Männlichen is a beautiful mountain viewpoint, with some of the best views of the Jungfrau Region. It’s easy to reach with cable cars from either Grindelwald or Wengen, making it a great choice if you are short on time or prefer not to hike.
At the top, there are restaurants and a fun playground with a giant cow slide, a favorite for children. If you have a bit more energy, we recommend the short “Royal Walk” hike up to a higher viewpoint.
If you want to hike afterwards, you can add on the panorama trail to Kleine Scheidegg or Liselotte activity trail for kids.
Contents
| Location: | Bernese Oberland Switzerland |
| Address: | Grindelwald-Männlichen gondola (or Wengen cable car) |
| 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: | 1.7 km round trip, about 40 mins with kids |
| Elevation: | 120m up/down, highest elevation 2339m |
| Condition: | wide dirt path, possible with all-terrain strollers until the end |
| Skill: | easy |
| Services: | restaurant and playground at start of trail |
| Open: | June to mid October, weather dependent cable car runs about 8:30 to 17:00 |
| Cost 2024: | Grindelwald cable car return CHF 68/adult Discount for children, SBB Half-fare, GA & Swiss Travel Pass Free with Bernese Oberland Pass and Jungfrau Travel Pass |
| More info: | www.maennlichen.ch |
Gallery
Trail overview
You can access Männlichen (1) from cable cars from Grindelwald or Wengen. A few trails start from Männlichen, including the Royal Walk (2), Lieselotte (3) and Panorama Trail to Kleine Scheidegg (4).
Royal Walk trail map
The Royal Walk path is one way to the viewpoint, return the way you came. It’s about 20 mins each way, with about 120m of elevation gain to reach the viewpoint.
See trail map on Komoot • SchweizMobil
More hiking from Männlichen:
After the Royal Walk, you can add on the Panorama Trail to Kleine Scheidegg, 4 km one way. At the end, you return by mountain train to either Grindelwald or Wengen/Lauterbrunnen. See details for the Panorama Trail.
You could also hike down the mountain towards Grindelwald on the Lieselotte theme trail for children, with 13 stations along the 90 min trail.
How to get to Männlichen
This trail is located in the Jungfrau Region in the Bernese Oberland region of Switzerland. (See on Google Maps)
You can reach the Royal Walk trail from either Grindelwald Terminal or Lauterbrunnen, the valleys on either side of this mountain peak. It’s easiest to reach from Grindelwald Terminal, both by car and public transport.
From Grindelwald:
The gondola is located at Grindelwald Terminal, one train stop before the end of the line in Grindelwald village center. By car, you can park in the large parking garage adjacent to the gondola station, near Grundstrasse 2, Grindelwald, 46°37’25.9″N 8°01’20.8″E.
If you are staying in Grindelwald, you can take bus 121 or 123 to Grindelwald Terminal bus stop, or a 2 min train ride from the Grindelwald train station near the village center. Or a 1.5 km walk from the village center down the hill.
From Lauterbrunnen / Wengen:
From the Lauterbrunnen train station, transfer to the Wengeralpbahn mountain train to Wengen. This train runs every 30mins. From the Wengen station, it’s a 5 min walk through the village to the Wengen-Männlichen cable car.
If you are coming by car, best to park in the parking garage behind the Lauterbrunnen train station, near Gütli 481a, 3822 Lauterbrunnen. You’ll see signs for it just before you enter the village.
However, this car park can fill up on weekends and school holidays. Before you enter the Jungfrau region, you’ll see signs indicating the parking spaces available in each village. If the Lauterbrunnen parking is full, you may need to go to Grindelwald Terminal parking or the Park + Ride lot at Matten bei Interlaken, then ride the train to Lauterbrunnen.
Planning your day
Tickets
If you are just visiting Männlichen and doing the royal walk, you’ll need a return ticket on the mountain railway. In 2024, a return ticket to Männlichen costs CHF 68 from Grindelwald and CHF 63 from Wengen.
If you intend to do other hikes from Männlichen, explain your intended journey to the ticket agent and they will sell you the right ticket. The prices below are samples from the 2024 summer season.
See current Männlichen ticket prices.
Discounts:
The journey from either Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen is free with Jungfrau Travel Pass and Berner Oberland Pass.
Reduced fare for children, SBB Half-fare, GA, SBB Day Passes and Swiss Travel Pass. Children with SBB Junior card and under 6 yrs old ride free.
Operating times
The gondolas and cable cars usually start running for summer season around late May to early June. However, if there is late snow, they may delay opening or the Royal Walk trail may not be passable. Check the Männlichen website for current operating times and trail status.
In high summer season (late June to mid August), the Grindelwald-Männlichen gondola runs continually from 8:15-17:00 (last descent at 17:30. The Wengen-Männlichen cable car runs every 20 minutes from 8:10-17:10. Outside of high summer, the mountain transport opens a bit later and closes a bit earlier.
Mountain transport may close due to high winds or extreme weather.
Photo story
Both the Grindelwald gondola and Wengen cable car drop you near the Männlichen restaurants and playground. The Männlichen peak and Royal Walk are just north of this area. You can see the peak in the distance in this photo.
The playground has lots of amusements including trampolines, swings, and a slide out the mouth of this giant cow.
Royal Walk
Follow trail signs for the Royal Walk, the path leading up to the peak shown here.
You start on a wide gravel path shown here.
Along the path, there are info stations like the one shown below with interesting facts about the region, like the type of stone found in each mountain peak and the different kinds rope knots mountain climbers use.
Pretty views the whole way along the Royal Walk.
It’s an uphill climb, which may be challenging for small children or those with mobility issues. Just take it slow. You can bring strollers up until these last few meters that get a little rocky.
Here’s the last stretch to the top, where you’ll find a crown platform you can stand in to get the panorama view.
The crown is small, so people spread out on the grass around the crown.
View from the crown down the Lauterbrunnen valley.
View from the crown north towards Interlaken and Schynige Platte.
When you are done, follow the same path back to Männlichen. If you want to keep hiking from Männlichen, I suggest the hiking to Kleine Scheidegg on the panorama trail.
See more trails in the Jungfrau region
4 Responses
Hi, I am planning to travel to Grindelwald First and Männlichen in one day (hopefully finishing everything by 4.30pm). Firstly, is it possible? and second, which mountain should I do first? Thank you.
I would start with Grindelwald First as it tends to be more crowded. Have fun!
hi!!! will be there in mid May…… is it possible to hike up Mannlichen from the train station instead of taking the cable car? as it is not opened till end of May……
Yes, you could hike up but it would be very long. I might suggest instead riding the mountain train to Kleine Scheidegg, then doing the train to Männlichen and hiking down. That would be easier. But also, at the end of May, there could be snow on the trail. So check the trail status and conditions carefully before planning your day.