Two lakes, one valley, and the ride to Top of Europe
Destinations › Europe › Interlaken
Interlaken sits on the strip of land between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, with the Höhematte meadow in the middle of town, and it exists as a travel destination mainly because it is the junction where the national rail network hands you over to the mountain railways. You do not come here for Interlaken itself so much as for what leaves from Interlaken Ost: the Berner Oberland-Bahn into the Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald valleys, and from there the cog railways and cable cars up to Kleine Scheidegg, the Schilthorn and the Jungfraujoch.
There is no airport and no nonstop from Toronto to anywhere nearer than Zurich. Fly YYZ-ZRH nonstop (Air Canada AC880/AC881, roughly eight hours), then take the train from the station underneath Zurich Airport. Switzerland Tourism confirms a direct train between Zurich Airport and Interlaken Ost with no change of train at all; off that pattern you take an S-Bahn or long-distance service into Zürich HB and change, or change at Bern, on the InterCity corridor that runs Bern-Spiez-Interlaken Ost. The one thing to get right: Interlaken has two stations, and you want Interlaken Ost (East), not Interlaken West. Ost is the interchange for the Jungfrau region and the Lake Brienz boats. West is closer to parts of the town centre and the Lake Thun boats. Getting off at the wrong one is the classic first-day mistake.
This is not a zone-based Verkehrsverbund like the German and Austrian cities - it is a stack of named private mountain railways, most under the Jungfrau Railways group, all bookable as one journey. From Interlaken Ost the Berner Oberland-Bahn (BOB) runs up the valley. Critical boarding quirk: the BOB train is two portions coupled together and it splits at Zweilütschinen - the front portion travels to Lauterbrunnen, the rear one to Grindelwald. Sit in the wrong half and you end up in the wrong valley. Above that, the Wengernalpbahn (WAB) climbs from both Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg, where the Jungfraubahn continues to the Jungfraujoch; the alternative is the Eiger Express tricable gondola from Grindelwald Terminal up to Eigergletscher, which Jungfrau Railways bills as the fastest way up. Separately, Schilthorn Cableway climbs from Stechelberg to Mürren, then on to Birg and the Schilthorn summit. The Harderbahn funicular goes up Interlaken's own mountain, and the Schynige Platte railway climbs from Wilderswil. For the region itself the relevant product is the Jungfrau Travel Pass; for the country, Swiss Travel Pass or Half Fare.
Two ways up: Kleine Scheidegg by Wengernalpbahn from either Lauterbrunnen or Grindelwald and then the Jungfraubahn, or the Eiger Express gondola from Grindelwald Terminal to Eigergletscher and the train from there. Jungfrau Railways describes the station as open every day of the year. Seat reservation is mandatory across the main season, which Jungfrau Railways currently sets as May through October - book it, do not turn up hoping.
The GoldenPass Express runs Interlaken Ost to Montreux with no change of train, past Gstaad and Château-d'Oex - it only exists because of variable-gauge bogies under the coaches and a gauge-changing ramp at Zweisimmen that solved a century-old break-of-gauge problem. In the other direction the Luzern-Interlaken Express, operated by Zentralbahn, crosses the Brünig Pass to Lucerne past a string of mountain lakes. Both are ordinary scheduled trains, not tours.
A trench of a valley with waterfalls off both walls, and above it the car-free village of Mürren. Schilthorn Cableway climbs Stechelberg-Mürren-Birg-Schilthorn; the direct Stechelberg-Mürren aerial cableway is billed as the steepest cable car in the world at a 159.4% gradient, with the older two-stage line via Gimmelwald kept in service so that village keeps its access. At the summit is the revolving Piz Gloria restaurant, the On Her Majesty's Secret Service location.
Interlaken's local mountain at 1,322 m, reached by funicular from a valley station near Interlaken Ost, with the Two Lakes Bridge viewing platform - Thun on one side, Brienz on the other, and the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau facing you. There is a panorama restaurant at the top and alphorn playing in season. It is the right thing to do on a half day, but the funicular is seasonal, so check it is running.
Interlaken is a hub, not a destination, and the centre is built like one: two stations (Interlaken West and Interlaken Ost) about twenty minutes' walk apart with the Höheweg and the Höhematte meadow strung between them, flat the whole way. Suits anyone doing a different mountain each day and wanting supermarkets, laundry and late food. Does NOT suit people who came for alpine quiet — this is a busy resort strip with coach parties and souvenir shops, and you look at the Jungfrau across a meadow rather than standing under it.
