Murren Closed???
 

Hi all...this trip planning has taken over my life!!! If it weren't for you guys, I'd have to resort to a tour!!! Oh, no never!!
I had come up with a tentative itinerary which went like this:

April 5-12, 2008
Day 1: Arr in Geneva 12.15. Take a couple of hours to see Geneva and then take the train to our Timeshare in Les Diablerets.

Day 2: Take the resort shuttle to Glacier 3000 and go to the top. Possibly ride the new coaster ride...looks wild! Grocery shop.

Day 3,4: Early train trip to Murren, check into hotel and sightsee. Next morning do the trip to Gimmelwald, Stechelberg, Lauterbrunnen and back to Les Diablerets.

Day 5: Train to Montreux, Vevey and do a boat ride on the lake. Time permitting go to Lausane.

Day 6: Day train trip to Chamonix

Day 7: Day open..possible trip to Gstaad or what ever happens.

Day 8: Train to Geneva for flt to Rome 11:15

Now for the glitch! I tried to find a hotel in Murren (any recommendations...hostels to 4stars ..we don't care...for three adults) and found the ones I checked into were closed after April 6 2008. Does anyone know anything about this and does it mean that the trains, aerial cable cars, etc. close, too? Should we suck it up and go on our first full day, Sunday the 6th, instead of the 7th? Will we have this problem elsewhere in Switzerland at that time of year?

After speaking to Bob at BETS re: Swiss Pass Vs. car or both because I have a travel wheel chair, he convinced me to get 1st class Pass and just use the trains. That way we are more likely to get seats and can take the chair on with me because they have more luggage room.

Appreciate any and all input. Thanks

Howdey, I don't have much information for you as I have yet to visit that area, but I wanted to share what we found. We were planning on taking a trip to the BO next year and had the tickets and everything booked but had to change it (I accepted a job offer and don't have as much vacation time) so we are going to wait a few years. Anyways, when I was planning our trip I too found that hotels seem to be closed during that time (we were looking at late April and wanted to stay in Wengen). I did find a few hotels in Lauterbrunnen that were open; not exactly in Murren but if you can't find anything else you may want to check there.

Best wishes and happy planning!
Tracy

I believe alot of places close for a month or so in spring and fall. They obviously are very busy all winter, and I was there in July and everything was open and in full swing. So I think small hotel owners who need a vacation themselves take time off between the summer and winter seasons. I doubt the trains or anything will be "closed", although might have a reduced schedule. Certainly in the larger towns like Interlaken there will be plenty of choices. We stayed in Interlaken and it did have good transportation connections up into the mountians.

Thanks Isabel and Tracy. We can still make the last day and are considering it.

The Alpenruh hotel in Murren is open year round, as is their restaurant, and their sister restaurant at the Schilthorn cable station next door.

Transportation to Murren runs year round, although there is the odd day or two of maintenance during the off season, when the cable cars don't run.

I seriously doubt both cable cars/gondolas to Murren (from Lauterbrunnen and from Stechelberg) would be shut down at the same time.

Check this site for details:

http://www.jungfraubahn.ch/en/deskto.../268_read-5176

April is the shoulder season in Alp areas, that is why many hotels close. Winter is over and summer has not started. There really is not any spring to speak of in the mountains (and not a lot in Switzerland generally, it's like 10 days in early May in the lowlands). I have to say that April can be very iffy weather-wise in the Alps (and in the lowlands too). Temps are rising and as a result you are likely to get fog which can last for days and obscure views. Rain is not unknown and wet snow too, and you can even get heavy snow. No one really wants to travel to the area at this time as there are no winter sports (too muddy and wet as temps are rising and snow is melting) and its too wet for walking. That is another reason many hotels are closed. Sometimes cable cars and mountain trains are closed for maintenance (as demand is slack) but that is more of a one-off thing and there is usually another way to get where you want to get (other than Murren where there really is only one way to access the town now; if you plan on Murren confirm with the hotel that no maintenance on the cable cars are scheduled during your trip.) There are very few restaurants in Murren and those that exist may be closed, so you may end up eating in Lauterbrunnen which is more of a year-round village at the bottom of the valley. Wengen also has more restaurants (and better hotels) than Murren, although many of the better hotels will most likely be closed as well.

