Route: Grütschalp to Gimmelwald via Mürren
Area: Lauterbrunnental, Switzerland
Date of walk: 17th June 2024
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 4.7 miles
Ascent: 600 feet
Weather: Mostly sunny, clouding over later on
From our base in Wengen we caught an early morning train down to Lauterbrunnen at the foot of the valley, using our Jungfrau Travel card. The ride on the Wengernalp cog railway is an adventure in itself. Making further use of our travel card we then took the cable car from Lauternbrunnen up to Grütschalp. From here there is a classic walk to Mürren, with a longer and higher mountain trail alternative which we planned to walk in the event that our route was too busy. The cable car was full and we feared that the path might be crowded, but to our relief almost everyone piled onto the train to Mürren and we had the lower path to ourselves
We set off in the direction of Mürren, following an easy track which gave us wonderful views across the Lauterbrunnen Valley. This is one of the best places to view the ‘big three’ mountains of Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau and we were lucky to see this wonderful spectacle in some good light
The path is never far from the railway line and getting lost would be impossible. All too soon we arrived in Mürren, a tourist trap as it’s the gateway to a James Bond themed exhibit on the nearby mountain of Schilthorn. We could have caught the train back to Grütschalp, but decided to extend the walk by continuing on to the village of Gimmelwald. This was an easy 30 minute walk down a quiet lane (Mürren and Gimmelwald are both traffic free). On arriving in the attractive village (1,400 metres above sea level) we made our way to the cable car station and descended to Stechelberg which we’d walked through a couple of days ago. From here we took the postbus back to Lauterbrunnen and the train up to Wengen to end a wonderful morning.
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From our base in Wengen we have a good view of today's route. We'll take the cable car from Lauterbrunnen to Grütschalp (right of picture above the gap in the trees), and from there we'll follow a path at the same level, going right to left. Our destination is out of sight. We hop on the train from Wengen to Lauterbrunnen...
View of the Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau from Grütschalp as we alight from the cable car to start our walk
The other passengers on the cable car took the train to Mürren instead of walking there, so we had the path to ourselves
We follow the easy path, which is never far from the railway line. An alternative higher path is to the right
Looking down to Lauterbrunnen
Looking across to Wengen and the Lütschental Valley
The Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau again
We continue along the easy path
Looking across the meadows towards Wengen
The Lauterbrunnen Valley below
Männlichen, where we walked yesterday, above Wengen
View across the meadows
The Jungfrau ahead
The Grütschalp to Murren railway line below
Wonderful views of the 'Big Three' - Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau
All too soon we arrive in Mürren. It would be possible to catch the train back to Grütschalp but we decided to extend the walk by continuing to Gimmelwald
We pass by the memorial to Sir Arnold Lunn
Looking across the Lauterbrunnen Valley
We walk out of Mürren
From here, the walk to Gimmelwald is all downhill and follows a quiet lane
Alpine meadows full of yellow rattle
The head of the Lauterbrunnen Valley below
Alpine meadows as we approch Gimmelwald
We walk through Gimmelwald...
Heading down to the cable car, which will take us back to Stechelberg and from there we'll take the Postbus to Lauterbrunnen and then the train back to Wengen
