It’s hard to overstate just how stunning the LAUTERBRUNNEN VALLEY is – even hardened Alpinists shrug their shoulders and call it the most beautiful valley in Europe, bar none. An immense U-shaped valley (the world’s deepest) with bluffs on either side rising 1000m sheer, doused by some 72 waterfalls, it is utterly spectacular. Staying in Interlaken or Grindelwald comes a very poor second to basing yourself in or above Lauterbrunnen for your time in the Oberland. However long you stay, two hours or two weeks, you won’t want to leave.Lauterbrunnen village itself lies on the valley floor, while the slopes above nurture two of Switzerland’s most appealing little resorts. Mürren to the west is the transfer point for the dramatic cable-car ride up to the Schilthorn peak, while Wengen to the east is a stop on the train line up to Kleine Scheidegg and the Jungfraujoch. Both of them are car-free, perched on narrow shelves of pasture way above the world below, and both offer some of the best hiking and skiing to be had in the Alps.