With only one day planned, you really are putting all your eggs into one basket that your ONE day in the Jungfrau valley will be a good weather day (which is a lot to ask for in Switzerland in any event in my experience living there and esp mountain areas which create their own weather). You could also just skip the long day to the Jungfrau and spend more time in the lovely Lake Geneva area which is in more of a microclimate and tends to be sunnier and more temperate (although it will still be brown and I have been in Vevey in mid-April and have had snow). If you get a clear day, you can make the run to Gstaad or the even closer, prettier and much less touristed Chateau d"Oex, or just if the weather does not cooperate Gruyere is still lovely in the rain and the cheese and wine are still good. There is a ton of stuff to do and see in that area, and the mountains are really just as beautiful, there is no reason to go all the way to the Jungfrau (as I have long said, they just have better PR, not better mountains...)

There is not a full ferry schedule on Lake Geneva in April, there is only a limited spring schedule, so you will have to work around that. They don't start running a full schedule until May.

<other than Murren where there really is only one way to access the town now>

Has something changed that I'm not aware of?

Thank you so much, Meinq8 and Cicerone, for your expertise. We had planned two days up there but sounds like that's not much better. We were so looking forward to the trip itself of cable cars, trains, etc. since I can't hike or ski anymore. Can we find such a trip in the area you were speaking of, Cicerne? Does the rest of our itinerary sound feasible?

Well, first of all you are already going to be in one of THE most beautiful Alpine regions in the world, complete with cable cars and little trains climbing up mountainsides, so to travel 4 hours each way to eastern Switzerland seems a little crazy to me. I have not been to Les Diablerets, but have been to the area, and it is truly as lovely, but just not as hyped, as the Bernese Oberland. This part of France is really more like Switzerland and is more Swiss in architecture for sure than northern France, so you will get the wooden chalets, etc. You will also get much better food in this part of France than you will in the Jungfrau. (While it is hard to get a bad meal in Switzerland, and the food in the Jungfrau is certainly adequate, the food in France is better, and the food in the French-speaking part of Switzerland is also better. Virtually all the Michelin rated restaurants in Switzerland are located in French cantons, for example. None are in the BO. Also with restaurant closures in April in the Jungfrau you may not have much choice the time you are there.)

I would slow down and spend more time in the lovely area you are already going to be in. Chamonix is a charming village, and Mt Blanc will blow you away, and can top the Jungfrau no question. I would suggest you consider an overnight there, as Mt Blanc is so beautiful and there is a pretty extensive cable car system. It's less than a 2 hour train ride with only 1 change. (You have to get a clear day there too, which of course will depend on luck, another reason for an overnight; the more days you hang around in one place, the better chance you have of lucking into some clear weather, if even only for a few hours. That is what happens in the mountains, things change quickly and you need to be there when it happens.)

OK, for Switzerland, well as you know you are 2 hours from Gstaad which has a very charming, very wooden-chalet Swiss downtown (full of very expensive shops) and a whole cable car system if you want to go up into the mountains. Even better IMO, you are also only 2.5 hours by train from Zermatt (and only 1 change required as opposed to 4 hours and 4 changes for Murren), which in addition to the great ride from Brig into Zermatt, has a wonderful little train up the mountainside (see http://bergbahnen.zermatt.ch), as well as a cable car option, and of course the glorious Matterhorn. IMO this would make a very nice overnight trip, and hotels and restaurants do NOT close there as this is a year-round ski and tourist resort. (Once again, this is all weather permitting as the Matterhorn can get socked in too.) I can recoo several hotels if you give me a budget range. If you want to be up on the mountain and don't mind spending a little money, then take a look first at the Rifflealp 2222m (go to www.zermatt.ch/riffelalp). I can recco others.

You are less than 1.5 hours from a place like Crans Montanna, which is a major ski areas which has a big cable car system and is surrounded by gorgeous mountains (not a really charming village, but a beautiful mountain area). This area is virtually untouristed by Americans except a few who go to ski. It's too isolated from Zurich and Geneva really, but from where you will be, it is quite convenient, and in fact part of the journey will be by cable car to access the village so it might be a fun journey, certainly doable in a day.

