[All photos and opinions are my own unless stated otherwise.]

Known for its mountains and alpine lakes, no trip to Switzerland is complete without a hiking trip through the Swiss Alps. Whilst I was in Switzerland, I decided to hike from Grindelwald to Lauterbrunnen, which are villages located near Interlaken and Bern. The first half of this hike was one of the hardest hikes I've ever done, with an anscent of over 1,000m, but it was definitely the most rewarding parts of the hike! In this post, I'll describe the hike, which takes you from Grindelwald to Lauterbrunnen via Kleine Scheidegg, Eigergletscher and Wengen, and include any other things I think are worth knowing before embarking on this trip.

SOME USEFUL INFO

If you're considering doing this hike but not sure

if you're up for walking the full 8 hours, then there are some useful stats to the right with a map of the general route. A more detailed map of this route can be found at the end of this post.

There are train stations at all of the main stops, so if you ever get too tired to continue, then you have an easy escape route. The most you ever go without walking past a train station is probably 2-3 hours. Furthermore, if you struggle walking uphill for long periods of time you could always get the train to Kleine Scheidegg or Eigergletscher and walk down to Wengen or Lauterbrunnen from there.

WHERE TO START

The hike begins at Grindelwald railway station, which is at an elevation of 1,030m and easily accessible by train from Interlaken or Bern.

The train from Bern Hbf takes 1.5 hours and requires 2 to 3 changes depending on the time of year. From Bern, change at Interlaken West for the next train.

From either station at Interlaken, the train should take 30-45 minutes to Grindelwald with a possible change in Wilderswil depending on the time of year.

When I did this hike, I took the 5.45am train to arrive early in Grindelwald to avoid as much of the midday sun as I could and I also wasn't sure exactly how long this walk would take as I have a habit of getting lost on hikes...

WHere NEXT?

Once you arrive in Grindelwald, you can either choose to explore the village a bit or set off on the hike. I recommend the latter option if you're setting off a bit late as the hike will take all day (unless you decide to use the train for some parts).

First, head towards the back of the station and follow the path down the hill. You should see signs almost immediately after exiting the station and you want to follow these down the valley towards Grindelwald Grund, which is where the train to Kleine Scheidegg departs from. Before reaching this station, you want to cross a bridge and continue to follow the signs. These signs should start taking you up the valley through some scattered buildings and offer you a beautiful view on the Grindelwald valley.

Looking back towards Grindelwald

After about 1-1.5 hours, I reached Brandegg station, where you cross the railway line and continue heading up. From here, there are several routes that you can choose to take to Kleine Scheidegg - I opted for one of the longer options. This route took me up steep terrain through alpine fields and forest, where I saw numerous animals, such as jays, buzzards and roe deer.

As the sun gradually rose higher in the sky, I had to take more and more stops to rehydrate and rest my legs. During the whole first part of this walk I only saw two other people and this was at the end of August! Eventually, I finally reached a point where I could see Kleine Scheidegg and rejoin civilisation!

Appreciating the view before making the final ascent to Kleine Scheidegg

Once I arrived in Kleine Scheidegg at an elevation of 2,060m, I easily mixed in with the other tourists and hikers... There was a lot of them. It took me about 3.5 hours to reach Kleine Scheidegg from Brandegg station, so about 4-4.5 hours to reach Kleine Scheidegg from Grindelwald in total (with multiple breaks of course!). This was definitely the hardest part of the walk!

I took a nice long break here, sitting on one of the picnic benches in front of one of the restaurants. After that, I spent ages looking for a water fountain and eventually a nice, old man gave pity on me and told me where it was. It's located on the far side of the train station near the toilets and according to the nice, old man, it's the best alpine water there is and I don't disagree! After replenishing my water supplies, I was on my way again.

