How to Get to Mürren: 3 Ways Up, Not 2

Every guide to Mürren says there are two ways up. There are three, and which one you board decides whether you see Gimmelwald at all.

Since 14 December 2024 a cable car has run straight from Stechelberg to Mürren in four minutes, on a 159.4 per cent gradient the operator calls a world record. The old line, the one that stops in Gimmelwald, still runs beside it and takes twelve. They leave the same valley station, on alternating half hours, and nothing on the platform tells a first-time visitor which is which.

I guide in this valley and I still watch people take whichever cabin is standing there. Below is what each line actually costs and how long it takes, what changed for Gimmelwald, and why Mürren has two stations fifteen minutes apart.

How do you actually get to Mürren?

Three lines, from two valley stations. From Lauterbrunnen, a cable car to Grütschalp then a train, 21 minutes door to door. From Stechelberg, either the new direct cable car in 4 minutes, or the old line through Gimmelwald in 12. No road reaches Mürren, and none of the three needs booking.

The village sits at 1,649 metres on the west wall of the valley, on the federal height service queried on 22 September 2026, and it has stayed car-free throughout. That is the whole logistics problem in one sentence: you arrive with what you can carry, and you leave on somebody else's timetable.

If you are still deciding whether Mürren or Wengen fits your day, our Lauterbrunnen day trip from Interlaken puts the two side by side with a verdict.

Which cable car from Stechelberg, the 4-minute one or the 12?

Both. They alternate. On the timetable I queried for 23 September 2026, the direct cabin leaves Stechelberg at :21 and :51, and the old line through Gimmelwald leaves at :01 and :31. So a cabin goes up every 15 minutes, but the fast one only twice an hour.

Fun fact: the direct cabin climbs 775 metres over 1,194 metres of horizontal distance, carries up to 85 people or 6.8 tonnes, and moves 800 people an hour. Source: the operator's opening release, read 22 September 2026.

The fare is the same either way. Stechelberg to Mürren costs CHF 11.80 single and CHF 23.60 return for an adult, half that on a half-fare card or for a child aged 6 to 15, and nothing at all on a GA or a Swiss Travel Pass. That tariff is published by the operator and runs to 12 December 2026.

Insider tip: the next cabin at Stechelberg is not always the quick one. If the clock reads just past the hour or just past the half hour, you are about to take the 12 minute route through Gimmelwald. Wait 20 minutes and you take the 4 minute one. Most days I would rather you took the slow one.

What changed for Gimmelwald in December 2024?

It stopped being on the way. The new line flies over Gimmelwald without stopping, so the village lost the passing traffic of everyone heading to Mürren or the Schilthorn. The old cable car still serves it, and the operator has committed in writing to keep it running.

Pierre says: "A man in Gimmelwald told me tourism has dropped a bit since the new gondola goes straight to Mürren."

Pierre Vetsch, founder and head guide at Swiss Local Adventures

The commitment is specific, and it is worth reading before you write Gimmelwald off. The operator states that the existing Stechelberg, Gimmelwald, Mürren cable car stays and secures access to Gimmelwald, at least hourly between 06:00 and 24:00, until at least 24 August 2035, whether or not the federal and cantonal authorities order the service.

There is a condition attached that I have seen nowhere in English. The commitment holds as long as Gimmelwald keeps a permanent population above 100 residents. A hamlet's cable car is tied to whether people keep living in it, which is a more honest description of Alpine transport than any brochure gives you.

Grütschalp or Stechelberg: which way up?

Grütschalp if you are coming by train and want the ride to be part of the day. Stechelberg if you are driving, or heading for the Schilthorn, or carrying luggage. Grütschalp runs every 15 minutes and takes 21 minutes from Lauterbrunnen station. Stechelberg needs bus 141 first.

The Grütschalp route is the scenic one and it is not close. You ride a cable car up the valley wall, then a small train runs the length of the terrace with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau across the gap the whole way. Departures leave the Lauterbrunnen cable car station at :06, :21, :36 and :51, and the train meets every cabin.

Stechelberg wins on speed and on onward travel. It is the base of the Schilthorn line, so if Piz Gloria is your target you start there anyway. It is also the end of the road, which means parking, and the municipal tariff puts it at CHF 1.00 an hour up to 12 hours.

My verdict: go up from Grütschalp and come down to Stechelberg. You see two completely different sides of the same mountain, you never retrace a step, and the walk down to Gimmelwald fits neatly in the middle. I have done that descent more than five times.

Why Mürren has two stations, and 15 minutes between them

Because two separate railways reach it from opposite ends. The train from Grütschalp arrives at Mürren BLM at the north end. The cable car from Stechelberg arrives at the Schilthornbahn station at the south end. The official footpath between them is 15 minutes, and it is the village street.

I measured the two stations on the federal height service on 22 September 2026: the Schilthornbahn end sits at 1,628.6 metres, the railway end at 1,634.1 metres, and they are 811 metres apart. Five and a half metres of climb across the whole village, which is why the quarter of an hour is a stroll rather than a slog.

This catches people out in both directions. Arrive by cable car with a train to catch and you need that quarter of an hour in hand. Arrive by train for the Schilthorn and the same applies. The timetable counts it, most itineraries do not.

Treat it as the feature rather than the cost. Walking between the two stations is the visit for most people: you cross the entire village, and the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau sit straight ahead of you the whole way.

What is there to do in Mürren once you are there?

