carlposter05

Hello all,

We are visiting the BO area this September for a week and I am completely torn as to whether we should stay in Wengen or in Lauterbrunnen. I have read most of the prior posts here, and I still cant make up my mind, so I thought I'd repeat the question one more time !

Here is what we are planning to do in the area, maybe this will help you in recommending one place over the other.

1. Jungfraujoch day trip
2. Schilthorn day trip
3. Montreux (GoldenPass train) day trip
4. Männlichen-Kleine Scheidegg Hike
5. Grindelwald–First–Bachalpsee–Bussalp Hike
6. Adventure activities in Interlaken (Rock climbing, paragliding, etc)
7. Trümmelbach or Staubbach Falls
8. Explore towns of Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Murren, etc
9. Possible day trip to Thun or some other place - we have 1 free day, havent decided what to do

Given this - what you recommend staying in Lauterbrunnen or Wengen ?

Thanks a lot in advance !

sbsjsf

We did most of these things from our hotel in Wengen. We liked being in Wengen rather than Lauterbrunnen because it is smaller, less hectic and is closer to mountain hiking. And we loved having a gorgeous view of the Jungfrau from our hotel window!! We stayed at Hotel Alpenruhe and were quite pleased. Since Sept is low season in Wengen nothing was crowded and Alpenruhe had guests in just a few rooms. It is a bit of a walk from the train station so they have an electric vehicle that will pick you up with your luggage upon your arrival (and take you back when you check out). However you may want to be a bit closer in to town since you want to take so many day trips.

Ingo

Lauterbrunnen.

But considering your itinerary I think it is very ambitious. I cannot see you have one free day left for going to Thun or somewhere else.

PalQ

The consenus of Fodorites is Wengen is nicer - better views, quieter, more range of nice hotels and guesthouses; Lauterbrunnen is more of a transit town and down in a valley lacks the stupendous views of ridge-top Wengen. But if cost factor then you do have to pay for the train Wengen-Lauterbrunnen each day and back for most of your trips - several bucks a day but besides that no difference as train just takes a few minutes. But as anywhere in Berner Oberland no matter where you stay will be GREAT.

carlposter05

We are considering staying at the Belvedere in Wengen or the Oberland in Lauterbrunnen. The cost of a few bucks for the train ride should not be a factor - the real question is whether Wengen offers considerably better views\location and if that is worth the extra train hop to Lauterbrunnen. Thoughts ?

Thanks for the feedback, Ingo. Here is how we plan to spend the 6.5 days we have. Please let me know if you think this is too ambitious.

Day 1 - arrive around noon, explore the area, Kleine Scheidegg Hike
Day 2 - Jungfraujoch
Day 3 - Schilthorn and roam around Murren on the way back
Day 4 - Montreux and GoldenPass
Day 5 - Grindelwald–First–Bachalpsee–Bussalp Hiking
Day 6 - Interlaken outdoor activities
Day 7 - Possible day trip someplace or just spend time visiting the BO villages

Note that we'll switch days around, depending on the weather, but the above is a tentative plan of how to spend our time. We'll probably wake up each day and pick one activity from our list to do for that day.

So back to the million $\euro question - Lauterbrunnen ? Wengen ?

Ingo

I have stayed at the Oberland in Lauterbrunnen in 1998 for a week - don't know if it has seen a renovation inbetween, but I think it needed one. I found the rooms to be quite basic, and the interior was a bit 1970s-like. We had the bad luck that a group of Japanese or so had a "folkloristic" night in the small room on the 2nd floor (American counting), which was noisy till late at night. Noise, btw, was a factor to consider. The rooms with the best views of the mountains, with balcony, faced the street and I awoke every day quite early (6 or so) from the traffic (lorries, buses).

If you have to decide between the Oberland and the Belvedere in Wengen, stay in the latter.

On the other hand (the million $ question ;-) ) I think you lose about 30 minutes every day you make day trips each way if you stay in Wengen (except Jungfraujoch and hiking Kleine Scheidegg). Not the costs, but the time is a factor.

You cannot calculate that you will have six/seven days with sunny weather. And each of the activities you mentioned requires nice weather. Also the Golden Pass train trip to Montreux doesn't make much sense in rain.

Don't forget that hiking at high elevations is exhausting. It is an ambitious plan, but I think you can make it.

I.

carlposter05

Ah good point about all the activities requiring good weather. I probably am in denial, since I didnt consider this possibility.

At this point, I'm leaning towards Wengen - it just sounds like a wonderful town, and I am guessing, in the absolute worse case, if we get totally rained in, it might be fun just sitting in our balcony with a book, taking in frequent looks at the beautiful scenery in front of us.

