The Lauterbrunnen Valley

The Lauterbrunnen Valley is one of the most beautiful in the Alps, a deep U-shaped glacial trench whose sheer rock walls stream with some seventy-two waterfalls above green meadows and a fairytale village. The Staubbach Falls plunge nearly three hundred metres from the cliff, the glacier-fed Trummelbach thunders inside the mountain, and the valley's beauty is said to have inspired Tolkien's Rivendell.

What you actually see

• The Staubbach Falls - the free-falling cascade dropping from the cliff.
• The Trummelbach Falls - the glacial falls thundering inside the mountain.
• The cliffside villages - Wengen and Murren perched high above the valley.
• The valley meadows - the green floor beneath the streaming walls.

When to go

Late spring to autumn for green meadows, full waterfalls and open trails; the falls run strongest with snowmelt in early summer. The car-free villages above are reached by railway and cable car.

Honest expectations

It is very popular and the village and station get busy in summer; the higher villages are quieter. The falls are fullest in early summer with snowmelt and can thin later. Switzerland is expensive, and the cable cars up add up.

Nearby

Interlaken is below; Wengen, Murren and the route to Jungfraujoch climb from the valley.