Lauterbrunnen is a flat green valley floor about three hundred metres wide with limestone walls rising vertically on both sides, and seventy two waterfalls coming off those walls. The Staubbach falls almost three hundred metres in a single drop directly behind the village, and in a strong wind it does not reach the ground as water at all but blows apart into drifting spray, which is how the valley got its name: lauter Brunnen, nothing but springs.
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The valley is also the access point for a set of places above it: Wengen and Murren on the terraces either side, both car free and reached by cable car and mountain railway, Gimmelwald below Murren, and the Jungfraujoch at 3,454 metres beyond them. Everything in this valley involves going up, and each step up is colder than the one below.
What Makes Lauterbrunnen Different to Pack For
Wet, in a way other alpine valleys are not
The spray from Staubbach drifts across the village, the paths under the falls are permanently wet, and the valley holds cloud. The Trümmelbach falls run inside the mountain and the galleries there are cold, dark and dripping. A packable rain jacket is not a contingency here, it is daily kit.
Altitude in stages
The valley floor is at 795 metres, Wengen at 1,274, Murren at 1,638, the Schilthorn at 2,970 and the Jungfraujoch at 3,454. Summer on the floor is 12°C to 24°C; the Jungfraujoch is below freezing year round with snow and ice on every day of the calendar.
A merino wool base layer for women and a fleece mid layer in a daypack are what make the upper stations bearable, and people arrive at 3,454 metres in shorts every single day of the summer.
The villages above are car free
Wengen, Murren and Gimmelwald have no road access, so everything arrives by railway or cable car and everything you bring is carried or wheeled from the station. Pack something you can manage on a mountain train with steps.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Lauterbrunnen Packing List
Waterproofs, properly
A hooded jacket with taped seams rather than a shower resistant one, because you will walk through spray and through the Trümmelbach galleries. A dry bag or sealable bags for a phone and camera, which is the item people wish they had brought.
Footwear
Waterproof hiking shoes with real grip. The valley floor path is easy, and everything interesting off it is wet rock, metal staircases inside the Trümmelbach, and mountain trail above. Wet limestone and wet steel are both slippery.
Layers for the vertical range
Base layer, fleece, windproof and waterproof shell, warm hat and gloves for anything above two thousand metres in any season. The temperature difference between the village and the Jungfraujoch is around twenty degrees on a summer day.
Sun at altitude
Snow and ice at the upper stations reflect UV upward, which burns the underside of the face, and people do not expect it when the air is cold. High factor sunscreen, proper sunglasses or goggles, lip balm with sun protection, and a wide brim sun hat for the valley walks.
Practicalities
Water, since Swiss mountain prices are memorable and the village fountains are drinkable. Cash is less necessary than elsewhere, as Switzerland is card friendly. A daypack you can carry all day.
What to Wear at Key Sites
Staubbach and the valley floor
The path behind the Staubbach falls climbs to a gallery cut into the rock where you stand inside the spray, and the flat valley path runs several kilometres between the walls past a dozen more falls.
Practically: the Staubbach gallery path is wet, steep and closes in winter and in high water, and the spray reaches you well before you get there. Waterproof over everything, and expect a camera to get damp. The valley floor walk itself is flat, easy and one of the most beautiful hours in Switzerland.
Trümmelbach
Ten glacier fed falls running inside the mountain, carrying meltwater from the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, reached by a lift built into the rock and then a series of galleries and stairs.
Practically: cold, dark, loud and permanently wet, with metal steps and handrails and low headroom in places. A jacket regardless of the outside temperature, grippy shoes, and nothing loose in an open pocket. It closes for the winter.
Murren, Gimmelwald and the Schilthorn
Murren sits on the western terrace, reached by cable car and mountain railway, with Gimmelwald below it and the Schilthorn revolving restaurant at 2,970 metres above, which appeared in On Her Majesty's Secret Service and has not stopped mentioning it since.
Practically: the Schilthorn summit terrace is exposed, cold and windy in every season, with a thrill walk on a cliff edge walkway. Cable cars close in high wind. The walk down from Murren to Gimmelwald is steep and lovely.
The hiking between the terraces
The best walking here is not to a summit but along the terraces. The North Face trail from Murren toward Gimmelwald looks straight across at the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau, and the path from Kleine Scheidegg down to Wengen drops through alpine meadow with the same wall beside you the whole way. Both are half days and neither needs technical skill.
