Swiss Alps Winter Sports Hub: Skiing Grindelwald, Wengen & Mürren from Interlaken

Interlaken sits in a flat green gap between two lakes, with no ski lift of its own, yet it is one of the most practical bases for skiing the Jungfrau Region. From here, regional trains reach Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren in 20 to 45 minutes, and a single lift pass opens up roughly 200 kilometres of pistes beneath the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau. You trade the slopeside doorstep for lower prices, more restaurants and easy rail connections. This guide covers how to make that trade work.

Why Interlaken Works as a Ski Base

Interlaken has a split personality. In summer it is a paragliding and canyoning capital crowded with visitors. In winter it exhales. The pace slows, the Höhematte meadow in the middle of town turns brown or white, and you find locals in the cafés rather than tour groups. It is a good place to come home to after a day at altitude, because it has things to do that have nothing to do with skiing.

The town is small enough to understand in an afternoon, and the neighbourhoods are distinct:

• Interlaken West is the commercial centre. The Höheweg, a broad promenade, runs from the West station toward the grand Belle Époque hotels and the Höhematte, with the Jungfrau framed at the end of it on clear days. Most restaurants, supermarkets and ski rental shops are within a ten-minute walk.
• Interlaken Ost is the transport hub for the mountain railways. The Berner Oberland Bahn (BOB) to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen departs from here, and the Harder Kulm funicular is a short walk away. Hotels near this station save you the most time on ski mornings.
• Unterseen lies across the Aare river and has the old-town feel Interlaken’s main strip lacks: wooden chalets, a covered bridge, a small church square and quieter streets for dinner.



• Matten and Aarmühle are residential and budget-friendly. Several hostels and mid-priced guesthouses are here, and both are close to the Ost station.

Three Villages, Three Personalities

The Jungfrau Region is not one resort but three, and choosing which to ski first shapes your trip. Day-tripping from Interlaken lets you sample all of them.

Grindelwald: The Big, Lively Gateway

At about 1,034 metres, Grindelwald is the largest village and the easiest to reach from Interlaken, roughly 35 minutes on the BOB train. It stretches along a valley directly under the Eiger’s north face, which looms over the main street. The long Eiger Express gondola, which opened in 2020, runs from the Grindelwald Terminal station to the Eigergletscher, cutting the trip to about 15 minutes. From the village you can also ride the First gondola or the Männlichen cable car.

Grindelwald has the most après-ski of the three, a mix of tiny bars, hotel terraces and a couple of lively spots near the station. It is also the most visibly touristed, with souvenir shops and watch stores lining the main road. Think of it as the practical choice: the most terrain access, the most services and the least effort to reach.

Wengen: Car-Free and Race-Famous

Wengen sits on a sun-catching terrace at 1,274 metres above the Lauterbrunnen valley. It has no road access, so you arrive by the Wengernalpbahn cog railway from Lauterbrunnen, a ride of about 15 minutes. The village is quiet, traditional and slightly old-fashioned in a way that feels deliberate. English visitors have been coming since the late nineteenth century, and a tea-and-cake culture lingers.

Wengen is the home of the Lauberhorn race, the longest downhill on the World Cup circuit, and the village treats it as a local holiday. From Interlaken, it is a longer commute than Grindelwald: train to Lauterbrunnen, then the cog railway up. Count on about an hour door to door, which is fine for a day but a reason to consider sleeping up here for a night or two.

Mürren: The High Balcony

Mürren is the smallest, highest and most dramatic. At 1,638 metres, it perches on a cliff ledge facing the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau across the valley. It is also car-free, reached by cable car from Stechelberg or by a cable car and short train combination from Lauterbrunnen. Allow about 50 minutes to an hour from Interlaken.

Mürren is the birthplace of modern slalom racing and has a pronounced British ski heritage. The Kandahar club was founded here in the 1920s, and Arnold Lunn organised some of the first modern slalom races on these slopes. Today it is a calm, steep-sided village with fewer than 500 residents, a handful of lodgings and views that justify the trip on their own. If Grindelwald is the gateway and Wengen the village, Mürren is the mountaintop retreat.

