 Poster: A snowHead
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Very last minute, but I'm going there this Saturday. I've never been there before so I'm looking at different options to get there. Aim to fly from Gatwick probably as its easiest for me and I can train it there. So where's best to fly to?
Most likely options seem to be geneva, zurich, basel or bern. Bern is probably out as I can only find one company that flys there from london city and its a bit more expensive.
I will take the train from wherever I land to lauterbrunnen and then murren. When does the cable car and train up to the resort shut up shop in the evening?
Any other advice please fire away.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Zurich or Basel are probably slightly easier than Geneva. Zurich has a train station in the airport whereas Basel requires a bus ride into town.
Not sure about times up from Lauterbrunnen but I seem to recall that the bus to Stechelberg and the cable car there ran later than the Lauterbrunnen one then the train.
http://www.sbb.ch/en/timetable.html will give you times
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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We did train from Zurich last year - very easy, a couple of changes with not a lot of time to spare, but all very Swiss and efficient (we changed in Bern and at Interlaken, we were actually going to Grindelwald but very similar journey). I have SBB app on my phone, it is showing the journey we did as 3 hours, so similar for Murren. Trains are very frequent so if you miss one there is usually another in about half an hour. We bought Swiss transfer tickets (I think) on line in advance from Swiss Passes (again this is from memory, was from a recommendation on here so if you do a search something will probably come up). Very scenic journey and a great way of getting to resort.
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Geneva seems to be a bit cheaper for flights but the train journey is longer with more changes and I guess a bit more expensive. I've used a 'transfer' ticket before but always had one in advance of travel. Can you buy these on the day at the station?
Good to know zurich station is in the airport similar to geneva. Any other tips? Travel or resort related?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You can only buy the transfer ticket in advance from abroad, so too late I think!. However, as it is currently about £90 you may find the return ticket is cheaper. Make sure you do buy a ticket before travel though, as I understand you cannot buy one on the train and will get fined.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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ok, good to know, I'll just buy a ticket at the station then.
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You can buy a ticket online and print it off I think
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Swiss transfer ticket can be bought onine and printed at home http://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/holidays--short-breaks-in-switzerland/swisstravelsystem/swiss-transfer.html you need a pdf reader and an inkjet or laser printer, don't forget to print before you depart
Flight into Bern a lot better, not sure if theres a bus but if there is it's just 45mins from Bern airport to Lauterbrunnen, less airport delay as well I've been off the plane and onto the bus in under 15mins at Bern, check in time is only an hour as well so you can stay longer in resort or at least have a lie in and you only need a local ticket from Bern Airport so you save money there if theres a bus I think I got charged about 15Chf return to Lauterbrunnen, The train will cost about 30Chf each way or about half a transfer ticket takes just over an hour and you need to change at Thun and Interlaken Ost
Next best is probably Zurich, as per Geneva station is in the basement of the airport.
Whichever train you get you need to change at Interlaken Ost (not Interlaken West 3) The train to Lauterbrunnen usually goes from Platform 2 if you face the station building from the platfroms you want the left hand end, almost all the trains split at Zweilutschinen with the rear of the train going to Grindelwald whist the front goes to Lauterbrunnen, you can always check with the guard if you are worried
At Lauterbrunnen station cross the road and go up on the cablecar then take the connecting train along to Murren, much better than the bus to Stechelberg and the other cablecar but that stops at 20.30 afterwards get the bus up to the Schilthornbahn from just outside Lauterbrunnen station, that runs until 23.28
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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ok, good info on the transfer ticket. I'll buy it online. Should save a bit of hassle at the station if nothing else. I'll look again at flights to bern. Is there any other carrier than the lot that does from london city?
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Sadly not any longer, Flybe did for a couple of years but no longer, the airport website suggests that there is still a winter bus to Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald from just outside the airport, if I lived close to London I'd spend extra for the flights for that convenience.
