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How to get the most out of Interlaken, Switzerland

Interlaken, Switzerland

You may have heard people say that the town of Interlaken is not very spectacular.

Not true! Its old town is super charming, and Interlaken's best USP is the superb location at the foot of the Bernese Alps, nested in between two gorgeous lakes. We were about to find out just how many exciting things can be done from Interlaken when we spent a weekend there recently.

Brienz is a short train ride away and is a great little town with an exquisite lake view of the surrounding mountains.

Brienz in Switzerland

Get off at "Brienz West" and take a stroll along the lake promenade. You could walk all the way back to Interlaken, but the many cutesy houses prevented us from ever leaving the town. In fact, we took quite a long nap on one of the lakeside park benches and finally returned to the same train station we got off from...

Off to Grindelwald

Over the years, Interlaken has differentiated itself as Europe's Adrenaline Capital. Adventure sports abound, but we went the conservative route and spent a day on Grindelwald's slopes instead!

Plan on a two hour transfer from your Interlaken hotel to the top of the Grindelwald First ski resort. We had sent our skiing equipment to Grindelwald ahead of time, taking advantage of a convenient and inexpensive service by SBB: For only 12 francs, a huge bag filled with two pairs of skies, boots, and helmets was shipped from our home to the destination.

Needless to say, the views of surrounding mountains (and most of all, Eiger's North Face) were exquisite!

Alpine lake in Grindelwald, Switzerland

The following day, we hopped on the train again and went deep into the valley to the town of Lauterbrunnen.

This excursion would turn out to be the best bang for the buck. As we boarded the cable car to Grütschalp, we noticed a teaser waterfall in the distance: it felt like a teaser because this is just one of the 10 Trümmelbach waterfalls in this valley, and we definitively want to see them all some day!

Once at the top, a romantic little train would take us to the village of Mürren, which is probably one of the most picturesque places we have seen in a while.

After you have strolled around enough, you really want to swing by Hotel Bellevue. Both overlooking the town and looking out to Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains, this is the outdoor restaurant to be at! I truly enjoyed the free use of a giant pair of binoculars, which revealed dozens of deep blue glaciers, a rising moon next to Eiger, and possibly even a couple of mountain climbers.

Mürren Switzerland

After all those mountain vistas, Switzerland's de facto capital of Bern is just 40 minutes from Interlaken. It has a beautiful medieval town center and is well known for its arcade shopping streets...

What are your favorite things to do in or around Interlaken?

Train Bridge in Interlaken

Dimitri Burkhard

As the founder, editor, and community manager of Newly Swissed, Dimitri owns the strategic vision. He is passionate about storytelling and is a member of Swiss Travel Communicators. Dimitri loves discovering new trends and covers architecture, design, start-ups and tourism.

6 comments

  • i’m gonna visit interlaken n’ zurich in switzerland…. quite excited… if anybody cud suggest sum shoppin’ places….. ???
    thanx in advance..!

  • Hello Newly Swissers …. just 15 minutes up the hill from Interlaken West Station on the number “101* Bus is the Postcard perfect villiage of Beatenberg ( a resort of Interlaken) ……my name is Jacky, I am Australian & together with my Swiss Husband (& talented Chef) Bernhard, we
    welcome people to our Boutique Hotel & Restaurnat Gloria http://www.hotel-gloria.ch. From our place you will find simply unbelievable views of the Snow capped Alps and the sparkling Lake of Thun below. We do fresh innovative food both Swiss specialities & International favourites.. all made with love using regional produce.
    So “pop up” , “calm down” and say Gday ;) oh , and we gaurantee you wont be able to put your camera away.

  • Will have to say that I actually did 2 out of your top things to do…and they were awesome! I had a blast on Mt. Jungfrau and was Canyoning the next day – wickeeed. But a personal highlight was the Swiss Food and Culture Tour with the most coolest, knowledgable, kindest and especially (that’s always important to me) local guides…They do all kind of tours (even private ones, the owner told me), but they’re still small and they have only local guides
    After canyoning a tour with them (I think they were called Interlaken Free Walking Tour) was great…

Dimitri Burkhard

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