Trip report by BestHike editor Rick McCharles
Click PLAY or get a glimpse of my June hike on YouTube.
I hiked the Jungfrau region right in 2009, wild camping 3 days, 2 nights across the face of the mountains. A surprising highlight for me on that adventure was descending down into Lauterbrunnen.
In fact, this unique U-shaped valley, (German: Lauterbrunnental), is what I remember most fondly. In places the cliff walls are up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high. It’s very popular with all the action sports where people jump off cliffs. 😀
On this trip I walked the valley 3 times. Back and forth in the evening. Then next day as part of my major hike. Lovely.
Camping Jungfrau near town. An excellent campground.
There are no bad hikes out of Lauterbrunnen. But I did one version of what’s probably the most popular. Lauterbrunnen ➙ Mürren ➙ Gimmelwald ➙ Stechelberg ➙ and back down the valley to Lauterbrunnen. A loop. You could do it in either direction.
There are many ways to do it. I took the cable car up to Grütschalp, to start.
There are terrific views of the Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau, and many other high peaks from up on those cliffs.
Tourists are all happy here. All impressed that the culture is being somewhat preserved. Farmers are working as they have been for hundreds of years.
I was surprised too that it’s quite possible to find spots with no people. Huge trees.
There are dozens of impressive waterfalls. I liked best Staubbach Falls, close to the village of Lauterbrunnen.
This area has 136 days of rain or snow per year. Be prepared. Sunny. blue sky in the morning can develop into a serious lightning storm in the afternoon.
