I am planning a trip to switzerland in mid september with my wife and 4 month baby. I would like to get advice on the interlaken/lauterbrunnen areas (5 nights) .I am planning to hire a car and stay in interlaken. I know that switzerland has an amazing public transport system. but i since i have a baby i need the flexibility of a car and its convenience (even though it will be limited use in lauterbrunnen). A car allows me to keep a stroller handy if i need to use it around the villages like wengen and lauterbrunnen and avoids having to carry my baby around all the time.
I am planning to head into the mountains everyday to explore some of the villages and hiking trails( easy and scenic only) . I have done some reading up and here is what i have shortlisted.

1. Lauterbrunnen - park the car in a convenient spot. explore the valley. walk to the waterfalls.
2. Wengen - take the train from Lauterbrunnen. explore the village area, shops and cafes
3. Mannlichen - Kleine Scheidegg trail. Reach here from Wengen OR grindelwald.(which is easier for me?). Im not sure if i can do a 90 min walk with a baby so which part of the trail should i do to make sure i get the best views?
4. Murren - reach via Lauterbrunnen by train. explore viewpoints and cafes. walk to gimmelwald. get back to Lauterbrunnen.
5. Isenfluh - Reach here by car. then walk to Lauterbrunnen.
6. Schynige Platte - anything worthwhile here?
7. Grindelwald - reach by car. explore the town. anything else to see here?

since i have a baby i am not planning any higher reaches above 2500m (like Jungfrau and schilthorn) as the altitude is not suitable for her age. thankfully i have already seen these in my previous trips.

a. is there any rail pass that will make my travel cheaper and convenient?
b. any recommendations for hikes that i should not miss.
c. any villages which would be stroller friendly?
d. is parking easy in the villages?
e. are there any good scenic drives nearby which i can do.

thanks!

http://www.swisstravelsystem.com/ and sbb.ch/en will give you details of both passes and individual train and bus tickets but if you have a car you may not need a pass. I'm not sure I'd bother with a car but depends on how you plan to use it.

I'd consider taking a baby backpack so baby can ride up high and you can stride out.

For the Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg trail, I don't recall being able to join the path half way but I've only done it once so may not have noticed.

From Grindelwald you can take the cable car to First and there are several walks from there.

Schynige Platte has great views and a nice alpine garden.

I must admit that I don't see the advantages you are seeing to having a car, particularly since you won't be able to use it in many of the places you plan to visit. Your call, though! One question: If you going to drive to the start of a hike, and then hike to somewhere else, how do you plan to retrieve your car?

Mannlichen is best reached from Wengen.

I fail to understand the logic of renting a car that you're just going to park for the majority of your visit - seems an unnecessary expense, as you'll being doing most of your sightseeing in places that are car-free, but hey, it's your trip.

As an alternative, have you considered sending your luggage (and possibly stroller) via train from your arrival city to Lauterbrunnen? Once there, you can easily get around via stroller, train and bus.

Just a thought.

i feel that with a baby doing a full walking journey from the hotel->train station->villages and back again will be a bit much. instead parking at lauterbrunnen ,stechelberg and grindelwald will allow me to focus my energy on only the trails. a few more advantages would be.
1. im a vegetarian so the car comes in handy to hunt for restaurants a bit far from my hotel.
2. the stroller can be dumped in the car whenever i dont need it instead of lugging it around in some of the parking spots ive mentioned.
3. i can checkout of the hotel and dump my luggage in the car and sightsee more the same day and move on the next destination without coming back to fetch it from the hotel storage.
4. i can explore some nearby alpine drives which are scenic.
5. if im driving around and my baby needs to be fed the car gives me the option of parking it on the side of the road whenever i need.

a. is there any rail pass that will make my travel cheaper and convenient?>

Not one that is a good deal for your limited train trips - just buy the few tickets you need once in Lauterbrunnen - not even close to realizing the value of several possible passes or cards - check your hotel to see if they give out discount passes for the immediate vicinity.

For lots of great info on trains in that areas and cables and boats, etc check out www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com.

The Mannlichen-Kl Scheidegg walk is easy so I think you could easily do it but the most raved views are right at The Mannlichen - one of the most celebrated viewpoints in Switzerland - over Interlaken far below, lovingly wedged between gthe two lakes bookending it and all over the spiny ridge of central Switzerland - so start there - aerial cable way from Wengen and if going is too tough go back.

thanks PalenQ for your info.

If you are staying in Interlaken, you don't need a car to seek out vegetarian restaurants.

There are Indian restaurants in town.

I couldn't imagine pushing a stroller down from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg.

A better walk would be from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg passing Staubbach Falls or as I call it the Staubbach Trickle.


Thin

another easy walk from Lauterbrunnen would be to go up the cliff to Grutschalp by cable car and then there is a flat short walk to Murren - if you tire the train paralleling the trail has several stops.

BTW Mannlichen to Kl Scheidegg is slightly up not down as, ironically, pepper once upbraided me when I said it was flat. Yet you only get frontal views of the Jungfrau Massif when walking towards Kl Scheidegg - it is gently ascending and I have seen baby carriages on it.

The hike from Mannlichen to KS is downhill.

There are parts of the trail that are flat and winding, though.

There are also parts of the trail that are filled with big puddles or mud after it rains.

If you Google Mannlichen elevation and KS elevation you will note that Mannlichen is higher than KS, so how could you possibly go up if going down????

Daft!

Thin

http://www.jungfrau.ch/en/tourism/de...ng-trail-no-33

Yes it is slightly downhill - 2.080 metres vs 2,230 mt at Mannlichen - so stand corrected - the link says it should only take about an hour or so - so gently descending makes it even easier - a stroll in the park, baby carriage or no baby carriage.

The path, Monsieur de Bobo, does gently descend from Mannlichen to KS.

However, the path is winding and uneven.

This is not an even, flat path like the one from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg.

I don't do strollers!

Thin