Murren

This was originally a settlement of people from Lotschen valley in Valais who moved into Mürren long time back and their roots can still be recognized by the unique designs of their houses and their distinct Mürren dialect.

Mürren stands perched upon a terrace up at 1650 meters above the Lauterbrunnen valley and has been one of one of the continuously habited village settlements in the canton of Bern. The village can be reached by a double-cable ropeway from Lauterbrunnen and another runs from Stechelberg, past rock faces and waterfalls. This ropeway further travels up to the top of the Schilthorn at 2970 metres.

During summer time, there is the Allmendhubel funicular that transports one above Mürren where there is a panoramic restaurant and more breath-taking views of the mountains across the ridge. This is also an ideal place for kids to run around and experience the alpine adventure of their dreams.
Mürren is also an ideal place from where you can set out on numerous walking trails which includes the famous North Face trail (1.5 hours) which takes you through meadows filled with wildflowers, waterfalls and glaciers, not to mention the steep and impressive mighty North Face of Eiger.
For kids, there is an Adventure trail that is takes no more than one hour.

Perched on a mountain loft 5361 feet high, Mürren along with the neighbouring Wengen have always been a magnet for the rich and famous.

Mürren is the birthplace of downhill and slalom skiing (1920s).

The place is accessible only by a cable car that further connects to a single-car electric train, Mürren has very few visitors during the day. It is the ideal starting point for exciting hikes. There are cable cars from here to reach Allmendhubel and Schilthorn. When there are times when clouds obscure the mountains, visitors can visit the glacier formed Lauterbrunnen valley by train and cable car, from where more than 70 waterfalls can be visited. The 1000-foot Staubbach falls that inspired Goethe and Byron, is one of the famous attraction.

Mürren offers an enchanting combination of the alpine scenery, mountain culture and scenic activities. It is a fairy-tale town of Switzerland. A minimum of two to three days is required to explore the town and its surroundings.

Absolutely unspoiled and with charming Swiss chalets and chalet-style hotels with dark sun-burned wood and shuttered windows, Mürren is first a community and then a ski resort. A reminder of the fire accident risk the village is to prone quite evident from its well-equipped local fire station, as the village is built mostly from wood.

For all you know, the place might inspire you to opt more for a walk instead of skiing.

Most of the guests staying at the local hotels can avail of the swimming pool facilities of the Sports Arena on a complimentary basis; just check with your hotel for more details.

There are also a few cafes, restaurants, bars, private chalets, and 15 hotels ranging from 2 to 4 stars that are mostly family owned

A walk on the main street will present you with abundant photo opportunities of the Big Three, Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau and of the wonderful valley below.

Bestowed with a unique beauty in each of its four distinct seasons, Bernese Oberland, where Mürren is located, makes memorable springs and summers vacations that are perfect for outdoor activities like hiking, biking or swimming. The weather is crisp during fall around October and winter ushers snow that stays until May and returns in early August at over 6500 feet.

Whatever the season, sports lovers will always be entertained with varied opportunities to pursue their passions, like hiking, water skiing, biking, parasailing and gliding, sailing, bungee jumping, skiing, sledding and snowboarding.

Swiss Airways offers direct connections from New Delhi and Bombay to Zurich. There are also many Middle Eastern airlines like Emirates and Qatar that offer one stop connectivity to Zurich or Geneva from almost all major cities in India.

Fast intercity rail services run from the rail terminals at Zurich and Geneva airports and reach Bern from where a change to a local train will take you to Interlaken Ost. From here, one needs to take the regional train to Lauterbrunnen.

Located at an elevation of 1650 meters with nil-pollution thanks to it being a car-free zone, the ski-resort of Mürren has no direct road leading up to it. The last part of the journey from Lauterbrunnen to Mürren have two options.

Option 1. Taking a cable car from Lauterbrunnen followed by an electric train journey from atop the cable car to the outskirts of the village. OR

Option 2. Taking a 15 minute bus ride to Stechelberg and a cable car up to Mürren.

A cable car takes you up from Lauterbrunnen cable car station (situated bang opposite the Lauterbrunnen railway station) to Grutschalp from where a train can takes you to Mürren, with a spectacular view en route. You will arrive at Mürren BLM station.

A cable car gets you to the peak of the mountain where the revolving restaurant Piz Gloria and the Skyline viewing platform are situated. From the base of the cable car at Stechelberg to the peak of Schilthorn, there are three intermediate stops – Gimmelwald – Mürren – Birg. At each level you need to step off and walk across the station to take the next cable car.