You are also about 1.5 hours from the lovely Château-d'Oex area, which is surrounded by jagged peaks and is itself a very charming village. Again, hardly touristed because it's not on a convenient route (although part of the train route you will take is the Golden Pass train route which goes on to Interlaken, but no one has time to stop, they all think they have to see the Jungfrau...) There is a good little museum here, and just lots of beauty to see. A very easy trip for you, and if you get there and the weather is bad, you can turn around and head really easily and quickly down to Vevey or Lausanne or Montreux where there are lovely little old towns to wander and lots to do indoors (and lots of good restaurants and wine bars).

If you want to see a bit in the lowlands, you are less than 2 hours from Gruyeres, which has a lovely castle and the great cheese and is beautiful rolling hill county with an Alp backdrop (it will be a bit brown in April).

And then you are of course close to Lausanne, Montreux and Vevey and beyond those other very charming lakeside villages like Morges and Nyon, and you can also go up the hillsides into the vineyards where you can do winetastings and there are tiny villages here too. They will be brown in April, but still have very beautiful vistas across the huge lake to the snowy Alps (and these don't get obscured by fog in April as you are lower, but you can get some rain). I would not shortchange yourself in this area, it is really one of the most beautiful in Switzerland, IMO.

Finally, I did not see from your itinerary that you had two days in the Jungfrau, that at least gives you some better odds on one of them being clear. Still, a long way to go and sit on trains or drive to chance being socked in. However, if the weather is bad, there really is not a lot to do. There is very little to "see" in any of those towns. Latuerburnnen, for example, is a town of one main rather busy street of about 4 restaurants (most attached to hotels), a grocery store, a few hotels, two churches, the railroad station and some pretty falls at the edge of town. Lauterbrunnen is not a quaint Swiss village. Gimmelwald does have some charm, but is tiny, you will be through it very quickly, and may encounter either a lot of snow still or mud. Stechelberg is very small too, and again IMO is not a charming Swiss village, but on a clear day does have some lovely valley views and it also has nice waterfalls. Murren is probably the most "charming" next to Gimmelwald, again it is very tiny, but it is really a ski village, not a farming or milk village, so you won't see a lot of the wooden Swiss chalets you may be expecting.

Melnq8, sorry, you can still access Murren in two ways. I keep forgetting that when they closed the funicular they did open another cable car from Latuerbrunnen. The last time I was there it was during that construction and the cable cars from Stechelberg were the only way up.

Sorry, on the above I see now that I actually used Aigle (where I have been) rather than Les Diablerets on the rail.ch website so the journey times are a bit off. Les Diablerets is more like 3.5-4 hours from Zermatt and requires 2 changes. Not much better than Murren, although fewer changes which is better when you have luggage. There is a bit more to do there if the weather is bad, and the Matterhorn does pack a wallop. The Crans-Montanna area will take about 2-2.5 hours.

Some of the journeys are shorter than from Aigle, however. Gstaad is less than an hour by bus (and you should get some good mountain views via the bus and the valley road into Gstaad is really lovely, look for a covered bridge, one of the few in Switzerland). Château-d'Oex is just over an hour.

Again, thanks Cicerone for your wealth of knowledge! I did look into Riffelalp but, alas, they require a 7 day minimum stay. We have a lot to consider now and will have to revisit our itinerary. We will have a Swiss Pass...does it cover the lifts in the Zermatt Area?

The Swiss Pass covers the train to Zermatt. Lifts/gondolas/cable cars from Zermatt are discounted by 50%. Be sure to show your pass when you purchase your tickets.

The Swiss Pass is also good for free admission to most museums.

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NEW! 50% Discount on Excursions to Mountain-Tops: From 2007 , the Swiss Pass, Swiss Youth Pass and Swiss Flexi Pass now also double up as half-fare card. Any of the above tickets are eligible for a hefty 50% discount on all mountain-top rides by cogwheel train or cable car (previously: discount of 25%). Holders of a Swiss Flexi Pass can take advantage of 50% discount on the entire Swiss Travel System network (trains, buses, boats, cable cars) on the days you have not validated for free travel.

