If your family can only do one hike in the Jungfrau region, this would be my first choice. While many of the trails in this region are quite steep and difficult, this trail is easy enough for little hikers in training and is also manageable with an all-terrain stroller.
Kids will love the big playground at Männlichen with swings, slides, trampolines and other amusements. Of course, this trail is a popular choice for tourists and can be crowded on sunny summer weekends. But you won’t mind so much because the views are so amazing.
Contents
| Location: | Grindelwald, Bernese Oberland Switzerland |
| Address: | Grindelwald-Männlichen gondola |
| Car: | Parking at Grindelwald Terminal: 46°37’28.0″N 8°01’13.5″E 25 mins from Interlaken, 2hr10 from Zürich |
| Train: | Grindelwald Terminal train station 25 mins from Interlaken, 2hr25 from Zurich |
| Trail: | 4.7 km one way, about 2hr walking with kids |
| Condition: | wide dirt path, suitable for all-terrain strollers |
| Skill: | easy |
| Services: | restaurant and playgrounds at both ends of trail, no fires |
| Open: | June to mid October cable car runs about 8:30 to 17:00 |
| Cost 2024: | Mountain transport approx. CHF 73/adult Discount for SBB Half-fare, GA & Swiss Travel Pass Free with Jungfrau Travel Pass and Berner Oberland Pass |
| More info: | www.maennlichen.ch |
Gallery
Trail Overview
The trail is a one way trail, from the top of the Männlichen gondola to the top of the Kleine Scheidegg mountain train. You can access this trail from either side of the mountain, either from Grindelwald or Wengen/Lauterbrunnen.
Hiking map
Here is the trail map. It’s easy walking over 4.68 km, gradually descending about 227m of elevation.
View interactive map on Komoot • SchweizMobil • OutdoorActive
Trail conditions
The trail is a wide dirt path, mostly flat with mild ups and downs and some bumpy sections. It’s possible with all-terrain strollers with big tires. I’ve also seen many people bumping flimsy umbrella strollers over it, though didn’t look so fun.
With kids, I’d plan for about 2 hours walking time. There are restaurants and playgrounds at the start and end of the trail but nothing in the middle, so take food and water with you.
Optional detour – Royal Walk
I also recommend doing the Royal Walk, a short 1 km uphill detour to the Männlichen peak for amazing views (100m elevation gain). It took some convincing for our kids to go up, but I was so glad we did. The views were even more spectacular from here than from Männlichen. See details for Royal Walk.
How to get there
This trail is located in the Jungfrau Region in the Berner Oberland region of Switzerland. See on Google Maps.
You can reach this trail with mountain transport from either Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen.
If you are coming from Interlaken or outside the Jungfrau Region, I think it’s slightly more convenient to start in Grindelwald. If you are staying in Lauterbrunnen, just start your journey there.
By public transport
From Interlaken Ost, take a train to Grindelwald Terminal, which is where the Männlichen gondola starts.
By car
Drive to Grindelwald and follow signs to Grindelwald Terminal. There is a large parking garage at the gondola station: 46°37’28.0″N 8°01’13.5″E.
Ride the gondola up to Männlichen, do the hike. At Kleine Scheidegg, ride the mountain train down to Grindelwald Grund, which is a short walk from the Grindelwald Terminal parking garage.
Ticket prices
From Grindelwald
At Grindelwald Terminal, take the gondola car to Männlichen, do the hike to Kleine Scheidegg, then catch the train back to Grindelwald. The Grund cable car and Kleine Scheidegg train are right next to each other, making the round trip easy. In 2024, this costs CHF 73/adult.
From Lauterbrunnen/Wengen
take the mountain train to Wengen, then ride the gondola to Männlichen, do the hike to Kleine Scheidegg, then catch the Jungfrau train back down to Lauterbrunnen. In 2024, adult round trip is CHF 80.60.
