Lauterbrunnen
Lobhornhütte
Take a hike and enjoy marvelous views of the Eiger, the Monk and the Jungfrau from the other side of the valley
Bern region Lauterbrunnen
Lauterbrunnen
Plan
Plan your trip
A handcrafted itinerary for Lauterbrunnen.
SleepFind your stay
A short, curated list. None of them a chain.
GuidesFollow a route
Hand-curated, walked before written.
Lauterbrunnen sits in a valley in the Bern Region, about twenty minutes by train from Interlaken and directly beneath the Jungfrau massif. Sheer limestone walls run nearly the full length of the valley floor, carved by glaciers into the U-shape the site is known for.
Seventy-two waterfalls drop from these cliffs, giving the village its name: Lauter Brunnen, loud springs. The village sits at 802 metres, a base for reaching the car-free mountain villages of Wengen and Mürren, both part of the same municipality, and for the rail and cable car network that climbs toward Kleine Scheidegg, the Schilthorn and the Jungfraujoch.
Things worth slowing down for
A few of our favourite spots in Lauterbrunnen.
Lauterbrunnen
Trümmelbachfälle
Lauterbrunnen
Schilthorn
Walk in the footsteps of James Bond
What makes Lauterbrunnen slow travel perfect
Lauterbrunnen is the valley floor from which everything else in the region is measured. Stand almost anywhere in the village and the Staubbach Fall is visible, dropping 297 metres over the rock face west of the church, one of the highest free-falling waterfalls in Switzerland. Walk south along the valley and the sound changes: the Mürrenbach Fall plunges 750 metres in five cascades, the tallest waterfall in the country, tucked out of sight near Stechelberg. Inside the mountain itself, the Trümmelbach Falls carry glacier meltwater from the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau through a series of chambers cut into the rock, ten falls in total, reached by a short tunnel and lift.
None of this needs an itinerary. The valley is narrow enough to walk end to end in an afternoon, past hay barns and timber chalets, with a rail line running alongside for whenever walking is enough. Wengen and Mürren, reached by cogwheel railway and cable car, keep cars out altogether. What Lauterbrunnen offers is proximity: waterfalls at eye level, glaciers a cable car ride away, and a valley floor quiet enough to hear all 72 of them at once.