Interlaken

The currency is the Swiss franc (CHF), and the official Interlaken lodging list also gives prices in euros, converted at a reference rate. The average price reference for Switzerland at Numbeo, on October 15, 2026, is CHF 25 for a meal at an inexpensive restaurant (from CHF 18 to CHF 40), CHF 100 for a three-course dinner for two at a mid-range restaurant, without drinks, CHF 7.50 for a half-liter draft beer and CHF 5.07 for a cappuccino. The expense that weighs in Interlaken is mountain transport: the Jungfraujoch starts at CHF 129.60, plus CHF 10 for the seat reservation that is mandatory from May to October; the round trip from Stechelberg to the Schilthorn costs CHF 115; the First cable car starts at CHF 38; and the Trümmelbach falls, at CHF 18. That is why the first calculation of the trip is the passes (see Transport). Service is included in the price at Swiss restaurants since the sector's collective agreement of 1974, and the custom is to round the bill up to the next five or ten francs. Every lodging charges the tourist tax per night, including the cantonal tax of CHF 1 per adult, and gives in return a guest card with local benefits.

Arriving by train

Interlaken has no commercial airport: you arrive by train, with departures every half hour to and from Bern, Zurich, Geneva and Basel. From Zurich Airport there is a direct train every hour, in about 2 hours 15 minutes, and from Zurich HB it is about 2 hours (Zurich is on the same route). From Bern it is about 1 hour, from Basel about 2 hours and from Geneva Airport between 3 hours 10 minutes and 3 hours 30 minutes. From Lucerne, the Luzern–Interlaken Express crosses the Brünig Pass and arrives directly at the Ost station in 1 hour 48 minutes. There are also direct trains from Germany. Note the 2026 construction work: from October 19 to December 11, the line between Interlaken West and Interlaken Ost is closed, trains from Bern and Thun stop at West and replacement buses go on to Ost and Wilderswil; those coming from Lucerne arrive directly at Ost.

The two stations and the mountain trains

Interlaken West is in the center, near the Lake Thun pier; Interlaken Ost is the region's junction, with the Berner Oberland-Bahn to Lauterbrunnen (22 minutes) and Grindelwald (36 minutes), the Brünig line to Brienz and Lucerne and the Lake Brienz pier. Outside the construction period, the train between the two stations takes five minutes, and on foot it is about 30 minutes along the Höheweg. For the Jungfraujoch there are two routes: via Grindelwald Terminal and the Eiger Express (1 hour 37 minutes from Interlaken Ost on the October 2026 timetable) or via Lauterbrunnen, Wengen and Kleine Scheidegg, where everyone changes to the Jungfraubahn. For Mürren and the Schilthorn, continue to Lauterbrunnen and take the cable car to Grütschalp with the train to Mürren, or bus 141 to Stechelberg and the Schilthorn cable car.

Passes: Swiss Travel Pass, Berner Oberland Pass and the half fare

The Swiss Travel Pass covers train, bus and boat throughout Switzerland and gives a discount on most mountain railways; it is worth it for those who arrive and leave from far away and cross the country. In the region, it gives free travel from Stechelberg to Mürren and lowers the Schilthorn to CHF 45.70. The Berner Oberland Pass covers public transport in the Bernese Oberland, with the boats and the whole Schilthorn cable car; it costs from CHF 240 (3 days) to CHF 435 (10 days) for adults and from CHF 168 to CHF 316 with the Swiss Half Fare Card, at the fares valid until December 12, 2026. For the Jungfraujoch, the price calculator on jungfrau.ch shows the cost of the trip with each pass, and the Jungfraubahnen sells its own Jungfrau Travel Pass, from 3 to 8 days, from CHF 165. Do the math with the excursions you will actually take before buying any pass.

Boats, buses and the car

The BLS boats cross both lakes: on Lake Thun they run all year from the Interlaken West pier, and on Lake Brienz they stop in winter, from December 7, leaving from the Interlaken Ost pier. On the October and November 2026 timetable, there are only two departures a day from Interlaken Ost to Brienz, at 11:40 a.m. and 3:10 p.m. The Swiss Travel Pass and Berner Oberland Pass are valid on the boats; the Half Fare Card gives a 50% discount, and the day pass costs from CHF 36. Local and regional buses are run by PostAuto and STI, with lines to Iseltwald (about 20 minutes), the St. Beatus Caves and Thun. Wengen, Mürren and Gimmelwald have no road access; for the valleys, the region itself recommends leaving the car at the Matten Park+Ride and continuing by public transport.

