Swiss Alps Stroll & Lake Lucerne

Beckenried's Hotel Nidwaldnerhof is a modern hotel with a stunning lakeside location. Even though I didn't opt for an upgrade my attractive room faced east with views along the length of the lake.  Hotel Alpenrose, a 'grande dame' in Wengen, also scores highly on location, with views along the Lauterbrunnen valley to the Breithorn in the distance.  My room in the Chalet Rossen annexe (I had paid for a valley-view upgrade) was a full-on Heidi experience!  -  and had a proper bath, a real treat!  Food at both hotels was good, especially at the Nidwalderhof. The weather was very mixed during my stay. To make the most of the high-level walks, check the online webcams for weather conditions at the top of the cable cars before setting off.  Walking poles are a life-saver on slippery tracks after heavy rain.  The Klewenalp walk above Beckenried, and the Panorama Way from Männlichen above Wengen were highlights, with fabulous views and wildflowers.  The walk to Mürren was enjoyable but the Grütschalp cablecar was busier than a London commuter train, and Mürren itself was overrun with Instagrammers.  The mountain restaurant at Winteregg en route is a more peaceful coffee-stop.  On my (sunny) travel day I took the boat from Beckenried to Lucerne (18CHF with the half-price travel card provided) before continuing my journey to Wengen by train.  The boat trip was totally worth it. Not mentioned in the Inntravel notes, but a trip to the Swiss Open Air Museum at Ballenberg on Lake Brienz is a great day out from Wengen.  Train to Brienz via Interlaken Ost, free with travel pass, then short bus ride (no. 151) to the museum costs around 3CHF each way.  Entry to the museum costs 24CHF with the guest card provided by the hotel. The site has 2 entrances with bus stops at both so no need to double-back.  I was there for 6 hours and still didn't manage to see everything. Although this was not my first visit to this part of Switzerland, I'd be happy to do ths holiday again as it's an area with a great deal to offer.  Inntravel's organisation was first-class as always. 

The Swiss Stroll holiday was splendid. The two hotels were spotless, and the food excellent. The lake view from the Hotel Nidwaldnerhof, and the mountain view from the Alpenrose were exactly what one would hope for while on holiday in Switzerland. We had beautiful walks on mountain paths and alpine meadows, with plenty of cows and June wildflowers. My photos look like postcards! The weather was bit drizzly at times, but even those misty walks were lovely. On one day the couple we were traveling with spent the entire day on the steamboat on Lake Lucerne, visiting every port. They said it was marvelous! We are already planning our next Inntravel trip. We always know that we are guaranteed both quality accommodations and an excellent itinerary. 

This holiday was perfect for us as it offered a combination of mountain walks and town and city visits. We loved Lucerne and also enjoyed a day trip to Spiez from Wengen. The walk from Mannlichen to Kleine Schiedegg with fabulous views of the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau was a special highlight as we have enjoyed skiing here in the past. It was fun seeing it in the summer.  There is plenty to do so you could easily add extra days in both places. We also enjoyed our short stay in Zurich on the way home and would recommend the Ristorante Zafferano on Limmatquai, close by the Hotel Adler, if you like Italian.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: This customer combined our discovery walking holiday 'A Swiss Stroll' with a city add-on in Zurich.

This was an excellent holiday and one to be repeated!

Hotel Nidwaldnerhof. This was a fabulous hotel all round. The room upgrade to lake view in our opinion was essential otherwise your room would look directly over a busy road and at other buildings. The lake view was spectacular and the restaurant and terrace areas overlooking the lake really enhanced our stay. The highlights from there were the ride on the lake steamer to Lucerne with the Inntravel excellent notes and the cable car ride up Klewenalp with gorgeous scenery walking to Stockhutte and the gondola to Emmetten. Hotel Alpenrose was a disappointment but luckily the Wengen scenery overcame the hotel shortcomings. A valley view upgrade again would be essential but hopefully higher up in the building than we were. Once away from the hotel there were so many wow moments here as the scenery opened up through the clouds. The walk from Mannlichen to Kleine Schiedegg is incredible and we did that twice. We'd recommend not doing it on a Sunday if that's possible as it was so much less crowded on the Wednesday. We'd also suggest making full use of the lift pass and ride the cable cars and trains even just for the fun of the ride. The Eiger Express cable car from Eigergletscher to Grindelwald is a must as is the Jungfraujoch journey.  We found buying a filled roll for lunch in the bakers both in Beckenried and Wengen were much nicer than the supermarkets and it was the best way to have a picnic lunch. There are plenty of benches with stunning views to just sit and soak up the atmosphere around you. The tourist information in Beckenreid and the Station ticket office in Wengen were both incredibly helpful and allowed us to buy tickets for any additional journeys, using our half price card, that covered all the transport types. 

Travelling to Lucerne by boat from Beckenried and the self guided walk and the Jung Frau Joch were the highlights and very well worth doing.

This was a great holiday with a nice contrast between lakeside and mountain venues. The 2 hotels were also very different. The Swiss transport system is amazing and the SBB Mobile app absolutely invaluable, for the journey to/from Zurich Airport and including every conceivable means of transport from the tops of mountains and boats across the lakes! The Jungfrau Travel Pass was especially useful, giving free travel on all modes of transport without having to buy tickets. We stayed for 2 extra nights in Wengen and paid Inntravel for 2 extra days on our pass - money well spent and recommended. The Nidwaldnerhof Hotel was exceptional - dinner by the lake each evening and nothing too much trouble.

