Hike from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

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The Bernese Oberland in Switzerland is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. This part of the Swiss Alps is home to beautiful alpine villages, thundering waterfalls, lush green valleys, dramatic snow capped mountains and lots of hiking trails. Essentially, it is a nature lovers paradise! The Jungfrau region is a part of the Oberland and is home to some of the best hiking trails in Switzerland and is considered a must visit region in the country. Both Wengen and Lauterbrunnen are villages in this area. This post covers how to do an easy hike from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen with some jaw dropping views of the Alps.

How to Get to Wengen

The village of Wengen is completely car-free. Most people may need to get to Interlaken as a first step in getting to Wengen. Interlaken is one of the bigger towns in the Jungfrau region and provides lots of access to other parts of the Oberland and Jungfrau region. Once at Interlaken, you will need to get to Lauterbrunnen first in order to get to Wengen. This train ride from Interlaken to Lauterbrunnen takes around 20 minutes and is scheduled for every 30 minutes or so. The Wengen to Lauterbrunnen train ride is relatively short but has some amazing views! The name of this train is Wengernalpbahn (it’s a yellow and green train).

Tip – Sit on the right side of the train from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen to capture these views

If you have a car, you will need to park it in Lauterbrunnen before making the short train ride up to Wengen.

See HERE to check and plan your train rides.

Wengen

Surrounded by hiking trails and dramatic views of snow capped mountains and the lush Lauterbrunnen Valley below, Wengen is a beautiful alpine village in the Jungfrau region. It’s definitely worth it to spend a few hours in Wengen before your hike to Lauterbrunnen.

There’s not an extensive list of things to do in Wengen. The best thing you can do here is to walk around and take all the beauty in. Breathe the fresh air of the Swiss Mountains and enjoy all the wild flowers scattered along the pathways. Oh and also take lots of pictures. Especially of the Lauterbrunnen Valley with the Staubbach Falls in the background.

Hike from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen

This hike from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen is relatively easy because it’s all downhill. If you are not looking for a long hike then this is definitely the hike for you. Total time for the hike from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen is around 1 hour. One of the biggest callouts here is to wear proper shoes. The path is made up of lose gravel and it’s easy to fall! There is an unstable hand railing if you want to hold on to something while walking down. This path also is used by mountain bikers as well so you may need to move to a side occasionally.

You will come to a small covered hut after most of the incline and forest cover is over. We sat here for a bit and admired one of the first clear glimpses of the Lauterbrunnen Valley since starting the hike.

From this hut, it’s a relatively easy walk down to the Lauterbrunnen Valley. You know you are in Lauterbrunnen when you first start to hear Staubbach Falls.

You can check out this link for a map of the hike route. There are sign boards that will point you as well.

Top Tips

• If you are looking to spend time in this region and do more hikes in addition to the hike from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen, then summer is probably a good time to visit
  • Some trails close during the winter months and only open back up in late May and run through October (This particular trail in the post is open year-around)
• We did this hike mid-June and I loved that we got to see lush greenery as well as snow capped mountains. It was the perfect weather too
• Peak summer (July, August) can also be the busiest. So if you hate crowds, maybe early June or late September is a good time for you
• Book your hotels as early as possible (especially during peak summer)
• Food in Switzerland in general is expensive. Consider picnic lunches and grocery runs with easy hiking food to save money

Other Resources

If you are going to be in Switzerland or this region for a few days (more than 3), there are some transport passes that you may want to consider looking into. One thing to note is that all 3 passes start at 3 days.

These passes at a high-level are:

• The Swiss Travel Pass – Covers almost all modes of transport and has some museum admissions. Best if you are traveling all over Switzerland. Check it out HERE
• Jungfrau Travel Pass – Unlimited travel for the east side of the Lauterbrunnen Valley, including Lauterbrunnen and Wengen that is included in this post. Check it out HERE. The map on this page is a great way to make sure the places you are going to are covered
• Berner Oberland Pass – Covers transport within the Oberland including Bern, Interlaken, Jungfrau and even Lucerne. Check it out HERE

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