Lauterbrunnen

Getting there

By train from Interlaken Ost (East). Get on the front part of the train - it splits at Zweilütschinen and the back part goes off to Grindelwald.

Facilities

Lauterbrunnen is a one-street village in a spectacular setting. It lies on the flat floor of a narrow valley, with sheer limestone cliffs over 400 metres high (1300 feet) either side. Waterfalls, the most spectacular of which is illuminated at night, cascade over the cliff edges from the unseen higher slopes.

My description here is based on visits to Lauterbrunnen in the summer - some features may be different, or seem that way, in the winter season.

If you were expecting a sleepy little place, the size of the extended railway station might make you pause. Lauterbrunnen is a key point on the Jungfrau region railway system, competing with Grindelwald as a place to catch a train to Kleine Scheidegg and on up to the Jungfraujoch. The fascination for Japanese and other Asian tourists, as well as the rest of the world, seems insatiable, and at busy times trains seem to come and go almost continuously. The size of the jostling crowds is correspondingly high.

Over the road from the main station is the valley station for the train to Mürren, another busy route. But the great majority of tourists don't go beyond the two stations, and the village itself, though not quiet, is much less frenetic.

Turn left out of the station and the main hotels - Oberland, Jungfrau, Crystal are all on the main street, with the Horner further along. These are standard, well-established Swiss hotels, and all offer similar services. Details are on the tourist information web-site (link below). There is another hotel, Sternen, to the right of the station, close to the large covered car park, and the 3-star Silberhorn is behind the main street quite near the station. There's a place in the centre that calls itself a backpackers' hotel, but I've no personal knowledge of what it's like. And there's a large, well-used campsite at the far end of the village, about 10 minutes walk from the station.

For shopping there's a small supermarket, some other specialist food shops, a couple of sports clothing and equipment shops (including the bike rental shop), other everyday shops and the usual tourist outlets. There's a police station and a medical centre.

We stayed at the Hotel Oberland because they could give us a three-bedded room the day we arrived. Given a choice I wouldn't stay there again unless the management take control of their staff. Apart from this visit I've eaten there twice before, and on one of those occasions, and again this year, had to put up with a lippy young waiter. Some of the other staff also failed to come up to standard, although the manageress was always courteous and helpful.

Of the other places, the Jungfrau gave a good impression when we ate there a couple of times and I'd probably choose to stay there if I was looking for a hotel. That's not to say any of the others wouldn't be just as good. The Jungfrau has a heated terrace overlooking the road.

Lauterbrunnen goes to bed early, and the only place where there seemed to be anything happening after about 9.30 was the bar of Pub Horner, towards the far end of the village on the way to the campsite.

Links

Go here for Lauterbrunnen tourist information
and here for information on the surrounding area.