Lucerne to Grindelwald Day Trip

"The train out of Lucerne climbs past Brienz and the water turns that odd milky turquoise you think is edited until you see it. By the time we reached Grindelwald the north face had cloud sitting on it like a shelf, then it lifted around eleven. Bring a layer — it was 28 degrees at the lake and maybe 14 up on the slope."

"Did the lucerne to grindelwald day trip on a Tuesday and the 07:04 departure was half empty. Cogwheel rail up toward Kleine Scheidegg was the highlight for me, the sound of the rack engaging is something you feel through the floor. Cows with bells everywhere, which sounds like a cliché until you hear a whole hillside of them."

"We combined Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen with Grindelwald and it did not feel rushed. Staubbach Falls was blowing sideways in the wind and half of it never reached the ground. The Bernese Oberland rail connections are precise to the minute so you can plan tightly."

"Our lucerne to grindelwald day trip started under low cloud and the Eiger stayed hidden until the afternoon. Everything else delivered — the lake steamer section, the meadows, the chalets with geraniums on every balcony. Check the mountain webcams the night before and be flexible about which peak you aim for."

"Lake Brienz on the way out and Lake Thun on the way back gave us two completely different blues. In Lauterbrunnen the cliff walls are so close together that the valley is in shadow by late afternoon. Paragliders were landing on the Höhematte in Interlaken when we passed through, which my kids talked about all evening."

"Booked lucerne to grindelwald day trip tickets on short notice in March and there was still deep snow above the village. The lower meadows were brown and muddy while the Jungfrau massif behind was pure white — strange contrast. Boots rather than trainers if you go before May."

"Une excursion d'une journée de Lucerne à Grindelwald qui vaut le détour, surtout la montée en train à crémaillère. Le Wetterhorn se dresse juste au-dessus du village, beaucoup plus près qu'on ne l'imagine sur les photos. Les gorges du Glacier valent la petite marche si vous avez le temps."

"Winter version of the Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen tour meant empty carriages and clear cold air right through the Bernese Oberland. Sound carries strangely up there, you can hear a train two valleys away. Sunset came at four which cut the day short but the light on the Eiger was worth losing an hour."

"Swiss rail made the whole thing simple and every connection held. Wind coming down off the glacier in November was sharper than we expected even in bright sun. Grindelwald itself is small enough to walk end to end while you wait for a train."

"What surprised me on this lucerne to grindelwald day trip was vertical scale — the valley floor sits at a thousand metres and the walls go up another two and a half thousand. Lauterbrunnen has more than seventy waterfalls and in late summer several were down to a trickle. Standing under Staubbach the spray reaches you thirty metres out."