Switzerland · Bern & Bernese Oberland · Travel guide
What a week under the Eiger north face really costs in summer and winter, which mountain railway gives you which view, and why you take the First before 9 am.
Photo: Bryan Dijkhuizen / Pexels
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Estimates for orientation, not booking prices. Getting there means train or car from Switzerland, return, per person. Hotels vary strongly by season: current prices are behind the links below.
Money & payment: You pay in Swiss francs (CHF). Cards and the Twint app work practically everywhere, even on alpine pastures. Many shops accept euros but give change in francs at a poor rate. Service is included in prices; rounding up is customary. Getting there: By train (SBB) or car, 1 to 4 hours from Zurich.
Nine options in three price ranges, each among the best-rated on Booking.com.
Budget
Hostel down in the Grund, right next to the station and the valley stations of the Eiger Express and Männlichen lift. Dorms and double rooms, kitchen, bar, ski room. For skiers and hikers who want to be first in the cable car.
Youth hostel on the sunny Terrassenweg above the village with a direct Eiger view from the dining room, family rooms, breakfast included. Ten minutes uphill from the station, but the best view in the budget class.
Simple, clean hotel at the upper end of the village on the Obere Gletscherstrasse, a 15-minute walk from the First lift, plain rooms with balcony, breakfast included. No extras, but astonishingly cheap for a Grindelwald hotel with an Eiger view.
Mid-range
Family-run chalet hotel in a quiet spot on the Kirchbühl, five minutes above the village, with an Eiger view from almost every balcony, spa and a good restaurant. For anyone who wants peace in the evening and the north face in the window in the morning.
In the middle of the village on the Dorfstrasse, with restaurants, bar and a small wellness area. Rooms on the south side with Eiger view; it can get loud at night. For anyone who wants to stay central and go out in the evening.
Directly opposite the station, solid rooms, many with a balcony facing the Eiger, restaurant with Oberland cooking. Practical for arriving with luggage and for day trips by train, no frills.
Luxury
Traditional chalet-style house, family-owned for generations, with a large spa, indoor pool, gourmet restaurant and garden with Eiger view. For a Grindelwald in refined Oberland style, not in design.
High above the station, a family hotel in its fifth generation, with spa, pool and panorama terrace facing the Eiger and Wetterhorn. Rooms classic and generous; half board is worth it here.
New design resort from 2021 with residences and hotel rooms, rooftop infinity pool with a view of the north face, spa and two restaurants. For anyone who finds chalet romance too much wood.
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Gondola in 25 minutes up to 2,168 metres, at the top the Cliff Walk along the rock (free) and the hike to the Bachalpsee in an hour. CHF 72 return, Half Fare CHF 36, included in the Berner Oberland Pass. Go up before 9 am, half a day.
In 15 minutes from the Grund to Eigergletscher at 2,320 metres, right under the north face. From there the Eiger Trail to Alpiglen, two hours downhill along the foot of the wall, back by Wengernalp railway. CHF 64 return, Half Fare CHF 32. Four hours.
Gondola from the Grund up to 2,343 metres, Royal Walk to the summit in 20 minutes, then the almost level panorama path to Kleine Scheidegg in 90 minutes with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in front of your nose. CHF 68 return, Half Fare CHF 34, doable with a pushchair.
Walkways through a 100-metre-deep ravine at the end of the village, with the Spiderweb rope net above the river. Admission CHF 19, an hour, also in rain. May to October, by bus 122 or 20 minutes on foot from the station.
Small cable car up to 1,391 metres, at the top a toboggan run (CHF 7 per ride), Flyline and the path to the Bäregg hut with glacier view in 90 minutes. CHF 32 return, Half Fare CHF 16. The affordable family half-day.
On a cable 800 metres from First to Schreckfeld (Flyer CHF 31), then Mountain Cart to Bort (CHF 21) and Trottibike into the village (CHF 21), combination from CHF 70. With the First gondola a full day, from age 10, book early in summer.
By Eiger Express and Jungfrau railway from the Grund in 45 minutes up to 3,454 metres. Around CHF 210 return without discount, CHF 105 with Half Fare, reservation CHF 10. Only in clear visibility, four to five hours.
In winter, at 15 kilometres, the longest toboggan run in the Alps: walk up from First to the Faulhorn hut in two and a half hours, then descend to Grindelwald. Sledge hire CHF 15. Shorter and with a PostBus: Bussalp, eight kilometres.
A hundred kilometres of pistes between Männlichen, Kleine Scheidegg and Wengen, with the Lauberhorn World Cup downhill to ski yourself. Day pass online from CHF 75, up to CHF 90 at the desk, ski hire from CHF 45. December to April.
