Grindelwald - village

Grindelwald is a busy little traditional town in a narrow valley in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland. Surrounded by soaring mountains, it shares a large skiing area with its sister resort, car-free Wengen.

Grindelwald has a great selection of hotels and chalets, and has two railways stations – one at the edge of the town centre and one lower down at Grund. These allow both skiers and non-skiers to travel to Kleine Scheidegg (2,061m), a breathtakingly scenic plateau where the main ski area of Grindelwald (Kleine Scheidegg/Männlichen) meets the slopes of Wengen. Train passengers can also reach nearby Mürren across the Lauterbrunnen valley. 

Accommodation

The main accommodation is hotels and chalet hotels. At the top end is the 5-star Grand Regina “Alpin Well & Fit Hotel” (00 41 33 854 86 00), a member of The Leading Small Hotels of the World. It has six different types of saunas, salt water baths, and various massages, plus an indoor pool.

Less expensive options include the 1-star Wetterhorn (00 41 33 853 12 18), a clean and cosy chalet in a picturesque setting, basic rooms with bunk beds.

Ski/snowboard equipment hire 

There’s an Intersport “Rentnetwork” shop near the railway station at Grund (00 41 33 853 04 00), three sport shops in the village (Graf, Kaufmann, Bernet) and two shops on the mountain at the base of the Grindelwald – Männlichen and First gondolas. Buri Sport at the Hotel Bernerhof has a good website and skis to match (00 41 33 853 14 27).

Non-ski activities 

There’s plenty of walking with spectacular views along cleared paths, plus many miles of toboggan runs. There is a cinema, and ice-hockey games to watch. Exceptional helicopter “flight-seeing” is possible, as well as heli-skiing.

The rail journey up to the Jungfraujoch is an extraordinary experience. The Jungfraubahn is Europe's highest rack-and-pinion railway. It stops for a few minutes at two stations – first Eigerwand and then Eismeer. From here passengers have the almost surreal experience of gazing out at great slabs of ice and cornices clinging to the rocky north-face of the Eiger. 

Childcare

The Grindelwald Ski School is happy to look after children for half a day or all day long (with lunch) at its Snowli Children’s Club (00 41 33 854 12 90) on the Bodmi nursery slopes.

The Kinderhort Sunshine Crèche (00 41 33 854 80 80) looks after non-skiing infants from 1 month to 8 years old at the top of Männlichen. The Felix Ski Paradies (00 41 33 853 12 88) is a specialist ski school for children at Männlichen.