On the Snow: Lifts, Runs and Race Legends

The ski region divides into three connected or semi-connected areas, and understanding the layout before you buy a pass saves plenty of confusion.

Grindelwald-Wengen is a single, linked ski area that forms the heart of the region. Its two valleys meet at Kleine Scheidegg, a mountain pass at 2,061 metres where the railway from Grindelwald and the one from Wengen join. From there, long intermediate pistes drop in both directions. The Männlichen cable car (2,343 metres) provides high-altitude starting points, and the run from Männlichen down toward Wengen is a wide, pleasant cruise. Higher-level skiers will want to try the Lauberhorn itself, which is a groomed piste for most of the season, although the section known as the Hundschopf and the fast Haneggschuss are best left alone unless you are comfortable at speed.

First is the third corner of the Grindelwald side. The First gondola reaches 2,168 metres and serves a sunny, east-facing bowl above Grindelwald. The area is good for intermediates and families, with a long run all the way down to the village, wide cruising slopes and a handful of rustic huts. Its snowfall is usually reliable at the top but can be thin in the final stretch to the valley late in the season.

Mürren-Schilthorn is a separate area, not linked to Grindelwald or Wengen on the snow, so you pick one side or the other for a given day. Its signature is the Schilthorn peak at 2,970 metres, which is reached by cable car and home to the revolving Piz Gloria restaurant used in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The skiing here has fewer lifts, more variety and a higher proportion of steeper terrain than the Grindelwald-Wengen area. It also hosts the Inferno race, one of the oldest amateur ski races in the world, which has run since 1928 and covers a course of about 15 kilometres from the Schilthorn to Lauterbrunnen. A section of that route known as the Kanonenrohr, or “cannon barrel,” is a famously narrow, fast chute.

Roughly speaking:

• Beginners will find the gentlest terrain at Kleine Scheidegg, around Wengen and on the lower First slopes. Grindelwald has several ski schools with English-speaking instructors.
• Intermediates are best served here overall. The Männlichen-Wengen run, the First slopes and the long descents from Kleine Scheidegg are pure cruising pleasure.



• Experts should plan a Mürren day for the Schilthorn, then consider booking a mountain guide for off-piste. This region has serious high-alpine terrain, and avalanche risk is real. Never go off-piste without a guide, beacon, probe and shovel.

The regional ski pass covers all three areas. Day passes for adults usually run roughly $90 to $110 depending on the date, with multi-day passes bringing the daily rate down and lower prices for children. Check current pricing before you go, as it shifts each season.

Off the Skis: Sledding, Winter Walks and the Top of Europe

A good portion of the region’s winter visitors do not ski at all, and a ski trip here suits mixed groups. Rest days are easy to fill.

Sledding is a Swiss institution. Grindelwald has a long run from the First area down toward Bort and the village, and another from Bussalp, reachable by bus from the village. Wengen and Mürren also have sled runs. You can rent a sled at the top, often at the lift station, and take the same lift down at the end. A simple warm layer and waterproof trousers are enough, and a headlamp is useful if you stay for an evening run.

Winter hiking trails are groomed and signposted across the region. The most popular starts at First and follows a flat path to the Bachalpsee, a lake that freezes into a white field with the Wetterhorn and Schreckhorn behind it. The walk takes about an hour each way, and conditions are usually fine in normal footwear with good grip. Check with the lift station for trail status that day. Mürren has its own panoramic loops, and the paths around Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg are among the easiest.

The Jungfraujoch, known as the Top of Europe, is the high-altitude railway station at 3,454 metres, reached by the Jungfrau Railway through a tunnel inside the Eiger and Mönch. The Eiger Express gondola has shortened the journey from Grindelwald. Your trip includes an ice palace, a viewing terrace over the Aletsch Glacier and a panorama that can disappear into cloud. The ticket is expensive, often more than $200 from Interlaken, so pick a day with a clear forecast and check the webcams before committing.

Harder Kulm, the viewpoint above Interlaken, operates in winter and makes a good half-day. A funicular climbs steeply from near the Ost station, and the platform at the top looks over both lakes with the three big peaks in the distance. It is best late afternoon, when the light on the mountains turns pink.