Less than the Schilthorn traffic suggests, which is the point. The village street, the terraces facing the Eiger, the funicular up to Allmendhubel, the walk down to Gimmelwald, and in winter the sledding and the skiing. None of it needs a reservation, and two of the five cost nothing.

Pierre says: "Crossing the village, Allmendhubel for the sledding, the walk to Gimmelwald, a terrace facing the Eiger, or skiing."

Pierre Vetsch, founder and head guide at Swiss Local Adventures, on what he actually does in Mürren

The review counters say the rest of the world treats Mürren as a corridor. On TripAdvisor on 22 September 2026, Schilthorn Piz Gloria carried 2,721 reviews. Allmendhubel had 273, the Thrill Walk 206, the Via Ferrata 173. The Grütschalp to Mürren walking trail had three. The Gimmelwald trail had five.

One correction while you are budgeting. A widely read review puts the Allmendhubel funicular at CHF 14 return. The operator's own tariff, read on 22 September 2026, says CHF 16.00 for an adult and CHF 8.00 on a half-fare card, for a child aged 6 to 15, or on a GA or Swiss Travel Pass.

When to come, and how fit do you need to be?

Any month, but the machinery has gaps. The Allmendhubel funicular runs every 20 minutes from 09:00 to 17:00, with the last ride up and down at 17:00, and it shuts for maintenance in spring and late autumn. The village itself asks nothing of you: it is paved, level and short.

The published revision closures for the funicular are 5 April to 28 May 2027 and 25 October to 11 December 2027. Check them before you build a day around the Flower Park or the North Face Trail, both of which start up there.

On fitness, separate the village from the mountain. Crossing Mürren between its two stations is fifteen level minutes. The descent to Gimmelwald is 45 minutes and 275 metres down on a wide surfaced service road, with the only climbing done sitting in a cable car. Above that, the Schilthorn is a lift, not a hike.

In winter the same village becomes a snow base rather than a viewpoint, and the sledding above it is the part visitors miss. Our guide to sledding runs around Interlaken covers where the good ones are.

Your Questions About Getting to Mürren

These are the questions guests ask in the van before a Mürren day, with the answers I give them. Every time, fare and rule below came from the operator or the commune on 22 September 2026, so check them again if you are reading this a season later.

Can you drive to Mürren?

No. Mürren has no road access and has stayed car-free, so every visitor and every delivery arrives by cable car or by the mountain railway. You park in the valley: at Stechelberg, where the municipal tariff is CHF 1.00 an hour up to 12 hours and CHF 14.00 flat for 12 to 24 hours, or in Lauterbrunnen, where the church car park charges CHF 6.00 for the first hour and CHF 15.00 for 24 hours. Coming by train removes the question entirely, and the connection from Interlaken Ost runs every half hour.

How long does it take to get to Mürren from Lauterbrunnen?

Twenty-one minutes from Lauterbrunnen station, using the cable car up to Grütschalp and the train along the terrace. Departures leave the cable car station at :06, :21, :36 and :51, so you never wait more than 15 minutes. From Stechelberg it is four minutes on the direct cable car, or twelve on the older line through Gimmelwald, but you have to reach Stechelberg first, which is a 20 minute ride on bus 141 from Lauterbrunnen station.

Is the Stechelberg cable car really the steepest in the world?

That is the claim the operator makes for the section opened on 14 December 2024, on a gradient of 159.4 per cent. The published figures are a rise of 775 metres over 1,194 metres of horizontal distance, covered in four minutes, in cabins carrying up to 85 people or 6.8 tonnes, at up to 800 people an hour. The last piece of the same project, between Birg and the Schilthorn, entered service on 2 April 2026.

Do you still have to change cable car at Gimmelwald?

Not on the new line, which is exactly what changed. The direct cabin from Stechelberg runs to Mürren without stopping. The old cable car still calls at Gimmelwald and still requires the change there, and it leaves Stechelberg at :01 and :31 while the direct one leaves at :21 and :51. If you want Gimmelwald, take the old one deliberately rather than by accident.

Is a Swiss Travel Pass valid to Mürren?

Yes on the Stechelberg to Mürren cable car, where the operator's tariff lists GA and Swiss Travel Pass at CHF 0.00. A Eurail pass is not free but is discounted, at CHF 9.80 single and CHF 17.80 return against the full adult fare of CHF 11.80 and CHF 23.60. For the Allmendhubel funicular above the village, a GA or Swiss Travel Pass gets the reduced fare of CHF 8.00 rather than free travel.

Walk Mürren instead of passing through it

Mürren has been photographed for the travel trade since the 1890s, and the view in that print is the one you still get from the street. What has changed is that most visitors now pass through it in the time it takes to change from a cable car to a cable car.

The village rewards the opposite. Come up one side, cross it on foot, and go down the other. If you would rather someone else held the timetable while you did that, a private day built around your hours does exactly that, with a maximum of 8 people.

For the wider picture, our guide to the best day trips from Interlaken ranks the valleys against each other.

Two companion pieces, if you are still planning. The hour to be in the valley decides how busy the cable cars are, and only six waterfalls carry a name of the 72 the valley advertises, including the one you can walk behind above Gimmelwald.

Source: Schilthornbahn fares and timetable, the Gimmelwald service commitment, the opening of the Stechelberg to Mürren cable car, and guided days in the valley in August 2026.

Written by Pierre Vetsch, founder and head guide at Swiss Local Adventures