Berner Alpen Things to Do Tips by globetrott Top 5 Page for this destination

Mystery World in Interlaken closed down now !

Mystery-World in Interlaken was closed in 2006,
maybe for-ever...
I will leave the information here anyway,
maybe they open again...
maybe you had the idea to go there...
__________________________________________One of the modern attractions in Berner Alpen is "Mystery World" in Interlaken. Decide for yourself, wether "Mystery World" is a place that you would like to go or not . The entrance-fee is 48 sfr - I rather go to one of the mountains around Interlaken instead ! maybe it makes sense to go there on a rainy day...
I have not been inside Mystery World, simply because I think that Erich von Daeniken has funny theories without any historic fact behind of them. He still believes in exterritorical visits even in places, where the corn-fields had certain patterns a few years ago, and finally science found out that this was just a joke by some people.... and while the newspapers kept telling us , that human beeing never would find a way to make such giant patterns, 2 elderly men finally revealed that they could be done by a long rope that was turned around the centre like a pair of compasses and walking around without leaving any traces was easy by stilts....
BUT there seems to be a big market for such "Mysteries" today, and "Mystery World" helps a lot to fill some of the hotel-beds even out of season.

The "Mystery park" is open daily 10.00a.m. - 06.00p.m.
the entrance-fee is 48 sfr / 32 Euro per person
after 03.30 p.m. the entrance-fee is 28 sfr / 18 Euros !
for the carpark you pay 5 sfr per day.

On my pictures : One of the "mysteries" that happened to me on top of Rothorn, when a butterfly landed on my fish-eye-lens and decided to spend there several minutes. When you click on my pictures, you may as well reveal the secret of my wide-angle photography : It is a Danubia-lens for 98 Euros and you simply hold it in front of any lens and the angle of the photo will be doubbled.

Address: CH-3800 Interlaken - Obere Bönigstrasse 10

Directions: Mystery World is in "Matten" - a part of Interlaken between Interlaken-West-station and Boenigen. When you drive on the highway it has the same exit as Interlaken Ost !

Other Contact: %B%CB%S2Fax+41-(0)33-827-57-58

Phone: +41-(0)848-50-60-70

Hoehematte in Interlaken

Hoehematte is the central meadow in Interlaken, opposite of the Grandhotel Viktoria Jungfrau and it is quite unique in Europe how it could happen that no buildings were placed at this very best piece of land :
At the end of 19th century the owner of Grand Hotel Victoria Jungfrau had given the big meadow in front of his hotel as a gift to the town of Interlaken, and sentenced, that this very big field never will be changed, never put houses on it, or alter anything for a longer time. - Sometimes they have a circus or fair there, and have to remove some stones or a bit of ground - afterwards it will always be restored originally again.And so most of all hotels in Interlaken can offer their guests the famous JUNGFRAU-BLICK - the view on the famous mountain(s)
recently Hoehematte became the favorite place to land for paragliders, who sart their flights at Harder Kulm and will be landing directely on the Hoehematte opposite of the hotel Jungfrau Viktoria. A bus takes them home again.

Directions: You cannot miss Hoehematte, it is opposite of Hotel Viktoria Jungfrau, along the street between interlaken Ost and Interlaken West-stations.

Brienz - lovely houses in Brunngasse

Brienz is full of lovely wooden buildings and there is a special small street that consists only of such treasures :
Brunngasse is one of the most important sights, Brienz is famous for since plenty of centuries already : It's wooden houses - many of them are hundreds of years old and they saw celebrities like Lord Byron , Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Ludwig Uhland and many others, who visited Brienz and stayed there for some time. All of the houses in Brunngasse are still inhabited by ordinary people, so be carefull, when walking through it.
You may walk through Brunngasse freely and without restrictions, cartrafic is allowed there only for the few people who are living there.

It sounds a bit strange, BUT please be careful :
At certain times (whenever there is FÖN - a warm wind )
it is forbidden to smoke in these streets in Brienz !!!