What and Where to Eat

The cooking in this part of Switzerland is built for cold weather, and a day on skis justifies it. Expect cheese, potatoes, cream and meat, all in generous portions. A few dishes worth hunting down:

• Rösti, the fried grated potato cake, served plain or topped with cheese, bacon or an egg. It is the classic mountain lunch.
• Fondue, usually a cheese blend of Gruyère and Vacherin, eaten with bread. Locals mostly eat it in the evening and often skip dessert.
• Älplermagronen, a rich combination of pasta, potatoes, cheese and cream, served with apple sauce on the side. It sounds odd and tastes excellent.
• Berner Platte, a heavy platter of sausages, smoked pork and sauerkraut, a regional dish that suits a hungry crowd.
• Meringue with double cream, a dessert so simple it is almost embarrassing, and surprisingly hard to stop eating.

Rugenbräu, brewed in Interlaken, is the local beer, and you will see it on almost every menu in the region. Locals also drink Swiss white wine, often Fendant from the Valais, with cheese.

On the mountain, some of the best meals come from the huts and station restaurants. Bort and the huts around First serve hearty lunches with terraces facing the Eiger. At Kleine Scheidegg, the station restaurants are busy but atmospheric, with trains clanking in outside. Berghaus Männlichen has a sun terrace on the Wengen side. In Mürren, the Rotstockhütte is a favourite for a long lunch. Mountain prices are higher than in town, so a plate of rösti may run around $25 and a fondue closer to $35 to $40 per person.

In Interlaken, dinner options are broader than in the villages. The Höheweg and its side streets hold Swiss restaurants, Indian places (a result of the city’s long relationship with Indian tourism), Italian trattorias and casual pubs. Confiserie Schuh on the Höheweg is a long-established confectioner and café, good for a coffee and pastry between train connections. Unterseen, across the river, tends to have quieter and more local places. Supermarkets such as Coop and Migros are near both stations and are useful for picking up picnic lunches, which can save money over mountain prices.

Getting Around: Trains, Cable Cars and Daily Timing

Public transport in the Jungfrau Region is superb, and you do not need a car. In fact, a car is a liability. Wengen and Mürren are car-free, and parking in Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and Stechelberg fills up and costs money.

The basic network works like this:

1. Interlaken Ost to Grindelwald is a direct BOB train taking about 35 minutes. It runs roughly every half hour.



2. Interlaken Ost to Lauterbrunnen is a separate BOB branch of about 20 minutes. This is the gateway to both Wengen and Mürren.
3. Lauterbrunnen to Wengen is a cog railway of about 15 minutes. From Wengen it continues to Kleine Scheidegg and down to Grindelwald.
4. Lauterbrunnen to Mürren usually means a cable car up to Grütschalp followed by a short train along the cliff edge, or a bus to Stechelberg and the Schilthorn cableway from there.

Skis ride with you on the trains in racks or alongside your seat, and ski boots can be carried in a bag. Many visitors rent equipment in the villages rather than hauling it from Interlaken, and it makes sense to rent in the village where you start skiing each day, since shops sit right by the lifts.

The Swiss Travel Pass and the regional passes cover the BOB train between Interlaken and the villages, but ski lifts and upper mountain railways generally need the ski pass or a separate ticket. Work out whether a ski pass or a regional rail pass makes more sense before buying, because overlapping coverage is easy to pay for twice.

For timing, treat the first morning as a test. The BOB train to Grindelwald plus a gondola ride means you reach the slopes around 9:30 if you leave Interlaken at 8:30. Leave earlier on a powder day or a busy weekend. Plan to head back around 4 pm, and check the last train times before you go too far up the mountain. The final trains are not very late, and a missed connection in a car-free village means a pricey night.

Getting There: Airports and Arrival

The simplest route is via Zurich Airport. Trains from the airport station run to Bern and then on to Interlaken Ost, usually with one change at Bern or Spiez, and the journey takes roughly two hours and 15 minutes to two and a half hours. You can buy tickets at the airport station or use the Swiss Federal Railways app. Swiss trains run on the clock, and connections tend to be reliable.

Geneva Airport is a good alternative, particularly if you are combining the trip with a stay in French-speaking Switzerland. The rail trip takes about three and a half hours with a change at Bern or Lausanne. Basel and Bern airports are smaller, with fewer long-haul flights, though Bern is close to Interlaken by train at about an hour.

