In Instagram posts and YouTube videos, the Swiss village of Lauterbrunnen in the canton of Bern looks idyllic. Its Heidi-style chalets are surrounded by cow-dotted pasture and shaded by soaring peaks, while a waterfall tumbles down the rockface on its outskirts, sending sparkling rainbows into the air. Zoom out a bit during summer though, and you’ll see what’s not included on social media: the throngs of tourists that have led the place to consider imposing a tax on day-trippers who reach it by car.
Online, Lauterbrunnen is regularly called “the most beautiful village in Switzerland” and this has led to an explosion in visitors, who cause traffic jams on the only road into town and queues on the trails winding out of its centre towards the best views. “It was always busy in town,” one hotel manager told The Telegraph. “Since the pandemic is ‘over’ however, the amount of visitors has definitely largely increased”.
Lauterbrunnen has joined an increasingly long list of popular spots that may have become victims of their own success – from Venice to Kyoto. And just like them, it’s looking at ways to minimise the impact of overtourism.
With visitor numbers peaking at around 6,000 per day according to some reports, Lauterbrunnen doesn’t get as busy as tourist hot spots such as the Acropolis (where visitors were capped at 20,000 per day last September) or Bali (which introduced a new tourist tax in February 2024). “I don’t believe we have ‘overtourism’, as discussed in cities like Venice,” says Marc Ungerer, CEO of Jungfrau Regional Tourism.
But like other places that have found themselves suddenly thrust into the social media spotlight, Lauterbrunnen’s size means it struggles to cope with the high numbers of visitors – as well as their behaviour once they get there. “During the peak summer season, it gets a bit crowded along the village road, as the road is not very wide and there’s only one pavement,” admits Tom Durrer, Lauterbrunnen’s resort manager. “However, the municipality is planning to create a second pavement and widen the road.”
Half an hour’s drive away on the shore of Lake Brienz, Iseltwald (population, 415) faced similar problems when it was catapulted to stardom after its picturesque pier featured in the Korean Netflix series Crash Landing on You. In the resulting tourism explosion, coach trippers clogged its roads and alleyways, leading authorities to impose a £5 selfie tax to take photos on the structure.
The suggestion of a tourist tax in Lauterbrunnen is seen as a way to discourage day visitors, who come to take photos and then quickly leave, creating congestion and rubbish without benefiting the local economy. However, “the legal basis for such a tax does not yet exist,” says Ungerer. “Initial clarifications are currently underway. Therefore, it’s far too early to consider what such a tax might look like or how it could work”.
It’s a delicate balance in a place where many of the 2,400-strong population rely on tourism for income. After all, Lauterbrunnen was popular long before it became Instafamous. When European travel first took off more than two centuries ago, Wordsworth and Lord Byron were among those inspired by the surrounding mountains and the 72 waterfalls of its valley.
In the 19th century, an enterprising local entrepreneur built Hotel Staubbach, at the edge of the village with an incredible view of the Staubbach Falls. Soon, a flurry of hotels and guesthouses for weary hikers created a boom town that only got more popular when its railway line was electrified. Now, Lauterbrunnen is easily accessible from the resort town of Interlaken, as well as being the gateway to the car-free villages of Mürren and Wengen.
Still, it’s easy to see why some locals are growing tired of tourists. In a country where there’s utmost respect for rules and order and where the natural environment is highly prized, rumours of people taking photos in private gardens and playing football in the local cemetery are abhorrent. Meanwhile, the notoriously insular Swiss resent living next door to endless streams of holiday let guests. After the 2023 summer season, the website swissinfo.ch reported that residents gathered at a crisis meeting organised by regional chiefs: the mood was one of helplessness.
It’s a shame because Switzerland has plenty of lesser-known (but equally beautiful) villages with lots of space to wander. More than a quarter of the country’s population live in rural areas according to World Bank data, while its cities are small (none of them have more than 400,000 inhabitants). This means that you’re never far from a meadow-trimmed hamlet, where ancient barns edged in perfectly-tended geraniums wind up hillsides and ducks and chickens wander smallholdings that segue to seas of wild flowers.
Les Plus Beaux Villages de Suisse is an organisation dedicated to publicising rural settlements in incredible settings. Among them is sun-soaked Soglio, a maze of narrow alleys seemingly marooned in the rippling, forested swell of the Bregaglia Valley near Italy. Meanwhile, in slightly better known Saint Saphorin in the French-speaking Vaud region, vine terraces zigzag above the tangle of medieval streets while Lake Geneva shimmers below, backed by snow-dusted mountains. Beauty may be subjective, but it’s hard not to be blown away (just don’t tell everyone on TikTok).
Back in Lauterbrunnen, tourism chiefs acknowledge that social media “has helped [the village] to become better known,” says Durrer. But they’re also hoping it will help preserve it for the future. “It’s an important communication channel to influence the positive behaviour of visitors,” he adds.
Other places facing similar issues have different ideas. In spring 2023, the Italian resort of Portofino introduced ‘no waiting zones’ with €275 penalties in areas where selfie-taking tourists had blocked streets and caused traffic chaos (the zones will be in place until October). As another summer season begins in Lauterbrunnen, some residents may be wondering if it’s time to refocus the lens.