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Interesting that Riffelalp is still requiring the 7 nights that late in the season; they generally require that in high season in the winter, I would have thought that the ski season requirements were over at that point, and it is not Easter unless I have your dates wrong, but whatever. Some other suggestions for Zermatt are below.

1. Romantik Hotel Julen (go to www.zermatt.ch/julen) I have stayed in their top-floor junior suites (Room 404) with two balconies which each had great Matterhorn views, but their double rooms looked nice as well if a bit smaller. They have a nice spa/wellness area with indoor pool and a good restaurant. The have a copious and good breakfast buffet included in the room rate.

2. Hotel Monta Rosa (go to http://www.seilerhotels.ch) or Mount Cervin (go to http://www.seilerhotels.ch). These are two of the luxury hotels in town, run by the same group which operates the Rifflealp. Eitehr would be a fine choce.

3. A hotel which I have not seen or stayed at but which looks quite amazing is the Coeur Des Alpes. This is located near the bottom cable car for the Klein Matterhorn. It seems like very interesting architecture and great views. Take a look at http://www.coeurdesalpes.ch/aufe_e.htm.

4. If you still want to be up on the mountain, there are two other hotels that are more basic, take a look at the Riffleberg or the Klum Gornegrat, both run by the same group, go to http://www.matterhorn-group.ch. This would be higher up above the Rifflealp. The one drawback to staying this far up on the Gornegrat is that if you want to go into town for dinner, it is about 30 minutes down (and costs like US$25 each way) and you have to time yourself to get the last train back at night, which may be about 9 pm or so.

Also, the next valley over from Zermatt is Saas Fee which is also lovely (but has no mountain like the Matterhorn) and the village is a bit more charming, and basically not touristed at all, its a ski village. There is some good winter walking, but in April I am not too sure about it. It is an easy drive over for a half day trip if you have a car, or a bit longer combo bus/train ride. Whether permitting in April, there is very good cross country skiing in the valley at the bottom. The main reason to go is the superb restaurant at the Fletshchorn Hotel, take a look at http://www.fletschhorn.ch/english/hotel/hotel.html. Worth a trip for lunch or dinner for sure.

I saw your other post from October about your entire itinerary, which seems to imply that you might have a car for this trip, that would make the trip to Zermatt under 2 hours; you drive to Visp and then take a little train into town. (The drive to the Jungfrau would also be substantially shorter than the train trip, but I still think you are better off staying closer in). Places like Crans and Chateau-d'Oux are also closer, but really the train system is very good and parking in larger towns and villages can be hard to find and is expensive, so for short jaunts I would go with the train/bus. A car for Gruyeres would be useful as using public transport to get there can be a little time consuming and in April there should be loads of public parking at the base of the village.

My apologize forte post above, I seem to imply that Les Diablerets is in France; that sentence on French architecture, etc was supposed to be in the paragraph about Chamonix. I not only used the wrong city for train schedules, I put Les Diablerets in the wrong country; I was responding a lot on the Asian board yesterday and replied too hastily to you, I guess I am lucky I got it on the right continent....

Your Swiss Pass will get you discounts on most mountain trains and cable cars, just ask.

I've been to Les Diablerets. It is now an adventure sports centre with a lot of new development, but at its heart it's a real French-Swiss village with some centuries-old wooden chalets. A small mountain railway runs between Aigle and there. The valley is broader than those in the OB, so arguably the scenery is less spectacular.

I very much enjoyed the scenery on our train trips to both Zermatt and Chamonix some years ago in mid April. Last year we were in the OB in October, and the weather was definitely better and the countryside greener, but the views from a warm train carriage in snowier conditions have their own charm. Also, while the vineyards between Vevey and Lausanne are bare and unattractive in April, the backdrop of snow-capped mountains in Vevey [as you face the lake] is something I missed when we returned last year.

Once again, thank you so much to you all for sharing your time and knowledge. I'm sure that it will make for a much better trip.