A couple of arrival notes. Interlaken has two stations, West and Ost, about 15 minutes apart on foot, and long-distance trains stop at both. Check which one your hotel is closer to before you arrive. Ost is better if you plan to catch the mountain trains first thing, while West is closer to the town centre. If you are travelling with lots of luggage, many hotels in the villages will arrange luggage transport from the station for a fee, and there is a luggage forwarding service within the Swiss rail system that allows you to send bags ahead.

Day Trips for Flat-Light Days

Alpine weather turns quickly. When cloud sits low across the lifts, flat light flattens the snow and makes skiing unpleasant, so it helps to have a backup plan. Interlaken’s position makes that easy.

• Lake Brienz and Giessbach Falls: A boat or train east along the lake brings you to the village of Brienz, known for woodcarving, and to the Giessbach waterfalls, which tumble down a wooded slope into the water. In winter, parts of the Giessbach area close, so check opening hours, but Brienz itself remains pleasant.



• Thun: At the western end of the other lake, Thun has a medieval castle above an old town with raised pavements and a river running through its centre. It is a half-hour train ride away and has good cafés and shops.
• Bern: The Swiss capital is about an hour by train. Its medieval arcaded streets, bears, bridges and the Aare river loop make it a rewarding city day when the weather is poor. Bern’s old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and its Christmas markets and winter lights add atmosphere in season.
• Lucerne: The scenic Luzern-Interlaken Express runs over the Brünig Pass, a trip of roughly two hours, passing lakes and pastures on the way. In Lucerne you can walk the Chapel Bridge, visit the lakeside promenade and stop for lunch in the old town.
• Kandersteg and the Oeschinensee: Reached via Spiez in about an hour, Kandersteg is a quiet valley village with a gondola up to the Oeschinensee, an alpine lake that freezes in winter. Sledding, snowshoeing and winter walking are all possible, and it makes a calm change from the busy Jungfrau slopes.

Note that Trümmelbach Falls, the glacier-fed waterfall inside the mountain at Lauterbrunnen, is closed in winter, and so are some of the high-season summer attractions such as Schynige Platte. Check status before building a plan around them. The Staubbach Falls in Lauterbrunnen village itself can freeze into impressive ice formations in cold spells.

When to Go, What It Costs and What to Avoid

The ski season generally runs from December to early April, though conditions vary. Late December and the February school holidays are the busiest and most expensive periods. January, and the first half of March, usually offer the best balance of snow and smaller crowds. The Lauberhorn races in Wengen take place in mid-January, bringing big crowds and booked-out hotels. The Inferno race in Mürren also takes place in January. Both events are worth seeing, but book accommodation well in advance if you plan to attend.

Interlaken has valley fog in winter. The town can sit under a grey lid for days while the mountains above are in brilliant sunshine, so a gloomy morning on the lakeside is not a reason to cancel your plans. Check the mountain webcams instead, and you may find clear skies above the cloud when you reach Wengen or Kleine Scheidegg.

As for budget, Switzerland is expensive, but Interlaken is the cheaper way to ski this region. A mid-range hotel in town can cost around $150 to $250 a night in the high season, while the same standard in Wengen or Mürren often runs higher. Hostels in Matten and near the Ost station cost far less and are popular with younger travellers. Ski rental for a day costs around $50 to $70 for a decent set, and you can often save on multi-day bookings. Add roughly $20 to $30 per day for local rail travel if you are not on a pass.

A few practical things to avoid:

• Don’t over-plan day one. Altitude, jet lag and gear fiddling will slow you down. Pick an easy area like Männlichen or First to start.
• Don’t skip the weather and avalanche bulletin. The Swiss avalanche service publishes daily reports, and lift staff can tell you which runs are closed.
• Don’t forget sun protection. At altitude, with snow reflection, sunburn is common even on cold days.

Explore more
Interlaken Adventure Sports Guide: Skydiving, Paragliding & Canyon Swing Operators Compared
Jungfraujoch & the Bernese Oberland Day Trips from Interlaken

📷 Featured image by allPhoto Bangkok on Unsplash.