Interlaken Hiking — Schynige Platte, the Männlichen, Harder Kulm & the Bernese Trails
The Bernese Oberland around Interlaken offers the most varied day-hiking terrain in the Alps — from the flower meadows of the Schynige Platte to the Eiger-facing trails of the Männlichen ridge.
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The Schynige Platte Alpine Garden
Schynige Platte (the 1,967m plateau accessible from Interlaken Ost via Wilderswil by the historic 1893 rack railway in 50 minutes at CHF 52 adults return): the Alpine Botanical Garden (600 Alpine plant species in their natural rock habitat, free with the railway ticket, the most complete Bernese Oberland alpine flora collection in a single site), the Daubs Walk (the 3km panoramic trail with the widest single Bernese Oberland panorama, 2 hours return, the Jungfrau, the Mönch, the Eiger, Lake Thun, and Lake Brienz visible simultaneously), the Faulhorn trail (the 15km classic day hike from Schynige Platte to the Faulhorn at 2,681m then to the First gondola — the most celebrated single-day hike in the Swiss Alps by the Swiss Alpine Club), the sunset experience (the Berghaus Schynige Platte hotel for the overnight at CHF 80-120 per person, the sunset over the Bernese Alps the most dramatic alpine colour spectacle from Interlaken) and the train atmosphere (the 7km narrow-gauge 1893 rack railway the most historically charming mountain railway in the Bernese Oberland, the original open-sided carriages the most atmospheric mountain train experience near Interlaken).
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The Männlichen Ridge Walk
Männlichen (the 2,343m ridge above Grindelwald, accessible by the world's longest passenger gondola at 6.2km in 30 minutes from Grindelwald at CHF 49 adults return): the Royal Walk (the 30-minute circular summit path with the definitive 3-summit view — Eiger 3,967m, Mönch 4,107m, Jungfrau 4,158m simultaneously, the most complete 3-summit panorama from any cable car-accessible summit in the Bernese Oberland), the Männlichen to Kleine Scheidegg trail (the 5km gentle descent along the east ridge with the continuous face-on Eiger north face view, 1.5 hours, the most accessible and the most photographically rewarding hiking trail in the Bernese Oberland), Kleine Scheidegg (the junction at 2,061m where the Wengernalpbahn meets the Jungfraubahn, the terrace restaurant and the hotel with the Jungfrau north face directly above), the Männlichen marmot colony (the most reliably viewed alpine marmot colony accessible by gondola from Interlaken, June-October on the summit meadows) and the Grindelwald circuit (the complete day circuit: Interlaken to Grindelwald by BOB railway, gondola to Männlichen, ridge walk to Kleine Scheidegg, Jungfrau Railway to the Jungfraujoch, return via Lauterbrunnen — the most complete single-day Bernese Oberland mountain circuit at CHF 250-280 adults).
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The Niederhorn and Lake Thun Hiking
Niederhorn (the 1,950m summit above Lake Thun's north shore, accessible by steamer from Interlaken West to Beatenbucht then funicular and gondola in 75 minutes at CHF 52 adults return): the summit panorama (the only accessible Bernese Oberland mountain with the direct north view across the Swiss Mittelland — Bern visible 30km away on a clear day, the Lake Thun directly below the most complete lake-to-summit aerial view near Interlaken), the St. Beatus Caves (the cave complex at the Beatushöhlen lake shore with the stalactites, the underground lake, and the dragon legend of the 1st-century St. Beatus hermit, CHF 18 adults guided tours every 30 minutes April-October), Beatenberg village (the panoramic ridge village at 1,150m above Lake Thun, the south-facing Jungfrau view from every house window the most continuous mountain backdrop of any Bernese Oberland village), the paragliding from the Niederhorn (the tandem paragliding flight from the Niederhorn landing at the Interlaken field — the most Lake Thun-centred aerial view in the Bernese Oberland) and the lake swimming at Beatenbucht (the pebble beach at the Beatenbucht steamer pier, the Lake Thun water at 22 degrees in July-August the most accessible warm lake swimming from the Niederhorn excursion base).
