Engelberg is a magnificent village resort in the region of Obwalden. It provides plenty of fun for all visitors with activities that range from skiing, hiking, and climbing, to enriching the mind and soul of anyone who wanders into the village’s culture. An awe-inspiring place surrounded by noble mountains, Engelberg will make you fall in love with nature and get you to come back year after year.
We’ve prepared an extensive list of all things to do in Engelberg, focusing on locations that help make long-lasting memories and achieve the goal of keeping you physically and mentally active.
Engelberg Abbey
The Engelberg Abbey is a monastery for monks and nuns. The place allows guests to experience their body, mind, and soul in total silence and prayer.
With the building being finished over 900 years ago, the monastery is also part of Engelberg’s rich history, keeping centuries-old cultural treasures and traditions present even today. If you’re in for a more extended stay, there are hotels nearby and in-house businesses such as carpentry, florist, and wine shops.
Explore Brunni
Brunni is one of Engelberg’s most distinguished holiday retreats, especially for families and mountain enthusiasts. The sunny side of the mountain is the part where people choose to relax and passively enjoy the beautiful views the Alps offer.
In Brunni, you can enjoy the toboggan run, skiing, snowboarding, sledding, winter hiking, and mountain restaurants. Moreover, there are also playgrounds, barefoot trails, grills, and picnics during summers.
Trüebsee
Trüebsee is a graceful mountain lake in Engelberg, close to Mountain Titlis. It’s a great nature destination for a fun and relaxing time with your family while surrounded by magnificent mountain peaks.
Trüebsee offers plenty of activities for a full day of entertainment. From the lake walk, which is an easy hike around the lake, to the trampolines and summer curling of the Alpine Lodge, parents and children will equally have fun and enjoy a pleasant time with each other.
Titlis
Mountain Titlis is considered the most famous tourist destination in the entire Engelberg region, with people coming from all over the world just to experience it. With a whopping 80 kilometers of skiing pistes, waterslide contests, and opportunities in the summer for hiking, Titlis is a haven for outdoor enthusiasts and nature-lovers.
With an altitude of around 3,020 meters, the gigantic mountain includes cable cars, ski lifts, candlelight dinners, and spring festivals for loyal customers. Titlis also offers cliff walking and a glacier cave, more on those two below.
Titlis Cliff Walk
The Titlis cliff walk is a terrifying yet unforgettable experience for all the thrill-seekers out there. You’ll be 3,041 meters high above sea level and 500 meters above the ground, standing on a 1-meter wide bridge.
If you’re not frightened yet, know that you will have to take 150 steps to get to the other side while staring at the sheer drop below you. However, for the strong-hearted ones, the views are absolutely mesmerizing as you walk on the highest suspension bridge in the world.
Titlis Glacier Cave
The Glacier cave in Titlis is a genuinely magical place ten meters below the glacier’s surface. The ice in the 150-meter-long cave is approximately 5,000 years old. What’s even more remarkable about this cave is the turquoise-blue light radiating from the walls, making for an otherworldly adventure.
It’s obviously cold inside the cave, with the temperature staying at around -1.5 degrees Celsius constantly. The different shapes carved here and there make the walk more attractive, with photo opportunities everywhere.
Buiräbähnli Safari Hike
Rigidalstock is a mountain in Engelberg with a peak reaching 2,593 meters. Rigidalstock is the perfect place for people who love mountain climbing and are not fearful of heights. What’s so special about this summit are the via Ferrata (iron pathways) routes used to reach it.
The via Ferrata in the east has an average difficulty while ascending and descending. Although it can be done even by beginners and is secured with steel rope, extreme caution is still advised.
The via Ferrata in the west of the mountain is relatively more complicated than the east counterpart, suited only for seasoned climbers and with secure via Ferrata gear. The total climb and descent last from 4 to 5 hours and offers some fantastic views of the Alp panorama.
Rigidalstock
Rigidalstock is a mountain in Engelberg with a peak reaching 2,593 meters. Rigidalstock is the perfect place for people who love mountain climbing and are not fearful of heights. What’s so special about this summit are the via Ferrata (iron pathways) routes used to reach it.
The via Ferrata in the east has an average difficulty while ascending and descending. Although it can be done even by beginners and is secured with steel rope, extreme caution is still advised.
The via Ferrata in the west of the mountain is relatively more complicated than the east counterpart, suited only for seasoned climbers and with secure via Ferrata gear.
The complete climb and descent last from 4 to 5 hours and offers some fantastic views of the Alp panorama.
