8889 posts
Hello Karen and Welcome to MySwissAlps,
If you are only there for 2 days then I’d recommend staying in the mountains. Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, Mürren and especially Wengen are popular.
Forum member Kim who’s is an expert on the region says “Lauterbrunnen is a very small village down deep in the valley with imposing cliffs above. Therefore it doesn’t get as much daylight as the villages up the mountains do. There is quite a bit of car and bus traffic through the little village and limited selections of restaurants and food stores. During the high summer seasons (July and August) there is a “college student backpacking around Europe” vibe. There is not much there in the way of sightseeing/views, other than the glorious walk down the valley floor (which can also easily be done from Wengen or Mürren). The positives are that there is a fairly major train station there (although Wengen and Mürren are only 15 and 18 mins, respectively, up the mountainsides) and lodging is less expensive (there’s a reason).
Getting up into a car-free village gives one a much more “old Switzerland” feel. You can’t go wrong with either Mürren or Wengen. We prefer Wengen because we like the views better from there (jaw-dropping), it is slightly larger therefore has more amenities (food stores, restaurants, shopping), is easier to get in and out of so is better as a base, and we think it has more of the quintessential Swiss mountain village “vibe” than does Mürren.”
From Lauterbrunnen a very nice circuit to do is to Grütschalp (cable car), Mürren (train), Gimmelwald (cable car), Stechelberg (cable car), Lauterbrunnen (bus). From Mürren you can easily visit Schiltorn (don’t miss The Thrill Walk at Birg) and even Allmendhubel if you have time and the funicular is operating when you are there.. In between Stechelberg and Lauterbrunnen the bus stops at the Trummelbach Falls. Well worth a look.
If you stay in Wengen you can go up to Jungfraujoch and return via Grindelwald.
Perhaps this map will give you a good idea of the lie of the land.
6355 posts
Hi Karren,
I think Grindelwald is a good base if you are planning trips to Jungfraujoch, Schilthorn and Lauterbrunnen.
If you are still undecided, you can explore more accommodation options in the Jungfrau region from these links:
Hotels: http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion/hotels
Self-catering apartments or chalets: http://www.myswissalps.com/jungfrauregion/rentals
Be sure to check these out too:
Regards,
Anna