Directions: Brunngasse is a narrow street not far from the west-end of Brienz , and it consists only of wooden houses dating back to the 16th century. Car-trafic is forbidden there, except for the people living in that street

Website: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/1ffe4/a90f4/

Meiringen - a lot more than Sherlock Holmes

Meiringen is mainly well known for its museum about Sherlock Holmes and lots of people also go there for Aareschlucht. But Meiringen has to offer a lot more because it has still plenty of old wooden houses and an interesting medieval church with a seperate Campanile / belfry and so it makes sense to take a little walk. Next to the church you will see some of the most beautiful houses with lovely balconies, full of flowers. Meiringen is not full of tourists like Brienz, Interlaken or Lauterbrunnen, you will rather see hiking-tourists there or skiers in wintertime. Do not expect a fancy nightlife, but at least they have a cinema ! (in the street that leads from the station to the big church.

Directions: Meiringen has its own train-station and a good street from Brienz, when you arrive by your own car.

Giessbach - scenic waterfalls & a Grandhotel

Giessbach waterfalls and the old, romantic Grandhotel Giessbach might be a great day-excursion from Interlaken or any other place in Berner Alpen. It might be the best to combine it with a visit of Brienz, that is to be found at the opposite bank of Brienzersee. It is certainly the best to get there by ship on Brienzersee, because the road to Giessbach is really quite narrow and also a bit dangerous with oncoming trafic, because only at a very few places 2 cars may pass by each other.
When you arrive by ship you may take a little walk of 15 minutes or take the funicular to the Grandhotel Giessbach, where the most interesting parts of the cascades of Giessbach-falls start. There is a path along these scenic waterfalls and you may even step behind of the water-fall and look down to the hotel.
Giessbachfaelle and also the Grandhotel make a perfect half-day-excursion, maybe in connection with Bramisegg - a traditional restaurant, well known for its cheese-specialities - at a walking-distance of 1 hour (Monday+Tuesday the restaurant is closed)

Address: CH-3855 Brienz - Giessbach

Directions: You may take the ship & funicular or take a walk of 15 minutes. Also the bus from Brienz to Axalp has a stop close to Giessbach. In case that you like to drive on the narrow road to Giessbach, you better check the timetable of the oncoming bus !!

Other Contact: %B%CB%S4Fax:+41(0)33 952 2530

Phone: +41 (0)33 9522525

Website: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/1ffe4/a8e84/

Ballenberg - a museum-village in Berner Alpen

The open-air-museum of Ballenberg in Brienz is another great place to go, while on vacation in Berner Alpen. It is a great museum with more than 90 buildings, that were originally built in various other parts of Switzerland, these mostly wooden buildings had been rebuilt in small groups, so you have a small village of Bernese houses, a village from Ticino etc.
It is amazing to see the differences in style and details and all of the farmhouses still have pigs, cows, horses, geese etc. and during the day most of the buildings are open for the visitors and you may watch the staff of Ballenberg, when they work on the farms like in the old times, when they were producing their own baskets, made wood-carvings, weaving, spinning the wool, baking bread or making cheese etc. There is also a blacksmith you may watch, or you may have a meal in one of the various traditional inns.
From the Brienz train-station there is a bus taking you to the Ballenberg-museum. Walking-time from the station is about 25 minutes. When you arrive by car : follow the sign-posts at the east-end of Brienz !

Ballenberg is open daily May-October : 10.00a.m.-05.00p.m.
the entrance-fee during opening times is 16 sfr / 10 Euros !
besides these times you may walk around on your own without entrance-fee !!
There is a really large parking at the entrance - free of charge !!
and also several lockers for small luggage !
...and psst : this quiet parking is a perfect place to spend the night in your motorhome free of charge !!
BUT illegally of course !!! :-))

Address: CH-3855 Brienz - Ballenberg

Directions: Ballenberg is in the north-east of Brienz. Follow the sign-posts at the east-end of Brienz and keep in mind that there are several gates.From the Brienz train-station there is a bus to Ballenberg. Walking-time from the station is about 25 minutes.

