15 Tourist Mistakes To Avoid in Interlaken, Grindelwald & Lauterbrunnen | What To Know Before You Go

this is Jana Jana's going to Interlaken but she's never been and is about to show up completely unprepared don't be like Janna avoid these 15 tourist mistakes so you don't look and feel like a total noob okay babe here's the plan if we leave Zurich at 5 19 tomorrow morning we can go see yum Froyo and still make it back to Zurich before dinner let's start with something a bit controversial jungfao yolk is without a doubt the most well marketed spot in the area there are thousands of Swiss Francs deployed every single year to convince Travelers like you that your trip to the region would not be complete without a visit to the top of Europe now we've been there a few times and we filmed a video there last year and I think if you watch it you'll see that we had loads of fun but so many Travelers have asked us if unfrow yolk is worth it it's not a mistake to go there if you know you want to go then just do it but we do think it's a mistake to prioritize it over everything else the reality is that jungfrao yolk is the most expensive place to visit near Interlaken a trip there takes a big chunk of a day and there are good views that we think there are better views elsewhere but if you've never seen snow then this is a great chance to experience that and if you want to see or even hike across the glacier then you won't want to miss you for yolk so enjoy young fried guilt-free if you know you want to go but we don't recommend going there if you have less than three days in the unifra region that's because there are just so many other incredible experiences to enjoy and most of them will be covered by a train pass too also don't take a day trip from Zurich or Geneva just to visit you in Crow yolk especially if you've never been to the unified region before you're going to you bro yolk looking like that yeah if you do decide to go to Yoon fried yoke avoid looking like a rookie by following these tips the average high temperature even during the summer months barely gets above freezing so make sure to dress appropriately that means wearing layers and you might even want gloves and a hat but don't overdo it by wearing just a heavy coat with no other layers when the sun is out and shining during the summer it can feel much warmer than the actual temperature suggests and the coldest part of the entire you fry yoga tour might just be the ice palace which is kept at 27 degrees Fahrenheit the entire year ask for other tips try to avoid a weekend visit if possible and go early in the morning following both of these suggestions will put you ahead of the crowds and give you a much better experience finally it would be a mistake to go to YouTube without watching our ultimate guide video where we tell you everything you need to know like how to hike on a glacier where to pose with the Swiss flag in the snow how to mail a letter from the highest mailbox in Switzerland and lots of other things behave it looks like it's gonna rain every day during our trip there's no way to be nice about it the phone weather apps suck when it comes to predicting what the weather will be like in this vessels there are plenty of days here when we're outside enjoying the beautiful sunshine and our phone app literally tells us that it's raining so if you were to believe your unreliable phones weather app then you would miss out on some incredible days here in the mountains so do yourself a favor and get familiar with Medio Swiss there is a phone app but we actually just find the website to be way more user friendly meteoswiss seems to deliver the most accurate weather forecast and one of our favorite features is the ability to see the expected minutes of sunshine or precipitation per hour this is so helpful for when you want to prioritize the clearest part of the day for a Mountain Adventure and be sure to check the weather in a few different places like the mountains and the lakes because often it can be cloudy in one but sunny in another so don't visit interlocking or Grindelwald or really anywhere in Switzerland with out making media Swiss your friend made it to Grindelwald trains can already feel complicated but Grindelwald interlocking and mirin make your train travel extra confusing by having multiple stations with the same name Interlaken has two train stations Interlaken host which means East and Interlaken West which means West Interlaken West has more hotels restaurants and amenities but Interlaken host is the beginning of the train line heading into the mountains you can connect between the two by train or by walking approximately 15 minutes or you can ride a bus from Interlaken West to vildersville where you can then catch the train to go to the mountains there are actually three train stations in Grindelwald and you need to know which one is closest to your hotel and which is best for your other sightseeing excursions when you travel toward Grindelwald the first station you'll come to is Grindelwald terminal this is where you get off to board the Iger Express to Eiger glitcher and then head to um Frog yoga or to take the cable car to mannequin one station past terminal is the Grindelwald bahnhof train station this is the main village where nearly all the lodging is and you'll also find the Grindelwald Fierce and fingsteg cable cars about a 10 to 15 minute walk or a short bus ride from here finally there's Grindelwald grund sitting just below the main village you have to switch trains and Grindelwald to go here and less of you are likely to use this station but it might be convenient if your Airbnb sits below the village or if you want to ride the train to climate shining and then there's mirin this delightful Alpine Village is serviced by the BLM from the loudtron train station and by the shield torrent cable car from stesselberg at the back of the valley so yeah maps are very helpful here nearly every train station has giant maps on the walls