Where to stay, Wengen or Interlaken?
 

We stayed at Hotel Weisses Kruez in Interlaken. It is listed on the Interlaken homepage. You can email them or make reservations. It is a nice hote.

Wengen is very small, with no cars, but a train station to get to other locations, especially the mountains...I would choose Wengen.

Definitely choose Wengen. Interlaken is extremely touristy and can be noisy in the early mornings if you happen to stay near the rails. Wengen is right in the mountains, much less touristy, and has incredible views. It is also right between Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald on the rail route. There is a wonderful grocery right on the bend coming into town from the Wengen - Kleine Scheidegg trail (at the end of the main street). There you can get all kinds of good Swiss/German food and really good chocolate for snacks. This advice is from someone who stayed in Interlaken and wished he had stayed in Wengen.

Wengen gets my vote. I just travelled there this past Spring and it was wonderful. We stayed for several nights and it was wonderful. There is plenty to do...the hiking trails are minutes from any hotel and the views are amazing. You could also stop in Lauterbunnen and walk to the Trachbach (sp??) Falls. It's a bit pricey but well worth it. We stayed at the SunStar Hotel, off seasion it was about $120 US dollars per night. That price included a 5 star dinner and breakfast. The food would be worth staying there not to mention all of the other amenities. Have a great time. <BR>

Linda, <BR>When are you going to Wengen? Reason...I am going next month and could report back to you. That is if I can find a hotel open in Nov! Using the Wengen web site, the hotels that I have contacted thus far are closed in Nov.

Have you tried contacting the Hotel Alpenrose in Wengen? It was bout $130 per night including breakfast and was just wonderful. I THINK it's open in the winter, they have a big fireplace anyway! Great food, and run by really nice people. I read about it in one of those Europe's Great Hotels Switzerland edition. I can probably find the phone and fax#'s if you want to e-mail me directly. You will love Wengen. There is no contest between Wengen and Interlaken. Have a wonderful time! <BR>

<BR>I think you will be disappointed if you stay in Interlaken. I was advised against staying there by this forum. What good advice! It is fun to visit, but very touristy. I chose Grindelwald because I had a car. I loved it. Wengen is charming and I may stay there next time.

We will have only 2 days in Berner Oberland arriving early am on train from Brussels where I'm meeting my friend. The concensus seems to be to stay in Wengen over Interlaken, but given our short time in the area, I wonder if it's wise since it invloves that much more train travel time. I checked with RailEurope and it adds 50 more minutes and a stop in Lauterbrennan. What do you think? Everything I've read raves about Wengene <BR>

Part of the answer may depend on how light you are travelling and what you want to do. If you only have a small amount of luggage there may be luggage lockers at the station to fit your bags. I know there were some at Lauterbrunnen to fit a backpack. You could then drop off the luggage and spend time in that area before going up to Wengen. You are going to end up around Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, or Grindelwald anyway, if you want to see the best sites in the area. You will save lots of time on your second day, which will probably again be in this area, well at least an hour, and you get to go to sleep and wake up right in the heart of the Alps. Wengen will put you within half an hour or so of Kleine Scheidegg, which is where you catch the train to the Jungfrau (I suggest going early on your second morning, unless it happens to be cloudy). There is also a nice hiking trail (about 1 1/2 hours) from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg - I did this in the reverse direction. You could also stay in Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald as alternatives. Wengen is probably the more central. It puts you right between Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald. Just don't stay in Interlaken. It is not that bad, but it does not come near the charm of the others. The only times I think Interlaken has a major advantage is if you want to do things on the lakes, you have to catch a very early train out of the area, or you are really into nightlife and shopping - most souvenir shops there stay open late.