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The Harder Kulm — Interlaken's Local Mountain
Harder Kulm (the 1,322m local mountain above Interlaken, accessible by the Harderbahn funicular from Interlaken Ost in 10 minutes at CHF 32 adults return, operating May-November): the Two Lakes Bridge (the steel and glass observation deck extending over the north face with the simultaneous view of Lake Thun to the west and Lake Brienz to the east — the most geographically distinctive view near Interlaken, the Jungfrau massif filling the southern sky behind the town), the summit restaurant (the Bergrestaurant Harder Kulm, the Bernese Rösti and the cheese fondue, the outdoor terrace the primary sunset viewing point for Interlaken visitors at CHF 25-35 per person), the ibex colony (the most reliably viewed ibex from any Interlaken-area mountain, the animals descending to the meadow near the restaurant terrace June-October), the sunrise walk (the 1-hour ridge walk west from the summit toward the Augstmatthorn offering the earliest morning Jungfrau view from any accessible point near Interlaken) and the family circuit (the funicular return plus the 30-minute terrace walk the most complete family mountain excursion from Interlaken requiring the least physical effort and the lowest cost — CHF 32 per adult for the return funicular the most affordable single mountain excursion from the town).
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The Aare Gorge and the Reichenbach Falls
The Aare Gorge (the Aareschlucht at Meiringen, 30km east of Interlaken by SBB train in 35 minutes at CHF 12 return): the gorge (the 1.4km gorge where the Aare cut 200m through the limestone in 10,000 years since glacial retreat, the walkway at water level with the cliff walls narrowing to 1m in places, CHF 11 adults, the most dramatic accessible river gorge in the Swiss Alps), the Reichenbach Falls (the waterfall above Meiringen where Conan Doyle set the 'death' of Sherlock Holmes and Moriarty in 'The Final Problem' 1893, accessible by funicular at CHF 12 return, the Holmes Museum at Conan Doyle Place 1 in Meiringen CHF 5 adults), the Grimsel Pass (the 2,164m pass 50km south accessible by PostBus May-October with the most dramatic reservoir scenery in the Swiss Alps — the Grimselsee at 1,908m), the Ballenberg Open Air Museum (the 100+ relocated Swiss rural buildings on 66 hectares adjacent to Brienz, CHF 32 adults April-October, the most complete single-site Swiss folk museum in the country) and the train journey (the SBB Brünig Line from Interlaken Ost east through the Brienzer Lake shore and the Aare gorge to Meiringen and on to Lucerne — the most scenic regional rail journey in the Bernese Oberland, the entire route included in the Swiss Travel Pass).
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Interlaken Town — the Höhematte and the Victorian Resort Heritage
Interlaken town (the resort between the two lakes with 30,000 hotel beds and 3.5 million visitor nights per year in a town of 6,000 permanent residents): the Höhematte (the 14-hectare park in the centre, protected from development by the 1879 landowner agreement, the Jungfrau massif view from the lawn the definitive Interlaken image, free, always accessible), the Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel (the 5-star hotel at Höheweg 41 opened 1865, the facade unchanged since 1899, the most historically atmospheric hotel in the Bernese Oberland at CHF 400-800 per night, the hotel terrace the most elegant Jungfrau viewing position in the town), the William Tell open-air theatre (the Friedrich Schiller Tell play in the Rugen forest stage July-September at CHF 38-58 at tellspiele.ch), the Funky Chocolate Club (the chocolate workshop studio at Rosenstrasse 19, the chocolate-making workshop at CHF 25 per person, the most photographed artisan activity in Interlaken) and the Interlaken market (the Saturday market at the Marktgasse with the Bernese Speck, the Gruyère, the Bernese Haselnusskuchen hazelnut tart — the most specifically Bernese baked product — and the regional honey from the alpine dairy farms).