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Grindelwald eats what grows on the alps and what fills you up after a mountain day: alpine cheese, rösti, Älplermagronen, dried meat, plus meringues with cream. The mountain restaurants at the railways are expensive and busy, the restaurants in the village below the Dorfstrasse somewhat cheaper. A picnic with cheese from the herdsman is the best lunch in the region.
Hard cheese from the summer alps around the village, strong after a year, sharp after two. CHF 3 to 4 per 100 g directly at the alpine dairy, as a platter in a restaurant CHF 18 to 25.
Tip:Buy it on the alp and eat it at the Bachalpsee, that is the picnic you will not forget.
The staple of the mountain restaurants, golden brown from the iron pan, with bacon, cheese or a fried egg. CHF 22 to 28 on the mountain, CHF 20 to 24 in the village.
Tip:Rösti on the terrace at Kleine Scheidegg with the Eiger at your back is the classic, packed at lunchtime.
Alpine macaroni with potatoes, cream, alpine cheese and fried onions, with apple sauce. The warmest meal after a cold day, CHF 20 to 26.
Tip:One portion is enough after the hike, not before it.
The Oberland dessert from Meiringen, airy meringue with thick cream. CHF 9 to 14, often as a portion for two.
Tip:The Nidle must be Oberland cream, not from a spray can.
Air-dried beef, farmhouse bacon and wafer-thin shaved Bernese Hobelkäse as a platter for an apéro. CHF 22 to 30 as a platter for two.
Tip:As an apéro with a glass of Oberland beer from Rugenbräu in Interlaken.
In Grindelwald often served as "Fondue mit Alpkäse" with local cheese instead of Gruyère and Vacherin. CHF 28 to 42 per person, in the evening in almost every hotel restaurant.
Tip:In winter after the ski day; in summer it is too heavy.
Hearty barley soup with vegetables and bacon, in mountain restaurants often the cheapest hot dish. CHF 10 to 14 with bread.
Tip:With a piece of bread and alpine cheese, a lunch for CHF 15.
Through markets and eateries with a guide, tastings included.
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Grindelwald lies at a good 1,000 metres in a valley basin above which the north face of the Eiger rises 1,800 metres sheer, and this wall has shaped the history of the village. Walser and Oberland farmers settled here in the Middle Ages, Interlaken monastery held the manorial rights, and until the 18th century people lived from alpine farming and cheese. Then glaciers came into fashion: around 1850 the Lower and Upper Grindelwald glaciers reached almost down to the village, and English travellers came to touch the ice. The first inn opened in 1820, the Hotel Bär in 1850, and in 1890 the Bernese Oberland Railway brought guests straight into the village. In 1858 the Irishman Charles Barrington, with the Grindelwald guides Christian Almer and Peter Bohren, made the first ascent of the Eiger via the west flank, and Almer became the most famous mountain guide of his time. The Wengernalp railway to Kleine Scheidegg ran from 1893, the Jungfrau railway through the Eiger from 1912, the First lift, then the longest chairlift in Europe, from 1947. But the north face remained the "last problem of the Alps". In 1935 and 1936 eight climbers died on the face, among them Toni Kurz, who in 1936 froze to death hanging in the rope a few metres above his rescuers; the tragedy became a myth. On 24 July 1938 Anderl Heckmair, Ludwig Vörg, Heinrich Harrer and Fritz Kasparek climbed the face in three days. Today the record time is under three hours. The glaciers have retreated several kilometres since 1850, and the Lower Grindelwald Glacier can no longer be seen from the village. In 2020 the Eiger Express opened as the most expensive cable car in Switzerland, and Grindelwald, with around 3,800 inhabitants, counts more than a million overnight stays a year.
From Interlaken Ost the Bernese Oberland Railway runs every half hour to Grindelwald in 35 minutes; from Zurich you are there with one change in 2 hours 45, from Bern in 1 hour 30, from Basel in three hours. With a Half Fare Card a Zurich return costs around CHF 80 (about EUR 86), supersaver tickets from CHF 30 each way. Since 2020 there has been the Grindelwald Grund terminal with a station, car park (CHF 20 to 30 a day) and the valley stations of the Eiger Express and the Männlichen lift, so you can arrive there directly by car or train. By car from Zurich it is 2 hours 30, vignette CHF 40, with Saturday traffic jams from Interlaken in high season. In the village itself you need no car: the Dorfstrasse is two kilometres long, the mountain railways are at either end (First at the top of the village, Pfingstegg by the glacier gorge path, Eiger Express and Männlichen in the Grund), and the local bus is free with the guest card. For Wengen and Mürren you leave the car behind anyway, both are car-free. If you come by car, use it for the Grimsel and Susten passes or Lake Thun, not for the valley. With the Berner Oberland Pass (CHF 240 for three days with Half Fare) the Wengernalp railway to Kleine Scheidegg, Männlichen and First are included, and the Eiger Express still costs 50 per cent with the pass.
