A flat, flower-lined walk along the floor of the Lauterbrunnen valley, a glacial trench with walls 300 to 500 metres high and dozens of waterfalls pouring off them, from Staubbach in the village to Trümmelbach roaring inside the mountain and on to Stechelberg at the end of the road.
The Lauterbrunnen valley is one of the most perfect U-shaped glacial valleys in the Alps: a flat green floor half a kilometre wide between limestone walls that rise almost vertically on both sides.
Streams from the snowfields above have nowhere to go but over the edge, and the valley counts some 72 waterfalls. The most famous, Staubbach, drops about 297 metres off the cliff right beside Lauterbrunnen village, turning to spray before it hits the ground; Goethe wrote a poem about it. Further up, the Trümmelbach is the opposite: ten glacier-fed cascades thundering through corkscrew gorges inside the rock, draining the snow of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, reached by a tunnel lift and walkways.
The walk itself is an easy stroll on paths and quiet lanes beside the Weisse Lütschine river, with meadows, barns and the cliffs towering overhead. It is the right walk for a cloudy day, when the peaks are hidden but the waterfalls are at their loudest, and for families.
Follow signs for Stechelberg along the river. Buses run back down the valley if you only want to walk one way.
From the station walk up the main street to the church and the meadow below Staubbach. In season a path climbs to a gallery behind the fall, inside the spray. The famous photograph of the church, the fall and the Lauterbrunnen Wall is taken from the road just beyond.
Leave the village on the path along the Weisse Lütschine, through hay meadows dotted with barns, with campsites and farms under the walls. Waterfalls appear on both sides; look up for paragliders and, at certain spots, base jumpers leaping from the cliffs.
A short detour leads to the Trümmelbach falls, open from spring to autumn. A tunnel lift takes you up inside the rock to walkways and staircases beside ten cascades that carry up to 20,000 litres a second of glacial meltwater. Allow an hour, wear a jacket, and expect noise.
Continue up the valley, past the Mürrenbach falls plunging from the western cliffs, to Stechelberg, where the road ends and the cable car rises to Gimmelwald, Mürren and the Schilthorn. Take the PostBus back or ride up the mountain.
Lauterbrunnen is 20 minutes by train from Interlaken Ost. PostBuses run along the valley between Lauterbrunnen station, Trümmelbach and Stechelberg about every half hour.
The falls open from about April to early November, depending on snow; there is an entrance fee, payable in cash or card, and the tunnel lift can queue in high summer. Not suitable for pushchairs; dogs and small children under four are not admitted.
From Stechelberg, ride the cable car to Gimmelwald and walk the mule path or the Northface Trail, or come down from Mürren on foot to finish here.
Mürren to Gimmelwald →
The Northface Trail and the old mule path down to the valley.
The old path up through the meadows under the Jungfrau.
Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg, with the Eiger growing ahead.
Funicular up for sunset over the lakes, forest path down to Interlaken.
Fifty minutes from the gondola to a mirror under the Faulhorn.
The turquoise lake under the Blüemlisalp, and the Heuberg view.
Wikimedia Commons photographs are used under their Creative Commons licences; Pexels photographs under the Pexels licence.
