Guide · Falling water

Lauterbrunnen Valley waterfalls, from Staubbach to the head of the valley

The Lauterbrunnen Valley waterfalls are the reason most people come: water spilling from cliffs on both sides of a flat green floor. Here are the falls worth knowing, their heights as the official sources state them, and the best months to see them.

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Editorial team, lauterbrunnenvalleyhiking.comUpdated October 20, 2026Reading time about 6 minutes58 sources

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Quick answer

01How many: Tourism offices count 72 waterfalls in the valley.¹ ²
02The landmark: Staubbach, about 297 metres, right beside the village.³
03The hidden ones: Ten glacier falls inside the rock at Trümmelbach.⁴
04The highest: Mürrenbach, 417 metres near Stechelberg, by Jungfrau Region figures.⁵
05Best time: Spring and early summer, when meltwater feeds them.⁶

Why so much water falls into one valley

Lauterbrunnen sits at 795 m in what its tourism office calls a trough-shaped valley between towering rock faces.⁷ Glaciers carved the valley deep and flat, leaving side streams stranded high on the rim. With nowhere to go but down, those streams leap off the cliffs, which is why the valley floor feels ringed by falling water on every walk.

The water comes from high above. The glaciers and snowfields of the surrounding peaks feed the streams through the warm months, and Switzerland Tourism notes that some of the cliff faces the water falls from are as high as 400m.⁸ On a summer afternoon you can stand in a meadow and count several falls at once without turning your head far.

The valley is also protected. Lauterbrunnen Tourism puts it in the centre of the Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch, a World Heritage Site since December 2001.⁹ That status explains rules such as the ban on wild camping in the rear of the valley, which is itself part of the World Heritage area.¹⁰

A waterfall day

Five falls from the village to Stechelberg

Morning

Staubbach

Path to the foot, about 30 minutes.¹¹
Mid-morning

Staubbach Gallery

Behind the fall, open May to October.¹²
Late morning

Valley floor walk

South along the flat old road.¹³
Midday

Trümmelbach

Ten falls inside the rock.⁴
Afternoon

Mürrenbach from the cable car

The ride from Stechelberg passes close by.¹⁴

What the 72 waterfalls figure means

You will see the number everywhere. Lauterbrunnen Tourism's facts page says 72 waterfalls plunge down the rock faces into the valley, Jungfrau Region Tourism says there are 72 in the Lauterbrunnen Valley alone, and Switzerland Tourism gives the same total.¹ ² ⁸ The tourism office also uses the Valley of the 72 Waterfalls as a name.¹⁵

So the Lauterbrunnen Valley of 72 waterfalls is the official framing, not a reseller's invention.¹⁵ It is a count the tourism bodies repeat rather than a survey we could find explained: the same Lauterbrunnen Tourism site, telling the story of the village name, speaks of more than seventy waterfalls.¹⁶ Treat 72 as the valley's own headline figure.²

In practice the number depends on the season and on what you count as a waterfall. A thin ribbon after a dry spell and a thundering curtain after snowmelt are the same fall on different days. Come in June and you will see more white lines on the cliffs than in October, whatever the brochure says.

Heights

How far four of the falls drop, in metres

Heights from Jungfrau Region and Lauterbrunnen Tourism; the cliff figure is Switzerland Tourism's height for the highest rock faces.⁵ ³ ¹⁷ ⁸

The main falls compared

Staubbach, Trümmelbach, Mürrenbach, Schmadribach

	Height	Where	Access
Staubbach	About 297 m	Beside the village	Free, summer path
Trümmelbach	Ten falls in rock	3 km up the valley	Ticket, April to Nov
Mürrenbach	417 m	Near Stechelberg	Seen from cable car
Schmadribach	270 m	Head of the valley	Long walk

Heights and access as the tourism offices and the Trümmelbach operator state them.³ ¹⁸ ¹⁹ ²⁰ ⁵ ¹⁴ ¹⁷

Three ways to see them

Walk, ride or pedal past the falls

Hike Lauterbrunnen-Mürren with Trümmelbach Waterfalls Visit

This site's hike

Hike and Trümmelbach

Rim path to Mürren

Time: 6 hours
Entry: Trümmelbach included
Price: from $273

See the tour

Interlaken: 72 Waterfalls Valley & Lauterbrunnen E-Bike Tour

Staubbach and Trümmelbach

E-bike valley

Along the Lütschine

Time: 6 hours
Group: Up to 12
Price: from $308

See the tour

Short and easy

Falls tour

From Interlaken

Time: 3.5 hours
Season: May to October
Price: from $241

See the tour

Decision helper

Which falls should you put first?

