Shopping

There are a lot more shops in Grindelwald than the seasonal local economy can sometimes support (many shops, hastily opened to capitalize on the influx of tourists, last for only one season). Most of them line the crowded edges of the resort's main thoroughfare, a sometimes traffic-clogged highway. A half-dozen of these shops specialize in sporting goods and ski equipment, many stockpiling inventory from prestigious, high-tech manufacturers from around Europe and North America. The best of them include Buri-Sport, Hauptstrasse (tel. 033/853-14-27), and Bernet Sport, Hauptstrasse (tel. 033/853-13-09; www.bernet-sport.ch). If you're in the market for a timepiece, Casa Grande, Beim Bahnhof (tel. 033/853-50-15), has a wide inventory of all kinds of Swiss watches and -- to a much lesser extent -- simple jewelry.