Interlaken is a calm town, and the real risks are in the mountains. The weather changes fast above 2,000 m: bring warm clothing, a rain jacket and water even on a sunny day, and check the forecast and the time of the last train or cable car back before setting out on the trail. On the Jungfraujoch, at 3,454 m, the air is thin and the ascent is quick: walk slowly up there and do not leave the marked areas on the glacier. On the trails, stay on the marked path and do not go near the edge of the walls of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Adventure activities, such as paragliding and canyoning, are sold by agencies in town; choose licensed companies and check what your travel insurance covers. In the water, the danger is the cold and the current: according to the Swiss Lifesaving Society (SLRG), the country's open waters are below 14 °C on average seven months a year, and below 8 °C in five of them. Swim in a lake or river only if you are a strong swimmer, enter the water slowly, do not jump into unknown water and wear a life jacket in a rowboat, kayak or raft, even in summer; on the Aare between the two lakes there is a current. In town, the care needed is that of any place full of tourists, with luggage on the crowded station platforms. Emergencies: 112 (general number), 117 (police), 118 (fire), 144 (ambulance) and 1414 (Rega, the Swiss air rescue, for accidents in the mountains).

Say hello when you walk in

In German-speaking Switzerland people say "Grüezi" on entering a shop, restaurant or mountain hut and on passing someone on the trail. In the Bern region you also hear the local form of the greeting; answering with "Grüezi" is always right.

Round up the bill, without calculating a percentage

Service has been included in the price since 1974. The custom is to round up to the next five or ten francs when paying, on average about 6% of the bill, said to the waiter at the moment of payment.

Take train punctuality seriously

Mountain trains and cable cars leave at the minute scheduled, and the Jungfraujoch reservation ticket shows a time. Reaching the platform at the last minute with luggage is the most common way to miss the connection.

Close the gates and respect the cattle

The trails cross pastures with cows, and the fences and gates exist for the cattle. Close what you open, keep your distance from cows with calves and keep dogs on a leash.

Quiet in the car-free villages

Wengen, Mürren and Gimmelwald are villages of residents and farmers, with no road and no traffic. Noise carries far: keep loud music and late-night conversation indoors.

Buying the Jungfraujoch without checking the weather

Buying the Jungfraujoch ticket days in advance and going up in fog. The most expensive excursion in the region is also the one that depends most on clear skies: check the Jungfraubahnen webcams the evening before and have an alternative plan, such as the Lauterbrunnen Valley.

Forgetting the seat reservation

From May 1 to October 31, 2026, the CHF 10 seat reservation for the Jungfraujoch is mandatory and guarantees the departure time. Buying only the ticket and going to the station can leave you without a seat on the train.

Buying a pass without doing the math

Buying the Swiss Travel Pass just to stay in Interlaken. It pays off for those who cross Switzerland; for three or four days in the region only, compare it with the Berner Oberland Pass, the Jungfrau Travel Pass and the Half Fare Card by adding up the excursions you will really take.

Assuming everything runs all year

Planning the Schynige Platte or the First cable car for November, the Trümmelbach for late November or the Harder Kulm for December. In 2026, the Schynige Platte stops after October 25, First is closed from late October until the winter season, the Trümmelbach is open only until early November and the Harder Kulm funicular until November 29. Check the line's timetable before setting the day.

Driving to Wengen or Mürren

Trying to drive up to the villages of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. Wengen, Mürren and Gimmelwald have no road access, and the car stays in Lauterbrunnen or in Stechelberg.

Grüezi

Hello: the standard greeting in German-speaking Switzerland, on entering any place and on the trail

Merci vilmal

Thank you very much; the French "merci" is part of Swiss German

Einmal nach Lauterbrunnen und zurück, bitte

One round trip to Lauterbrunnen, please: works at the ticket window of any station

Fährt dieser Zug nach Grindelwald?

Does this train go to Grindelwald? Useful at Interlaken Ost, because the Berner Oberland-Bahn train splits at Zweilütschinen

Zahlen, bitte

The check, please

Ist der Weg offen?

Is the trail open? A question you ask at the tourist office or the mountain station at the start and end of the season

The Bödeli between two lakes

Interlaken occupies the Bödeli, an alluvial plain formed by the sediments of two rivers: the Lütschine, which comes down from Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald in the south, and the Lombach, which comes from the north. Until after the 10th century the two lakes were one; this gravel separated them, and today Lake Brienz sits 6 m above Lake Thun. The Aare flows from east to west through the town, from Lake Brienz, 14 km long and up to 260 m deep, to Lake Thun, the largest Swiss lake lying entirely within a single canton. The Höheweg, the street of the grand hotels, links the Interlaken Ost and Interlaken West stations, and the Höhematte, the lawn in front, keeps the view open to the south.

