Autumn is a spectacular time to visit the Jungfrau Region near Interlaken, with fall colors painting the meadows and forests from late September through October.
Golden meadows, red blueberry bushes, and often fresh snow dusting the peaks making hiking around Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, Wengen, and Grindelwald especially scenic.
However you must plan carefully as early snow and seasonal closures can affect trails, cableways, and other services. So always check conditions before setting out.
Keeping reading for the best hikes and things to do in the Jungfrau Region in fall, from panoramic viewpoints to scenic trails.
Contents
Planning your fall visit
Fall colors in the Jungfrau Region start appearing in late September, with most trees changing around the second week of October. Check the Jungfrau Region webcams, Mürren webcams, and Switzerland’s Fall Foliage Map.
Some restaurants, hotels and other services may close for the season as early as late September, especially mountain huts. Best to bring a picnic on your hikes in case the huts are not open.
Below are the published closing dates for mountain transport and attractions in and near the Jungfrau Region. These dates may change based on weather and other factors.
Always check opening times, webcams, and trail status shortly before your visit. We suggest always having a lower elevation backup plan in case early snow temporarily closes your desired activity.
Mountain Closing Dates
Below are the season closing dates for mountain transport in the Jungfrau Region.
| Mountain Transport | Last day | Reopens |
|---|---|---|
| Eiger Express | year round* | |
| Grindelwald First gondola | Sun 26 Oct 2025 | Fri 28 Nov 2025 |
| Grindelwald Pfingstegg cable car | Sun 26 Oct 2025 | May 2026 |
| Harder Kulm funicular | Sun 29 Nov 2025 | April 2026 |
| Kleine Scheidegg via Grindelwald mountain train | Sun 26 Oct 2025 | Sat 8 Nov 2025 |
| Kleine Scheidegg via Lauterbrunnen/Wengen | Sun 9 Nov 2025 | Sat 6 Dec 2025 |
| Jungfraujoch via Grindelwald Eiger Express | open year round | |
| Jungfraujoch via Lauterbrunnen/Wengen mountain train | Sun 9 Nov 2025 | Sat 6 Dec 2025 |
| Männlichen via Wengen or Grindelwald cable cars | Sun 26 Oct 2025 | Sat 13 Dec 2025 |
| Mürren Allmendhubel funicular | Sun 19 Oct 2025 | Sat 13 Dec 2025 |
| Mürren via Grütschalp | Sun 26 Oct 2025 | Sat 8 Nov 2025 |
| Mürren & Schilthorn via Stechelberg | open year round | |
| Schynige Platte mountain train | Sun 26 Oct 2025 | mid June 2026 |
* In Nov 2026, the Eiger Express has scheduled maintenance from 9 – 20 Nov 2026. During this period, you will need to travel to the Jungfraujoch via a different route.
Other popular mountains near Jungfrau Region
| Mountain Transport | Last Day | Reopens |
|---|---|---|
| Brienzer Rothorn | Sun 26 Oct 2025 | June 2026 |
| Gelmerbahn | Sun 19 Oct 2025 | June 2026 |
| Hasliberg | Sun 26 Oct 2025 | mid Dec 2025 (ski season) |
| Oeschinensee gondola | Sun 9 Nov 2025 | mid Dec 2025 (ski season) |
| Niederhorn | *closed for maintenance | April 2026 |
Attraction closing dates
Some of these attractions have approximate closing and opening dates based on weather. So check the status before planning your visit.
| Attraction | Last day | Reopens |
|---|---|---|
| Aare Gorge | Sun 2 Nov 2025 | mid April |
| Ballenberg Open-air Living Museum | Sun 2 Nov 2025 | April 2026 |
| Grindelwald Glacier Gorge | beginning of November 2025 | end of April 2026 |
| Grindelwald First mountain cart & scooters | Sun 19 Oct 2025 | June 2026 |
| Reichenbach Falls | Sun 5 Oct 2025 | May 2026 |
| Trümmelbach falls | beginning of November 2025 | April 2026 |
Grindelwald Hikes in Fall
1. Bachalpsee Lake
This trail hikes from the First Cliff Walk to the Bachalpsee lake, one of the most popular trails in the region. In fall, it’s much quieter than in summer.
But our favorite part in fall is suggest hiking from the lake down the “Blumenweg” trail to the Bort gondola station. It has such epic views and lots of red blueberry bushes.
Trail: easy • 2 hours • 6km round trip • 150m up & down
Highest elevation: 2266 m
➡️ Learn more about Bachalpsee Lake Trail
2. Marmot Trail at Grindelwald First
This trail wanders through a high alpine area inhabited by many marmots. We’ve seen several marmots each time we’ve done the trail and heard many more whistling while we hike.
It’s a relatively easy hike, with not much elevation gain.