Looking down towards Kleine Scheidegg whilst hiking up to the Eiger Glacier

The next leg of this hike was to Eigergletscher, a beautiful glacier. This part is entirely uphill and will likely be more crowded that the hike up to Kleine Scheidegg. On the way up to the glacier, there is an artificial lake, Fallbodensee, which has stones with names engraved in them to commemorate the people that have died climbing the Eiger North Wall.

It took me about 1 hour to reach the train station next to the glacier. The glacier used to extend all the way down to the hiking path but it has reduced in length by over a kilometre since the 1970s. If you don't feel like walking up to see the glacier, then it is possible to walk to Wengen via a slightly different route, which follows the railway line.

The trail leading up to Eigergletscher from Kleine Scheidegg

Fallboden Lake seen while en route to Eigergletscher from Kleine Scheidegg

The Eiger Glacier

After admiring the view at Eigergletscher, you should follow the path along a narrow ridge along the side of the mountain. This part wan't very well signposted as I think people aren't encouraged to go this way but it was less crowded and much more scenic than following the train tracks. This path takes you downhill for about an hour and eventually you meet the main path that follows the train tracks. Continue down this path, which takes you down the mountainside and eventually you will meet a road that takes you into Wengen.

Just before you reach the centre of Wengen, there is a turning with a footpath sign to Lauterbrunnen. At this point, you can either decide to head to the centre of Wengen or skip the centre and continue to Lauterbrunnen. It took me about 2 hours to reach Wengen from Eigergletscher and at this point my feet were really starting to hurt, so I personally chose to see the centre of Wengen and stop for a break before returning to the signpost and continuing to Lauterbrunnen.

The narrow path following the ridge next to Eigergletscher

Looking down the mountainside towards Wengen

Finally, the last leg of the hike! This part only took about 45 minutes to 1 hour to complete and is entirely downhill but be warned, it's quite tough on the knees, especially after a day of hiking already. This path is easy to follow and takes you down a road before leading onto a track that zig zags down the mountainside. As you decent into the Lauterbrunnen valley you get a beautiful view of the village and nearby waterfalls, giving you that final burst of motivation to finish! After about 8 hours of hiking you should have finally made it into Lauterbrunnen at an elevation of 830m!

Despite feeling exhausted after a day of hiking, I decided to walk to the nearest waterfall before catching the train back to Interlaken. The train to Interlaken took about 20 minutes from Lauterbrunnen and if you're returning to Bern, it will take about 1 hour and 20 minutes.

If you still have a lot of energy and time left in the day then it's possible to follow a path along the Lütschine River into Interlaken, which should take about 3 hours to complete.

The village of Lauterbrunnen

Staubbach Falls towering behind Lauterbrunnen Church

WHAT TO BRING/WEAR

If you're new to hiking then here's a basic list of some things you might want to bring:

• Lots of water even though there are a few places to fill up on the way

• Lunch and snacks - Switzerland is expensive, so its best to save money by having a packed lunch

• Proper sturdy walking boots - you don't want to twist an ankle whilst hiking in the mountains

• A walking partner - I did this hike alone but it's generally not recommended to hike in the mountains alone but it's not so much of a problem here as there are lots of people hiking the same route; however, there were some areas where there was no one around

• Sunscreen, even on a cloudy day! Up in the mountains you'll burn much more easily even on a cloudy day

• A map will be useful if you're worried about getting lost!

• Obviously don't forget other essentials, such as ID, money and train tickets etc.

The view whilst walking up to Eigergletscher

From the mountains to alpine meadows to the forests, this hike was full of diverse landscapes. All in all, I absolutely loved this hike! It took me about 8 hours in total, including lots of rest breaks. Yes, it was exhausting at times but the views made it so so worth it! My only regret is that I was too tired to properly explore each village I passed through. However, either way I definitely recommend this hike to anyone as I think it allows you to see some of the more hidden sides of the country but even if you're not up for hiking then there's always the option of getting the train. Either way, you still get to appreciate the beauty Switzerland has to offer.