A piece of heaven in Wengen

Myself,wife and son just returned from a wonderful 17 day trip as follows -London for a day ,then took a 11 day Globus tour from Vienna which went through Salzburg,Innsbruck,St Moritz,Zermatt via the Glacier Express ,Berne ,Trummelbach falls ,Lucerne .

The most anticipated part of the trip for me though was 3 days in the Bernese Oberland which we would do on our own after the tour .I researched a lot for this using this forum a lot ,got some great ideas for hikes ,passes etc

My toughest decision was deciding whether to stay in Lauterbrunnen or Wengen and i think Kim who is an experienced hiker and traveler tipped it for me with her love for Wengen and i can say that i was very happy with my decision

So let me tell you about the trip then in the Bernese Oberland which was our favorite part of the whole trip .stayed in the Belvedere hotel in Wengen in a Jungfrau view room and also taking half board .very happy with the hotel ,views ,food ,everything .It was drizzling when we arrived and very foggy ,we got a ride for ourselves as well as lugagge from the hotel which was included .we reached there at 10 am from Lucerne by train but they managed to get us in our rooms by 11 am and the sun came out basically from 12 pm

We had purchased the Swiss half fare card (which i also used in Zermatt to go on Matterhorn,Sunnega,Gornegat and Pilatus in Lucerne) but i think if I were only in this area especially for anything more than 3 days the Bernese Oberland pass makes more sense

we took the cable to Grutschalp via Lauterbrunnen and then hiked to Winteregg and got back on train to Murren .then took funicular to Allhmendubel and hiked back to Murren .the hike from Grutschalp was great but the hike from Allhmendubel was just ok .Initially it was fantastic in the mountains among cows and farms .I had read a lot about Northface trail and i have no idea whether i was on that or not but then the trail veered into a forest and with the recent rain my shoes and socks got mucky and wet and well I didnt enjoy that part .Besides i could not even see the mountain any more in the forest .we then hiked to the waterfall in Lauterbrunnen .

The next day went to the cable car station in Wengen to go to Mannlichen but were shocked to hear that there would be no further visitors to Jungfrau allowed for the day as 5000 tickets had been sold already .Never heard that from anywhere otherwise would have purchased the tickets the previous day .Perhaps the fact that it was a fantastic clear sunny day and the only one in the whole week from morning to night was causative but anyway we went to Mannlichen ,hiked to the top there which had great views and then did a truly fantastic hike from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg hoping perhaps that Jungfrau tickets would be available there .No such luck ,we went back to Wengen ,rested for few hours and then just hiked in the town itself to a place called Staubbachshankli (i hope im spelling these right ) .

We were still determined to go to Jungfrau so we did the next day even though it was projected to rain and well we didnt see anything from the top but wow we still had a blast at Jungfrau .My son had not played in snow for so many years and well neither had I .we then returned back to Wengen about 4 pm after spending almost the whole day at Jungfrau and carried on to Zurich

Ive fallen in love with the Bernese Oberland .I want to come back next summer (if my wife agrees ha ) and stay this time in maybe Grindelwald for 6 days and do all the stuff i did not do this time like First -Bachalpsee lake ,First Flyer/totti bikes ,First -Schynigge Platte ,Harder Kulm ,Brienze and the open air museum and yes definitely Mannlichen -Kleine Scheidegg and Jungfrau again .Ill definitely take the Bernese Oberland pass next time and maybe combine the trip with Prague which ive always wanted to see .

Thanks for the advice again .I did promise a detailed trip report and here it is .

p.s.

I tried to include some pics especially to show the amazing view from the hotel room but system tells me only jpeg etc whatever that means

Hi vikicork,

Thanks a lot for your detailed trip report! Great to hear that you love the Bernese Oberland so much now. It would be fantastic if you could visit the region again, hopefully with better weather.

The Eiger Trail is at the base of the Eiger, near the train station Eigergletscher, just before the train goes into the long tunnel to the Jungfraujoch. So you did not hike there. The Jungfraujoch indeed is getting very (sometimes too) popular. I hadn't heard of tickets selling out until this year either. I think you're right: it's high season, and after a few days of bad weather everyone wants to get up there. I'm glad you still did it the next day and had a great time. You have a good reason to come back if you can, and that's the views!

You should be able to attach pictures in any common picture format such as jpeg, but the system does check that to prevent people from attaching all kinds of (harmful) files. If you don't succeed, please feel free to e-mail us the pictures and I will attach them here for people to enjoy.

Thanks again, great report!

Hi again,

I have received the photo's and attached them to your original post. I am not sure why you got an error message, but it may have been because the pictures are quite large. So I have compressed them a bit. Thanks for taking the time to e-mail them!

Thanks for posting them .Ive seen quite a few scenic places in Asia ,USA( several national parks )Canada including Canadian rockies ,many countries in Western Europe but i have to say the Swiss alps have to be one of the most beautiful places i have ever seen and i cant wait to go again .So well organised too .

Hi Vikicork,

Thanks for the nice report and the pictures! I recognize the scenery (which is not strange after so many times in Switzerland), but it keeps amazing me. I love the Bernese Oberland...

Thanks for the report Vikicork! Could you indicate dates please...especially for the day you were refused tickets to Jungfrau? I have just returned. Thanks!

To Vikicork:

Whenever the previous time was bad weather, indeed, all tourists want to go up to Jungfraujoch. Hoping to another nice day, on following days, can probably solv that ticket-problem.

Another nice walk starts right in Wengen: to Staubachbänkli, Schiltwald, Stalden, Alp Mettla and Biglenalp, climbing on to the Eigergletscher. From there, after having enjoyed the nice views, you can go further on to the Kleine Scheidegg, which is right parellel to the cock-railwayline from Jungfraubahn, or, you can walk right back to Wengen, mostly near the Wengernalpbahn.

Doing one of these nice walks, you'll no longer looking for the (most crowdy, though heanly nice and wide panoramic) Jungfraujourney.

Thanks for the nice pictures, anyway.

Bergwanderer