Trip Report - Switzerland, mostly Wengen
 

This was our second time in Wengen so I thought I'd post a quick trip report summarizing things.

Bern: We arrived July 5 in Zurich and then took the train (so easy, connected to the airport) to Bern to spend one night at City Hotel am Bahnof which was directly across from the train station. The hotel was decent enough, the location was splendid. We ended up walking through Old Town and had a fantastic lunch and then dinner in the open air spaces. Toured the Einstein apartment which wasn't anything special but was well done. Bern was a good place to be on such a hot day, as all the shops are under a shaded canopy so most of the time walking was in the shade. I wished I had been there with some girls as opposed to my husband and 10-year old son, as the shopping seemed amazing!

Wengen: Took the train from Bern to Wengen the next morning. We stayed at Wengener Hof hotel which I LOVED. It's at the end of town and is a lovely quick walk yet down a quiet lane, yet still close to everything. First class hotel and I'd definitely stay again. We have friends in Wengen so we pretty much let them decide our activities. 90-100% rain was forecasted every single day but Wegnen is kind of like the beach - just look out the window for weather. We ended up having amazing weather all except one day, yay!

Wengen activities: 1. We took the train down to Lauterbrunnen one day and then walked from there to Trummelbach falls. Stopped by the Lauterbrunnen falls (the big one you see from the train) and climbed up to it which was a little wet and fun. Then the walk to Trummelbach took a little over an hour going slow, and was sooooo lovely. To my surprise there was a very nice cafe at the Trummelbach entrance, so we had a nice lunch and snacks there before touring the falls. The falls were definitely worth seeing - so powerful and loud. Having hip issues I couldn't go all the way to the top with all the steps, but saw most of it. Very impressive. We ended up taking the bus back to Lauterbrunnen which picks you up at the cafe and took 5 minutes. 2. Another day we took the train to Lauterbrunnen, then the cable car, and hiked over to Murren to see the Schilthorn. Hiked about 2 hours going slow, and took the cable car up to Birg's skywalk until my young son chickened out LOL. On the walk back through Murren, we ate at Edelweiss because of the amazing view and the food was great. Highly recommend. 3. Took the train down to Interlaken and caught the 2-hour ferry ride to Thun. Beautiful! So relaxing after the previous day's hike and we lunched on the dining floor. Took the train back from Thun to Interlaken for our 6pm booking of the Funky Chocolate Club, where you learn how to make swiss chocolate. So fun for all! 4. Taking advantage of a non-cloudy morning, took the train up to Jungfrau and toured up there. Unfortunately the altitude made me sick so we didn't spend much time up there, but it's very well done. Dress warm, needless to say!

Wengen restaurants: the bakery is a great place for to-go sandwiches and such. Eiger's food is great. We liked Da Sina the italian restaurant, especially with kids. I loved their mixed salad. By far the best restaurant we repeated over & over is the new one, Pasta & More. Crappy restaurant name in my opinion, but excellent food! Great with kids too, because they can run out back to play at the playground of the hotel while you enjoy a vino :-) Another "secret" restaurant we liked was the Pizzeria at Bernerhof, which you don't even notice unless you look for the menu sign down the alley. Great place to go with a great glassed-room view but always less crowded because people overlook it. Service was great too, unlike alot of other places.

We love Wengen and this was our second time. I was a little shocked at the tourist changes though.... wow loads of tour groups which brought some unexpected events, like a man videotaping my friend right in her face? and people taking unsolicited photos of our children and comments? 10 years ago Wengen wasn't like that, so that kind of made me sad to see :-( Still, Wengen always holds a special place for us and it's scenery and charm is memorable always.

" 10 years ago Wengen wasn't like that, so that kind of made me sad to see :-( "

Thanks for posting about your trip. We're hoping to make it there year in the not too distant future.

I know what you mean about the way these beautiful places change over time. We first visited Garmisch Partin-Kirchen in 1981 and in some ways, selfishly, I mourn for what has been lost as more and more people discover these magical places.

On the other hand, travel has never been more accessible, so good comes with the bad.

Again, thanks for writing... your report is going in my file for future reference.

Best,

t

Thanks for the report, we head there in September.

Thanks for posting Jumper.

We've been to Wengen many times and have also seen many changes over the years.

The one that sticks out most is the number of cars on the back roads of 'car-free' Wengen.

I learned long ago not to visit the BO in the high season, although the high season seems to be getting longer and longer, both in summer and winter.

Late October is a great time to visit -- crowds are mostly gone but the hotels and restaurants haven't yet shut down (for the owners to take their own holidays or do some renovations/redecorating before the winter season starts).

Sina and Herr Rene (a former member of the Swiss National Ski Team) of the Hotel Shönegg have retired to Bern!

Thin aka JoAnn Gucci

Just a note here, I was in Wengen in July and stayed at the Shonegg, and it was such a lovely little hotel. My first time to WEngen, but I loved it, and hope some day to return. Not that many tourists when we were there. New managers of the Shonegg, a married couple, were really lovely people too. Really great place to stay with my son, and so near the lift up to the Mannlichen. Sue