Unterseen's small old town is a five-minute walk from Interlaken West across the Aare and is a completely different atmosphere: wooden houses, a church square, actual residents. Matten sits on the Wilderswil side. Both suit repeat visitors, drivers, and anyone who wants the hub's convenience without the strip. Do NOT expect nightlife or much choice of dinner within walking distance.
The valley pair. Lauterbrunnen is flat valley floor between sheer walls with waterfalls coming off them, the cheapest of the mountain villages and reachable by car — which also means day traffic and early shadow. Wengen sits on the terrace above it, car-free, reached by the Wengernalpbahn cog railway. Wengen suits people who want quiet and height; it does NOT suit anyone with heavy luggage or a same-day arrival, because you move your own bags from the station.
The full-service resort under the Eiger, with the Eiger Express gondola terminal and the widest range of hotels, shops and restaurants in the region. Suits families who want facilities and the best big-peak view from the village itself. Does NOT suit budget travellers or anyone chasing a village feel — it is a town, it is busy, and it is roughly a half-hour train ride out of Interlaken Ost rather than a walk.
The two workhorses of Bernese mountain cooking. Rösti is grated potato fried into a cake, served plain as a side or loaded with cheese, bacon or a fried egg as a main. Käseschnitte is bread soaked in wine or stock, buried in melted alpine cheese and baked — heavier than it sounds and perfect after a walk. Find them at the Berghaus and mountain-station kitchens above Grindelwald, Mürren and Schynige Platte, and along the Höheweg in town.
Herdsman's macaroni: pasta and potato cooked together in cream with alpine cheese, buried under fried onions, and served with a dish of apple sauce on the side that everyone questions and then understands. This is the dish to order at altitude rather than in town — the mountain restaurants make it because it is what they always made.
Fondue in this part of Switzerland is usually moitié-moitié, a half-and-half blend of Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois. It is genuinely a cold-weather dish that resort kitchens now serve year-round for visitors; if you order it in August you will get it, and you will also get a very warm room. Both are long sit-down evening meals, not a quick lunch, and both are shared by the pot rather than the plate.
Meiringen, up the Aare valley beyond Lake Brienz, claims to be where the meringue was invented — a local tradition rather than settled history — and the local version is served in a pile with thick unsweetened cream. Village bakeries and lakeside cafés around Brienz and Bönigen do them, and they travel badly, so eat them where you buy them. Village dairies in the same valleys sell Berner Alpkäse AOP, the hard cheese made up on the alp each summer, if you want something to take home.
The Berner Oberland-Bahn (BOB) leaves Interlaken Ost as one train and splits in half at Zweilütschinen: one portion continues to Lauterbrunnen, the other to Grindelwald. The carriages are signed for their destination. People get this wrong every single day and discover it in the wrong valley — check the sign, not the direction of travel. Most accommodation in the area gives you a guest card at check-in that covers local trains and buses within the immediate area; ask what yours includes.
From Grindelwald Terminal the Eiger Express tricable gondola climbs to Eigergletscher in about fifteen minutes — it is a step-on cabin rather than a train with a platform gap. From Eigergletscher the Jungfraubahn continues into the tunnel bored through the Eiger and Mönch.
The Jungfraubahn terminates at 3,454 metres. Sphinx observation terrace, the Ice Palace carved into the glacier, and the head of the Aletsch Glacier. Thin air and cold in any month — see the family notes below before you commit older parents to this.
Jungfraubahn down to Kleine Scheidegg, then change to the Wengernalpbahn, the long cog railway that drops through Wengen into Lauterbrunnen. You come down a different valley from the one you went up, which is the whole trick of this region — no backtracking, one continuous loop.
Staubbach Falls drops most of a vertical wall a short, flat walk from Lauterbrunnen station. Trümmelbach Falls is further up the valley by post bus: ten glacier-fed falls inside the mountain, reached by a lift built into the rock and then wet, narrow, railed galleries.
BOB back to Interlaken Ost, then the Harderbahn funicular from just across the Aare to the viewing platform above town, with Lake Thun on one side and Lake Brienz on the other and the Eiger–Mönch–Jungfrau line ahead. It runs seasonally, so check operating dates. Guest cards typically discount it — confirm with yours.