- Trail: easy • 2 hours • 7km one way • 234m up, 434m down
- Highest elevation: 2200 m
- Conditions: webcam • weather
➡️ Learn more about Marmot Trail
3. Männlichen panorama trail
This panorama trail traverses the mountain from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg, with panorama views of all the mountains in this region. At the start of the hike, you’ll find the popular Herdsman Cow playground and Royal Walk viewpoint.
It’s a great choice if you want big mountain views. But it’s way above the tree line, so not the best choice if you want fall colors.
The mountain transport that services this trail runs until the end of October (Grindelwald-Männlichen gondola and Kleine Scheidegg-Grindelwald mountain train). So unless there is snow, this trail should be accessible the full month.
Trail: easy • 1.5 h • 4.7 km one way • 237m down
Highest elevation: 2200 m
➡️ Learn more about Männlichen Panorama Trail
Lauterbrunnen & Mürren Fall Hikes
4. Mürren Northface trail
This trail starts in alpine meadows and hikes along and through the forests above the Mürren village. The trees in this area usually turn bright colors around the second week of October.
This trail has a nice detour to the Sprutz waterfall. But in fall, the water flow may be minimal if there hasn’t been recent rain. So I don’t necessarily recommend the detour in fall.
Open: You reach this trail via the Allmendhubel funicular from Mürren, which usually runs through the third weekend of October. The Allmendhubel restaurant and flower playground are usually open the same dates.
If you want to visit after this, you’ll need to hike up from Mürren. You can always reach Mürren with mountain transport, but some cable car routes may close during this time for maintenance. So check schedules carefully.
Trail (without waterfall): 2h • 6.5 km • 100m up, 360m down.
Highest elevation: 1940m
Status: Allmendhubel webcam
➡️ Learn more about Mürren Northface Trail
5. Mürren Mountain View Trail
This trail starts through a forest and then wanders through meadows just above the tree line, ending near Mürren. You’ll often find nice fall colors around the beginning of October.
This trail is one way between the Grütschalp cable car and Allmendhubel funicular. That funicular stops running the third weekend in October. So after that, you would need to hike down from Allmendhubel to Mürren, about 45 mins more.
Trail: 2h • 5km one way • 400m up, 40m down.
Highest elevation: 1890m
Open: Allmendhubel funicular until 20 Oct 2025. Grütschalp cable car until 27 Oct 2025.
➡️ Learn more about Mürren Mountain View Trail
6. Mürren-Gimmelwald Walk
This easy walk is on the service road between Mürren and Gimmelwald, with big mountain views and thick forests nearby for fall colors. If higher elevation trails are not accessible to snow, this walk is a good alternative.
Trail: easy • 45 mins • 2.8km one way • 278m down • trail map
Highest elevation: 1640m
Open: year round
Location: cable car Stechelberg to Mürren to start hike
7. Lauterbrunnen Valley Path
This easy walking path is a great choice for anytime of year. Because of the low elevation, it’s almost always accessible. In October, you can enjoy the changing leaves on many trees through the valley, as well as the waterfalls.
It’s a one way trail with a bus at Stechelberg at the end. So you can just walk as far as you like and walk back. Or walk the full distance and ride the bus back. You could even rent a bike in Lauterbrunnen and ride down the path instead of walk.
Trail: 2h • 6.7 km one way • 120m ascent
Highest elevation: 910m
Open: year round
➡️ Learn more about Lauterbrunnen Valley Path
Fall Hikes near Interlaken
8. Schynige platte ridge trail
This ridge trail near Interlaken overlooks the bright blue Lake Brienz, making a beautiful contrast with the fall colors. There are lots of trees along this trail, so you may see some nice colors in October.
It’s a short loop, about 2 hours, so not a big commitment. If you’re with kids, you can do the easier activity trail near the mountain train station that still has fantastic views.
Trail: moderate • 2 hours • 6.2 km loop • 190m up & down
Highest elevation: 2030m
Open: mountain train runs through 26 Oct 2025
➡️ Learn more about Schynige Platte Ridge Trail
9. Hasliberg
This mountain area east of Interlaken has big forests full of pretty trees that turn bright colors in autumn. They have two fun activity trails for kids, the Muggestutz Storybook Trail and the Marble Run trail.
We did both trails on the same day, which was a little hard to squeeze into the shorter autumn days. If you have to choose just one, I would lean toward the Marble Run trail, which had more beautiful trees along the way.
Trail: 90 mins • 3 km • 150m descent
Highest elevation: 1410m
Status: Hasliberg webcams • interactive map
➡️ See Hasliberg Marble Run trail info
10. Oeschinensee Lake
The popular Oeschinensee lake is a great choice for fall because the lower elevations mean that the snow usually doesn’t stick here until late November. It even has a small golden larch forest, a bit unusual for this region.
