DeniseM

We are visiting Germany and Switzerland. The plan was drive to the Lauterbrunnen area in May for 4 nights. I've learned Wengen and Murren are closed during this time. The highlight was to visit Jungfrau.

I can probably find accomodations in Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald and we would have probably stayed in Lauterbrunnen anyhow since we have a vehicle. But is there too much closed to be worth the trip? With limited things to do, would you suggest staying in Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald? I've hear Grindelwald is touristy but what about this time of year.

With local towns closed for business, since we have a car, are there scenic day drives we can make? Should I consider only 3 nights here? This will give me 2 nights for my return route to Frankfurt. I would appreciative of advice.

swandav2000

Hi DeniseM,

What do you mean by "closed"?

Usually people mean that they can't find hotels open at this time, but since you will be in Lauterbrunnen, you'll find a hotel easily.

The railroads will be open, of course.

The cable cars may be closed for routine maintenance, but that will not affect Wengen at all. You can reach Mürren by a secondary way. You can always reach Schilthorn and Jungfraujoch by rail.

The views won't be closed. Just going up high (as opposed to staying where the cars are down below) and soaking up the views is awesome.

s

DeniseM

Sorry, I wasn't clear. You are right swandav2000, I meant hotels are closed. Can you tell me if we should still visit Wengen or Murren or would there be no reason if we are not staying there?

bob_brown

Try the Alpenruhe in Wengen. The schedule says that May 1 to July 15 is the low season.

Given that information, the hotel might be open at that time.
http://www.wengen.com/hotel/alpenruhe/

swandav2000

Yes, you should visit even if most hotels are closed. As I said, it is awesome being up there, seeing a village right in the Alps. The views won't be closed!

s

floydvic

Go. You will see one of the most beautiful places on earth. I was there in May (some years ago) and stayed in Lauterbrunnen. Didn't know much about the area; had a cheapie ticket to Geneva (back in the good old days when Lufthansa auctioned tickets) and an on line guide book said Lauterbrunnen Valley was pretty. It is. Although a lot of hotels will be closed since you will be between seasons all of the towns and sites will be open. You will not be sorry.

pittpurple

We are staying in Glion for 5 nights from the 1st through 6th May and we are really excited. We found tons of options in B&B's all over Switzerland on http://www.bnb.ch/ - it's really useful as it's broken down on a map so you can find exactly where you want to stay. We won't be renting a car and there's still tons of places we plan to visit over our long weekend.

Have a great trip!

sunstar

I've never been in the region as early as May, but even though some hotels might be open, I tend to doubt that most would be closed since May is so close to the summer tourist season, but even if some hotels are closed, the cables going to Wengen and Murren should be up and operating in good service. There could be some cable lifts and gondola maintenance period here. If the cables are closed to Wengen and Murren, you can reach some excellent mountain views by taking the train system to Grindlewald and accessing the Jungfrau views from Grindlewald. Assuming weather is ok (No spring flooding) trains and busses should be running. The shops should also be open as well. I think you and your traveling party will be ok for the most part in these concerns. The big concern might be how the weather will be?

Grindlewald gets knocked quite a lot in this forum for this "too touristy" thing. Sure there are more tourist that float through there during the course of any day in high travel season, but Grindlewald is still basically one main street area, but beyond the main street are more quite neighborhoods and such where a person can get a quite restful stay. I am one of the few Grindlewald people in this forum!

I used to keep in touch with Swiss travel enthusiasts on another forum years ago. I seem to recall that there were some people who enjoyed this area in May and June. One lady I e-mailed told me that she wanted to do Kandersteg in June. She was really excited about doing that hike in Kandersteg up to the pass looking down on the Leuker area as I recall. She did say that trail was closed due to a recent snow fall. The upper altitudes of that area had received enough snow to close some activities. I guess that can happen in May and perhaps even June. Since I usually do this area in August and September, I am just not totally sure about what might and what might not be open in May, but I think most of the area should be up and running and in good shape.


Now playing:

The Allman Brothers Band: I'm going to move to the outskirts of town.

floydvic

One bit of clarification. On my trip, which was in the beginning of May seven years ago, everything in Lauterbrunnen was open. However, in the the villages at a higher elevation, many (but not all) hotels and other businesses catering to tourists were closed for a holiday between the winter sports season and the summer tourist season. Basically the higher up one went the fewer choices existed for lodging, food, or over priced made in china gifts (However, at least when I was in Switzerland, the clocks which were sold everywhere were made in Europe/Switzerland.)

bettyk

We stayed in Lauterbrunnen in May 2006 at the Hotel Oberland. We took the cable car up to Schilthorn and stopped in Murren on the way down. While some of the hotels were closed, we saw several restaurants/cafes that were open.

The views in Murren are absolutely amazing and we had a very enjoyable walk.

Hagan

We second the Hotel Oberland! Fabulous views, wonderful food and comfortable rooms. Wish we could go back!

bob_brown

If you stay at the Oberland, request a room in the annex across the street. It is very near to Chalet Horner where I will be in early July and where I have stayed several times.

Why there? The room we had was nice with a small balcony that looked at the Jungfrau.

However don't give up on Wengen or Mürren. Email the Lauterbrunnen Tourist office and ask what is open.
The tourist office is for the valley; not just the area designated as Lauterbrunnen.

[email protected]

bob_brown

www.lauterbrunnen-tourismus.ch
Is the website of the tourist office.