The final bit up to Grindelwald or Wengen is by cog rail. The train is interminably slow, but it allows for fabulous photo ops. That’s because each village sits amidst some of the most spectacular scenery in Switzerland, now a UNESCO site because of the dramatic setting. Each are under the watchful eyes of the three sisters, Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. Grindelwald has the dramatically dynamic Eiger with its proverbial face and the sun’s rays change colors in its crevasses throughout the day. Car-free Wengen, just over from Grindelwald, sits above the precipitous Lauterbrunnen Valley with the 72 water falls cascading down its palisades year-round. The nature loving and mountaineering English discovered this pocket of Swiss beauty in the early 1900’s and have been coming back ever since – they’ve always known a good thing when they see it!
The first phase of the region’s V-Bahn lift complex will be ready for December 2019. The new high-speed Männlichen gondola, doubles capacity and connects picturesque Wengen and Grindelwald which also has a new train station. Next year the new Grindelwald/Eiger Glacier gondola will be completed. The region has 130 miles of trails with 45 lifts linking Grindelwald to the carless hamlets of Wengen and Mürren, across the Lauterbrunnen Valley. The interconnected areas are: First, Klein Scheidegg, Männlichen, and the Schilthorn. In Wengen for those willing to test their mettle against the world’s best racers, you can try the two and a half mile, 3,500 foot vertical Lauberhorn run. It is the longest, most difficult of all World Cup downhill races and in these days of many extreme skiers, the very steep, last 200 yards are
open to all.
