Interlaken

A town between two lakes

Interlaken began around 1130 as a small prayer house built on this flat land. An Augustinian monastery grew out of it, and the name Interlacus first turns up in the monastery's story. Even so, the town's official name was Aarmühle for a long time; only in December 1891 did it switch to Interlaken, the name everyone already used. When the first Unspunnenfest was held in 1805, there was just one licensed hotel, and hotels didn't really start going up until the second half of the 19th century. A funicular takes you up Harder Kulm (1,322 m), the mountain behind town, in 10 minutes. From the Two Lakes Bridge (Zwei-Seen-Steg), both lakes lie below you and the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau stand straight ahead. Get the peaks fixed in your head on the day you arrive, and planning the days that follow gets much easier.

Jungfraujoch: a railway inside the mountains

In August 1893, the entrepreneur Adolf Guyer-Zeller was hiking above Mürren when he watched a train on the Wengernalp Railway and came up with the idea of a railway to the Jungfrau. Ground was broken in 1896 and construction took 16 years. Thirty workers died, most of them in blasting accidents. The tunnel broke through to the Jungfraujoch in February 1912, and the first train carrying tourists went up five months later. Trains still run through the rock of the Eiger and Mönch to Europe's highest railway station (3,454 m). Ride the Eiger Express gondola from Grindelwald Terminal up to Eigergletscher in 15 minutes, switch to the train, and you're at the top 1 hour 30 minutes after leaving Interlaken Ost. At the top, head first to the Sphinx observation deck (3,571 m). The Aletsch Glacier, 22 km long and 900 m thick, stretches out below, and this area was the Alpine region's first UNESCO natural World Heritage site. You can also walk through the Ice Palace, dug into the glacier with picks and saws by mountain guides in the 1930s.

Lauterbrunnen: the valley of waterfalls

Lauterbrunnen (795 m) sits on the floor of a trough-shaped valley between sheer rock walls. Seventy-two waterfalls pour down its sides, and Staubbach Falls, just behind the village, drops 297 m, the highest free-falling waterfall in Switzerland. Further into the valley at Trümmelbach Falls, meltwater from the glaciers of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau forms ten falls inside the mountain, up to 20,000 liters a second. Take the tunnel lift into the rock and you can see and hear it right beside you. Car-free Mürren (1,638 m) sits on top of a 417 m cliff. You can ride up from Stechelberg on the world's steepest cable car, at a gradient of 159.4%. From Mürren, ride on up via Birg to Piz Gloria (2,970 m) on the summit of the Schilthorn, a filming location for the Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. From its 360-degree revolving restaurant, you'll see more than 200 peaks one after another without leaving your seat.

First and Schynige Platte: a day on the ridge

From Grindelwald, a six-seat gondola gets you to First (2,166 m) in 25 minutes. The 45 m Cliff Walk runs along the rock face from the top station, and less than an hour on foot brings you to Bachalpsee. On the way down, chain together the First Flyer, which sends you along an 800 m steel cable at up to 84 km/h, a mountain cart down a slope of grazing cows, and a Trottibike, half scooter and half bike, past flower meadows and farmhouses back to the village. If you like long walks, start from the other end. The cog railway from Wilderswil, opened in 1893, climbs to Schynige Platte (1,967 m) in about an hour. Interlaken and both lakes lie below, and the alpine garden holds around 800 alpine plants. From there, about 6 hours of hiking over the summit of the Faulhorn brings you to First.

Villages on Lake Brienz

The lakeside village of Iseltwald is where some scenes of the Korean drama Crash Landing on You were filmed. The pier that became famous is still a working boat pier, and getting onto it costs CHF 5, paid in Swiss coins (5, 2 and 1 franc) or by credit card. From the village, a lakeside path leads to Giessbach Falls, which crashes down 400 m. Brienz, at the eastern end of the lake, is known as the woodcarving village, and its schools of woodcarving and violin making carry the craft forward.

Food from the mountains

Food here starts with cheese. Alpkäse, made through the summer on the high pastures, is called "the product of an alpine summer," and in the Justistal a cheese-sharing event, the Chästeilet, takes place every September in a tradition going back almost 300 years. You can eat fondue inside a gondola in the Jungfrau Region or take Interlaken's fondue rucksack outdoors, and you can have raclette inside the St. Beatus Caves. In autumn, menus add game served with spätzli, red cabbage and chestnuts.

What to eat

• Cheese fondue (in a gondola or from a fondue rucksack)
• Alpkäse (cheese made on the summer pastures)
• Raclette (in the St. Beatus Caves)
• Autumn game (with spätzli, red cabbage and chestnuts)

Handy tips

• Seat reservations on trains to the Jungfraujoch are mandatory in peak season (1 May–31 October in 2026). In that same window, ride up on one of the first two trains of the morning and come down on a train leaving the top by 13:17, and the Good Morning Ticket gets you a discount (can't be combined with other discounts).
• With the Jungfrau Travel Pass (3–8 days), you can ride the Harder Kulm, First and Schynige Platte lines and the boats on Lakes Thun and Brienz as often as you like. A 3-day adult pass costs CHF 210, and the Jungfraujoch section needs a separate connecting ticket (from CHF 63; CHF 89 from May to October 2026).
• Trümmelbach Falls opens only from early April to early November, weather permitting (daily 9:00–17:00; 8:30–18:00 in July and August), and children under 4 and dogs aren't allowed in for safety reasons.