I am planning my first trip to Switzerland this summer and hope to spend 4 days in Muren and another 4 days in either Wengen or Grindelwald. Can anyone recommend favorie hotels and things to do in each village? Many thanks.

Chuck, I am sure you have any reasons to split your time in Bernese Oberland. But which? Why do you plan to loose a day with packing/unpacking instead of enjoying this day?<BR><BR>These three villages are located VERY close to each other! No need to change.<BR><BR>Anyway, if you insist I recommend to spend the other four nights in Grindelwald - Wengen is relatively similar to Muerren (both car-free and located on a sunny terrace above the valley).<BR><BR>Recommendations will follow after you decided on the villages to stay.<BR><BR>Ingo

Hello Chuck,<BR><BR>I concur (yet again!!) with Ingo -- the three villages are so close that it may be a waste of time to move. They're only 30 minutes by train from one another -- 30 minutes by sslllooowww train.<BR><BR>The activities for any of the villages will be nearly identical. After you've strolled the village and its outskirts, all of your excursions will be the same. There are many walks and sights and mountain peaks to visit, but you can do them all very easily from all of these places.<BR><BR>But as to hotels, what level of comfort are you looking for? I tend to stay in four-star hotels, and I can highly recommend the Schweizerhof in Grindelwald (www.hotel-schweizerhof.com) or the Regina in Wengen (there is also a Regina in Grindelwald, but it's a five-star). Although I've never stayed at the Regina in Wengen, I've always wanted to!<BR><BR>I have stayed at the three-star Alpenrose in Wengen and enjoyed it very much too -- great views!<BR><BR>Have fun looking around!<BR><BR>s

I was hoping to do one side of the Lauterbrunnen Valley at a time. 4 days hiking around Murren/Piz Gloria then the other 4 days exploring Wengen/Mannlichen/First/Faulhorn side without having to go up and down. I thought of staying in Lauterbrunnen like Bob Brown advises but mainly want the mountain views/experience. I think if I stayed in Grindelwald I would just do that side at one time. You are right though in the sense that I don't care to pack and unpack. Is it worse though to take a different train/cable car each day? etc.

chuck - I agree with Ingo. I would recommend the Alpenruh in Murren. We had a balcony room overlooking the precipitous drop into the valley and across that the face of the Eiger. We actually hiked from Murren to Grindelwald after taking the tram down to the base station, and back up after the hike. Murren is spectacular! Unfortunately we did not get to Wengen as we fell in love with the hiking trails around Murren. I am sure you will enjoy your vacation!

I think Lauterbrunnen is still the best compromise. You can go up one side of the valley, or the other, early in the day, hike all day, straggle back about dusk, and be ready to head out the next day. <BR>You cannot see the scenery in the dark, now can you??<BR>If it is cloudy you cannot see it anyhow, so it makes no difference. That is the day you go to Luzern, or go visit Trummelbach Falls.<BR>It rains in there all the time anyhow!<BR>Besides, it is marginally easier to get to Grindelwald from Lauterbrunnen. The trains are timed to meet each other in Lauterbrunnen.<BR> <BR>

I have vacationed in that area twice and agree with Bob. To Bob's list of things to do on a cloudy or rainy day I would add the outdoor Folk Museum at Ballenberg if you have a car.<BR>Regards - Tom

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay in Murren last July. We awoke each morning with a view of the mountains bathed in pink light. On the day it rained, the view was obstructed by clouds but when the sun came out, you could see many waterfalls across the valley. <BR><BR>Murren in summer may have many tourists, especially those stopping over on their way to Piz Gloria, during the day but in the evening, you have the place to yourself. There is no traffic so all you can hear are the cow bells gently ringing on the cows grazing on the hillside.<BR><BR>The bars seemed to be closed in summer but there are several fine restaurants including an excellent Chinese restaurant.<BR><BR>Grindlewald is busier, Wengen is lovely, too, but larger than Murren. Lauterbrunnen has the best transportation but I didn't think it was very charming if that is what you are looking for.<BR><BR>Have you looked at:<BR>http://www.wengen-muerren.ch<BR><BR>Check out the thread:<BR><BR>Postcard from Switzerland<BR><BR>Sorry, I don't know how to copy the url to this post.

