Lauterbrunnen is a village in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, with a population of 2290 in 2018. It lies in a dramatic sheer-sided U-shaped valley, with scores of waterfalls - its name means "clear springs" but is often rendered as "loud springs" for their roar in spate. At an elevation of 800 m it's accessible from the lowlands, linked from Interlaken by road in 1834 and by rail in 1890, boosting the tourist trade. Tolkien was 19 when he hiked through in 1911, later to render its landscape as Rivendell. But as the railways wound higher up the mountain, ski tourism followed, leaving Lauterbrunnen as just the place you change trains. It's still a hiking destination in summer, and a budget alternative to the higher resorts.