Match the falls to the time you have

Staubbach

Free, beside the village, 30 minutes to its foot.¹⁸ ¹¹

Trümmelbach

The falls are inside the mountain.⁴

Mürrenbach

417 metres by Jungfrau Region figures.⁵

Schmadribach

At the head of the valley, far from the road.¹⁷

Look from the road

Access to Staubbach and Trümmelbach is closed.²¹

A total of 72 waterfalls gush down into the Lauterbrunnen Valley from the vertical cliff faces, some of which are as high as 400m.

Switzerland Tourism (MySwitzerland)Source 8

Staubbach Falls, the village landmark

Staubbach Falls, Lauterbrunnen's emblem, drops from the cliff right behind the village church. Lauterbrunnen Tourism gives it a drop of around 297 metres and calls it the highest free-falling waterfall in Switzerland.³ Jungfrau Region Tourism uses the same height and adds that the fall is lit up in the high season.²²

Not every official page uses the same figure. Switzerland Tourism's Lauterbrunnen page rounds it to 300 metres, and its ranking of Swiss waterfalls calls Staubbach the third-highest in the country at almost 300 metres.²³ ²⁴ The difference is rounding and ranking method; the fall itself does not change.

Its name means dust stream, and on a breezy day the water turns to spray long before it reaches the ground. Goethe was inspired by it to write his poem Song of the Spirits over the Waters in 1779, as Jungfrau Region Tourism recounts.²⁵ Stand at the church on a sunny morning and you will understand why the scene became a classic.

Map

The Lauterbrunnen Valley from Grütschalp to Stechelberg

The valley floor, its two terraces and the summits above it, then the wider region with Interlaken, Grindelwald and the Jungfraujoch.

Map of the Lauterbrunnen Valley with Lauterbrunnen, Wengen, Mürren, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg, the falls and the Schilthorn — The valley

Map of the region from Interlaken Ost to Grindelwald and the Jungfraujoch — The region

1
Lauterbrunnen
The village sits at 795 m in a trough-shaped valley; from its station the cogwheel trains climb to Wengen and a cable car rises towards Mürren.⁷ ²⁶
In Google Maps ↗
2
Staubbach Falls
Lauterbrunnen's landmark drops about 297 metres right beside the village; the path to its foot is open in summer only.³ ²⁷
In Google Maps ↗
3
Trümmelbach Falls
Ten glacier falls inside the mountain, reached by a tunnel lift, about 3 km beyond the village; bus 141 stops at the entrance.⁴ ¹⁹ ²⁸
In Google Maps ↗
4
Stechelberg
End of the valley road and valley station of the cable car to Mürren, which climbs 775 metres in about 4 minutes.²⁹
In Google Maps ↗
5
Grütschalp
Top of the 4-minute cable car from Lauterbrunnen, at 1486 m, and start of the walk to Mürren.³⁰ ³¹
In Google Maps ↗
6
Winteregg
Middle station of the little railway to Mürren, at 1578 m, where the trains pass each other.³² ³³
In Google Maps ↗
7
Mürren
Car-free village on a terrace high above the valley; Schilthornbahn gives it 1638 m.³⁴ ³⁵
In Google Maps ↗
8
Gimmelwald
Car-free hamlet at 1,367 metres between Stechelberg and Mürren, the start of walks into the Sefinental.³⁶
In Google Maps ↗
9
Wengen
Car-free village at 1,274 metres on the sunny side, reached by the Wengernalp Railway from Lauterbrunnen.³⁷
In Google Maps ↗
10
Kleine Scheidegg
Pass at 2061 m where the Wengernalp Railway meets the Jungfrau Railway, below the Eiger North Face.³⁸ ³⁹
In Google Maps ↗
11
Männlichen
Top of the cable car from Wengen and start of the Panorama Trail to Kleine Scheidegg, 4.5 km.⁴⁰ ⁴¹
In Google Maps ↗
12
Schilthorn
Summit at 2,970 metres with the revolving restaurant Piz Gloria, by cable car from Stechelberg via Mürren and Birg.⁴² ⁴³
In Google Maps ↗
13
Interlaken Ost
Where the Berner Oberland Bahn starts: Lauterbrunnen is 24 minutes away from platform 2A.⁴⁴
In Google Maps ↗
14
Zweilütschinen
The junction where the BOB train splits: the front runs on to Lauterbrunnen, the rear to Grindelwald.⁴⁴ ⁴⁵
In Google Maps ↗
15
Grindelwald
Village at 1,050 metres at the foot of the Eiger, around 30 minutes from Interlaken Ost by train.⁴⁶ ⁴⁷ ⁴⁸
In Google Maps ↗
16
Jungfraujoch
Europe's highest railway station at 3,454 metres, reached by the Jungfrau Railway from Kleine Scheidegg.⁴⁹ ³⁹
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