The walks we did were excellent; our favourite was the walk from the Grütschalp cable car to Mürren with amazing views and including the odd hang-glider. Also the walk from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg, both very well signposted. Would also recommend a trip to the Trümmelbach Falls - spectacular (be sure you can manage the many steps!).

Being of an older generation, even with the efficiency of the Swiss travel system, we found travelling with luggage on very busy trains/buses quite tiring - travel as light as possible.

All in all, we had a lovely time - thank you Inntravel!

We had an excellent holiday and both locations were stunning in their own way. The walks were all good, varied and gave a good experience of the locality eg lakeside, mountain tops, woods etc. There was a good deal of downhill in Beckenreid. There is plenty of opportunity to amend routes to suit your preferences too. The Jungfrau pass is invaluable in allowing you free rein to use a large number of lifts, trains and boats as you please to access all the area. The half fare card makes a big difference to costs too. We visited Trummelbach falls and while it is touristy we were surprised at how amazing we found it. The hotel visitor card gave a small discount too. Note that Swiss electrics are not the same as Europe's so you need a different adapter plug, luckily both hotels were able to loan us one. All of the scenery was magnificent whether from a boat on lake Lucerne or the top of a cable car so it's impossible to pick a single highlight. We were lucky with the weather most of the time so that helped too. As vegan travellers it was nice to be offered vegan alternatives, the Nidwaldnerhof excelled at this. This was our first time travelling by rail to Europe. The journey was a success but crossing Paris is stressful and the trains were quite busy so we will travel lighter next time.  

We enjoyed all the walks and excursions that we did. The scenery was stunning and the good weather (mid-20s centigrade) (first week in September) meant we had fantastic cloudless views from the tops of the mountains. Days out on Mount Rigi and the walk to Murren were particularly enjoyable. The Swiss transport system runs seamlessly and we were soon hopping on and off trains, cable cars and boats with confidence! We joined a very good free guided walking tour of Wengen village on the Monday evening. The cost of food and drink rather eye-watering - we stocked up on picnic items at the Coop each morning - so it was a real bonus that this holiday included dinner every evening. Food at Nidwaldnerhof was of an exceptionally high standard, and also good at Alpenrose in Wengen. Location of both hotels lovely - dinner by the lake at Nidwaldnerhof on our last evening was very special (except for mosquitos - take repellent, we got bitten to bits!) 

This was a lovely holiday. The scenery was stunning. The hotels were quite different but both with lovely locations and we enjoyed food in both. Swim in the lake was a great start to the day at Nidwaldnerhof. 

The walks were all great and could easily have been extended or altered by using the excellent local leaflets and great signposting. The travel pass in Jungfrau was extremely useful as was the half fare swiss pass as travel is pretty expensive, particularly the cable cars and boats.

Our travel by train was smooth and effortless and we would certainly consider train again instead of flying. 

We did have bit of a wait in Paris on return but there is a left luggage at Gard du nord which we used. Staff there were very helpful.

Easy way-marked walks (which are easy to extend if you wish) in stunning mountains! Highlights for us included walking on snow on Jungfraujoch, taking a cable car in front of the imposing north face of the Eiger, incredible soaring peaks walking from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg, Murren to Lauterbrunnen with the help of cable cars and mountain railways, and swimming in Lake Lucerne. Very friendly and helpful family-run hotels. With breathtaking views from the lakeside terrace and top quality food, Hotel Nidwaldnerhof felt like a special occasion meal every night - certainly lots of locals were there to celebrate their special occasions! It's great that all hotels are half board and the included 3 day jungfrau region travel pass was especially appreciated as it gives free travel over a substantial area - be prepared for Swiss prices. Not included but we felt we're worth it: Jungfraujoch summit and Lake Lucerne cruise.

Allow plenty of time for changing trains. Travel as light as possible. Use the benches to enjoy the views and drink water. Supermarkets sell good salad bowls and rolls for picnics. The villages have excellent public swimming pools. Look on local notice boards, as we found and enjoyed a free concert of traditional dance and music. The waterfalls of Lauterbrunnen were amazing. We would go again!

An excellent holiday experience in every way. 

Wonderful scenery and views. Travelling by rail and bus was very straightforward. Significant difference between the 2 hotels, both in style and cuisine. Would recommend upgrading to a larger room in the Alpenrose, ours was the smallest room on the first floor and space was tight. Be aware of how expensive Switzerland is for food and drink as well as travel. The rail passes were essential to keep the cost of travel to/from the walks and suggested excursions at a 'reasonable' level (although still quite expensive). Check costs before you go to be prepared.  

The views across Lake Lucerne to Mount Rigi are wonderful and the Hotel Nidwaldnerhof provides an ideal setting for the stage of the walk. The hotel was not only very comfortable, but also provided free choice from their excellent menu.
The Panorama Walk from Männlichen to Kleine Schiedegg, under the peaks Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau must be one of the greatest walks in Europe. The views are stunning!

Despite the commercialism and cost of the Jungfraujoch, the train journey up and cable car down to Grindelwald, are not to be missed. The boats to Lake Lucerne and exploration of the city was excellent as was the Mt Rigi journey. We would definitely recommend the walk down to the cable car.

Walking was well planned, routes extremely scenic and information meticulous.

Mount Rigi trip recommended. Hotel gave us a travel discount ticket. So you use the half-price voucher for the boat trip and then the hotel ticket gets you a discount on the Mount Rigi train/cablecar deal (get a "Hikers" ticket). At Wengen, highlight was the Mannlichen to Kleine Schiedegg walk and the view of the three snow-capped mountains.