The two valleys and the three peaks

To the south, the Lütschine splits at Zweilütschinen into two valleys. The Lauterbrunnen Valley is a narrow cut between limestone walls, rarely more than a kilometer wide, from which dozens of waterfalls drop; Wengen and Mürren sit on terraces at the top of the two walls, with no road. The Grindelwald Valley is more open, with the village at 1,034 m beneath the Wetterhorn and the Eiger. At the head of both, the wall formed by the Eiger (3,967 m), the Mönch (4,107 m) and the Jungfrau (4,158 m) separates the Bernese Oberland from the Valais and from the Aletsch Glacier, the largest in the Alps.

The climate measured in town

The Interlaken weather station, at 577 m, records in the 1991 to 2020 normals average highs of 24.3 °C in July and 3.2 °C in January, with average lows of 13.8 °C in July and −2.8 °C in January. Summer is the rainiest season, with 146 mm in July and another 146 mm in August; February is the driest month, with 67 mm. Up high the picture is different: on the Jungfraujoch, at 3,454 m, the Jungfraubahnen guarantees snow and ice on all 365 days of the year.

Herders' festivals and Swiss wrestling

The oldest festivals in the region come from life on the summer pastures. The Unspunnen festival, created in 1805, brings together Swiss wrestling (Schwingen), the Unspunnen stone throw and yodeling; the full festival takes place every twelve years and the wrestling contest every six, both on the Höhematte, and the next full edition is scheduled for 2029. In summer, there are daily alphorn concerts on the Harder Kulm and the Schynige Platte. The William Tell plays, held outdoors, are associated with Interlaken, but are performed on the land of the neighboring municipalities, Matten and Wilderswil.

Poets, painters and writers

The landscape of the region entered European literature early. Goethe wrote the "Song of the Spirits over the Waters" after seeing the Staubbach in 1779; Byron wrote a good part of "Manfred" on a journey through the Bernese Alps in September 1816; Mendelssohn passed through Wengen, where there is a memorial to him. In 1911, a young J. R. R. Tolkien walked from Interlaken to the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and the valley's landscape is linked to the drawings he made afterward of Rivendell. In the 20th century, the north face of the Eiger produced mountain books and films, and the Schilthorn entered the movies with James Bond.

Crafts of the lake and the valley

In Brienz, the cantonal woodcarving school, founded in 1862, keeps alive the tradition of wooden figures and objects sold around the region. Alpine cheese is still made in summer on the high pastures and sold in shops and on the farms themselves. At the Ballenberg open-air museum, near Brienz, about a hundred rural buildings brought from all over Switzerland show how people lived before tourism.

Mountain sport

In January, Wengen hosts the Lauberhorn races of the Alpine Ski World Cup, and Mürren the amateur Inferno race, scheduled for January 20 to 23, 2027. In early September, the Jungfrau Marathon starts in Interlaken, next to the Victoria-Jungfrau, and ends at the Eigergletscher station, at 2,320 m. Interlaken has also become a starting point for paragliding, skydiving and canyoning, offered by several agencies in town.

Manfred (1817), Lord Byron

The dramatic poem was written largely on a journey Byron made through the Bernese Alps in September 1816, and the protagonist is a nobleman who lives in isolation in the Bernese Alps. It shows how the region's landscape entered European Romanticism before mass tourism.

The White Spider (Die Weisse Spinne, 1959), Heinrich Harrer

Harrer, one of the four climbers of the first ascent of the north face of the Eiger in 1938, tells of the attempts and tragedies on the wall that can be seen from Kleine Scheidegg. The title comes from the ice field in the upper part of the face.

North Face (Nordwand, 2008), by Philipp Stölzl

The German film reconstructs the 1936 attempt by Toni Kurz and Andreas Hinterstoisser on the north face of the Eiger, with journalists and onlookers following from the hotel at Kleine Scheidegg.

On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)

The James Bond film with George Lazenby used the Schilthorn restaurant as the villain's hideout, and the plot passes through Lauterbrunnen, where Tracy meets Bond during the escape. The producer paid for the completion of the Piz Gloria revolving platform in exchange for using it in the film.