The gondola usually stays open through early November. If the gondola is closed, you can still hike up to the lake on this trail.
The popular Panorama Trail is often open through late October. But it can close anytime due to snow & ice. Check the trail status before heading out. Do not attempt this trail if it’s marked closed.
Tip: The shadows are very long here in fall due to the tall mountains along the lake. So best to visit between 10:00-14:00 so the lake has some sunshine.
Open: gondola thru 9 Nov 2025 • check status
Location:
Highest elevation: 1680m
Learn more about visiting Oeschinensee
No-hike Viewpoints
All of the popular mountain viewpoints are open through the end of October and some stay open year round.
11. Schilthorn
The Schilthorn viewpoint at 2970m is accessible year-round with a series of cable cars from Stechelberg and Mürren. You’ll get spectacular views of the whole Jungfrau Region and beyond.
During November, some of the cable cars that travel to Mürren close for maintenance breaks. So your best option is always to travel to Stechelberg (by bus or car), then use the newer cable cars to travel to Schilthorn. These are open 365 days a year.
➡️ Learn more about visiting Schilthorn
12. Grindelwald First
One of the most popular views in the Jungfrau Region, the First Cliff Walk is open mostly year round, only taking a break in November.
The cliff walk usually stays open despite the weather. But it can close temporarily after snow or rain that turns into ice.
The adventure activities – zip lines, mountain cart, and scooters – also stay open in October as long as weather doesn’t close down the routes. This is a good time of year to do these since the lines are much shorter than in summer.
Open: thru 26 Oct 2025
➡️ Learn more about Grindelwald First
13. Jungfraujoch “Top of Europe”
The popular viewpoint at 3,454m (11,332 ft), at the highest train station in Europe, stays open year round. At the top, you can admire the Aletsch glacier, the longest in the alps, walk through an ice tunnel inside the glacier, and walk on the glacier snow.
All routes to the top remain open until the end of October. Then in November, some mountain transport closes for maintenance. So it’s important to doublecheck your desired route in case you need to make adjustments.
In November 2025, best to travel to Jungfraujoch via the Grindelwald Eiger Express cable car, which remains open year round. (In Nov 2026, the Eiger Express has scheduled maintenance from 9 – 20 Nov 2026. During this period, you will need to travel to the Jungfraujoch via a different route.)
➡️ Learn more about visiting Jungfraujoch
14. Niesen
Mt Niesen is a tall mountain west of Interlaken, overlooking Lake Thun and many mountains in all directions. To reach the viewpoint at 2363m, you ride a series of two funicular trains.
At the top, there is a restaurant, small playground, and viewing platform over Lake Thun. The hiking trails are usually open through late October if there is no snow.
Open: funiculars open thru 9 Nov 2025 • check status
Location: Niesen funicular – Heustrichstrasse 12, 3711 Mülenen • train station Mülenen, 50 min from Interlaken
➡️ Learn more in our Niesen article.
15. Brienzer Rothorn
This mountain stands tall at the east end of Lake Brienz, with panorama views of the many mountains in the Interlaken region.
You can easily reach the top with a vintage steam railway, taking about an hour to slowly climb the mountain. From the other side of the mountain, you can ride the Sörenberg cable car instead, which is slightly less expensive. These are open through end of October/early November.
At the top, you’ll find two restaurants with panorama terraces, a nice place to enjoy the view without much work. It’s a short walk to a higher panorama viewpoint, where you can peer over the cliffs and see for miles in every direction.
Open: Brienzer Rothornbahn mountain train open thru 26 Oct 20r5, Sörenberg cable car open thru 2 Nov 2025
Location: Niesen funicular – Heustrichstrasse 12, 3711 Mülenen • train station Mülenen, 50 min from Interlaken
➡️ Learn more about Brienzer Rothorn
Where to stay
For an autumn stay in the Jungfrau Region, we suggest staying in Grindelwald, Mürren, Wengen or Interlaken.
Our first choice would be Hotel Belvedere Grindelwald, which is conveniently located a very short walk from the Grindelwald train station and has quick access to all the cable cars and mountain transport by foot or bus. This hotel has spectacular views of the Eiger from it’s terrace and room balconies. (*our recent stay was hosted by the hotel)
For more hotel ideas, use our Switzerland Travel Guide, which has our recommendations on an interactive map. With a free account you can access all the hotels and preview other content.
Rainy Day
If you get stuck with cloudy or rainy weather, here are a few suggestions.
- Day trip to Bern, Basel or
- Scenic train ride to Luzern and visit Swiss Transportation Museum
- Scenic train ride to Montreux and visit Chillon Castle
- Indoor sports, swimming and wellness at Mürren Alpine Sports Centre or Grindelwald Sports Center
- Fun museum like Trauffer or Sensorium
➡️ Get more ideas for Autumn in Switzerland