The Luzern–Interlaken Express, run by Zentralbahn, is a panoramic-windowed service that takes about two hours each way over the Brünig Pass — past Lake Brienz, the Lungernsee and the Sarnersee. The journey is the point as much as Lucerne is. Break it at Brienz for the Ballenberg open-air museum or the Giessbach falls funicular if you would rather not do the whole run.
The GoldenPass Express runs direct from Interlaken Ost to Montreux in around three and a quarter hours, using a gauge-changing system so you never change trains — the first service to do the whole route through. You end the day in the French-speaking vineyards on Lake Geneva, which feels like a different country from the Bernese Oberland because culturally it nearly is.
Mürren is car-free and hangs on a shelf above the Lauterbrunnen valley. The Schilthornbahn above it has been rebuilt in stages: the new Stechelberg–Mürren cable car opened in December 2024 and is the steepest cable car in the world, with a maximum gradient just under 160 per cent, and the upper sections towards Birg and the summit have been renewed under the same project. Reach Stechelberg by post bus from Lauterbrunnen, or go up from Lauterbrunnen on the Grütschalp cable car and the BLM mountain railway to Mürren. Because the rebuild has run section by section, check which legs are operating before you set out.
This is, oddly, one of the more manageable mountain regions in Europe for grandparents and small children — because the Swiss solved the vertical with machinery rather than expecting you to walk. Interlaken itself is flat: the Höhematte meadow, the Höheweg, the two river paths and both lakeshores involve no climbing at all. Jungfrau Railways does carry wheelchairs and pushchairs on the main Jungfraujoch route and much of the summit complex is served by lifts, but space per departure is limited and the arrangements change with the rolling stock — contact them before you travel rather than turning up and hoping. Your accommodation should hand you a guest card at check-in covering local trains and buses in the immediate area, usually with discounts on the Harder Kulm funicular and the Schynige Platte railway; confirm the details at the desk, because what the card includes varies. Be honest with yourself about Jungfraujoch, though. Three and a half thousand metres is high enough that light-headedness and getting winded on stairs are normal rather than alarming — serious altitude illness is uncommon on a short visit, but it is not impossible, and anyone with a heart or lung condition should ask their doctor before booking. It is cold up there in July and the glare off the snow is fierce; proper jackets and sunglasses for everyone, including the kids, regardless of what the forecast says down in Interlaken. The rest is honest caveats. Wengen and Mürren are car-free, so you move luggage from station to hotel yourself unless your hotel runs an electric cart — ask before you book. Trümmelbach Falls has a lift into the mountain but then wet, narrow, railed stairways inside the rock: not for wheelchairs, and not for anyone unsteady. The older cog railways have a step up from the platform that the newer gondolas do not. And the real constraint is weather, not mobility: a low-cloud day turns an expensive summit trip into a view of the inside of a cloud. Check the mountain webcams over breakfast and keep your summit day flexible rather than pre-booked to a fixed date. If it socks in, Bern is under an hour away on a direct SBB InterCity from Interlaken Ost and is flat, arcaded and largely indoors — the best wet-weather bail-out in the region.
Switzerland is not on the euro; the Swiss franc (CHF) is the currency. Card terminals in this region — including on the mountain railways and cable cars — will often offer to charge you in Canadian dollars. Decline and pick francs every time. That offer is dynamic currency conversion, the exchange rate is set by the merchant's provider rather than the card networks, and your bank may still add its own foreign-transaction fee afterwards.
Cards and contactless work at the lifts, railways, hotels and restaurants in the region — you can very nearly do the whole trip without touching a note. The exceptions are small: alpine huts on walking routes, farm honesty boxes selling cheese by the roadside, and the occasional village bakery. Carry a modest amount of francs in coins and small notes for exactly those.
Service is included and the printed total is what you owe. Rounding up is the local habit and that is all that is expected. Mountain restaurant staff are not working for tips the way Toronto servers are, and a large percentage tip is more awkward than generous.
Swiss sockets are Type J (SEV 1011), a three-pin standard used essentially only in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, at 230 volts and 50 Hz. Your Canadian plug will not fit, and critically nor will a Schuko / Type F 'Europe adapter' — the pins are too thick for Swiss sockets. A slim two-pin Type C europlug does fit. Get an adapter that explicitly says Type J or Switzerland. Devices labelled 100–240V need only the adapter; a 120V-only appliance needs more than that and is not worth bringing.