Ready for a day of waterfalls

Bring

A rain jacket for the spray
Shoes with grip for wet paths
A camera cloth for misted lenses

Plan

Staubbach Gallery: May to October
Cash or card for Trümmelbach entry
Postal bus back from Stechelberg

Video

A Guide To Lauterbrunnen Valley | Switzerland | The Valley of 72 Waterfalls

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Getting close to Staubbach

The fall is free to visit and sits right next to the village.¹⁸ A short path leads from Lauterbrunnen to its foot, and Switzerland Tourism allows 30 minutes for it.¹¹ Lauterbrunnen Tourism says this path is open in summer only.²⁷ In winter access is closed because of falling ice and rockfall.²¹

From the foot of the fall a path climbs into the rock face through a tunnel and up stairs on a secured route close to the water, a climb of about 30 minutes.⁵⁰ This Staubbach Gallery is open from May to October, and a rain jacket is recommended.¹² It lets you see the fall from behind, an angle few waterfalls offer.

For the classic photograph, Switzerland Tourism names spots in Lauterbrunnen itself and across the valley in Wengen.⁵¹ From Wengen, the church and the Staubbach benches look straight across at the fall.⁵² Morning light suits the village view.

Trümmelbach, Mürrenbach and the falls deeper in

Further up the valley the falls change character. Trümmelbach, about 3 km beyond the village, hides ten glacier falls inside the mountain and charges admission, so give it its own visit.¹⁹ ⁴ The dedicated page on this site covers its season, prices and rules in detail.

Near Stechelberg, the Mürrenbach drops from the Mürren side. Jungfrau Region Tourism gives it 417 metres and says it is most impressive after the spring snowmelt and after summer thunderstorms.⁵ Switzerland Tourism's waterfall page goes further and calls it the highest waterfall in Switzerland at that height.⁵³ Its Lauterbrunnen page, however, prints 750 meters in five cascades.⁵⁴

At the very head of the valley, the Schmadribach is fed by the Breithorn and Schmadri glaciers and drops a total of 270 metres over several steps.¹⁷ It takes a long walk to reach, which keeps it quieter than the falls near the road. Between Mürren and Gimmelwald, a path runs behind the Sprutz fall, steep and often slippery.⁵⁵

When the water runs strongest

Timing changes everything here. The village tourism office says Staubbach has the most force in spring and early summer, once snowmelt from the peaks above pours into it.⁶ Switzerland Tourism agrees that it carries the most water in early summer.⁵¹ A visit in June shows the cliffs at their wettest, with extra ribbons appearing after every warm spell.

Glacier-fed falls follow a different calendar from snow-fed ones. The Trümmelbach operator describes a trickle under ice through the winter, then rising flows through the snowmelt and the glacier melt that follows it, before frosty nights cut the water back in autumn.⁵⁶ Thunderstorms add sudden bursts; Jungfrau Region Tourism names them as one of the moments when the Mürrenbach looks its best.⁵

Late season has its own charm. By October many smaller falls thin to threads, but the valley glows with autumn colour and the paths are quieter. If seeing water is the whole point of your trip, aim for late spring to midsummer; if you want walking weather and fewer people, accept smaller falls in September.

Seeing the falls on foot

The easiest way to see many falls in one go is the valley floor walk to Stechelberg. Switzerland Tourism lists it as 8 km and 2 hours, easy, with 161 m of ascent, from April to November.⁵⁷ Its Mürrenbach Falls page allows 2 to 3 hours, says the path is mostly flat and suitable for prams, and mentions boards along the way explaining the waterfalls.¹³

A postal bus brings you back from Stechelberg, so there is no need to retrace your steps.⁵⁸ For a higher view, the cable car from Stechelberg to Mürren passes almost within reach of the Mürrenbach and runs all year apart from maintenance closures.¹⁴ The ride gives you the fall from the side, something no valley path offers.

If you prefer a Lauterbrunnen waterfall hike with a guide, the hike this site sells walks the rim from Grütschalp to Mürren, looking across at the falls on the far cliffs, and ends at Trümmelbach with entry included. It runs 6 hours for up to 8 people and starts from $273.

Your day above the valley