Lauterbrunnen – The Perfect Weekend Getaway

My husband and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in the beautiful small town of Lauterbrunnen. Famous for its amazing waterfalls and the river that runs through the deep valley, Lauterbrunnen is full of the cleanest, freshest water coming down off the mountains. Our girls absolutely loved the fantastic playgrounds and the family-friendly cafés and restaurants.

We drove from Zurich to Interlaken on Friday at noon and stopped for a stretch and a stroll through the beautiful town. After an ice cream break, we hopped back into the car to continue on to Lauterbrunnen, which is a sweet, one-road town with gorgeous old Swiss-style chalets and restaurants.

We stayed at the Chalet Rosa Bed and Breakfast on the main drag in the center of town. After dropping off our bags, we headed for the cutest child-friendly coffee shop, Airtime, which is also a local expat hangout. They had toys and games for the girls to play and enough room when my littlest needed a nap!

For dinner the first night we ate at the Hotel Oberland and the second night at the Weidstübli, which was very friendly with a fabulous kids’ menu at four francs per item. The girls loved their food and enjoyed the play area as my husband and I savored our food and drinks.

For our day trip on Saturday we took a gondola, train, gondola, and yet another gondola up to the top of the Schilthorn, a nearly 3000-meter summit in the Bernese Alps. We ate at the beautiful restaurant Piz Gloria, the site of the 1969 James Bond movie On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The food was good with fabulous views, and the children were happy to play in the little children’s nook while we ate our lunch. Piz Gloria is a revolving restaurant, which was also fun for the girls.

After lunch, we explored the James Bond walk of fame outside on a quite steep cliff where paragliders were taking flight. Then we went to a glass floor lookout to test our bravery, with the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau as the beautiful backdrop. We stopped by the James Bond museum under the restaurant to sit in the helicopter (used for the movie) and a bobsled, and we read some neat facts about the filming of the movie back in 1969.

After lunch we took the girls to Mürren for the Flower Park and Children’s Adventure Playground. The playground was otherworldly – I had never seen one so beautiful. The scenery was, again, spectacular. We sat at the restaurant in the shade and had apple strudel and cappuccinos while the girls enjoyed themselves. (You can read more in the Schilthorn article on the Moms Tots Zurich blog.) Then we headed down by cogwheel train and gondola back to Lauterbrunnen for dinner and a good night’s rest.

Sunday we took a day trip to Männlichen. We drove from Lauterbrunnen (having checked out of our B&B after breakfast) to Grindelwald and parked in the large lot. We took the long and scenic gondola up from Grindelwald to Männlichen. We were so lucky: there was a fabulous jazz band and brunch going on all day up at the top. I had thought the playground on Saturday was amazing, but the playground in Männlichen is one for the record books. The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau mountains once again in the background, the cows ringing their bells, the jazz band and the large restaurant were not to be missed. There was a large bouncy trampoline, bowling, swings, slides, but the most amazing thing is the view. It is absolutely unbelievable.

After lunch we explored the Royal Walk past the cows and up a very short and steep incline to a beautiful lookout point. We walked back down past the cows for the very long gondola ride back to Grindelwald. We drove home from there, planning our next holiday back in the most beautiful place in the world. The playgrounds were epic, the backdrop of some of the world’s highest peaks was amazing, and the beauty of Switzerland was the highlight of the trip. We hope to spend another weekend in Lauterbrunnen soon.

Text and photos by Kate Prinsloo

Kate Prinsloo is an American mom raising her two daughters in Zurich. She has a fierce travel bug that keeps her busy traveling or planning her next adventure. She is a writer for Mothering Matters excursions and social media along with her blog Mom In Zurich.