQ is talking about). Big difference!!

We stayed in Wengen and had a wonderful meal at the Regina where we were staying. Great hotel beautiful rooms with great views. Quite expensive though but the restaurant is well worth it . Wengen is car free.

Thanks LSU--I definitely did confuse the two.

OK, another vote for Wengen...what you like about it over the others?
I have actually been to Grindelwald years ago and loved it so I'm curious what Wengen has over it?

Thanks again for all of your advice!

Wengen is a simpler place than Grindelwald, and as previously mentioned, it is car-free, so you walk everywhere and it's much more peaceful. I was a little put off by walking in to shops in Grindelwald and having blonde-haired blue-eyed salesclerks look at me (long light brown hair) and say "Konichi Wa", obviously catering to Japanese tourists. The street signs also have Japanese on them. To me, Grindelwald seemed like a small Lucerne (lots of traffic and stores) and Wengen is the real Swiss experience of mountains and valleys and waterfalls. You can easily go to Grindelwald from Wengen if you really want to see it. If you do go to Wengen, be sure to ride the Mannlichen tram up tot he top and then hike down to Kleine Scheidegg, taking the train from there back to Wengen. Absolutely jaw-droppingly awesomely beautiful.

Teacherlady--that sounds like a great plan. Thank you!

I'm finalizing this portion of my trip and wanted to ask one more time making sure you all know what we are looking for....
wengen looks beautiful, but I'm wondering if it's too quiet? My hubby has never been to Switzerland and with only a few days, he wants to see a village, experience the food culture, and of course see the scenery.
While I know Grindelwald offers all this, I'm now concerned it's too touristy....but again, on the flip side, will Wengen have enough of all of this?
Thanks again!

Another vote for Wengen! We were there a few years ago and absolutely loved it! We've been to the Dolomites, Austria and Germany but haven't found a place like Wengen. The best.
We stayed at Hotel Eiger which had fantastic views!
Paul

I forgot, in case your interested...
www.eiger-wengen.ch

paul

Thanks Paul--just curious if you also spent time in Grindelwald?
Do you feel wengen has enough going on in the village in terms of restaurants?

I know fondue is harder to find in the summer, but any recommendations on where we can find it?

Paul--no luck with Hotel Eiger for the night I'm going
What about staying in Lauterbrunnen?

Hi JES,
You can check these sites for info...
www.berneroberland.ch
www.wengen.com
www.lauterbrunnen-tourismus.ch
www.grindelwald.com
I think Lauterbrunnen has less going on than the other places. As far as restaurants in Wengen, we stayed 4 nights and had no problem with having something different each night. We found Grindelwald, we visited for an afternoon, too much. We liked Wengen mostly for the views, walks outside of "town" and it's lack of cars. In the evening we'd walk outside of town and all you could hear was our footsteps and the ringing of distant cowbells, with a magnificent view down the valley and the snow capped peaks surrounding us. Wow, now I'm really wanting to go back! For a day and a night, I don't know how one could get bored. Plenty of walking, hiking, cog train trips, cable car rides, etc. to do.
Hope this helped.

paul

JES,
Another helpful link, in my opiinion, to check hotels, restaurants in the Berner Oberland is... http://www.ricksteves.com/books/feed.../rurl/pid/270/

Paul

JES,

Something to keep in mind --

Because Grindelwald allows cars in the village, it gets swamped by tour busses, especially in August. I was there with my mother, and we saw several huge busses unload their load along the main street in Grindelwald.

In contrast, Wengen was almost deserted. We went there for lunch and enjoyed the quiet and the views! I vowed to return to Wengen and give Grindelwald a miss.

s

Thank you Paul! And for your opinion swandav. We will be there in a couple of weeks (mid June) so I wonder how they will be then.

JES - you should have no trouble finding fondue just about anywhere, even in the summer.