How to best see & do activities in Wengen

  • DGerard
    Participant
    10 posts
    11 May 2018 at 17:06:02 #815894

    Hi everyone.

    My husband and I are traveling to Switzerland & France on Sept 10th for 16 days, with 8 days in Switzerland. We have our location itinerary pretty much worked out. But are in a quandary about the “how to best see and do the things we want” in Wengen. Read below our itinerary.

    Train from Zurich to Lucerne on morning of arrival, leave morning of 4th day.

    Wengen – 3 days – Upon arrival in Lauterbrunnen from Lucerne (around 10 am) go to Murren via Grutshalp and then up to Schilthorn, with a stop at Birg and Trummelbach Falls on the way back to Luaterbrunnen and onto Wengen. We are using the Express luggage from Lucerne to Wengen, so we need to be back to pick it up by 8:00 pm at the Wengen train station.

    Day 2 and 3 in Wengen are the dilemma as we don’t know the best way to do Jungfraujoch, First and also do the hike from Mannlichen to Klein Scheidegg. At first we thought we would go up to Jungfraujoch from Wengen and on the way back down get off at Klein Scheidegg and hike that to Mannlichen to ride the ariel cablecar back to Wengen. The dilemma? Everything I’ve read says to do the hike in the other direction because the views are more spectacular! I agree. So what’s the best possible route for doing this with little to no backtracking? And still do the things we want? As a side note, we are okay packing things in for a long day. This is a bucket list trip for us and we want to see as much as possible. We can sleep when we get home! 🙂

    Should we, 1) Take the Mannlichen Ariel Cable car from Wengen to Grindelwald and then to First? or 2) Get off at Klein Schneidegg and hike to Mannilichen? Or is there other possibilities we haven’t considered or don’t know about?

    I hope I made sense. We’ve never been to Switzerland and I’m getting all my information from sites like this. Any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated!

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    Removed user
    Participant
    72625 posts
    11 May 2018 at 23:21:31 #884899

    I wouldn’t worry about which way gives the best views. You will see the same scenery at some point in the day if you combine walking paths with the various railways and cableways. I suggest you just wait until you get there and see which walks take your fancy by looking at the terrain and the walking map (on a traditional signpost or online) .

    The walk down from Kleine Scheidegg to Grindelwald is nice, as you have the north face of the Eiger rising above you for a long way.

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    12 May 2018 at 0:15:56 #884900

    Check this-

    http://www.myswissalps.com/fo rum/topic/tips-about-wengen-and-the-jungfrau-region-by-kim/page/5

    I disagree vehemently with 1960man on one point. You lose most of the special character of the M-KS walk unless you do what everyone ( including some guy named Rick Steves) correctly recommends. Seeing and feeling the Eiger grow over you cannot be duplicated by walking the other way and periodically stopping to twist your neck and look behind you.

    I’d go so far as to skip it if you can’t do it well. Just my opinion, of course.but, if you skip it, then you can do something else that is nicer.

    Slowpoke

    rockoyster
    Participant
    8889 posts
    12 May 2018 at 3:49:51 #884901

    Hi Slowpoke,

    Your link seems to run off the end of Kim’s thread. How about bit.ly/2rEl2YP?

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    12 May 2018 at 8:16:20 #884902

    Works for me. Thanks.

    I have the habit of using links with names or titles, so i can keep track of what I wrote. 😉

    Slowpoke

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    12 May 2018 at 8:54:57 #884903

    Hi Dgerard-

    Sorry, I did not reply directly to your dilemma.

    It is theoretically possible to catch the 0810 cable car ( die Luftseilbahn) from Wengen to Männlichen, walk quickly to Kleine Scheidegg, get a train to Jungfraujoch ( not crowded. short or no lines in September) , go up, go back down to Grindelwald and up to First ( 2 hour trip) walk to Bachsee and return ( 2 1/2 hours) and catch the last cable car down from First at 1730. Too rushed, dependent on perfect connections, no time to stop, and you absolutely don’t want to miss that last cable car at First.

    I would not try to do it, and I know the systems. And, since I take a lot of photographs, I could not even accomplish it.

    So, I’d take the option you described. Männlichen , KS, Jungfrau on one day in that order. Pick a day with pristine weather, or maybe skip looking at the inside of expensive clouds at Jungfraujoch.