At Geneva or Zurich you need to allow a good hour from touchdown to getting on a train because they are so large and so busy, at Bern you get off the plane walk into the terminal and immediately see the passport control, within 5 minutes your cases will be on the tiny carousel right behind the passport booth and then its through two sets of doors to the bus stops, then its either a short bus journey to the local railway station and 3 short train trips to Lauterbrunnen or a 45 minute transfer bus, the bus used to meet the flybe planes and if its still runing will I think meet the London City ones
Swiss rail is generally excellent so it doesn't matter which aiport you fly into but you will save 3 hours transfer time (each way) by going into Bern as opposed to Geneva or Zurich, chck your return flight times because the first link down from Murren gets to Lauterbrunnen just before 6.30am at Geneva or Zurich you need a 2 hour check in time which means no flights back before 12.30pm
By the way almost every ticket office person in Switzerland speaks english, they will if you ask usually print out a timetable that will not only show the arrival and departure times for the trains you need but even the platform numbers, very hady if you need to change at Bern station which has a lot of platforms
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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The heading 'show me the road to Mürren' made me think of the zig zag track up from the valley. I know tourists aren't permitted to take cars up there but it got me wondering: who uses it? Are all locals permitted to? Just those on official business - those mending electric cables and the like? What would happen if a tourist did drive up there - the odd one or two must surely do by mistake?
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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I've had a look at the available flights from london city to bern but sadly they are few and far between, probably due to the lateness of booking. Zurich also doesn't have much to offer that works for me so I think I'll have to do Geneva. At least I know it well having once worked there.
So what can anyone tell me about the skiing more importantly?
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pjd, Not sure about Murren, in Wengen the locals can drive internal combustion engined vehicles if the live outside of the village center which is a restricted zone, I know of one family that drove their little suzuki jeep up the footpath from lauterbrunnen, though apparently some of the corners were a bit tight, most vehicles come up on the train.
Murren probably has the same restrictions as the center of Wengen so I suspect it's really maintenance type vehicle access only.
Interestingly in the summer you can drive up the mannlichen and park just below the Gondola station, I've seen the car park! But that road is tarmac to the top unlike the ones up and over the kleine scheidegg pass
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You know it makes sense.
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skir67, well theres plenty of snow right now, Chris Brookes is our Murren expert I spend much more time in Wengen, but he's off climbing Mt Kilimanjaro for charity right now
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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D G Orf, Well any info you can give me on wengen, murren, grindelwald would be good.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Well if you want to ski over in Wengen, you will need to go back to Lauterbrunnen and up the other side, You can get off the trai at Wengen walk 200M and go up the Mannlichen cabecar or stay on and go up to Kleine Sceidegg.
Mannlichen offers wide motorway pistes, mainly at intermediate level with a single easy blue as well, Mannlichen chairlift on the left as you look down the piste is a fast lift rarely queue for more than 5 mins but very popular, Larger chair on right of slope much slower. Red piste near Mannlichen chair steeper often has small mogul field, middle piste easier right hand easiest. Large restaurant at top offers self service and table service depending on where you sit, newer building is self service. You can go via Larger, Gummi and Arven chair lifts to Kleine Scheidegg, You can also go the other way using Honneg Chair, Tschuggen T-Bar and Larger Chair. If conditions are good you can ski down to Grindelwald from Mannlichen or down the Tschuggen or Brandegg routes
From Kleine Scheidegg You can go to Grindelwald via Brandegg along a lovely blue run (good food at Brandegg especially apple fritters) Or you can take the train up to Eigergletscher from where you can ski down towards Grindelwald on some nice red pistes or Towards Wengen on a couple of Black Runs (both go to the Wixi chairlift base) One called Blackrock one called Oh God, Oh God gives a good steepe piste but is prone to avalanches after heavy snow and can be very icy if theres been no fresh snow. Wixi lift takes you up Lauberhorn (can also take Lauberhorn chairlift from Kleine Scheidegg), from Lauberhorn you can ski back to Kleine Scheidegg, down to the Wixi chairlift (both red runs) or down the racetrack towards Wengen and Innerwengen mix or red and black, Innerwengen has a chairlift to take you up to Allmend from where you can ski back to wengen or take train back up
Good value for money at the station buffet at Kleine Scheidegg I reccomend here, Mannlichen or Brandegg as places to eat if doing a day trip over.
If you are a reasonable skier and you have good train connections it is just as fast to go from Lauterbrunnen up to Mannlichen and Ski down to Grindelwald Grund as it is to take the train down to Zweilutschinen and change onto the Grindelwald train.
