Wengen - village
The centre of Wengen is a (relatively) car-free and compact cluster of buildings set in a steep amphitheatre. The railway station lies at its heart, along with some Victorian hotels and a big ice rink.
In 1925, the year after Arnold Lunn and his friends started the Kandahar Club across the valley in Mürren, the Down Hill Only club was formed in Wengen. It was so called because the British, encouraged by Lunn and his father Sir Henry, had persuaded the railways, as early as 1910, to keep running in winter, thus providing skiers with the first mechanised uphill transport.
Accommodation
Because the village of Wengen is small and compact, most of the hotels are within walking distance of each other (and some, given good snow, are ski-in, if not ski-out).
The 4-star Regina (00 41 33 856 58 58) is an impressive late 19th-century Victorian-style hotel with a gourmet restaurant in the centre of the village. The 3-star Hotel Victoria Lauberhorn (00 41 33 856 29 29) built around the same time, is also centrally located next to the railway and cable car station.
The Hotel Jungfraublick (00 41 33 856 27 27) is set on a hillside a 10-minute walk from the station and five minutes from the Männlichen cable car station.
Ski/snowboard equipment hire
Central-Sport (00 41 33 855 23 23) is a short walk from the railway station, as is Molitor Sport (00 41 33 855 21 31).
Right in front of the station is Alpia Sport (00 41 33 855 26 26). All are members of the Intersport Rentnetwork Jungfrau Region.
Non-ski activities
There are more than 20km of winter walking trails plus ice-skating and eight curling rinks on the resort's large ice rink, and many miles of toboggan runs. Exceptional helicopter "flight-seeing" is possible as well as Heliskiing. Hang-gliding is available at Männlichen and Kleine Scheidegg.
The rail journey up to the Jungfraujoch is a must. Europe's highest rack-and-pinion railway stops for a few minutes at two stations - first Eigerwand and then Eismeer. From here passengers can gaze in awe at great slabs of ice and cornices clinging to the rocky north-face of the Eiger.
Wengen Tourism offers a varied family programme including guided walks, snowshoeing, sledging and fondue evenings.
Childcare
The Swiss Ski School takes children aged 4 and over. The Wengen Playhouse (00 41 79 817 58 49) takes children from 18 months. There's a Swiss Snow Kids' Village where "Snowli" - a fluffy animal with long white ears - helps young children with their first day on the slopes. The Kinderhort Sunshine Crèche (00 41 33 854 04 40) looks after non-skiing infants from 1 month to 8 years old at the top of Männlichen. The Felix Ski Paradies (00 41 33 853 12 88) is a specialist ski school for children, also at Männlichen.