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Wengen, Switzerland

Wengen

No road reaches it either, and the railway that does climbs through the rock face

Before you go — the other car-free village, and the easier one

  • Wengen sits on the eastern shelf of the Lauterbrunnen valley, opposite Mürren on the western one. Both are car-free. Both look down the same valley from opposite sides.
  • The difference is how you arrive. Mürren needs a cable car and a small train, or a cableway from Stechelberg. Wengen has a railway: the Wengernalpbahn climbs from Lauterbrunnen, cut into the rock face, and runs right into the village.
  • That makes Wengen the easier of the two with luggage, and the one to choose if the idea of changing between a cable car and a mountain train with suitcases fills you with dread.
  • It is bigger and busier than Mürren. Hotels, shops, a proper main street. If you want quieter, go across the valley.

Budget tips

  • The train is ordinary public transport, not an excursion, so a Swiss Travel Pass or a Half Fare Card applies in the normal way.
  • Day-trip it if you are sleeping on the valley floor. Lauterbrunnen to Wengen is a short ride, and the village is small enough to see in an afternoon.
The valley from the meadows above the village
The valley from the meadows above the village

The village, and what there is to do in it

  • Walk the main street. Our January photographs are children walking down the middle of the road because there is nothing to get out of the way of, which is the whole point of the place.
  • The valley is the view. From the shelf you look straight across at the cliffs and at Staubbach Falls coming off the opposite wall — one of our photographs is exactly that.
  • There is a nursery slope in the village itself in winter, which matters if you are traveling with children who are learning.
  • In summer it is a walking base, with paths up towards Männlichen and down into the valley.

Budget tips

  • The views cost nothing. The shelf, the paths and the falls across the valley are all free; you are paying for the bed and the train.
  • Eat where the village eats, off the main street. Prices on the main drag are resort prices.
Staubbach Falls on the far side of the valley
Staubbach Falls on the far side of the valley

How it fits with the rest of the valley

  • Männlichen is directly above it. A cable car goes up from Wengen, and the ridge looks down into both Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald at once.
  • It is on the way to the Jungfraujoch. The Wengernalpbahn continues up to Kleine Scheidegg, where the Jungfrau railway begins, so a Jungfraujoch day from Wengen starts at the village station.
  • Pick one shelf, not both. Wengen and Mürren are the same idea done twice, twenty minutes apart by valley floor. Staying in one and day-tripping the other is a better use of the time than splitting nights between them.
The Lauterbrunnen valley in winter from the shelf
The Lauterbrunnen valley in winter from the shelf

Would we plan this exact day for you?

Almost certainly not. The day above assumes you are happy on your feet for most of it, that you have the whole day, that you are comfortable working out Swiss trains and buses as you go, and that nobody with you is managing a pushchair, a bad knee, or a six-year-old at four in the afternoon. Change any one of those and the order changes, the pace changes, and sometimes the valley changes.

Rearranging a day around the people actually traveling is the part we do.

Wengen in photographs

23 images, every one taken on one of our own trips.

The main street in January, slush underfoot — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 The main street in January, slush underfoot Children walking down the middle of the road, no cars to avoid — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 Children walking down the middle of the road, no cars to avoid Shopfronts along the village street in winter — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 Shopfronts along the village street in winter A stone chalet at the edge of the village — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 A stone chalet at the edge of the village Roofs under snow, the valley wall behind — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 Roofs under snow, the valley wall behind The forested slope dropping to the valley floor — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 The forested slope dropping to the valley floor The nursery slope right at the edge of the village — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 The nursery slope right at the edge of the village The Lauterbrunnen valley in winter from the shelf — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 The Lauterbrunnen valley in winter from the shelf Bare trees and a barn above the valley — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 Bare trees and a barn above the valley Snow on the rock above the railway — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 Snow on the rock above the railway The Wengernalpbahn curving along the rock face — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 The Wengernalpbahn curving along the rock face The rack line running down through the cutting — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 The rack line running down through the cutting
Show the other 11 photographs
Wengen on its shelf in summer, the valley wall opposite — Wengen, Switzerland · June 2022 Wengen on its shelf in summer, the valley wall opposite Chalets and the peaks under fresh snow — Wengen, Switzerland · March 2023 Chalets and the peaks under fresh snow The ski run dropping down past the pines — Wengen, Switzerland · March 2023 The ski run dropping down past the pines Staubbach Falls on the far side of the valley — Wengen, Switzerland · June 2024 Staubbach Falls on the far side of the valley The valley from the meadows above the village — Wengen, Switzerland · June 2024 The valley from the meadows above the village The Wengernalpbahn station building — Wengen, Switzerland · June 2024 The Wengernalpbahn station building On the train at Wengen, the platform sign behind — Wengen, Switzerland · June 2024 On the train at Wengen, the platform sign behind The group in the carriage on the way up — Wengen, Switzerland · June 2024 The group in the carriage on the way up Ski school lining up at Allmend, seen from the train — Wengen, Switzerland · March 2023 Ski school lining up at Allmend, seen from the train Children at the fence above the Lauterbrunnen valley — Wengen, Switzerland · March 2023 Children at the fence above the Lauterbrunnen valley The village under snow from above — Wengen, Switzerland · January 2018 The village under snow from above

This is one day. The trip is the harder part.

Notice what the guide above never tells you. It does not name a hotel, or say where to stay at all — it assumes you already have a bed. It gives you no way into Wengen from wherever you woke up, no view on whether it belongs on the second day of your trip or the ninth, and nothing about the week it rains.

Those answers change with your budget, your dates and who is traveling with you. Working them out, and booking them, is the job.

Tell us about your trip

The day above is free and yours to use. What it cannot do is decide where this fits in a two-week trip, which hotel works with your arrival time and your walking pace, what needs reserving months ahead, or what happens on the day it rains. That is the part you would be hiring me for, and planning starts at $750.

Or read the questions we are asked most — what a trip includes, how far ahead to book, deposits and cancellation.