Mürren,
Switzerland
Stupendous views, an epic run, and a
chocolate-box village.
Mürren
is one of our favorite resorts - for a short visit, at
least. There may be other Swiss mountain villages that are
equally pretty, but none of them enjoys views like those
from Mürren across the deep valley to the rock faces and
glaciers of the Eiger,
Mönch and Jungfrau: simply breathtaking. And then there's
the Schilthorn run, which draws us back like a magnet
whenever we're driving through the Oberland.
Our
visits are normally one-day affairs; holidaymakers, we
concede, are likely to want to explore the extensive
intermediate slopes of Wengen and Grindelwald, across the
valley. And you have to accept that getting there takes
time.
It
was in Mürren that the British more or less invented
modern skiing. Sir Arnold Lunn organized the first ever
slalom race here in 1922. Some 12 years earlier his
father, Sir Henry, had persuaded the locals to open the
railway in winter so that he could bring the first winter
package tour here. Last winter, we had the great pleasure
of a chat in the bar of the hotel Eiger with Sir Arnold's
son Peter, who first skied here in November 1916 and now
skis here with his children and grandchildren. Mürren's
that kind of place.
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What's
Great
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What's
Not-So-Great
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Tiny, charming, traditional 'traffic-free' village,
with narrow paths and chocolate-box chalets
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Stupendous scenery, best enjoyed on the challenging
run from the panoramic Schilthorn
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Good sports center
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Good snow high up, even when the rest of the region
is suffering
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Extent of local slopes very limited no matter what
your level of expertise
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Lower slopes can be in poor condition and are served
by some awkward T-bars
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Quiet, limited nightlife- Like all other Swiss
'traffic-free' villages, Mürren is gradually
admitting more service vehicles
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Learn
more about Mürren
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