    On the way down, you can consider a few options, depending on your wish to walk or ride.

    http://www.swissholidayco.com /Public/Assets/User/fi les/Map-of-Jungfrauregion1.jpg

    And, you might pick up time to see Trümmelbach and walk a bit on the LB Valley floor, if it does not all come together on your first day at Schilthorn.

    Do the Bachsee walk on the other day, via the cableways as you described.

    I offer this perspective:

    1.- If the weather is not clear, don’t go up.

    2.-Relax your boundary conditions, as the engineers say. There is no harm in a little backtracking. The sights are good enough to see a few of them more than once. Look to the left on one pass; look to the right on the second pass. 😉 Part of being there is to kind of soak up the general ambience, as well as to check off specific places on a list.

    And, face it, you can’t see it all in days…think weeks, especially if you allow for weather.

    3.- September can offer really great clear days.. Some of the attached photos were taken in September 0209, when my daughter and granddaughter came to Switzerland with me. Although clouds do tend to gather at the Jungfrau in the afternoon, you have a good chance of no problems in September. The allusion to the Grannie’s Walk is to the nickname for that walk from Männlichen to KS.

    4.- Make your trip to the Jungfrau region as early in September as possible. The whole month is usually good for weather on average, but the chances are best earlier in the month. Those attached pictures with daughter and granddaughter taken on approximately September 25th, but we watched the weather for a week and picked our day.

    The one of the LBV from Wengen was taken late enough in the year to have some color in the foliage, and the waterfalls had thinned out; no Spring snow melt to feed them.

    Slowpoke

    DGerard
    Participant
    10 posts
    12 May 2018 at 13:17:24 #884904

    Thanks Slowpoke. I’m an over thinker and planner, so I tend to get lost in the details and lose sight of the purpose. Which is, the experience of being and discovering places we’ve never been and might not get a chance to get back to. So I really appreciate your comments and suggestions! Very helpful.

    We have a “backup bad weather” plan as well thanks to so many great posts on this forum! Can’t say enough great things about this place!

    I think we’ll do as you suggest and do the Mannlichen from Grindelwald hike to Klein Schneidegg in the morning and check the weather again before heading up to Jungfraujoch. If the weather isn’t cooperating we might hop on a train from KS and head to Lake Brienz for the rest of the day.

    Thanks for sharing the photos. They are beautiful and inspiring!

    Deb

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    12 May 2018 at 15:15:19 #884905

    Hi Deb –

    In Brienz, stop at Jobin, the premier woodcarvers.

    I always stop to buy a music box from their excellent collection for my granddaughter to add to her collection.

    Bern is a good rainy day alternative

    Slowpoke

    Slowpoke
    Participant
    7567 posts
    12 May 2018 at 16:35:39 #884906

    Hi Deb-

    <<“Thanks for sharing the photos.”>>

    Here is one of Bern to show the arcaded streets in the old town, nice in the rain, and two from the Männlichen-Kleine Scheidegg walk. The second one of those is a high resolution blow up of the tiny specs which are hikers barely visible in the full picture. Look back at the full one for the hikers. The full one is my favorite, because when it is enlarged to a decent size and hung on the wall, you can just barely see the hikers. Then, you realize the scale and how the Eiger towers over you as you approach it.

    From the foliage colors, you can see that that image was taken in the Fall…probably September 2004. The blow-up is grainy because the image was captured with film.

    The name “Eiger” means “Ogre” at least in Swiss German. I can’t find it in my German dictionaries.

    Detailed Planning –

    I no longer do it for teh bulk of most trips, although since I do some hiking, I usually spend time before a trip looking for easy hikes, and I pack the paper maps. Old fashioned, bu t I like maps.

    On the contrary, however, I plan my first two or three days in excruciating detail. Jet lag may seem to be vanquished, but if I try to make decisions or consider alternate route options, my brain does not want to cooperate . I have trouble reading maps, sometimes, on the jet lag days. And, driving in Zürich is always complex, and nearly impossible until day 3, except for the memorized route between my regular hotel and the Avis office. . I never rent a car until day 3.

    And when I first started traveling to Switzerland, before the internet, detailed planning from paper resources was necessary. That included maps of villages ( from the Swiss Tourist office in Manhattan) to find hotels close to train stops, or not on hills. The small book listing the hotels in the Swiss Hotel Association was necessary.

    It sure is easier today…but, the problem now is too much information. Great, but you have to find your way through it.

    Slowpoke

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