Discounts
In 2024, this trip is free with the Jungfrau Travel Pass and Bernese Oberland Pass. You get a reduced fare with SBB Half-fare, GA, SBB Day Passes and Swiss Travel Pass. Children with a SBB Junior card or under 6 yrs old ride free.
Photo story of trail
1. Männlichen Sennespielplatz playground
The Sennespielplatz playground at Männlichen keeps getting better, with this giant cow slide as the newest addition. You’ll also find swings, a seesaw, spinner, bowling, and other amusements.
A self-service bowling lane with the best view ever.
There is plenty of room to picnic and a big restaurant.
2. Royal Walk Trail to Männlichen Peak
Before doing the Panorama trail, I highly recommend making the extra effort to walk up to the Männlichen peak, just north of the playground. It’s 1 km each way, with 100m elevation gain.
The climb takes some effort, but the views are so worth it. At the top, there is an observation deck with amazing views. Here is the trail leading up. The path is smooth gravel, possible with strollers until the very top.
Along the path, there are info stations like the one shown below with interesting facts about the region, like what kinds of stone are found in each mountain peak and the different kinds rope knots mountain climbers use.
At the top, there is a crown platform you can stand in to get the panorama view.
One part of the 360 degree view, this part looking down at the Lauterbrunnen valley.
3. Panorama Trail to Kleine Scheidegg
Now to the main attraction: the panorama trail to Kleine Scheidegg. This trail heads south from the playground towards the Eiger. If you did the Royal Walk, hike back the way you came, pass by the playground and keep walking south. Here we are on the start of the trail.
The colors and mood change with the season and weather. Below was a cloudy day beginning of July.
And now a sunny day at the end of July.
This is a popular trail, with a wide variety of ages, skill, and nationalities enjoying the scenery.
The trail is not difficult, but it isn’t completely flat either. There are gentle ups and downs and occasionally some bumpy rocks. We saw lots of flimsy strollers on the path that were having a bit of trouble on the bumpy bits. Better to use an all-terrain stroller with big knobby tires.
Looking back toward Männlichen.
Taking a break in the middle of the trail, with a view of the Eiger. There was a portable toilet next to a shelter hut at this mid-point.
Back on the trail.
Some workers were herding these cows to another part of the mountain. The cows were walking on the trail, which crowded out some hikers for a bit.
Sometimes the clouds take over the view, but it’s still pretty.
4. Arriving in Kleine Scheidegg
When you approach Kleine Scheidegg, there are lots of restaurants to choose from. We stopped at the first one, which had great views from the outdoor seating and a small playground. Food was typical hearty Swiss fare, typical prices, good but nothing special.
Later on we passed this restaurant with a trampoline; the kids wished we had eaten here.
One last pretty picture before we jump on the train in Kleine Scheidegg, heading back down to Grindelwald. Hope you enjoy this one!
See more family hikes in the Jungfrau Region
Video of Männlichen trail
Scenes from our Männlichen hike.
35 Responses
I am so pleased to have stumbled across your website. It has been a massive help planning our trip to Switzerland, thank you!
Please could you advice if we could do this trail in reverse? We are hoping that we can encourage our 5 year old to keep hiking and finish the trail Männlichen Sennespielplatz playground (instead of starting there and wear him out before starting our hike)
Many thanks,
Maria
You can definitely do the trail in reserve, but it’s uphill, not very steep but a bit more work. Just take it slowly and have fun. The playground is a great reward at the end.
Hello ! After getting to KS. How would we get to Grindelwald?
Thank you for all of the helpful information on your site! It is extremely helpful!
At Kleine Scheidegg, you can ride the mountain train down to Grindelwald. Hope this helps. Have fun out there.
If we do this in the morning, what afternoon activity would you recommend? Any of your other favorite hikes you’d combine with this one?
You can easily combine this with the Eiger trail that starts near Kleine Scheidegg. https://swissfamilyfun.com/jungfrau-region-eiger-trail/ Or you could hike down to Wengen on the west side of the mountain.
