Weekend Getaway- Family Friendly Lauterbrunnen

We spent the long May holiday weekend with friends in the beautiful little valley town of Lauterbrunnen. (Maybe you remember my blog post about our 10 year wedding anniversary we spent here two years ago.) This is an idyllic Swiss destination and one that should be on your bucket list for sure. It’s an outdoor escape, not a city destination. Lauterbrunnen is the perfect home base for a load of different day trips by train and gondola. The playgrounds on top of the mountains are absolutely spectacular as is the view of the big three, Jungfrau, Monch, and Eiger. Just a 2 hour and 20 minute train ride from Zürich, the town of 2,400 people is known for its 72 waterfalls. Here’s a bit about our long weekend.

Hotel

Hotels in Lauterbrunnen are expensive. That’s why we loved our stay at the Valley Hostel. It’s located a 5 minute walk down the main street from the train station. And the best thing of all was we could stare at the famous 300 meter high Staubbach Falls from our bed at night. It was literally the perfect view from our well priced hotel room. We booked a room for 4 people with a nice big bed, loft beds for the girls, and a balcony to stare at the town and waterfall. Our friends took one of the quad rooms and we took the other.

There is a huge kitchen and dining area downstairs so we cooked a lot after our days out exploring. The kids all played outside or played games after the long days while we got dinner ready. The only drawbacks are the shared bathroom, but we never noticed a problem since we were staying next door to friends. It’s just like staying at someone’s house. Also, they leave clean linens for you to make the bed and when you check out you take your linens to check out. Lauterbrunnen hotel’s are very expensive, especially in summertime, so this place was a great find! I would definitely recommend this hotel for its location, room size, kitchen, and cleanliness. Here are a couple of pictures from our hotel:

Swimming

There is a wonderful swimming pool about a 5 minute walk from the Lauterbrunnen train station and 5 minutes from our hotel. Our girls loved the pool, slide and trampoline. This is a great place to come after a day trip up the mountains to cool off and tire out the kids a bit before dinner.

The view on the way to the pool

The gorgeous view of the waterfall on the walk to the swimming pool

Excursions To Mannlichen and Bort

The day trips from Lauterbrunnen are absolutely gorgeous. We took a day trip to Mannlichen one day and Bort the next day. I would recommend both. Sadly, our favorite playground, Allmendhubel was still closed until the end of June so we could not visit it this time but definitely go there for the amazing playground if you get the chance.

Mannlichen

This is a gorgeous place to spend a couple of hours high in the mountains at the playground, restaurant, Crown trail, and enjoying the longest gondola ride in the world. It’s an adventure getting to Mannlichen, and completely worth it. The gorgeous views of Eiger, Jungfrau, and Monch are fully on display.

Bort

Bort also is an absolutely gorgeous day trip from Lauterbrunnen with a fantastic playground and well worth the trip. Buy your ticket for the gondola in Grindelwald to Bort, or continue up to First for even more amazing views. It’s epically gorgeous, so get ready for a family picture here.

How To Get To Lauterbrunnen

Getting to Lauterbrunnen is very easy. Starting at Zürich HB, transfer in Bern, transfer in Interlaken Ost, then arrive in Lauterbrunnen. It’s a gorgeous journey. Our girls loved the kids carriage on the train from Zürich to Bern. And the views are amazing on the two following trains.

I am already planning a return visit to Lauterbrunnen and the Valley Hostel. Hopefully for our 12th wedding anniversary this summer. Now I just need to let my husband in on the plans. Do you have a favorite summer weekend destination near you? I would love to hear about it!