Switzerland Travel Destinations

Take a look at the Murren tourist office site. For those interested primarily in the Jungfraujoch train, nearby Wengen (same tourist site), is also beautiful and is more convenient.

Everyday travelers or skiers in the winter will probably want to spend at least 2-3 days in Murren. Hikers will want to move here (it's happened before). Spend at least a couple days in Murren on a short trip, and up to 4-5 days on a 2-week or longer tour. Here are some things to do in Murren:

• Take a hike! - One of the best things you can do in Murren is to go hiking. It's a hiker's paradise. There are miles of beautiful trails starting right from the center of town. They're all very well maintained and marked, so it's easy to hit the trail. The only challenge is choosing which trails to focus on. You can take overnight trips to nearby huts, long dayhikes, or short easy walks. There's an easy walking trail from Grutschalp to Murren that should only take a couple of hours. Walk along the Lauterbrunnen valley floor on cloudy or rainy days to see the Trummelbach falls (which you pay to get into) along with dozens of free waterfalls! Spend part of a day walking through Gimmelwald to see typical Swiss farm life. Or there are more rigorous hikes to Rotstock hut, Obersteinberg, Schilthorn, and much more. See our hiking tour website, www.alpinehikers.com for many more hiking ideas - we also set up self-guided tours and bare-bones do-it-yourself tours if you'd like more direction on where to go, where to stay, and what to bring. Switzerland is our specialty, and Murren is our home-base, and nobody knows the area better.
• Cablecar to the Schilthorn - The Schiltorn (also called Piz Gloria) is Murren's local peak. At 10,000', it's relatively small compared to its neighbors, but the views are undeniably grand. It's crowded on sunny, high-season days and it's not worth a visit on cloudy days (you can check the monitors at the station before buying your ticket), and the James Bond-themed rotating restaurant on top is a bit outdated, but it's still worth it. It costs about $70 per person from Murren, but again, you'll save 50% with a Swiss Card. I think hiking down is a dangerous plan unless you're an experienced hiker - 5000' down is a looooong way - and there are much easier trails near Murren to try first.
• Train to the Jungfraujoch - The Schilthorn has better views, but the Jungfraujoch gets you more into the mountains - quite literally. It's a longish day from Murren to Switzerland's highest train station - it's closer to Grindelwald or Wengen - but it can be easily done. The cogwheel train, built at the turn of the century, actually tunnels through the Eiger for about 40 minutes (making 2 fascinating viewing stops) before bringing you to the viewing complex near the top of the Jungfrau. There are a ton of tourists and a variety of activities, but the main attraction is the view of the Aletsch glacier, Europe's longest. I like the Jungfraujoch, but only on a sunny day and only if you have a generous budget. Go early in the day, as the weather often tends to cloud over as the day goes on.
• Skiing - The winter ski season runs from early December until Easter. Most skiers in Switzerland are Europeans, who know that Switzerland is a superb place to travel for a ski vacation. Lift tickets are not that expensive, the views and the culture are fabulous, and if you avoid Christmas and February, the slopes are not crowded at all. Murren's a ton of fun in the wintertime, with the highest slopes in the region, and even sports a bit of a nightlife. Grindelwald has more lifts, Murren's quainter.
• Gimmelwald - It's a great little village. Don't confuse it with Grindelwald, which is a much larger village one valley away. Gimmelwald is sleepy, pleasant and beautiful. Not a lot goes on here, and that's the way they like it. There's a great hostel here for backpackers, a couple of small inns, and a lot of small family farms. I'd suggest spending half a day here looking around the area. Rick Steves has really put this place on the map, so expect to see a lot of Americans in the summer.
• Trummelbach falls - This highly-touted waterfall has cut a gorge so narrow it actually appears to be falling inside the mountain. It's in the bottom of the valley near Lauterbrunnen and it is powerful. It's a busy tour-bus attraction, so expect crowds, but it's also quite impressive. I usually recommend it as a rainy-day idea.
• Schynige Platte - Here's another scenic viewpoint that I absolutely love. You get to it by cogwheel train from Wilderswil (which is near Interlaken) and it can easily be done as a daytrip from Murren as well. On a sunny day it might be the best viewpoint in the region. There's an interesting alpine garden for flower lovers (if you can take your eyes from the mountains) and it's fun to walk 20 minutes to the north side of the ridge to look down at Interlaken and the lakes. The hike from here to First is good, but it's been written about far too much. It's a deceptively tough hike, and there are a lot of others that are just as good or better.
• Ballenberg museum - The Ballenberg museum is a huge outdoor exhibit filled with historic buildings brought in from all over Switzerland. They're arranged as a series of small villages, with craft demonstrations throughout the day. If you're interested in history and traditional ways of living, Ballenberg is the best, most comprehensive stop you can make. This is actually near Brienz, a bit outside the region (2 hours by train and bus), but can be done as a daytrip.

There are many other possible travel destinations in the Bernese Oberland as well. Grindelwald has unbelievable views of the Eiger north wall (a sheer cliff, 9000', straight up), some fine hotels, great hikes, and lots of panoramic lifts, although it suffers from a bit too much traffic along the main road. It was my first alpine love, and it's still a great place. Wengen is also very pretty, and is an hour by train from Murren on the opposite side of the valley. Wengen has a few nice shops and good views of the Jungfrau and the Lauterbrunnen valley, and is a great place to stay for people interested in the Jungfraujoch - Switzerland's highest train station. It doesn't have the variety of hiking trails that Murren has, but it has more shopping options, is much closer to the Jungfraujoch line, and has a larger ski area for winter visitors. Gimmelwald is tiny and charming and you should see it. Unless you're a backpacker though, you should base yourself in Murren. Kandersteg is sort of the forgotten village a couple valleys over. It's small and beautiful. The mountains aren't as grand, but they're still very, very nice, and the nearby Oeschinensee gets serious consideration as world's prettiest lake. They get a few British travelers, and lots of international scouts (there's a huge scout camp here), but strangely very few Americans, and if you'd like to be a little more off the beaten path, it's a good choice. Interlaken is OK for a night, but it's more of a transportation hub and a place to buy souvenirs than a good travel destination - don't stay there unless you have to. It is a good place to book adventure activities such as paragliding (which is possible in all of these villages), rafting and canyoning, and it's a good base for the off-season months of May, October and November when uncertain weather makes mountain activities more uncertain.