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Where to Stay in the Swiss Alps: Interlaken, Grindelwald or the Valley

Hours, prices and access verified by the Swiss Alps Tours team — last checked 2026-09-26.

Pick your base by where your tour starts. Almost every guided day in the Jungfrau region meets in Interlaken, on the Höheweg or at the station. If you are booking a Swiss Alps tour, sleeping near the meeting point saves you an early train. If you want the mountains outside your window, the valleys are close enough.

Pick the base by where your tour starts

Start with the table. It shows each base, the tours that meet there, and the train time to Interlaken Ost, where most days begin. The times are the fastest trains on a weekday morning in October.

BaseTours that meet thereTo Interlaken Ost by train
InterlakenMost: the Höheweg shops and Interlaken Ost stationYou are there
LauterbrunnenThe valley hike and valley walk can pick you up22 minutes
GrindelwaldNone; you ride to Interlaken first36 minutes
WengenNone; you ride down to Lauterbrunnen37 minutes, 1 change
MürrenNone; you ride down to Lauterbrunnen50 minutes, 2 changes
LucerneThe coach day to Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen1 hour 48 minutes
ZurichThe Jungfraujoch, Titlis and four-countries days1 hour 57 minutes

Staying in Interlaken?

The Jungfraujoch day from Interlaken meets at a shop on the Höheweg, so you can walk from most hotels in town.

Check availabilitySee the meeting points

Interlaken: the easy choice for tours

Interlaken
Meeting points: Höheweg shops, Interlaken Ost
Trains: Direct from Bern, Basel, Lucerne and Zurich

Two stations, lakes on both sides, and the shortest walk to your guide.

Interlaken lies on the flat land between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. It has two stations, West and Ost, four minutes apart by train. Tours meet at the OUTDOOR shop on the Höheweg, at the paragliding shop further along it, or at the glass-cube info point outside Interlaken Ost. Stay anywhere between the two stations and you can walk to all of them.

The tandem flights land on the Höhematte, the big meadow in the middle of town. The tourist office is at Marktgasse 1, closed on Sundays. Interlaken is the base to pick if you plan more than one tour, or a tour plus a day on the trains.

Grindelwald: under the Eiger

Grindelwald
To Interlaken Ost: 36 minutes
Lifts on the doorstep: Eiger Express, First gondola

The village for walkers who want the north face in view at breakfast.

Grindelwald sits at the foot of the Eiger. The Eiger Express leaves from Grindelwald Terminal, 29 minutes from Interlaken Ost, and the First gondola from the village itself. No tour meets here, so on a tour day you ride down to Interlaken first. On a free day you are already at the foot of two lifts.

Lauterbrunnen: the valley floor

Lauterbrunnen
To Interlaken Ost: 22 minutes
Pickups: The valley hike and the valley walk

Waterfalls from your window, and trains up both sides of the valley.

Lauterbrunnen is the hub of its valley. Trains climb to Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg on one side, and a cable car and a train reach Mürren on the other. The valley hike and the valley walk can pick you up opposite the station, so you skip the ride from Interlaken. Staubbach Falls pours off the cliff behind the village.

Wengen and Mürren: car-free villages

Wengen, at 1,274 m, and Mürren, at 1,638 m, sit on shelves above the valley, one on each side. No public road reaches either one. You arrive by train or cable car, and the quiet is the point. Wengen is 11 minutes up from Lauterbrunnen by train. Mürren is 21 minutes by cable car and train.

The trade-off is time. From Mürren, Interlaken Ost is 50 minutes away with two changes, so a 7:30 meeting there means an early start. Pick these villages for slow days in the mountains, not for a string of tours.

Lucerne or Zurich as your base

You do not have to stay in the mountains at all. The Lucerne coach day and the Zurich days pick you up in the city. The Zurich days run 10 to 12 hours, because the drive takes most of the time. By train, Lucerne is 1 hour 48 minutes from Interlaken Ost on the direct train, and Zurich 1 hour 57.

A city base suits a short trip with one mountain day. For two or more, the travel adds up, and a night or two in Interlaken wins back the hours. The tours from Lucerne are on tours from Lucerne.

Where-to-stay questions

Is Interlaken or Grindelwald the better base?
Interlaken, if you are booking tours. Almost every Interlaken tour meets on the Höheweg or at Interlaken Ost, and Grindelwald is 36 minutes away by train.
Are Wengen and Mürren car-free?
Yes. No public road reaches either village, so you arrive by train or cable car. Leave the car in Lauterbrunnen or come by train.
Can I do the Jungfraujoch from Zurich without staying in the mountains?
Yes. The guided day from Zurich runs about 12 hours and carries the lifts. By train, Zurich to Interlaken Ost takes just under two hours each way.
Where do the valley walks pick you up?
At Interlaken Ost station, or opposite Lauterbrunnen station about half an hour later. A Lauterbrunnen base lets you sleep a little longer.

Where these facts come from

Tours to book from a valley base

Next: check train times on getting there, find your meeting point on the map, or compare every tour on Swiss Alps Tours.