A mid-range double room costs CHF 180 to 260 (about EUR 193 to 278) in summer and winter, CHF 120 to 160 in the shoulder season. Grindelwald has two high seasons, and the hotels need booking three months ahead between Christmas and mid-March and in July and August; for Christmas and the February sports holidays, six months. Location makes the difference: the village centre between the station and the First lift has the restaurants, the Eiger view from the south-facing rooms and life in the evening. The Grund down in the valley is closer to the Eiger Express and Männlichen, but 100 metres lower and dead in the evening; skiers are right to stay there, hikers up top. Price trap "Eiger view": almost every house has one, and the CHF 30 to 60 supplement for the south side is only worth it if you want to eat breakfast on the balcony in the morning. You stay cheaper in holiday flats for four from CHF 180 a night, let from a week upwards, in the mountain lodges on First, Männlichen and Kleine Scheidegg (half board from CHF 120 per person, with sunrise without a train ride in return) or in Wilderswil down in the valley. The visitor tax of CHF 4 to 6 per night is not in the price and brings the guest card with local bus and discounts on the sports centre and some railways.
Grindelwald has four mountain railways, and the prices differ widely. First: CHF 72 return (about EUR 77) without discount, CHF 36 with Half Fare, free with the Berner Oberland Pass, Cliff Walk included. Eiger Express to Eigergletscher: CHF 64 return, CHF 32 with Half Fare, the fastest way to the Jungfraujoch (supplement around CHF 120 with Half Fare). Männlichen: CHF 68 return, Half Fare CHF 34. Pfingstegg: CHF 32 return, Half Fare CHF 16, the smallest and often the best railway for families. Without Half Fare and pass you easily pay CHF 250 per person for three mountain days, with both CHF 100. So: buy the Half Fare Card (CHF 190, also online for Germans and Austrians), do the pass maths, or walk one mountain, because from Bort to First is a two-and-a-half-hour hike and the descent costs only half. The Grindelwald-Wengen ski pass costs CHF 75 a day in online advance sale, CHF 80 to 90 at the ticket desk, six days for the whole Jungfrau Ski Region CHF 400 to 450; the dynamic prices are lowest in the second half of January and in March. Food in mountain restaurants: rösti CHF 24, soup CHF 12, beer CHF 7. The Coop in the village has everything for a picnic. The First activities (Flyer, Glider, Mountain Cart, Trottibike) cost CHF 20 to 35 each, CHF 70 to 100 as a combination; the Cliff Walk is free. In fog, do not buy a mountain railway ticket; go to the indoor pool or the glacier gorge instead.
Grindelwald is a year-round resort with two full and two empty periods. The hiking season runs from mid-June, when the high trails are free of snow, to mid-October; July and August are packed, with queues at First from 9.30 am and at the Eiger Express from 8.30 am. The best time is September to mid-October: clear air, autumn colours, warm days, cattle descents, hotels ten to twenty per cent cheaper. The ski season runs from early December to mid-April; the pistes lie between 1,000 and 2,500 metres, so snow-sure at the top, often brown at the bottom in March. Between Christmas and New Year and in the sports holidays (mid-February) everything is full and expensive; mid-January and March are quiet and cheap. In January the World Snow Festival brings snow sculptures to the village, in October there is the Grindelwald mountain run. The quiet times are mid-April to mid-June and mid-October to early December: many hotels and mountain railways close for weeks at a time for maintenance, First and Pfingstegg stand still, but you pay CHF 120 (about EUR 128) for a room and have the village to yourself. The north face itself is often most beautiful to look at in winter, because the air is clear; in summer clouds build up from midday, so go up the mountain in the morning and down to the valley in the afternoon.