Hi! Your sight is amazing! Thank you so much for making this. My family is going to Switzerland in July and we were wondering if it’s possible to combine this itinerary and your “Bachalpsee Grindelwald • Hike to alpine lake” ( https://swissfamilyfun.com/grindelwald-first-bachseealp/) itinerary into 1 day? My son will be 2 years old during this trip. Thank you so much!
What a fun trip you have planned! I suppose it would be technically possible to do both in one day. But I think the time schedule would be very tight. You would have to ride up the first train/cable car in the morning to have enough time. If you are determined, I would probably do the Bachalpsee first, then come back down to Grindelwald, ride up to Mannlichen and do the hike across to Kleine Scheidegg. I would do it in this order because the train from Kleine Scheidegg back to Grindelwald is open later than the gondolas. So you don’t have to worry as much about getting down with that second hike too quickly. Good luck!
Hi, thank you for all the effort setting this up for newbies and moms traveling to Switzerland. Bless you!
I’m planning to travel with kids aged 3,6,9 in late August with my husband.
Do you think we should opt for the Männlichen Sennespielplatz playground and Royal walk only for our kids. I”m not sure whether the 3-year old will be motivated enough to hike for so long.
How do we get to Kleine Scheidegg if it’s not through the hiking trail? Or should opt this out?
Many thanks in advance
If you don’t do the hike between Männlichen and Kleine Scheidegg, probably just skip Kleine Scheidegg and do something else like Mürren and the Allmendhubel playground. To get there, you would have to go back down to the valley and ride a mountain train up to KS.
Hi! Thanks for all the info on your website! My family and I (kids 7 and 5) will be in the area May29-30 – it looks like the cable car up will be running but not sure if the hike to Kleine Sheidegg will be open. Do you recommend coming up here for the playground, views, and royal walk even if we can’t do the hike? If we go and bring a picnic are there tables to use or should be bring a picnic blanket? Thanks for any advice you have! Our other day in the area will be going Grutshlap/Murren/Gimmelwald hikes since we are based in Lauterbrunnen.
Sorry for my late reply. I hope you figured everything out for this weekend. I do think it’s a nice view even if you can’t do the hike. But it can be a little expensive. Maybe choose something else if the money is a concern.
First of all, the “Swiss Family Fun” site is fabulous—full of details and great information. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
Barring any further Covid restrictions, we will be staying in Lauterbrunnen in late July. We’re plannning on taking the Männlichen-Kleine Scheidegg Panorama hike.
I read in one blog that there are a few places along the trail where someone with a fear of heights might be somewhat challenged. That would impact me if the trail is narrow at a point where there is a steep drop-off on one side. Understanding that everyone’s tolerance is different, can you enlighten me whether or not that might be an issue?
Hi David, I can’t remember any scary parts on that trail. I’m very surprised to hear that report. It’s a wide trail, well traveled by many casual hikers and children. I would give it a very low danger rating. Of course, each person’s risk tolerance is different. Perhaps the mountain slopes on the side of the trail made a hiker nervous. But I never noticed that. I’ll have to observe that more closely next time I go.
Hi Tanja, thank you so much as usual for all the details you provide. I was wondering, have you ever walked the trail in winter? I saw they give 2.5 hrs so I am wondering if it is the same one, and if it is feasible. Any tip? We are in Wengen and I am looking for a not too easy/not too hard hike to be combined with some fun sledding! Thanks!
Sorry for my late reply. I checked the winter hiking map and it looks like this trail is open in winter. Did you try it? I think it would be amazing.
Hi Tanya,
Greetings from the Netherlands. I am a new subscriber to your YouTube channel. Your vlogs are awesome, very informative and helpful, thank you for that.
End of August this year, my husband (age 81) and I (age 61) are planning to do some hiking in Jungfrau region and Zermatt as inspired by your videos.