So to hijack this thread just a little - what do folks suggest to do on rainy days in the BO ? I've read about Trummelbach falls, and visiting towns like Bern, Thun, etc. Any other fun things to do in bad weather ?

bob_brown

Obviously from my earlier posts, I stay in Lauterbrunnen. I find I can get to all of the places you mentioned with ease from Lauterbrunnen.

This summer we had a rental car and could park outside our holiday flat, which rents for the week I might add.

The place is Chalet Horner and you have good views of the Jungfrau and the valley itself from one of the upstairs apartments.

I have also stayed at the Oberland, in the annex close to Chalet Horner, and it was ok, but I liked having access to a kitchen corner and a little more space.

I don't dispute the views from either Wengen or Mürren, but I am gone most of the day, so I am not in my apartment to look at them. That is why I like the convenience of multiple ways in and out.

Besides, I find it fun to shop the markets for food and experience that aspect of Swiss life.

Point 8 on your list will not take long to do. I think an hour for each would suffice for the exploring. Now if you want to buy something, that is a little different.

Point 7 will not take long either. I estimate about 2 hours max for that.

Point 5 is a bit of a longer hike, and I suggest you look at the bus schedules or else you will walk down from Busalp, which is not a trivial stroll.

The paragliding will not be done from Interlaken. You will need to get up in the mountains for that, although you might engage the services at an agency in Interlaken. You can do the same in Lauterbrunnen at one of the mountain equipment stores.

#2 on your list will not take all day.
Once you get to the top of the Schilthorn there is no place to go but down. At the Jungfraujoch, there is the lovely walk along the snow track to the Mönchjochhütte, which is a 3 story building firmly bolted to the rock.
The views from up there are eye popping.

If you want to go someplace different, I suggest visiting Kandersteg and taking the lift up to the Öeschinen See, it is tops on the list of large, but high alpine lakes. Sheer rock walls seemingly rise straight up out of the south side of the lake.

Or, if you want to get up close and personal with the north wall of the Eiger, take in the Eigerwand trail.
This trail is a little steep in places, but you get very close to the base of that bare rock wall.

Or if you want more high mountain scenery, journey to the top of the Grimsel Pass. You can do it by train and bus, but I find it more convenient with a car.

carlposter05

Thanks Bob!

My plan was to do #2 and Murren in one day and possibly #7 and #8 in another day.

About paragliding - I was thinking of going with Outdoor Interlaken (http://www.outdoor-interlaken.ch/) and doing both paragliding and rock climbing. I have yet to check with them about a meeting point. I figured, just before or after our activity, we'd spend a couple hours in Interlaken just wandering around for some shopping and stuff.

I'll check out your other suggestions as well - they all sound like fun. There is so much to do and so little time !

Also, any suggestions on what to do on a bad weather day (fingers crossed, we have none ;-) !!!) in the BO area ?

Thanks.

Ingo

I'd like to add that I enjoyed my week in Lauterbrunnen, although we encountered two days of rainy weather, yet worse, it snowed above 1300 m (exactly the altitude of Wengen) - in July! The hiking trails were covered with 10 inches of snow (e.g. Kleine Scheidegg - Männlichen) and it took two days till the snow was gone.

However, I think with that hotel in Wengen you cannot go wrong. In Lauterbrunnen I felt somehow "squeezed" into a narrow and deep valley, while I felt more "free" in Wengen, on that sunny terrace - if you know what I mean.

For poor weather I recommend a visit of Bern - water proof shopping and sightseeing under the arcades . Another option (and closer) is Thun with very nice medieval castle and charming old town ... in combination with a visit of castle Oberhofen nearby on Lake Thun. A steamboat ride on Lake Thun can be a nice experience even on a rainy day with interesting cloud formations/fog.

Very interesting is a visit of the Ballenberg museum with houses from all over Switzerland (moved to this place) outside of Brienz. There was an enthusiastic report recently on this forum, maybe you can find it. They show old craftwork, some folkloristic stuff and original interior of course.

carlposter05

Excellent ! Thanks a ton everyone, I think I've finally made up my mind on Wengen. Ingo hit the nail on the head - Wengen just feels more open and freer (of course, my opinion is based solely of pictures and descriptions found on the internet).The Belvedere looks to be a nicer hotel than the Oberland as well.

So here is my priority list of things to do, if the weather is good, in order of importance.