In Grindelwald take the bus from the station to the bottom of the First Gondola, much easier than walking up the hill in skiboots
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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D G Orf, thanks. Interesting. I remember reading a few years back of a plan to introduce 'proper' vehicular access to Wengen but that tHe plan got quickly shelved.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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You takes 1 hour less to get to Murren from Zurich than from Geneva, otherwise the transfer via rail is similar and involves changing a few trains.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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skir67, you can probably ski all of the Mürren pistes in a day. But the variety is not bad. For me (although you are unlikely to have quite the same queuing issues that we often see) I find cable cars boring. Well, waiting for them anyway. But you only really need to take one to get to most of the higher skiing.
There are some nice and nice looking off piste pitches off the Schilthorn if you or someone you're with knows what they're doing.
Alpenroselitee (?sp) at the Sonnenalp is worth trying, just once...
Lunch in town at the Bellevue is good. Great rostis at the Alpenruh. Where are you staying?
For me, downloading to Lauterbrunnen and over to Wengen just takes too much time out of a day, so we don't do it very often.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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D G Orf, many thanks for taking the time there.
under a new name, So how long does it take to get over into the wengen and wengen side of grindelwald skiing?
What are the crucial last lift times between murren and wengen?
I see that the inferno run links the upper part of the murren area to the lower areas. How 'black' is that part of the run?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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skir67, Swissrail is your friend www.sbb.ch
" You take the Regio from Mürren BLM towards Lauterbrunnen BLM to Lauterbrunnen BLM.
Your journey starts at Mürren BLM on 06.02.14 at 09:36, you arrive at Lauterbrunnen BLM is at 09:57.
Please note: 2nd class only
You walk from Lauterbrunnen BLM to Lauterbrunnen.
For this you should allow 3 minutes.
Your journey continues by Regio from Lauterbrunnen towards Kleine Scheidegg to Kleine Scheidegg.
Your journey starts at Lauterbrunnen at 10:07, you arrive at Kleine Scheidegg is at 10:50.
Please note: 2nd class only
Summary
The total journey time is: 1:14
This connection is possible on the following days: 5. Feb until 26. Oct 2014 daily; not 5. until 9. May 2014
The number of changes is: 1"
Re Inferno: it's not very black at all. The only really black bit is the top pitches from the Schilthorn to the usual Inferno start. And that's very snow and usage dependent.
What makes the Inferno more interesting is that one is generally not accustomed to coming into the hairier/steeper/twistier bits already carrying 50-60kph of speed.
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skir67, just make sure you are in lauterbrunnen by 20.25 or you will need to catch the bus up the valley most lifts shut by about 5pm trains run till later and trains down from Wengen till after 11pm
It's often faster to get on the slopes by swapping to the cablecar at Wengen the cablecar takes 8 mins to go from Wengen to Mannlichen but it takes 25mins to go up on the train to Kleine Scheidegg from Wengen
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Skir67, those times will be spot on. Not a second before or a second after. 
We have just returned from our first trip to jungfrau area. The guys on here are a brilliant help, you can ask them anything. Book your lift pass online and get 20% off too.
We skied murren but to be honest visibility was so bad, it's as though I have never been so we will return.
Skiing in jungfrau is a different experience and one I'm glad we have had.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Unfortunately travelling out this weekend means skir67, won't be able to get the discounted pass
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under a new name, ah yes, forgot that the swiss are so beautifully organised with all of their transport infrastructure unlike in the UK.
D G Orf, I should be at lauterbrunnen by mid afternoon on the way in so plenty of time to find my way up the hill with any luck.
Looking forward to seeing the virtual home of British alpine skiing for the first time. I've fancied a go at the inferno for a few years so I'll be able to see what the lay of the land is.
Lift pass is sorted.
Wheres good for eating on the hill? Do you generally have to pre-book or is it a case of just rocking up in most cases?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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skir67, generally just turn up, unless you are in a big group or its a very busy weekend finding a table is rarely a problem
Not sure where is good to eat at Murren, I think Chris said theres a nice place near the top of the Almendhubel funicular, avoid Piz Gloria as it's silly prices up there I've aready give my tips above Wengen
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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skir67, TBH, we have eaten on the hill but usually go back to Mürren. As mentioned, Piz Gloria is somewhat pricey. Birg is a canteen. Don't know about the Schilthornhutte. Sonnenalp is quite rustic, no idea about food. Top of Allmendhubel looks like a canteen. Winteregg is a canteen.
