Need help with Bernese Oberland base!
 

I feel like my head is spinning and hope some of you travel experts can help!

A girlfriend and I (both late 20s) will be traveling to Switzerland from Strasbourg. After checking train travel rates, it seems the cheapest option is for us to head straight to the B.O. area. (My friend is on a strict budget for this trip).

After reading lots and lots of posts, I'm wondering where we should base ourselves out of in this area. We'll be coming from Strasbourg and need to keep travel costs down. Do trains go directly to some of the smaller towns? I've looked at Adelboden, Spiez, Murren, Lauterbrunnen, Gimmelwald. Which one of these are better in terms of easily and cheaply getting to neighboring or nearby sights we shouldn't miss?

We'd like to have a good base where we can stay in a hostel but still get around well for some nice hikes, scenery and travel to/from. We'll be going in mid-August and plan to stay Mon-Fri.

I'll be heading on from there to Cinque Terre so I don't know if this would influence any recommendations for a base in terms of good travel to/from.

Thank you!

Buddy - I'd have thought somewhere like Interlaken might be your best base.

Steve

P.S. If you're looking for a hostel there, you could try the infamous Balmer's ...

I think we'd prefer to stay in a smaller town without a Hooters. Is that not a good idea?

I think Lauterbrennen would be best for you. It is in a beautiful valley, and easily accessible by train (one train past Interlaken). Both Mürren and Gimmelwald are high on a bench above Lauterbrunnen, and so would require extra expense to get there via postbus and lifts.

Of those you mentioned I think Lauterbrunnen would be the best base to explore the mountains of the Jungfrau region and also for Lake Thun/Lake Brienz.

Spiez would be the best base to explore also other parts of the Bernese Oberland like Kandersteg, Adelboden, Simmental (Lenk), Gstaad-Saanenland. Be prepared, though, that Spiez has a railway station up on the hill, about 15 minutes walk from the lake (where the ferries stop and hotels + castle/church are located).

Adelboden, Gimmelwald and Mürren are not good bases for excursions to farther places since they are each quite isolated.

Interlaken is IMO big enough that you can avoid the hooters, you can stay in a B&B far from "Balmers". Or you consider Unterseen, a small village adjacent to Interlaken, or Wilderswil, between Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen.

Please let us know which excursions you have in mind and give us an idea of you budget. No proper advice to give otherwise!

Ingo

What's wrong with Hooters? :-) ((b))

Thanks for the thoughts so far! I had not previously considered Lauterbrunnen very much but am researching it now.

We are mostly thinking that we would hike in the area - we're not really planning on taking excursions that would require us to spend a lot of money. Can we get to/from Lauterbrunnen to Gimmelwald one day to hike and to Murren another day to hike? This seems like a nice compromise to not actually staying on those towns if it is cheaper for us to stay in Lauterbrunnen. How much is the Postauto or Schilthornbahn? So far I haven't found rates.

Alternatively, how easily could we got to/from Murren to/from Gimmelwald?

Thanks again!

Sorry, forgot to include budget info. We're thinking about $100 USD for travel costs (including travel from Strasbourg), $100 USD for hostel costs and $150 USD for all other costs. So we're really on a budget as you can see :)

topping

Mürren and Gimmelwald are a short walk apart by paved path---about 20 minutes' walk. They are linked by a cablecar that brings you up from Stechelberg, at the end of the Lauterbrunnen valley. You get there by postbus from Lauterbrunnen (may be very crowded this summer), or by walking along the river---that takes about an hour.

The lift from Stechelberg as far as Gimmelwald and on to Mürren is covered by most Swiss transportation passes. The Schilthornbahn, which is quite expensive, is only covered 50 %. I seem to recall full price was around $40 (roundtrip), but hopefully someone else knows for sure. If you are hikers, there is a trail you can take all the way to the top of the Schilthorn, but you need good weather to do it. There are many, many other hikes in the area with great views.

language buddy----is that $100 budget for lodging per person or for both of you, and for how many nights? It looks like four (you said Monday-Friday) but is that correct?

ttt

Yes, that's $100 per person for 4 nights.

Adelboden is a lovely town but remote from other areas. If you were traveling to the area to ski, it is a wonderful and somewhat less expensive place to ski with nice atmosphere. As a travel center, stick with Lauterbrunnen.

Use a spreadsheet and analyze your train travel needs. There 'might' be a Swiss pass that would be more economical for you or allow more travel for the same amount.

i read the comments with interest as we are going to switz in june. we loved wengen and zermatt and are looking for another place to go. any suggestions?

has anyone been to betteralp? Adelboden?Lenk?
we want to hike for about 4 days.

alainr---I responded to your question about Bettmeralp on your other thread.