If your heading to Lauterbrunnen there is not a great deal of choice in the tiny village. The main spots are the contiki camp at the bottom of the village or Crystal Bay Sports Hotel near the train station.
Now whilst it may not be comparable to other accommodations on the blog, the small family run hotel rooms are clean with fabulous views over the valley. You know when you get the brochure and the the view is nothing like the picture???? Well the view here is straight from one of those pictures - fantastic.
The room we stayed in was at the back of the hotel with a decent sized private bathroom on a high floor. Although the hotel is small, do not worry, it does have a small lift for those with heavy baggage. The room was large, light, airy and clean and the beds were comfortable with nice fresh linen.
The breakfast was a well stoked continental style with plenty on offer. The staff at the hotel were willing to try to accommodate requests for boiled eggs, cereals etc. for those not wanting the continental experience.
Lauterbrunnen is a very small town that is en route to Jungfraujoch and has easy access via train the the larger town of Interlaken. We did make the train trip to Interlaken as we were keen to check out prices on the Swiss made watches - yes they were quite discounted here =). We also found a giant Hooters - slightly took away from the Swiss Alps experience but it seemed to be doing a roaring trade non the less.
On advice from our hosts we caught the bus (not far about a 10 min ride) to Trummelbach Falls. Trummelbach falls belongs to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Jungfrau-Aletsch and is listed in the Federal Inventory of Landscapes and natural Monuments of National Importance of Switzerland, so we thought it must be worth a look.
The falls provide walkways that allow access and viewing of deep crevices and caves that have been cut out by heavy streams of water. Its wet, its loud, and a unique half a day out - well worth the short trip. En-route you can stop for a quick putt putt game at the small and slightly humble course (no big clowns eating your balls or windmills launching them at speed as far from the hole as possible) just concrete and grass.s and caves
The cog train to 'The Top of Europe' Jungfraujoch, will require an early rise but is well worth it. The view, the ice caves and the husky dog sled rides are definitely worth it.
For James Bond fans you can visit Piz Gloria, the revolving restaurant sitting on the top of Schilthorn were scenes for 'Her Majesty's Secret' where filmed.
Due to the altitude you may find yourself rather weary on return. We arrived back to the hotel at 2pm (opting for the early train) decided to take a 'quick nap' and awoke at 10pm only to find there was nowhere open for the hungry travellers to get a feed =( Thank goodness that our lovely hosts at Crystal Bay had packed us a lovely brunch (we had advised the staff at the hotel we were heading to Jungfraujoch and would miss breakfast the the night before. They had arrived after dinner that night armed with a mini fridge packed with a large breakfast/lunch of croissants, sandwiches, snacks, fruit and juice). That brunch would have to tide us over until morning - still the trip was worth it =)
Nestled in a valley in the Swiss Alps, Lauterbrunnen was a welcome change of pace after completing a whirlwind trip through Europe. Going for walks, visiting the falls, the 'top of Europe' and admiring the view out of the window was just what we needed to recharge our batteries. having said that, it may not be the ideal stop for those wanting a fast paced energetic fun filled time. However, your energy could be put to use with snow activities on the mountain =)