Is it doable to do below hikes in 1 day? If yes, which walk do we do first?
-Grindelwald First + Bachalpsee
-Royal Walk + Panorama Trail Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg
Best regards,
Rosie
If you are really motivated, you could probably do them both in one day. Definitely do the Bachalpsee first because the Grindelwald First gondola closes earlier than the Kleine Scheidegg train. Have fun!
Hi Tanya,
I am working on a 5 full-day itinerary (we will be staying in Interlaken and our kids will be 7, 11, and 11). I want to put my priorities first, in case we have to push them back due to weather. I was wondering if you could answer these “Would You Rather?” questions (my son’s favorite pastime these days) to help sway me one way or another. If you could only choose one:
1) Would you rather hike Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg OR First to Bachalpsee?
2) Would you rather spend a day in Murren (Thrill Walk in Burg, Allmendhubel playground and adventure trail) OR First (Cliff Walk, hike to Bachalpsee, Mountain Carts)?
Thanks!
Good questions! 1) I would choose the hike from Männlichen because it’s more spectacular and prettier the whole way, start to finish.
2) I would rather spend the day in Murren. I don’t want to push First and Bachalpsee to the bottom of the list, it’s super nice there too. But the others are slightly nicer. Have fun with your planning!
This was my fourth hike following your recommendations, all excellent and well researched, really appreciate all your work (and hiking!). Small potentially useful tip: I cautiously decided to do this one late in the day on a sunny Saturday afternoon. I say cautiously because I know how busy it can be, but starting off around 4 pm at Männlichen, the trail was my own for the most part, and the light and weather were superb. Usually I head for the trails early morning, but I got done with Niederhorn (thanks again) around lunchtime and had a day pass to use, so after all that looking over at Jungfrau, decided to head for the big trail same day. Totally doable. By the time I reached Kleine Schiedegg it was about 6 pm, maybe 6:30 and most of the day trippers were long gone. I then decided to walk down to Grindelwald — after a long hike, wearing a mask on a slow train didn’t sound too good), and that trail was 100% my own. Made it down in time for the 20.18 train back to Bern/Zürich. Brilliant day, thanks to your research. I have a ton of great photos. You ever want to publish this stuff, I think it’d be a winner. Thanks again
Sounds amazing! I love late afternoon hikes for all the reasons you mention above.
Thank you very much for this detailed description and wonderful photographs. The trail looks great. We are wondering if it will be suitable for our parents (80-82 years old). They can walk slowly and can probably manage level walks or even small short inclines, but they would likely need to stop every 20-30 min and rest for 10 min. They will surely enjoy the views and we will be with them to assist. If not, can you suggest some short trails for older family members in the Jungfrau/Schilthorn general area. Thank you again for a great resource for families traveling in Switzerland.
Hi. The trail is mild but is 4.7 km (almost 3 miles), so they would need to be able to go the distance. It always feels a bit longer than I remember. It’s slightly downhill from Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg, so definitely go this direction. Allmendhubel Flower Park is another shorter one. You can ride up the funicular to the flower park, then walk back down to Mürren on the Panoramaweg. It’s about 2.8km, but descends 270m which might be a little much for them. Here’s the map: https://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=kffdckprqyeyjmch
Another mountain they might enjoy is Niederhorn, which is just north of Interlaken. You don’t have to do the whole hike in my post, just stroll along the ridge as far as feels comfortable, then go back. https://swissfamilyfun.com/niederhorn-ridge-hike/
Hope this helps.
Hello! Thank you so much for this detailed explanation of the hike! I had a quick question about the “hiking fare.” Is the hiking fare just the cost of the train ticket you need to come back down from the end of the trail? I am going to be in Wengen in early July and will be getting the Swiss Travel Pass and wasn’t sure if that I would need to get an additional ticket to ride back down from the end of the trail. Or, if there was a way to just take the cable car back to Wengen.
