Lauterbrunnen

ValleysBern,Switzerland

A flat green Swiss valley a kilometre wide, walled by 400-metre cliffs that seventy-two waterfalls come off — one dropping 297 metres in near-freefall.

September·Edge of season

Sep–Oct

Flow halves in September and halves again by October: the ephemeral threads fade and the Staubbach shrinks to the drifting veil that named it. The gallery behind it closes after October, Trümmelbach's gorge until early November.

Year-round The glacier-cut trench, its limestone walls and the car-free terraces of Wengen and Mürren stand every day; the Staubbach's 297-metre cliff never moves, though in February it can hang as ice.

At Lauterbrunnen the water does not come over the top of the cliffs but out of the middle of them, seventy-two waterfalls over a flat green Swiss valley barely a kilometre wide. The walls are 400 metres high, and the water arrives in mid-air because a glacier once filled this valley and cut it far deeper than the side valleys feeding in. When the ice went, those streams were left hanging on the new cliff face, and they have poured off it ever since. The biggest is the Staubbach, 297 metres of near-freefall behind the village. It falls from so high that the wind takes it apart before it lands. A paved path climbs fifteen minutes to a gallery cut into the rock beside it, where the spray drifts over you. J. R. R. Tolkien walked through in 1911, and the valley's name went into his books: the river of Rivendell is Bruinen in Elvish, Loudwater in English. A flat lane runs the valley from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg, through meadows and hay barns, past the foot of one fall after another. Halfway along, the route goes inside the mountain: at Trümmelbach a lift bored through the cliff climbs to a gorge where ten glacial waterfalls off the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau pound through the rock. A cable car and a mountain train lift you to Wengen, car-free on the terrace above, where the whole trench falls away and the falls shrink to silver threads. The same cliffs have made this one of the busiest BASE-jumping valleys anywhere, fifteen to twenty thousand jumps a year, and on a clear afternoon you can pick out the figures dropping from the rim. From Mürren a cable route runs downhill along the cliff to Gimmelwald, three hours clipped to a wire. Midway it crosses the Mürrenbach ravine on three steel strands near the top of the fall — 417 metres, the highest in Switzerland, going away under your boots.

Worth knowing

Good to know

Trümmelbach is reached by a lift bored into the rock — it runs only about April to November, so in deep winter the glacier gorge closes even while the valley itself stays open.
See the Staubbach early or late, not midday — tour coaches fill the village through mid-morning, and low sun lights the drifting spray behind the church far better than harsh noon glare.
The Staubbach thins in a dry spell — it lives on snowmelt and rain, so after a dry stretch the veil can shrink to a trickle; come after a warm, wet week for full force.

Things to do

1
Walk to the foot of Staubbach Falls
A short paved path climbs from the village to a gallery carved into the rock right beside the falling water. Standing under the Staubbach's near-300-metre drop, you feel the spray drift over you long before the stream reaches the ground, breaking into mist on the wind. The way up is steep but takes only about fifteen minutes.
2
Ride up to Wengen for the view down the valley
A cable car and mountain train climb to Wengen, a car-free village on the terrace high above the valley floor. From up here the whole cliff-walled trench falls away beneath you, the waterfalls shrink to silver threads, and the snow of the Jungfrau fills the head of the valley. It is the angle that shows Lauterbrunnen's full depth.
3
Walk the valley lane from Lauterbrunnen to Stechelberg
A flat path and quiet lane run the length of the valley between Lauterbrunnen and Stechelberg, threading through meadows, hay barns and the foot of one waterfall after another. On foot or by bike it is an easy, level way to feel the cliffs close in overhead. On damp mornings and after rain, cloud slides down the walls and drifts along the valley in ribbons, covering and uncovering the falls minute by minute. The same walls take the sun off the floor early — by late afternoon the light has climbed up the cliffs, catching the Staubbach's spray behind the church spire before it goes.
4
Go inside the mountain at Trümmelbach
A lift built into the rock carries you up into the cliff, where ten glacial waterfalls thunder through a gorge hidden inside the mountain. Walkways and tunnels lead past the churning meltwater of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau as it grinds through the stone. It is loud, cold and unlike any waterfall you meet in the open — and closed in winter.
5
Clip onto the cliff cable from Mürren to Gimmelwald
It runs downhill the whole way: 2.2 kilometres and about 300 metres of descent, three hours on the rock for most people. Midway you cross the Mürrenbach's ravine on three steel strands strung near the top of the fall — 417 metres, the highest waterfall in Switzerland, running away beneath your boots.

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Nearby

12 km