and all of them have paper maps inside as well oh and while we're on the topic of being in the wrong place make sure you pick the correct line when you visit hard or cool the left side is for people who already have a ticket or pass and the right side is for people who need to purchase a ticket and that line is often a lot longer but there's no excuse to have to wait in that line both of the regional train passes the burner Oberlin pass and the in fraud travel pass fully cover the route to hertical and if you don't have one of those train passes you can easily buy tickets on the SBB mobile app or even online there thanks to this video now the line for people tickets is going to be the longer line wait this one's closed this one too few things are worse than traveling all the way to the jungfrao region just to find out that the things you're most excited to do are closed so avoid this mistake by looking up the cable car and Railway operating schedules before your visit there are distinct summer and winter seasons here and many of the major mountain excursions are open during both but in between shoulder season is a real thing with plenty of places closed for maintenance for up to six weeks at a time and keep in mind that sightseeing favorites such as harder comb or shiniga Plata are only open during the summer season now no matter what time of year you visit you'll be able to enjoy the Villages of Interlaken Lao terunen Grindelwald and vegan but while Mountain Village is like mirin and gimmov are accessible year round they often have limited restaurant and lodging availability during the shoulder Seasons but there are definitely periods of time throughout the year that are more likely to Delight or disappoint your expectations so be sure to check out our best time to visit Interlaken video where we give you month by month details to Aid you in your planning hey what should we do today I don't know know of any good hikes around here oh I know we can go to one of those spots I found on Instagram while unexpected Cable Car closings and poor weather forecasts can ruin your trip so can a wing it approach we've seen so many people come here and pack a ton of stuff into just like two or three days without realizing how long it takes to get from one place to another or just assuming that the cable cars run super late into the evening even when they don't but we sadly watch so many people come to this region and single-mindedly focus on replicating that perfect Instagram photo or that dreamy movie scene now there's no reason why you can't come here and experience the best the region has to offer in just a few short days but you're gonna need some help and that's why we created our Switzerland itineraries for the Yoon far region they help solve all these problems and prevent you from making so many of the mistakes that we mentioned in this video so be sure to check them out later but not before finishing the rest of these tips I'm pretty sure blooming's beginner so let's do this Trail it's easy to be lulled into complacency while hiking in Switzerland the nature is stunning cable cars and trains will take you just about anywhere you want to go and trails are so well marked it's nearly impossible to get lost but that doesn't mean that you should hike unprepared so get familiar with the trail signs and what they mean yellow trails are the easiest and usually suggest a paved path or wide gravel Trail suitable for Walkers of almost all ability levels generally tennis shoes should be just fine for these paths red trails are hiking trails and usually include more elevation gain or loss narrower trails with rocks and roots on the path and sometimes a little bit of exposure too you're better off with at least a trail running or light hiking shoe as opposed to tennis shoes on these trails and then you have the blue Trails I hesitate to even mention these because only those with lots of experience and proper equipment should even Venture onto these Trails they're considered Alpine trails and often require fixed ropes or other equipment to navigate areas with lots of exposure and significant threat of Falls in addition to these color markings you'll see a few places listed along with time estimates to reach them at an average but Swiss Centric hiking Pace keep in mind that you're in destination might not be listed on these signs from the beginning of your hike so you're probably going to need to know some of the main waypoints along your route if you're unsure just remember that you can pick up a trail map in most of the train stations [Music] what happened I forgot my rain jacket you're in the Alps a typical day could include crisp clear mornings clouds rolling in by noon an afternoon rain shower followed by a hot muggy evening and then once the sun sets it cools off more quickly than you might think then you can mix in altitude changes when you're out sightseeing and basically there is no typical day in the Alps so you need to pack for a little bit of everything we usually wear a T-shirt and pants when we head into the mountains during the summer and we always always always bring our rain jackets but if we're going above 2 000 meters we'll probably bring along a sweatshirt for warmth as well when the sun is out it can feel hot even if it's only like 60 degrees but if the clouds roll in or the winds pick up it can start to feel even colder more like 40 degrees so just be prepared for all kinds of temperatures oh and don't forget your sunscreen too or at least wear something stylish for sun protection like Brett oh my gosh I've been waiting in this line for like two hours you are excited for the adventure activities at Grindelwald Fierce and not to rain on your parade but we've pretty much always seen wait times of 90 to 120 Minutes for these activities by mid-morning So to avoid wasting a day in the Swiss out standing in line for these activities we suggest the following strategy go first thing in the morning the gondolas begin