Sunny day 1 - Jungfraujoch
Sunny day 2 - Grindelwald–First–Bachalpsee–Bussalp Hike
Sunny day 3 - Schilthorn and Murren
Sunny day 4 - Adventure activities(Rock climbing, paragliding, etc)
Sunny day 5 - Montreux (Golden Pass)
Sunny day 6 - Männlichen-Kleine Scheidegg Hike

Would you agree with this order of priority ? The idea being obvious - that we'll do the best things first, and if run out of sunny days, then the sights\activities at the bottom of the list fall off, and force us to return for another trip in the future. ;-)

Ingo

That sounds excellent!

Just one thought: You can combine the Hike Männlichen - Kleine Scheidegg and Jungfraujoch.

Take the cable car from Wengen to Männlichen - hike to Kleine Scheidegg - cog-train to Jungfraujoch. Spend time on top (incl. hike to Mönchsjochhütte and back) and then train back to Kleine Scheidegg. Hike down to Wengen.

We did the same - from Lauterbrunnen, and we also hiked down from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen.

Saves you a day!

I.

Edward2005

Either will be fine; it's a quick trip from Wengen to the valley. But it's about 3 hours from Montreux to Interlaken each way, so I question the wisdom of Montreux as a day trip.

carlposter05

Excellent idea Ingo ! So now all we have to hope for is 5 sunny days in a week. ;-)

Edward - I have debated going to Montreux for a couple of months now. One of the main reasons for doing so is the Golden Pass train. But we'll probably leave this till the very end of our stay - if we are really keen and have the time to do it, we may consider it. Else, we may skip it in favor of a closer town like Thun or Brienz.

Thanks again everyone for all the tips and suggestions.

bob_brown

The Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg Hike is, as already suggested, relatively short. If you are staying in Wengen, the top of the ridge is a fairly quick cable car ride to the top. Then if you head north you can climb to a high point on the north end of the ridge and get quite a panoramic view of the entire region.

Then head south along the crest of the ridge past the gondola to Grindelwald Grund and follow the trail markers to Kleine Scheidegg.

From there you can take a look at the Eiger and the Jungfrau and even go up to the Eigergletscher station and walk some of the Eiger trail. From that point the trail is downhill and in places a little trickey because of the trail surface.
Many people hike it uphill from the Alpiglen station to minimize the slippage you sometimes encounter going down.

If you don't want to do that, you can follow the trail along the railroad tracks to Wengen with a detour to Wengener Alp for a view.

Once you get there, you may well alter your plans and do something else.

For example, rather than going over to Busalp, I think a trip to the top of the Faulhorn, while a little more arduous, provides the greatest view in the region other than, perhaps, the Jungfraujoch Sphinx observation building.

If you want to get a little more into the inner glacial world, take the lift up to Pfingsteg and walk the trail up the glacial valley to a location called Stieregg. If you have the agility, cross the gully and continue on toward the cliffs known as the Rots Gufer.

The view of the glaciers across the valley are really amazing. If you came to Switzerland to see alpine glaciers this is one of the better places to do it.

Another trek into the inner mountain world is at the head of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. From Stechelberg, hike upward to the Oberhornsee. This is a bit of a climb, however, and will test your calf muscles and your lungs.

If you get an overcast day, then a good side trip that is easy to do is a visit to the outdoor museum at Ballenberg.
It is a wonderful attempt to bring into working order buildings from the historical days of Switzerland. The train from Interlaken Ost takes you to Brienz where you can take a connecting Post Bus right to the gate.

The same bus going the opposite way will get you back to the train station.
Brienz is known for its wood carvers and, if you wish, you may take the opportunity to visit some of the shops.

Brienz is a pleasant town and worth a little exploration time. So is Meiringen, a little farther east.
There is a very good, but tiny, Sherlock Holmes museum there. (If you have read any of the stories, you may recall that it was at Reichenbach Falls just outside Meiringen where Holmes was supposedly done in by Professor Moriarty.)

Let's put it this way, you will have lots to do and not a lot of time to see it. I think that is one reason I have returned year after year to that valley.
It is pretty, and there is a lot to see and do. From Lauterbrunnen this past summer we drove extensively on circular day trips and explored new regions.

The week disappeared in a flash, and on the day I left, I remarked, "You know, we didn't get up to Wengen this year."
Well, always a first time for everything.

On the other hand, we did drive to the Rhine Falls in Schaffhausen and explored around the Sustern and Grimsel Passes more than on previous trips.

If I go back next year, I think I will stay two weeks and see I cannot complete my original intention which was to see the whole area. I haven't done it yet. Too many nooks and crannies to explore that lure me in, and the old views seem to change each time I return.

Get me started on what I haven't done, and we will be here for 6 more paragraphs.