Thank you so much! 🙂
Whenever I talk about “hiking fee/fare” I am referring to the cost of the mountain transport: train, cable car, funicular, etc. The Swiss Travel Pass covers travel from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen. It gives you a discount on the cable car from Wengen to Männlichen (50%) and on the train from Wengen to Kleine Scheidegg (25%). So you will have an extra charge on top of the Swiss Travel Pass for this hike.
We have a very short amount of time in Switzerland, how long would you say it takes to hike just to the Mannlichen peak (just do the Royal walk), and back down the same way to the cable car?
It’s only 1 km to the crown on the Royal walk. So if you walk at a normal pace. You could go there and back in about 40mins.
Hi Tanya,
Thanks for the excellent tips!
We are from Canada and are planning to do the hiking from Mannlichen to Kleine Scheidegg inspired by your YouTube video.
We are doing this with 2 kids of 5 and 8 years old.
Any recommendations of what other trail to do before Mannlichen or after Kleine Scheidegg (probably spending the night there) We would like to continue this part of the trip adding another trail the next day but always adapted to the age of our kids. Any suggestions?
Many thanks,
Luca
The Bachalpsee trail on the other side of the valley from Kleine Scheidegg would have great views and the distance would be fine for your kids. You don’t have to hike down to the playground after visiting the lake, just ride the cable car back to the middle station and enjoy the playground for a bit before going back to the valley. https://swissfamilyfun.com/grindelwald-first-bachseealp/
I liked Allmendhubel best for kids the age of yours. https://swissfamilyfun.com/allmendhubel-flower-park-playground/ So ride up to Mürren then the funicular to the playground at Allmendhubel. After playing, you can hike back to Mürren, downhill so it’s not too strenuous.
From Männlichen, you could do the Lieselotte theme trail. I haven’t done this one myself but I heard good things: https://www.maennlichen.ch/en/summer/experiences/lieselotte-trail.html
There’s the Eiger trail from Kleine Scheidegg, but I think this is probably too much for your 5 year old. https://swissfamilyfun.com/jungfrau-region-eiger-trail/
I hope these ideas help. Remember to check the opening times for the mountain transport and trail conditions before heading out. Have a great trip!
Many thanks for the good advice!
Great and useful postings!
Hi.
Thank you so much for this. I was looking for a trail that is suitable for strollers and my 2 year old son in tow. Saw a picture that you took in this article and they had the exact stroller i’m using, ease my mind a little bit.
How is the weather like in late september in this region? I’m from Singapore and we don’t have snow here, Would you reckon we layer up on late September?
Was thinking of a day trip, pretty sure this is attainable. Do you think we can fit in 2 trails or just this one for a day with a kid in tow?
Thanks!
Hi! Would this be manageable with a lightweight, foldable stroller? (like the maclaren quest) I’m very keen to try out a gentle hike with my 3-yr-old who is fussy about walking for more than 30min! Thanks!!
Regards,
Archana
Yes, I think you could bump your way over it. It’s a gravel/dirt path, but quite wide, not a narrow alpine path. I would try it. Good luck!
Hi. It's a little tricky in late May and early June as many mountain resorts aren't yet open for the summer hiking season, which means the trails haven't been cleaned up, possibly have some snow packs still and some cable cars and funiculars aren't running yet.
But the Berner Oberland and Jungfrau region is one of the biggest tourist regions, so they tend to open a bit earlier than other mountain areas. I checked this hike on their website and it is advertised as being open starting end of May. So you should be fine on this trail if the weather cooperates. Another suggestion in the area is the walk from Grindewald First to the Bachalpsee. Info here: https://swissfamilyfun.com/2015/09/grindelwald-first-bachseealp.html
All Jungfrau hikes are listed at this link and each indicates when it is open. http://www.jungfrau.ch/en/tourism/travel-information/hiking-trails/summary/
Happy hiking!