Swiss itinerary help please!
 

I will be staying 3 nights in Chamonix, 2 nights in Zermatt(been there a number of times) and three nights in Murren(new for me). The next two nights have me stumped. I love seeing the Alps and doing some easy hikes. I thought I would go to Beatenberg for two nights or perhaps Wengen or Kleine scheidegg ? Any thoughts? Is either Wengen or Kleineshidegg too much like Murren? Will Beatenberg be a letdown after Murren?

When are you going? The month would make a difference to me if i were considering Beatenberg, which is in an idyllic meadow-like setting overlooking Lake Thun but in winter i would not be so hot on it?

Wengen and Murren basically differ IMO in their location - Wengen is less remote and would be better perhaps if day tripping around tehe Jungfrau region - but if just staying put and hiking then the two are similar.

I will be going in summer. So Beatenberg would be a change and hopefully not a letdown! thank you.

How easy or difficult to go from Murren to Beatenberg by train and bus? Would renting a car(in Lauterbrunnen?) make things easier and/or cheaper?
thanks again; this is a big help.

I don't think it makes sense to change location for just two more days. All the hassle with packing, unpacking, check in/out and riding cable car, bus, train and again the bus ... I would stay put in Mürren.

Go somewhere civilised.

A snap to go between Murren and Beatenberg by public transports - from Murren take the train-aerial cable way combo down to Lauterbrunnen, then train to Interlaken-Ost and then frequent postal buses to Beatenberg or from Interlaken-West train station you can hop on a boat on Lake Thun to get to Beatenberg - last portion by bus from dock - all these transports will be covered in full by a Swiss Railpass - even the thrilling aerial cableway from Grutschalp (train from Murren takes you) down to Lauterbrunnen - buses, trains and the boat as well. As you travels seem to comport into an 8-day period i would strongly look at the 8-consecutive day Swiss Pass (good on nearly all trains except those to mountain tops (usually 50% for those), postal buses, city buses and trams, lake boats - practically everything that moves in Switzerland - would cover you in full from Chamonix to Zermatt (even the French portion) and then to Murren and to wherever you depart from. A great great deal - 8 days unlimited everything - just hop on board. For lots on Swiss trains and transports and passes here are some fine sites: www.swisstravelsystem.com - links to sbb.ch - Swiss Federal Railways where you can compare ordinary fares to the pass and see why it can be a great deal - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com. Passes also provide free entry to over 400 Swiss museums and attractions though you do not indicate you are going to any - but remember those Beatus Caves near Beatenburg!

thanks very much for the info. on how to travel.

I thought I would go to Beatenberg for two nights or perhaps Wengen or Kleine scheidegg ? Any thoughts? Is either Wengen or Kleineshidegg too much like Murren>

Kleine Scheidegg? There is nothing at Kleine Scheidegg but a train station and a 'mountain hotel' - no town as such, etc. and not as well located for a base as Wengen or Grindelwald, etc.

Now a great reason for heading to Kleine Scheidegg, apart from it being the jumping off point for trains up to the Jungfraujoch - a reason the station is perpetually mobbed with a multi-national brigade of tourists- is to take what for many is the perfect walk in the Junfrau region - the almost flat short few-mile stroll to Mannlichen, perched on the ridge separating the Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen valleys and thus having, even for this area, really sweet special views - vistas which also include over Interlaken, lovingly wedged between the two lakes that bookend it.

You can take a train to Kleine Scheidegg from either Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen (via Wengen) and from Mannlichen you have a long chairlift back down to Grindelwald or another aerial cableway down to Lauterbrunnen - you can also walk down to eitherfrom Kleine Scheidegg but these are steep downhill walks (going down IME is about as hard on the body as going up due to the constant braking required) - i have hiked up to Kleine Scheidegg from Grindelwald and it was a lovely but strenuous 3-4 hour hike - not a walk

Dear Palenque,
How much time does it take for this-
"the almost flat short few-mile stroll to Mannlichen,"
Is it doable with kids?
Is the trail marked there?
Does one come back on the same route?

The Mannlichen --> Kleine Scheidegg walk (or vice versa, a bit more uphill, plus from KS you're not looking directly at the gorgeous glaciers, which I love) takes most folks 1-1/4 hours or so. For me, almost 2 hours as I stop all the time to take pictures of scenery, flowers, cows, etc.

Very well marked trail, lots of kids, seniors, dogs, and cows!

I think most people do it one way only; then take some sort of mountain transportation back to where they began: tram, train, gondola.

Stop going to Switzerland. It won't do.

Would you go to Saudi Arabia?

Exactly.

Dear swisshiker, which way is better, I didn't quite understand.
I thought downhill would be easier.
Which way is downhill? Is it good in 3rd week of april/ will I see cows?

A bit more downhill is from Mannlichen to KS.

We're not talking steep here. It's very gradual and quite easy, truly, either direction.

For me, the best views are from Mann to KS. In this direction, you're looking directly into the mighty Alps and glaciers as you walk. The trail does meander a bit, and of course you can always just stop and turn your head. I just prefer this direction.

Cows in April? I doubt it. They're up in those higher elevations in the summer when the flowers are all blooming (yummy alpenblumen make for yummy cheese!!). Earlier in the season when you'll be there, they'll be way down below, I'd imagine. Never been there in April, so I'm not the best one to ask this question.

Go somewhere else.

I'm guessing CW doesn't like Switzerland?

Swisshiker gives details i do not remember since it were quite a while ago i took the Mannlichen-Kl Scheidegg hike - but i do remember seeing folks pushing baby strollers over it - not only the most awesome hike for novices IMO but the easiest at such high elevations.

I don't like the Swiss. They're Nazis.

Bastards the lot of 'em.

David--you are neither clever nor funny--not sure exactly what you are, but definitely not clever or funny. You are being ignorred for a reason....you have been posting the same thing on several Swiss threads--and you are tiresome to say the least.

pathetic

Let this be just a travel forum...

I think before calling someone bastard,
one should see there own back yard..read History carefully with an unbiased mind, what the "Developed European Countries" have done to the residents of the respective colonies.

Like the British atrocities and massacre in India & other colonies that they had for 200 years.
Spanish to the locals in the new world Americas, and so on.
They killed more than thr Nazis and wrote their own history.

When one Nazi ruler gave them the dose of their own medicine just for 5 years, people started hating them.

Accept history as it is and be alert that it does not repeat itself.
With your yard stick, half of the world should be banned.

YOU ARE NEITHER A SAINT, NOR A JUDGE.

I repeat..
Life is so short & there is so little time for love.
Where do people find time for hatred.

CW is still hurting because I didn't kiss him back.