You may have noticed that if we can avoid it, we don't do trays.
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under a new name, I don't do self service jobs generally as usually the food is not too good and over-priced, though there are odd exceptions to that rule. Much prefer table service as usually at least better food quality if not price.
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You know it makes sense.
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skir67, So... As above, Bellevue Hotel has a very nice restaurant with top views. Can recommend the fish and chips (seriously), double fried chicken in a basket, anything game related and I can't remember what I had the Friday. The Alpenruh, opposite the Schilthornbahn station does a good variety of rösti and other things. Eiger Guesthouse has a renovated menu all of which looked good.
I mean, it's Switzerland, so everything is at least OK, but some are much more fun than others.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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under a new name, skir67,
We had a great lunch (menu very limited though as it is essentially a hut) at the Schilthornhutte last year. No need to book.
We ate at the Eiger Hotel (not the Guesthouse) restaurant (very enjoyable meal) and the Blumental which was superb.
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Poster: A snowHead
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franga, ah, yes, the Blumenthal is also very good, esp. for meat fondue. Also the Stägerstübli, if you can get in past th elocals.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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OK, think I've got the eating side of things covered. Sounds like apart from the canteen style places most others are good.
Can anyone add info on the skiing side of things in Murren?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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skir67,
OH and I skied most runs in a single day last January - deserted slopes and fresh snow.
Not sure what your skiing level is but there are some cracking runs on the Murren side.
I particularly enjoyed runs 1+2 (Winteregg chair) and most of the stuff off the Gimmeln drag.
There's also a unique run that wiggles it's way past some chalets and huts in the village which I absolutely loved - reminded me of Zermatt.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Sounds good. I heard/read somewhere that the gimmeln drag is bust in a bad way, as in unlikely to be fixed anytime soon, is that the case?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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skir67, certainly sounded like it
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Gimmelwald drag closed I understand permanently but you can still ski the pistes either side and back to Murren or down to Gimmelwald on an itinerary route. If you get bored with Murren skiing, go to Wengen for a day.
Suppenalp good for lunch and drink on way home - has wonderful views of Eiger Monchblick and Jungfrau. Sonnenberg good for lunch or dinner - for dinner fun to sledge there from top of Allmendhubel and back to Murren. A trip to the Jungfraujoch is also recommended if you can drag yourself off skis for a day.
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Whats the gimmelwald itinerary like?
Also how long does it take to get up and down from jungfraujoch?
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skir67, ONLY do Jungfraujoch on a clear day it takes a long time to go up and back, about 1 hour 50 mins each way from Lauterbrunnen including the change at Kleine Scheidegg, plus 30 mins to go from Murren down. On a clear day you get incredible views of the alps but on a cloudy day (common in the winter) all you see is white, on a clear day you'd probably prefer to be skiing.
On a rotten day you can go down to Interlaken theres a few shops to browse in and Cafe Schuh, which used to be great for a meal or afternoon tea but has become very upmarket, that said prices are not excessive if you have the set lunch menu at 19.50Chf for a soup (or starter) and a main, they post the weeks menu on their website http://www.schuh-interlaken.ch/ But personally I go there to buy their chocolates and cakes which whilst expensive are to die for (But I will probably die due to my chocolate addiction) they do a chocolate show at 5pm every day but I've never seen it 
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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D G Orf, I'm a bit of a chocoholic too! Don't think I'll have time to go to interlaken. I'll pick a good day to go to jungfraujoch if I go at all. Can you get off the train at the north face station?
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skir67, If you mean the one that has windows to look out of the North Face, absolutely, all trains stop there on the way up and you have enough time to get a few pictures from the windows, the stop is actually there to help people aclimatise a bit as it slows the asscent, the trains do not stop there on the way down.
As for going to Interlaken it's only a short journey down and if you have a day with high winds when many lifts are shut you might be glad to go.
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FAQ
