Hotels near Eiger Trail (Eigergletscher to Alpiglen)

Trail No. 36 runs along the foot of the Eiger north face, and from a Grindelwald base it is a door-to-door morning. Grindelwald Terminal on Grundstrasse 54 has its own railway stop, and the Eiger Express tricable gondola covers the 6,483 m to Eigergletscher at 2,320 m in 15 minutes, running 44 cabins of 26 seats at a capacity of 2,200 people per hour. That capacity matters in August, when it is the difference between walking on and waiting an hour.

The trail itself is 6.1 km, signposted 2 hours, with 78 m of ascent and 779 m of descent as it falls from a high point of 2,346 m to Alpiglen at 1,615 m. It is graded T2, moderate, and there are rope-secured sections where the path crosses steep ground, so this is a walk that wants proper boots rather than trainers. The season is July to October. Nothing about the route is technically hard, but the exposure is real and the surface is loose in places.

You finish at Alpiglen, which is a Wengernalpbahn halt rather than a village, and the train takes you down to Grindelwald Grund. Because the return uses a different line from the one you rode up on, this is a point-to-point walk and not a loop. The Jungfrau Travel Pass covers both the Eiger Express and the Wengernalpbahn leg; the Swiss Travel Pass, Half-Fare Card and Berner Oberland Pass give 50 percent on the Eiger Express. Jungfrau Railways lists a reduced "from" price for the gondola rather than a clear walk-up adult single, so ask at the Terminal desk.

Pro Tip: Buy a one-way Eiger Express ticket to Eigergletscher, not a return. You come back on the Wengernalpbahn from Alpiglen to Grindelwald Grund, so the second half of a return ticket is money you will never use.