The cable car runs through the Birg station at 2677m, where you can stop to take in the amazing views. Between here and the summit, you pass over Grauseeli, a small lake.
There are well-marked hiking trails paths that can be taken for a hike to reach the top, which takes around 5 hours from Gimmelwald, for a fit person.

The ‘Inferno’ ski race, started in 1928, begins from Schilthorn during winter. During summer the summit is the finish line for the Inferno Triathlon.

The Trummelbach falls, which is an indoor waterfall deep inside the mountains is a fine option if the weather is bad up in the mountains though you will have to cough up a fee to get inside the mountains and is not included in the Swiss Pass system. The Lauterbrunnen valley is famous for as many as 72 waterfalls and is called the valley of waterfalls.

The typical farm life of Switzerland can be enjoyed in a day walk through Gimmelwald which is only an hour’s walk downhill from Mürren and for those who do not want to walk back uphill, just jump on to the next cable car back to Mürren.

Walkers treat Mürren as their base to take up the famous Northface trail (1 ½ hours) via Schiltalp to the west, through meadows, from which the glaciers and waterfalls of the Lauterbrunnen valley and the north face of Eiger can be seen. Take a pair of binoculars to help you get a sharper view. A kids-friendly adventure trail is also available, lasting for one hour.
 

The sheer and steep drop of the Eiger North face offers one of the toughest mountaineering challenge to this day. The early alpinists had climbed these mountains without any modern equipment that we have today. The story of these pioneers is retold during the two hour Eiger North face trail through 12 information posts that explain the routes, the gears that were used and other related information.

Nowadays, there are climbers attempting to ascend the Eiger North Face almost daily.

Alpine Sports Centre

Renovated in 2012, the Alpine Sports Centre offers a wonderful alpine spa on its first floor. It has two saunas, hot and cold footbath, Turkish bath, cold basin and a relaxing room, with modern wardrobes and shower facilities. Massage, qi gong, yoga and facial treatments are offered by professional therapists in therapy rooms. A spacious work out gym and an exclusive child care centre with its many toys and games are added attractions. There is also a lawn for tennis.

The meeting room in the Alpine Sports Centre has a capacity of 15 persons and can be rented.
The swimming pool is free for the holiday guests in Mürren hotels or apartments.

Gimmelwald on the other hand is a small quaint alpine village which is located just below Mürren and can be accessed by the cable car or by a short hike down which is definitely recommended for the spectacular views of pristine alpine scenery.

It is a small, self-sufficient village, proud of their diary and agro based economy and eco-friendly occupations and strive to protect their way of life away from pure consumerism and the greed of the tourism industry.

In order to protect their land from being taken over by hotel chains, they went to the extent of getting Gimmelwald certified as an avalanche prone zone.

Thanks to these efforts, you can get a peek at a place where time seems to have stood still and a farming community that is proud of their way of life and determined to keep it that way in the future too.

There are a few inns run by local families and a hostel for backpackers. Do drop by at the bar of the hostel and you will be greeted warmly by its owners and do take time off to have a drink and take in the extraordinary view of the mountains and the valley below.

The 6454 foot Schynige plateau offers a spectacular overview of the region. You could walk down its umpteen footpaths and discover pure alpine magic. Its Alpine Botanical Garden houses more than 600 varieties of mountain flowers grow.

As the sight is frequented by day trippers and tour buses, expect some crowd on most days. It is an ideal rainy day get away.

A small road leads to this massive Swiss Open-air Museum Ballenberg, which lies east of Brienz. There are hundreds of variety of houses from every part of Switzerland that have been painstakingly dismantled, transported and reinstalled here. Many 19th century barns, pastel shuttered houses, lace making shops, haberdasheries and many reconstructed chalets, can be seen on the meadows.

Lace making, spinning, forging, chocolate and cheese making are demonstrated with original tools and by people in their original costumes so as to make you experience the Switzerland as it was. Spread over many acres, you would need at least half a day to explore the entire village. Hang on to the exhaustive and descriptive brochures which would help you immensely to make sense of the happenings as the area of the museum is huge and you could easily get lost. There is also an option to take a ride on a horse carriage where the horseman also doubles up as a guide and gives you a running commentary as you traverse this vast expanse.
The Ballenberg Open Museum can be reached by public transport by taking the, the train to Brienz or Brunig and then reach Ballenberg by bus.

There is a chocolate factory outside near the bus stand where chocolate making demonstrations happen at certain times of the day. Of course, you do get excellent chocolate too and they are quite sought after even in Switzerland. So go ahead and indulge yourself.