Practically: these are downhill routes if you take the lift up and walk back, which is the sensible arrangement. Cowbells, working farms and gates to close behind you, and the meadows are grazed, so stay on the path and give the cattle room.
Wengen and the Jungfraujoch
Wengen is on the eastern terrace, reached by the Wengernalp railway, and the line continues to Kleine Scheidegg and then through the Eiger to the Jungfraujoch, the highest railway station in Europe.
Practically: the Jungfraujoch is at 3,454 metres, it is below freezing year round, and the altitude affects some people with headaches and breathlessness. Full winter clothing, sunglasses, and an acceptance that if the weather is closed in you will pay a great deal to see cloud, so check the summit webcam before buying the ticket.
What Not to Bring
Leave a shower resistant jacket and trust it to handle spray. Leave anything electronic unprotected. Leave summer clothing as your only option if the upper stations are on the list, which is the mistake this valley sees daily.
Leave a large suitcase if you are staying in Wengen, Murren or Gimmelwald, since there are no cars and no porters. Leave the assumption that a cable car runs in any weather, because they close for wind.
Essential Resources for Women in Lauterbrunnen
Emergency numbers in Switzerland: police 117, ambulance 144, fire 118, and 112 also works. Mountain rescue is Rega on 1414, and in this valley that is the number to have saved before you go anywhere above the village.
Tourist support: Switzerland has no separate tourist police; the cantonal police handle everything and speak English. There are tourist offices in Lauterbrunnen, Wengen and Murren holding trail conditions and lift status.
US Embassy in Bern: Sulgeneckstrasse 19, CH-3007 Bern, telephone +41 31 357 70 11, at ch.usembassy.gov, around ninety minutes away. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: the Spital Interlaken is the nearest hospital, around thirty minutes down the valley, with a 24 hour emergency department. Swiss healthcare is excellent and very expensive, there is no free treatment for visitors, and a helicopter evacuation off a mountain runs into thousands, so travel insurance covering mountain rescue is essential rather than advisable here.
Official health authority: the Federal Office of Public Health at bag.admin.ch.
US State Department travel advisory for Switzerland: current advisory level and detail, consistently Level 1. Read it directly rather than relying on this page.
UK FCDO travel advice for Switzerland: entry requirements, safety and health guidance, including its mountain safety and avalanche notes.
Official tourism authority: Switzerland Tourism at myswitzerland.com, with the Jungfrau Region site at jungfrauregion.swiss for lift operating seasons, trail closures, the Trümmelbach opening dates and the summit webcams, which are the thing to check before committing to an expensive ticket.
Solo women safety assessment: Lauterbrunnen and the villages above are extremely safe for a woman travelling alone. Switzerland has very low crime, the valley is small and full of walkers, the car free villages are quiet and orderly, and a woman hiking, eating or staying alone here attracts no attention at all. Street harassment is effectively absent. Every meaningful risk is the mountain. Weather is the first: conditions at 3,000 metres change quickly, cable cars close for wind without much notice, and being caught above the valley when the last lift stops is a serious situation rather than an inconvenience, so note the final departure times and start descending earlier than feels necessary. Cold and sun at altitude both catch people out in the same trip. The second is the trails, which range from paved valley paths to exposed mountain routes with drops, marked in Swiss colour coding where white and red and white means a route assuming sure footing and a head for heights. The third is water: the paths under the falls are permanently wet and the limestone is slippery, and the Trümmelbach stairs are steel and dripping. One local note that surprises people: this valley is one of the world's busiest BASE jumping sites, and you will see people jumping from the cliffs. It has a fatality record, and it is worth knowing that the emergency helicopter traffic you may see is usually connected to it rather than to hikers.
Reading On
Lauterbrunnen is the heart of the Jungfrau region and the base most people should choose over Interlaken. The Switzerland travel guide for women is the parent for the whole country and covers the regions, the seasons and the transport passes, and the Switzerland packing list for women covers a multi region trip. Next door, the Interlaken travel guide for women is the transport hub below and the Grindelwald packing list for women is the valley on the other side of the Eiger. Elsewhere, the Zermatt travel guide for women covers the Matterhorn, the St Moritz packing list for women the Engadine, and the Lucerne packing list for women the central lakes. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why merino keeps insulating when it is damp with spray, which is the whole problem in this valley, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
