Engelberg tickle trail

the Tickle Trail and picnic area at the top of the Brunni chairlift

Summary: 1:25 drive from Zurich, short sensory barefoot trail, requires chairlift, rodelbahn, playground, not stroller-friendly, restaurant, several grill pits, bring extra clothes-you will get wet!

Last September, we visited the Engelberg barefoot trail, technically called the Brunni Tickle Trail. This is very popular and even the cold day we went, it was packed with happy families. The main attraction is a very short sensory trail, where you walk barefoot over surfaces like stones, sticks, bark, mud, and even cow pies. Next to the trail is a large picnic area and a big water play area. And of course, the views are fantastic, even when the peaks are partially obscured by clouds as it was on our day.


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Now the details. First, drive to Engelberg. Drive through town following signs to the Brunni gondola. You'll first take a gondola, then a chair lift up to the Tickle Trail. At the midway station, there is a nice playground with a trampoline, etc. There is also a rodelbahn. But don't get distracted now, there's plenty of time for that later.


Here we are at the top of the chair lift, with the restaurant on the right. Immediately as you get off, you'll see the Tickle Trail, which surrounds a very little lake.


There is also a big picnic area with grill pits and tables, interspersed with a water play area for the kids. When we were there in September, there were hundreds of little tadpoles in the little streams and my boys had loads of fun catching them. Which leads me to my next point: BRING EXTRA CLOTHES!!! My 3yr old fell into to the water in the first 10 minutes and proceed to soak two other outfits over the next hour. My 6yr old went through two outfits as well. Everyone ended up a bit wet, but still had a great time.


Here we are on the Tickle trail. You just take off your shoes, roll up your pants, and enjoy the experience. My boys were a little apprehensive at first, but soon got the hang of it. With very little ones, you'll need to hold on tight and carry them on part of it as the water sections might be too deep. You can easily skip any section that you don't like by using the adjacent dirt trail.


The reflective view across the lake is great, don't you think? So don't forget to stage this pic.


Instead of riding back down the chairlift, you can opt to hike back down to the gondola, which will take 45 mins or so. We stopped and grilled halfway down, so I don't know the exact time. If you do this, remember to only buy a one-way ticket for the chair lift to save a bit of money. The pics above show a bit of the trail. Once you are back to the gondola, spend some time at the playground or ride the rodelbahn a couple times to add in even more fun.