Staying in Grindenwald Vs Lautebrunnen

Hello all,
I am in the midst of making my itinerary for our holiday in Switzerland (will come back for inputs once its done).

Rather than staying in Interlaken, we were considering staying in a smaller less touristy place close-by and have narrowed it to Grindenwald or Lautebrunnen and making day trips from here (5 days / 4 nights).

I would be grateful for thoughts on which would be a better choice and why.

Thanks

Hello gemcap, I would recommend staying interlaken. Depending on your travel period, there could be limited rail service[reduced trains.] I have stayed lauterbrunnen and found the connections from there to interlaken can have you waiting to connect to larger cities. If not using swiss railpass, the trip to either of the mountain cities can get a little costly. Not knowing your budget consider staying interlaken for best connections. Here are some websites to look at[villa.ch, excellent hostel[read guestbook] interlaken.ch, grindlewald.ch, lauterbrunnen.ch[valleyhostel.ch]. No matter where u end up in that area, the scenery and services are awesome. Good traveling

Hi gemcap! I agree with rahman that Interlaken is easier if you want to travel quickly to other regions as well. If, on the other hand, you want to concentrate on the Jungfrau region only and don't want to explore other regions, you could opt for Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald too. These towns are smaller and embedded in beautiful valleys. Please note that Grindelwald is quite touristy as well.

Interlaken hotels and apartments are expensive.. How about staying in nearby places, like wilderwild or Rinnggerberg for good train connections ? We can always come to Interlaken in a few minutes from these 2 places ..to catch other trains..

My wife and I have stayed in Lauterbrunnen for the last 5 years and find it perfect for touring the area. The trains are at the bottom end of the village and the cable cars are directly opposite what more can you ask for? if you are going self catering the Coop supermarket is again at the bottom end with a butchers further up the street.When we first stayed in Lauterbrunnen we had a hire car but soon realised the transport is so convenient it was'nt necessary,the scenery is also fantastic when looking up the valley with waterfalls eitherside, beautiful.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts :-)

We're hoping to travel around a bit (Brienz / Spiez / Murren / probably Meiringen and the Reichenbach falls) as well as the Jungfraujoch. With that in mind, would staying at Lauterbrunnen (as my heart tells me to) be a time waster in terms of travel and should we stay in Interlaken (as the head says to) ?

HI, we are from South Africa and is going in January 2012 for our 3rd vacation to Switzerland. We always stay in Interlaken, visit all the places you named. Interlaken is the central point to all the beautiful places and surroundings. From Interlaken West to Spies, Brig, Zermatt... From Interlaken Ost to Grindelwald, Murren, Wengen, Jungfrau or to Brienz, Meiringen.... it is just easy to get everywhere and Interlaken is the most beautiful place to stay and there is so much to do if you don't want to travel for the day..... We once stay for a week in Murren (close to Lauterbrunnen) but you always have to leave early to get home. Greetings and enjoy your vacation, Elize

Hi, human. elize.. Since you have been to Switzerland thrice, i think it makes sense to stay in Interlaken for day trips. Laurtbrunnen will waste 40 minutes to and fro by train.. How about staying in Wilderswil, which is 5 minutes from Interlaken ? Can you suggest a holidat home with kitchen and bath, close to railway station in Wilderswild ? I have checked almost all the sites of Holida homes but very few reply as probably we are too early as we plan to leave for our trip in March end, 2012, which is far away but i want to book the holiday home in advance.. Price range CHF 500 for days.. Regards