Ski and Snowboard
Engelberg is an extraordinary place for winter activities, having around 80 kilometers of downhill pistes spread around from 1,000 to 3,000 meters in height. The skiing areas in Engelberg are Titlis-Jochpass, Bannalp, Brunni, and Gerschinalp, all easily accessible and equipped with safe, modern infrastructure.
Additionally, Engelberg guarantees at least eight months of snow during the year, with slopes for beginners and downhill runs for the more experienced skiers. With something for everyone, Engelberg provides 100% skiing and snowboarding pleasure.
Via Ferrata Climbing
Besides those in Rigidalstock, devoted climbers have five other Via Ferrata to conquer while in Engelberg. Those are in the mountains of Furenwand, Brunni-Stockli, Zittergrat, Graustock, and Talistock. The Furenwand one requires strength and endurance, Brunni-Stockli is more suitable for beginners and families, Zittergrat and Graustock are certainly more challenging, and Talistock lasts about a day, mixing hiking and climbing along the way.
For more climbing experiences, you can also visit the eight climbing gardens and rope parks spread around these mountains and others in Engelberg. Some of these are available both in summer and winter, especially on mountain Brunni.
Engelberg Sporting Park
The Engelberg Sporting Park provides ice sports all year long for business, club, family, or individual events. It’s the perfect way to keep fit and get your body engaged in activities when bored of skiing and climbing.
Some of the sports offered in the Sporting Park are ice hockey, ice skating, curling, indoor and outdoor swimming, tennis, badminton, parkour, and wall climbing. It’s an excellent place to hang out and have fun with your friends, family, or colleagues and see the competitive side of your close ones.
Seilpark Engelberg
The Seilpark in Engelberg is a rope park offering an exquisite adventure in nature for groups of up to 30 people. Open from May to October, this outdoor experience is bound to make you feel like Tarzan.
You’ll have to balance over rope bridges, footbridges, and ziplines. You’ll also be jumping from tree to tree while listening to the sound of rope tightening and trees swaying side to side. Other activities near the rope park include kayaking and archery. It’s a perfect place for kids to step away from their everyday urban lives and spend some time in the clean air of Engelberg.
Visit Tal Museum
In the center of the Engelberg village, you’ll find the famous Tal Museum, previously a farmhouse built in 1786. Its interior is decorated to reproduce the 18th-century way of living, with classic utensils, bedspreads, and wooden shoes catching the exact vibes of life long gone.
Open only from December to April, the museum showcases artists, photographers, and filmmakers from Engelberg. Additionally, there are collections of pictures and posters of the past that commemorate Engelberg’s culture and traditions, all the while emphasizing the luxurious hotel industry of the village.
Eat Swiss Cheese at the Cheese Factory
The cheese factory within the walls of the Engelberg monastery will make any cheese fan hungry. It’s one of the only factories in Switzerland where you can watch the process of cheese being made by hand. You’ll also get the chance to eat the famous Engelberger Klosterglocke cheese, shaped in the form of a monastery bell.
Besides Engelberger Klosterglocke, the cheese factory also provides sheep’s and goat’s cheese, Alpine cheese, and yogurts. If you want to remember this tasty experience, you can also get something from souvenirs and gift shops.
Enjoy Swiss Cuisine
Engelberg offers a wide array of restaurants that provide charming and delicious Swiss cuisine. Swiss food culture is widely influenced by the French, Italian, and German cuisines and the glorious history of Switzerland as a unique country. It also needs to be mentioned that Switzerland’s landscape has had an impact on the agricultural aspect of its people.
Some of the restaurants that capture the magnificence of Swiss food are the Alpenclub, Brasserie Konrad, Spannort, Yucatan, and Gasthaus Schwand.
Spas and Bathing
After all of the skiing, hiking, climbing, and sports, you deserve a relaxing time to replenish your energy and come back stronger. What better way to do this than with some of Engelberg’s well-being centers?
Go to the Titlis Resort for some massages and facial treatments, at Hotel Eienwaldli for the Rock Pool Adventure and the Sauna world, and at the Alpkaserei Gerschnialp for a magical whey bath in nature.
Bottom Line
The beauty of Engelberg is unmatched. Nothing will ever give you as many goosebumps as conquering your first Swiss mountain, climbing your first via Ferrata, and skiing down fast slopes as it does in this exceptional little town. You won’t regret going there, whether with your friends or family, as you’ll find whatever you’re looking for and more.