running between 8 and 9 A.M depending on the time of year and once again you'll beat the crowds by going early to one of these three activities that's most important to you the glider the flyer or the mountain carts and do that right away right up to shrekfeld if you want to do the glider or Mountain carts or all the way up to Fierce for the flyer once you get your most important Adventure activity out of the way you can decide whether or not you want to do another based on the wait times but you'll notice we didn't list the trotty bike that's because for whatever reason it almost never has a long wait time so it's actually pretty strategic to save this for the end and ride the trotty bike all the way back to Grindelwald just like with harder cool both of the regional train passes fully cover the gondolas to fierst or you can buy tickets on the SBB app or online so there's no reason to be standing in line to purchase them and you can even buy tickets online for the adventure activities too though we suggest caution here we'd hate to see you load up on tickets only to spend all day in line waiting to complete these activities Grindelwald here I come whether you're traveling to Grindelwald or La tribunan you'll board from this same platform in the Interlochen OST and buildersville train stations if you're going to latchabrina you want to sit on the front half of the train and if you're going to Grindelwald you want to board the back half of the Train That's because this one train takes passengers all the way to violuting it and then it splits in two and the front half of the train goes to latcharunin and the back half of the train continues to Grindelwald now there are super clear signs in both interlockenos and villageville train stations to help you with this but we still see a lot of tourists making this mistake [Music] thank you well I guess that's all about your burning you don't have to be J.R.R Tolkien or an Instagram influencer to recognize that lauter Vernon Valley is one of the most stunning places on Earth so a visit here is a must but if you only visit the village in Staubach waterfall you'll be missing the best part so take your time and wander the paved path that goes past Starbuck Falls and continues toward the back of the valley along the way you'll pass local farms wander beside the river and have the chance to visit some Farm fridges but you'll also give yourself a sore neck as you continually gaze at the endless waterfalls and sheer Cliff faces it's about five kilometers from the loudtron train station to the stationberg silktorn bond near the back of the valley but at many points along the way you could cross the river and hop on a bus if you'd rather cut the walk short or if you want to enjoy the valley at your own pace while saving your walking legs consider renting a bike at inbodia bike in LA to burden hey how's the shield horn it was so cool what'd you think about the beard throw walk the one visual turn is Iconic with its revolving restaurant offering up some of the most killer views in the unified region and the fact that it was a filming location for James Bond on her majesty Secret Service is just icing on the cake but why visit the location inspired by James Bond without pretending to be James Bond do your best Bond impersonation by stopping by the beer cable car station for the beard throw walk you'll walk along Cliff faces cross a tightrope and crawl through a tunnel all while safely suspended by the Magnificent of Swiss engineering there are ways to bypass each of the scarier elements but unless you're deathly afraid of heights there isn't really anything super scary or dangerous about this and in our opinion we like the beard throw walk better than we like the Grindelwald Fierce Cliff Walk although that one's fun too the throw lock is free and you can stop at the beard station on your way up or down from the shelter hey Siri navigate driving directions to I'm sorry but you cannot drive to harder calm you really don't need a rental car in the Umphrey region now of course you can drive to Interlaken Grindelwald and laughter Brandon but here's an incomplete list of places you can't reach by car vangen Mirren gimmel Vault Grindelwald fierst The Shield torn yum Frau yolk harpercool main Lincoln shiniga Plata and the list goes on there are times when it makes sense to drive in this area for example if you're traveling with a large group or you've already rented a car to visit other European destinations but even if you drive to the unifra region you're still gonna have to ride public transportation to go into the mountains it's still going to cost quite a bit of money and you're probably still going to be better off with some type of train pass what are you doing not buying a Swiss train pass it's like throwing your money in in the garbage but there are so many different passes to choose from and and knowing which routes are and are not covered can be very confusing now you could just buy this Swiss travel pass and hope it works out or you can check out our Ultimate Guide to Swiss Train passes and both the video and the free download we give specific recommendations for trips to the Yoon far region Derma Lucerne and Beyond to help you pick your train pass and travel Switzerland with confidence so check that out next and we'll see you in Switzerland

Channel: Aplins in the Alps

Views: 198,346

Keywords: switzerland, interlaken, grindelwald, lauterbrunnen, wengen, murren, Mürren, gimmelwald, jungfraujoch, schilthorn, grindelwald first, tourist mistakes, switzerland weather, switzerland map, hiking in switzerland, switzerland trains, swiss transportation, harder kulm, swiss travel guide, switzerland itinerary, lauterbrunnen valley, birg thrill walk, first cliff walk, swiss train pass, swiss rail pass, swiss travel tips, traveling swiss, what to know before you go, how to switzerland

Id: Ad24acMQMkQ

Length: 18min 45sec (1125 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 29 2023