Other Contact: %B%CB%S4Fax+41(0)33 952 10 39

Phone: +41(0)33 952 10 30

Website: http://www.ballenberg.ch/

Wengen - a carfree village in Berner Alpen

Wengen makes another good day-trip, when you stay for some time in the Berner Alpen. Wengen is (besides the hamlet of Muerren) the 2nd of the larger car-free-villages of the area around Interlaken. This small village is situated at the sunny mountain-terrace several hundred meters above Lauterbrunnen, and the cog-railway needs about 15 minutes to get there through several tunnels and a steep & winding track.
Wengen is a lot bigger than Lauterbrunnen and Muerren, and it also has plenty of large hotels. The best about Wengen is the closer view of Eiger, Moench & Jungfrau that you may enjoy from almost every hotel.
About 300 meters from the train-station you may take the cablecar to Maennlichen - from there you may take a hike to Kleine Scheidegg and even to Grindelwald (a full-day-tour).
Wengen and the Maennlicher are also well known by the famous "Lauberhorn-race", one of the traditional skiing-events in Switzerland.The only way you may get to Wengen is by train from Lauterbrunnen - or from Grindelwald via Kleine Scheidegg ! There is NO public road to Wengen !!

Directions: You have to take the train from Lauterbrunnen or you take a hike from Maennlichen in order to get to Wengen.

Website: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/1ffe4/a869c/

Muerren - a carfree hamlet in Berner Alpen

Muerren is a small car-free hamlet, about 25km south of Interlaken, and it makes a perfect day-excursion from Interlaken or any other place in Berner Alpen ! Muerren is situated high above the Lauterbrunnen-valley in a hight of 1650 meters. There is NO public road up the mountains there, and ONLY a few local people may use their cars in Muerren. That fact makes the village of Muerren even more interesting and a perfect place for a quiet vacation and great area to go skiing or hiking there. When you go up from Lauterbrunnen by cablecar and train you will realize that all goods have to be taken up by these means of transportation - a fact that is responsible for extra-high prices in Muerren !!
Muerren is also the place where the cablecar to Schilthorn is leaving and where you may take the funicular to Allmendhubel.
More infos and pics about how to get to Muerren - please take a look at my transportation-tip !!

Address: Muerren

Directions: The total ride from Lauterbrunnen to Gruetschalp and from Gruetschalp to Muerren takes about 35 minutes and it allows even a short photostop at the platform on Gruetschalp !

Staubbach-falls in Lauterbrunnen

Staubachfall is another attraction in the Berner Alpen, in a distance of just 500 meters to walk from the trainstation in Lauterbrunnen. The water falls down there in a single fall more than 300 meters - Staubbach-falls are even illuminated at night.
You may see this waterfall best, when you get up or down the cable-car from Muerren or from the train to Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg.
Next to the waterfalls is a large parking ( and of course you have to pay there !) and you may walk to the falls free of charge, BUT the Staubachfalls certainly look best from a big distance, like on my pictures !!

Address: Lauterbrunnen

Directions: Staubbachfalls are rather close to the train-station of Lauterbrunnen, walking there takes just about 10 minutes.

Truemmelbach-fall in Lauterbrunnen

The Truemmelbach-fall in Lauterbrunnen is quite a polpular sight in the Berner Alpen.They are certainly worth a half-day-trip, when you stay in Interlaken or any other place in the Berner Alpen and you may easily combine it with excursions to Wengen, Muerren or Jungfraujoch. These waterfalls are quite unique and they are also listed as a UNESCO-World-heritage: You may take an elevator up the mountain and you may see there 10 glacier-waterfalls INSIDE the mountain - a long path will lead you to the most spectacular places.
These waterfalls alone are draining the Eiger, Moench & Jungfrau-glaciers at this side of the mountains - 20.000 litres of water per second will rush through these cascades, everything is wet and hazy inside the mountain, but not at all slippery, all of the tunnels are lighted well, and you might need about 1 hour to see and enjoy everything !
The entrance-fee for the Truemmelbach-falls is 10 Sfr. and includes the ride on the lift, that takes you up the mountain, BUT you still have to step up many steps in order to get to the highest point. Make sure you step down all the way to the entrance-gate, otherwise you will miss some of the best waterfalls !!

Sorry, this place is NOT accessible for handicapped tourists !!
The lift just takes you to a higher place, where you may see the falls ONLY, when you are able to climb up hundreds of additional steps !!
The Truemmelbach-Falls are open April - November
daily between 09.00a.m. and 05.00p.m.
in July & August : 08.00a.m. - 06.00p.m. !!
The car-parking there is free of charge !!

Address: Lauterbrunnen - Truemmelbach - Fall

Directions: Truemmelbach-Faelle are about 3 km south of the village of Lauterbrunnen, the local bus will take you there (direction Stechelberg!) It takes about 30 minutes to walk there !

Website: http://www.truemmelbach.ch/