First at 2,168 metres is the adventure railway: Cliff Walk along the rock (free, 20 minutes), the hike to the Bachalpsee in an hour (the postcard photo with the Schreckhorn in the water), the First Flyer and Glider on cables down the mountain, Mountain Carts and Trottibikes from Schreckfeld and Bort. In summer the busiest destination in the village; go up before 9 am and you have the Cliff Walk and Bachalpsee without a queue. The Eiger Express is a 3S cable car that floats from the Grund to Eigergletscher at 2,320 metres in 15 minutes, right under the north face; at the top begins the Eiger Trail down to Alpiglen, two hours along the foot of the wall, the best hike in the region, and the connection to the Jungfraujoch in 45 minutes. Männlichen at 2,343 metres has the classic triple view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau and the panorama path to Kleine Scheidegg, 90 minutes almost level, the most walked trail in Switzerland and doable with a pushchair; the Royal Walk to the summit takes 20 minutes. Pfingstegg at 1,391 metres is small, cheap and for families: summer toboggan run (CHF 7, about EUR 7.50, per ride), path to the glacier gorge and to the Bäregg hut with a view into the gorge of the Lower Grindelwald Glacier, 90 minutes up. Order for three days: Männlichen in the best weather, Eiger Express with the Eiger Trail, First early in the morning.
The glacier gorge at the end of the village (admission CHF 19, about EUR 20, bus 122 or 20 minutes on foot) leads on walkways a kilometre into a ravine with 100-metre walls and a spider's web of ropes above the river, an hour, also in rain. The climb to the Bäregg hut (1,775 metres, two and a half hours from Pfingstegg or from the village) shows you the retreat of the Lower Grindelwald Glacier with your own eyes and ends with rösti on the terrace. The Grosse Scheidegg is the pass to Meiringen: the PostBus goes up from Grindelwald in 40 minutes (CHF 15 with Half Fare), with a view back at the north face from the top and the hike to First along the high trail in two and a half hours, far emptier than from below. In winter Grindelwald is good without skis too: 80 kilometres of winter hiking trails, the toboggan run from the Faulhorn hut to Grindelwald is at 15 kilometres the longest in the Alps (walk up from First to the hut in two and a half hours, sledge hire CHF 15), Bussalp has a toboggan run with a PostBus up, and the ice rink in the sports centre is free with the guest card. The village of Wengen on the other side of Kleine Scheidegg is an hour away by Wengernalp railway and in January hosts the Lauberhorn race, the longest downhill in the World Cup; grandstand seats cost CHF 20 to 50, the atmosphere at the Hundschopf is free.
By train from Zurich in 2 hours 45 with a change at Interlaken Ost, from Bern in 1 hour 30, from Basel in three hours, Half Fare return from Zurich around CHF 80 (about EUR 86). By car 2 hours 30 from Zurich, parking at the Grund terminal CHF 20 to 30 a day. You do not need a car: village, railways and local bus are reachable on foot or with the guest card, and Wengen and Mürren are car-free. For the passes and Lake Thun it is practical.
Three to four days in summer: one day First with the Bachalpsee, one day Männlichen with the panorama path to Kleine Scheidegg, one day Eiger Express with the Eiger Trail or Jungfraujoch, one spare day for weather or the glacier gorge. In winter a week with a ski pass. Grindelwald also works as a base for Lauterbrunnen, Mürren and Interlaken, all under an hour away.
In summer for two people: seven nights mid-range (CHF 1,470), food (CHF 840), Berner Oberland Pass plus Jungfraujoch supplement (CHF 700), travel from Zurich with Half Fare (CHF 160), together around CHF 3,200 (about EUR 3,424), so CHF 1,600 per person. In winter add the ski pass at CHF 420 per person. With a hostel, picnics and one mountain day on foot it can be done for CHF 900 per person.
For the view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, Männlichen with the panorama path to Kleine Scheidegg. For adventure and families, First with the Cliff Walk, Bachalpsee and the Flyers. For mountaineering atmosphere and the best hike, the Eiger Express with the Eiger Trail directly under the north face. If you want the Jungfraujoch, you automatically take the Eiger Express. Pfingstegg is the cheap family railway for half a day.
Yes, with limitations. Grindelwald-Wengen offers 100 kilometres of pistes between 1,000 and 2,500 metres, mostly red and wide, with the Lauberhorn as the prestige run; together with Mürren-Schilthorn it is 200 kilometres. For experts it is less steep than Zermatt or St. Moritz; for families and leisurely skiers with a view it is ideal. The day pass costs CHF 75 to 90 (about EUR 80 to 96), and the location below 1,500 metres often means little snow at the bottom in March.
September to mid-October for hiking: stable visibility, autumn colours, fewer visitors and lower hotel prices. Mid-June to early July for alpine flowers and long days. For skiing mid-January and March, once the holiday weeks are over. July, August, Christmas and February are full and expensive. From mid-April to mid-June and mid-October to early December many railways and hotels are closed.
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