Chuck -<BR><BR>We've stayed at the Alpenruh in Murren every time we've visited - good place, great views, good restaurant. The hotel is owned/operated by the same company that runs the Schilthorn cablecar - you can make arrangements with the hotel to have your breakfast on top of the Schilthorn during your stay if you're so inclined.<BR> <BR>The North Face Trail above Murren (you can access the trail from the Allmendhubel funicular, or hike up from the village) offers spectacular views. <BR><BR>For an easy excursion from Murren you might consider walking down to the tiny village of Gimmelwald - from there you can catch the cable car to Stechelberg then walk to Lauterbrunnen (easy).<BR><BR>If you're really ambitious however, you might want to tackle the hike to the Schilthorn.<BR><BR>There's also a great hike from Murren via Grutschalp to Saustal, then on to Suwald and Isenfluh. <BR><BR>Our favorite watering hole in Murren is in the Hotel Eiger Guesthouse - they also offer Internet access and pretty good food. We've had good meals at the Hotel Jungfrau, Hotel Alpina, Alpenruh and the Schilthorn Taverne (located in the Schilthorn cable station). <BR><BR>In Wengen, we like the Hotel Bellevue - www.bellevue-wengen.ch. Friendly, multi-lingual staff, meticulously maintained rooms, and great dinner if you opt for the half board.<BR><BR>There are some excellent excursions from Wengen as well. We like to take the cable car to Mannlichen (or you can hike if you're so inclined)then walk to Kleine Scheidegg - there are two trail choices here - the upper path is a piece of cake, the lower is more of a challenge. Kliene Scheidegg is a good place to have lunch and just admire the incredible scenery. From here you can either return to Wengen via train or walk.<BR><BR>You can also take the gondola from Mannlichen to Grindelwald-Grund. This is the longest goldola cableway in Europe and offers more incredible views.<BR><BR>There's also a wonderful hike from Wengernalp that ends up at Trummelbach Falls (portions of this are difficult). The first two hours of the hike are easy though and offer awesome views.<BR><BR>While it's easy enough to go from Wengen to Murren and back, if you're planning long day hikes from either place, I think you have the right idea staying both places.<BR><BR>Grindelwald is gorgeous, but it's much busier and more touristy than either Wengen or Murren. There are some good hikes from here as well, but we never stay in Grindelwald as we prefer the quiet villages. Grindelwald is an easy train ride from either Murren or Wengen, so you can still visit with no problem. If you do, you might want to try out Pizza Mercato in the Hotel Spinne - it's a good place for lunch or dinner.<BR><BR>Hope this helps! No matter what you decide, you really can't go wrong - it IS Switzerland, after all!<BR><BR> <BR>

Hi I agree with the last poster about staying in different places, towns are different and you get a different perspective. It has been a few years (maybe 6?) since we did our Swiss hiking trip so I can't really remember names of hotels/restaurants to recommend. What I can remember is that we started our trip on Lake Luzerne, I think the village was Vitznau, spent three or four days there, one day taking the paddle steamer boat to Luzern, one day taking a long hike along the lake and then going to a little village at the end of the lake for mid-afternoon snacks and almost not getting a boat back to our village as the weather picked up and the waves were getting too big to sail! Great start to the trip, but really too long of a train ride for a day trip to/from Luaterbrunnen valley. One day travel to the Bernese Oberland and stayed a few days (maybe four or five) in Wengen doing all sorts of hikes around there and Grindelwald. Then we went over to Murren and stayed there for a few days (maybe three or four) and did the hikes around there. We decided not to stay in Lauterbrunnen itself and were glad not to, as it is at the bottom of the valley, not on a sunny shelf as is Wengen or Murren. Wengen is a bit larger than Murren and has a bit more &quot;things to do&quot; for wandering around the shops/restaurants for before/after hiking. Murren was a bit smaller and more rustic and was nice after Wengen. It's really easy to get up and down to these villages from Lauterbrunnen as there are frequent cog-railways and was easy to connect to more mainline railways. We did not rent a car while we were there, but relied completely on Swiss rail. Very convenient and easy to get around. Also, with the Swiss-rail tickets, you can get discounts for the cable-cars/gondolas going up the mountains which you will need for alot of the hikes. Check out the Swiss tourist board - they are really helpful (at least in London!). Enjoy! You are going to one of the most beautiful places in the world.