Safe from every tap in Switzerland, and the village fountains you will pass constantly are on the same mains supply unless signposted 'Kein Trinkwasser'. Refill rather than buy. One distinction that matters up high: a mains-fed village fountain is drinking water, but an alpine stream or a trough on a pasture is not — livestock are upstream of you.
German is the written language and a strong Bernese dialect is what you will hear; English is universal in a region built on international tourism. Global Affairs Canada rates Switzerland 'take normal security precautions' and flags petty theft at stations rather than anything serious. The genuine hazards here are environmental: mountain weather changes fast and the marked trail network exists for a reason, so stay on it and turn back rather than improvising. Swiss health authorities also treat most of the country as a tick-borne encephalitis area — if you are walking through long grass or woodland in the warm months, cover your legs and check yourself afterwards.
The Jungfraujoch runs year-round - Jungfrau Railways describes the station as open every day of the year. Much else is seasonal in a way that ruins itineraries if you ignore it. The Schynige Platte railway is a summer-only heritage cogwheel line from Wilderswil, opening in early summer and shutting in autumn. The Harderbahn funicular is also seasonal and does not run through deep winter. High alpine hiking realistically runs from late June, once the snow clears the passes, into September - before that, trails above the valley floor are still under snow no matter how warm Interlaken is. Winter is ski season in Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren, and the valley is genuinely busy. Shoulder season, particularly November and much of spring, is when individual mountain railways go into revision and close for maintenance, so check the operating info page before committing to a specific summit. Sunday closing applies here as it does everywhere in Switzerland.
Compare the ways to get there, then build a day-by-day plan.
There is no airport and no nonstop from Toronto to anywhere nearer than Zurich. Fly YYZ-ZRH nonstop (Air Canada AC880/AC881, roughly eight hours), then take the train from the station underneath Zurich Airport. Switzerland Tourism confirms a direct train between Zurich Airport and Interlaken Ost with no change of train at all; off that pattern you take an S-Bahn or long-distance service into Zürich HB and change, or change at Bern, on the InterCity corridor that runs Bern-Spiez-Interlaken Ost. The one thing to get right: Interlaken has two stations, and you want Interlaken Ost (East), not Interlaken West. Ost is the interchange for the Jungfrau region and the Lake Brienz boats. West is closer to parts of the town centre and the Lake Thun boats. Getting off at the wrong one is the classic first-day mistake.
This is not a zone-based Verkehrsverbund like the German and Austrian cities - it is a stack of named private mountain railways, most under the Jungfrau Railways group, all bookable as one journey. From Interlaken Ost the Berner Oberland-Bahn (BOB) runs up the valley. Critical boarding quirk: the BOB train is two portions coupled together and it splits at Zweilütschinen - the front portion travels to Lauterbrunnen, the rear one to Grindelwald. Sit in the wrong half and you end up in the wrong valley. Above that, the Wengernalpbahn (WAB) climbs from both Lauterbrunnen and Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg, where the Jungfraubahn continues to the Jungfraujoch; the alternative is the Eiger Express tricable gondola from Grindelwald Terminal up to Eigergletscher, which Jungfrau Railways bills as the fastest way up. Separately, Schilthorn Cableway climbs from Stechelberg to Mürren, then on to Birg and the Schilthorn summit. The Harderbahn funicular goes up Interlaken's own mountain, and the Schynige Platte railway climbs from Wilderswil. For the region itself the relevant product is the Jungfrau Travel Pass; for the country, Swiss Travel Pass or Half Fare.
The Jungfraujoch runs year-round - Jungfrau Railways describes the station as open every day of the year. Much else is seasonal in a way that ruins itineraries if you ignore it. The Schynige Platte railway is a summer-only heritage cogwheel line from Wilderswil, opening in early summer and shutting in autumn. The Harderbahn funicular is also seasonal and does not run through deep winter. High alpine hiking realistically runs from late June, once the snow clears the passes, into September - before that, trails above the valley floor are still under snow no matter how warm Interlaken is. Winter is ski season in Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren, and the valley is genuinely busy. Shoulder season, particularly November and much of spring, is when individual mountain railways go into revision and close for maintenance, so check the operating info page before committing to a specific summit. Sunday closing applies here as it does everywhere in Switzerland.