Located in a sunny spot, Wengen shares a ski area with Grindelwald, and most of its slopes are above its neighbor, below the Eiger’s towering north face.
Until the early 20th century, Wengen was a farming community in the Alps, and had been so for centuries. Then intrepid British visitors started skiing here and persuaded locals to keep the summer railway line to the top of the mountain open in winter. That way they no longer had to walk up the mountain to ski down – and to celebrate, the aptly named Downhill Only Club (DHO) was founded, which is still going strong today.
The resort has a large British presence apart from the DHO, with many generations of the same family visiting year after year. There is even an Anglican church known as the English Church.
Keep up to date with the key facts about the resort below and scroll down for our insider’s guide to a day on the slopes, expert reviews and advice. For more Wengen inspiration, check out our guides to the resort’s best accommodations, restaurants and après-ski.
In this guide:
Within the resort
Wengen is a charming hilltop village overlooking the Lauterbrunnen Valley. For a resort so famous for the annual Lauberhorn World Cup downhill race, which takes place every January, it is remarkably small and one of the most scenic destinations in the Alps. The focus of the resort is on a short main street lined with shops and several large Victorian-style hotels.
Adding to the charm, the village is only accessible by cog railway and is largely traffic-free, although there are electric vehicles running through hotels and a few petrol vehicles, including taxis. The railway continues up the mountain, as one of the ski lifts. The alternative route up is by cable car, which has cabins with rooftop viewing platforms, from the middle of the main street.
The view from the ski area is a highlight, with the iconic Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains as a beautiful backdrop. For even further reaching views, the railway line above the ski area passes through a tunnel in the Eiger to Jungfraujoch, the highest train station in Europe at 3,454 metres. Along the way there are stops at two viewing galleries carved into the steep north side. The trip is not included with a lift pass – a return costs CHF63 with a lift pass of three days or more – but on a clear day the views are among the best in the world.
The local ski area has 103 km of slopes. In total, the Jungfrau ski pass covers 211km of pistes and is served by 45 lifts, covering the individual ski areas of Mürren (connected by a cog railway and then a cable car) and Grindelwald First (accessed via the village of Grindelwald, where a bus runs). The ski area is best suited to intermediate skiers, but the slopes in Mürren offer some challenges.
Après is quiet compared to other major Swiss resorts such as Verbier and Zermatt, but there are a few lively bars both on and off the mountain.
Wengen offers several family-friendly toboggan runs. The obvious one is the 4.5 km descent from Wengernalp, but there are also long descents from the top of the mountain towards Grindelwald. You can enjoy curling and outdoor skating in the middle of the village.
On the slopes
From the village the local ski area of Wengen can be reached via a scenic 26-minute train ride to Kleine Scheidegg or a five-minute cable car ride to Männlichen. These peaks can also be reached from Grindelwald in the next valley and the two resorts share the 103km of pistes.
Most of the slopes are on the Grindelwald side, where the upper part of the mountain is easily accessible by fast chairlifts. Thanks to a 10-seater gondola to Männlichen (2,229 m), with a middle station in Holenstein, and the Eiger Express, a 26-seater cable car that takes 15 minutes to reach the Eiger glacier station (2,328 m) and 2,200 passengers at a time can transport. hours, the connections from Grindelwald are fast. The Männlichen gondola takes 19 minutes to climb 1,282 meters from Grindelwald to Männlichen, transporting 1,800 people per hour. It is of course also possible to take the train from Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg and Eigergletscher.
On the Wengen side there is the chance to make a long drive back to the village at the end of the day and despite Wengen’s relatively low elevation, with the village at 1,275 metres, the snow is usually fine, thanks to the extensive snow cannons .
There is a good beginner’s slope in the middle of the village. The best long, gentle blue run to go to is 22 from Kleine Scheidegg towards Grindelwald, but it can be very busy. Männlichen’s blue run 2 starts with a long, narrow route, which crosses several red runs, but then turns into a nice wide, gentle run that is generally calmer than run 22.
Most of the slopes in the Wengen/Grindelwald area are red slopes that deserve their qualification and are ideal for confident intermediates.
The separate First area, reached by a free ski bus ride from the base of Grindelwald’s slopes, has plenty of very easy blue runs – it’s well worth the trip for timid intermediates, who can take the train or gondola to Grindelwald if they wish .
Experts will enjoy tackling the Lauberhorn downhill circuit, black run 45. There are only two seriously steep sections and the rest is really steep on the red run. The other noticeably steep descent here is the black descent 27 from the Eiger Glacier to the Wixi Chair – aptly dubbed ‘Oh God’ by early British visitors.
There are other challenging slopes in Mürren, which you can reach from Wengen by taking the train to Lauterbrunnen, followed by a connecting cable car up and another train, which gives stunning views across the valley to the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains . The journey takes about 40 minutes to Winteregg, where the Mürren ski area begins.
The upper part of the Mürren ski area generally has excellent snow due to its altitude – the summit is at 2,970 meters, about 500 meters higher than the summit of the shared Wengen/Grindelwald area. The top run of about 300 meters vertically is quite steep, but usually well groomed and therefore a great fast blast. The intermediate slopes below are often covered in nicely packed powder.
Wengen itself does not have a terrain park, but there are good parks for all levels in First and Mürren. Both Wengen ski schools have a good reputation and many English-speaking instructors.
Who should go
Wengen’s design is ideal for families. It is virtually car-free and at its heart is a snow-covered field that serves as a combined playground and soft practice track. There are also several family-friendly toboggan runs, curling rinks and outdoor skating rinks. The resort comes into its own during the holidays, when the streets are decorated for Christmas. There are good beginner slopes and much of the ski area is ideal for confident intermediate skiers.
Know before you go
Essential information
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British Embassy/Consulate: 00 31 359 77 00
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Ambulance: call 144
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Police: call 117
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Firework: call 118
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TOURIST OFFICE: See wengen.swiss, the Wengen tourist office website, for weather reports, lift status, webcams, traffic information and lists of local events. You can pick up maps, brochures and other information at the office in the center of the village
The base
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Currency: Swiss franc (CHF)
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Phone code: from abroad, call 00 41 and omit the zero at the beginning of the ten-digit number.
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Time difference: +1 hour