Grindelwald is a lovely mountain village, about 25 mins south from Interlaken in central Switzelrand, in the mountains of the Bernese Oberland.

It’s a must visit on your trip to Switzerland – it would be a real shame to come to this part of the world and to miss this place out.

We really loved Grindelwald as a destination with the kids and found there was so much to do with lots of activities on offer for family fun in the mountains.

The town is 1034 metres above sea leavel and is towered over by the imposing mountain peaks of the Jungfrau, Eiger and Monch, they are so impressive that I was stunned just exiting the car park! Little did I know it was about to get a whole lot more beautiful as the kids and I explored the cute tourist town and took the gondola to Grindelwald First for a real alpine adventure.

Grindelwald is busy and popular – you will find plenty of shops, cafes and restaurants here as well as play areas for the kids, train and gondola stations in to the mountains and to other towns in Central Switzerland. There are also several large hotels and shops here catering to the many visitors it receives. We have stayed here in an air bnb before and loved the location, it is a good choice for beautiful mountain vistas and it is pretty centrally located – easy to get about if you have a car and we’ll connected by rail aswell.

AT A GLANCE:

• Grindelwald is a mountain village located 25 minute drive from Interlaken and just over 1 hour drive from the capital Bern.
• There are plenty of public car parks but get there early if possible to secure a good space as it can become very busy
• The railway connects Grindelwald to Interlaken ( where you can get connections to other Swiss towns and Cities). Grindelwald also has railway lines to popular tourist locations of Wengen, Lauterbrunnen, and Jungfraujoch.
• It is very popular and has become increasingly busy in recent years. Grindelwald receives lots of coach trips and organised tours (we always get to attractions here early to avoid big crowds as much as possible).
• The main attraction here is taking the Gondola to Grindelwald First Station
• Gondola tickets are pricey (starting from 72CHF per adult, 20 CHF per child) so its worth seeing if you can save any money with a Swiss Travel Pass or similar.
• The Eiger mountain looms over the village, with peaks of Junfrau and Monch also visible within the stunning panorama of the alps, giving Grindelwald the fabulous mountian scenery it is famous for.

THINGS TO DO:

GRINDELWALD FIRST

The number one thing to do here is to visit Grindelwald First Station. Get the Gondola from the town (it is well signposted, you should have no trouble finding it).

Once you have brought your tickets, ride the gondola up to the two mid stations (Bort and Schreckfeld) before reaching the top – First Station.

The first stop you will arrive at is Bort. Here, there is a lovely alpine playground that is large, with good equipment and toys for the kids at Bort Station – make sure you stop off here! There is also a restaurant/cafe. There really is nothing like getting a coffee and watching the kids have fun while taking in epic mountain views – nowhere does the playground/ scenery combination better than Switzerland!

There are also Mountian scooters called trotti-bikes that you can rent from Bort,  to ride all the way back to Grindelwald. The last time we were here the kids were a bit too little so we took the gondola back down, but next visit I would really love to try this – the paved path winding down the side of the mountian looks really fun to ride!

The second station you will reach is Schreckfeld. Here you will find the mountain glider (a bit like a zipline/ flying fox activity) and the mountain carts – a summer toboggan that will take you down to Bort Station. We have yet to try other, but they look really fun- we have moutain tobogganned at other locations though and can say its very fun and exciting for all the family, and we would definitely do this again! 

The final station is Grindelwald First. The hefty ticket price for the gondola is worth it for the views alone – you really are on top of the world , right up in the mountains – it still amazes me that you can access this type of scenery in the alps without having to do any type of hiking! 

The restaurant at the top is large and has plenty of food and drink options – we always just get drinks/ snacks to eat in the cafe and bring a picnic for lunch though as the cost of food up here is so much.

There are plenty of benches around and grassy spaces on the mountain top for a picnic.

On our trips up here we often see paragliding setting up and then running off the side of the mountain as well which is pretty cool and went down well with our boys – they stayed watching them, transfixed, for ages!

First station is also the starting point for so many epic hikes – you will probably see lots of walkers up here.

A wonderful, child friendly walk to with kids is First – Bachalpsee (a stunning alpine lake hidden in the mountains). Our littlest managed it from about 4 years old – it’s a 6km/ 3.5 mile round trip, on a well maintained and relatively level path. For details of this walk and other walks for families in central Switzerland, check out my guide here.

For all the official and upto date information on opening prices and times check out the website here.

JUNGFRAUJOCH

They call this attraction Jungfraujoch ‘ Top of Europe’ and it is a train ride up the Jungfrau Mountain to the peaks where there is year-round snow, glaciers, a viewing platform and restuarant You will be an incredible 3454 metres and see the mountain snowscspe Panorama. Junfraujoch is the highest railway station in Europe! There are lots of activites to add on at the top as well, including an ice palace, cinema and Lindt chocolate shop. (Check out the website here for all the info).

Although tempting, we haven’t done this excursion with the kids and we probably won’t- and here’s why. The tickets start from an eye watering 400 CHf for our family or four – that’s without any of the optional extras such as the ice palace. It is just too much for us, especially when there are other beautiful peaks such as Grindelwald First and Piz Gloria (Stechelberg, Lauterbrunnen) which may not be the highest in europe but still pretty dazzlingly high and at least half the cost.

Still, it is super popular, so if it’s in your budget it may be something exciting to do, and with the Swiss Travel Pass, you can get some money off so it may work out to be cheaper than originally thought.

LAUTERBRUNNEN

Get the train to Lauterbrunnen from Grindelwald, which takes about an hour. (Alternatively, 25 mins by car). The insta – famous valley is stunningly beautiful, packed full of waterfalls, and is basically, the most beautiful place on Earth! You won’t regret a visit here – not only is it stunning, but there are lots of cool things to do with the kids. Check out our Lauterbrunnen travel guide for all the info.

WENGEN AND MANNLICHEN