Highlights

• Brienzersee and Thunersee Lakes
• Floating in large tubes from Thun to Bern
• Sendli hiking area along the lake
• Harder Kulm cable car and viewing platform
• Crash Landing on You Drehort Pier
• Marktplatz
• Naturschutzgebiet Weissenau nature walks
• Ruine Weissenau
• St. Beatus Caves
• Trotti Bike Niederhorn
• Rodelbahn Pfingstegg summer toboggan

Before you go

• Interlaken means between lakes and it is located between Brienz to the east and Thun to the west
• Summertime can be expensive, so it is advisable to book in advance
• There are two rail stations in the city, so check which one is closer to where you want to go
• You don’t need a car to go around the central area, but you may need one to reach places in the mountains
• Weather can change quickly so bring layers

Transport

• Travel to Interlaken is easy by train from Basel, Zurich or other locations in Switzerland by SBB. There are two stations, Ost (East) and West.
• When you check into a hotel in Interlaken, they will most likely give you a free bus and transport pass. This can be used on the train between the Ost and West stations, and on local buses. And it can be used on some ferries
• Ferries are a good way to travel on the lakes. However, you will need to have some time because they do not run very often
• Walking around the main city is easy as it is quite small. There are also a lot of trails to walk along the rivers and through the nature areas
• Nearby, there are many places to cycle as well

Accommodation

• As usual I recommend checking reviews on Booking.com or using AirBnB
• I stayed at the centrally-located Hotel Weisses Kreuz. The room was small and there was no air conditioning. Luckily, it was not too hot. However, it was very expensive for the room because it was peak summer season
• Some friends stayed at the Hotel Central Continental and said it was very dated. Also, the breakfast was inedible and over-crowded, so they chose to go out even though they’d pre-paid for it
• Other friends got an AirBnB flat, and they had the most comfortable and spacious accommodation. It was also the best value for money to share between three of them

Food

Restaurants

Aare Korean BBQ restaurant was surprisingly delicious and authentic. We did not expect to find Korean food in Interlaken. Thanks to the popularity of the Korean show filmed here, there are many Korean visitors and a few Korean restaurants. I had the beef bulgogi and rice, and it was excellent and a huge portion.

The Aarburg Hotel & Café was our first restaurant, and we were starving for lunch. Luckily, they had a lot of tasty, healthy dishes to choose from. We also sampled the local white wine.

Salzano was a lovely hotel, restaurant and spa slightly out of the city centre. We walked past some farms to get there, and it was a relaxing evening out. All of the food was sourced locally and wonderful. We also enjoyed local Swiss wine.

Snacks and Desserts

Gelateria Azzurra was a nice afternoon treat to enjoy in the sunshine. It is tucked away on a small side street near my hotel.

Läderach chocolate and Vanini Swiss Chocolate 1871 are two of the chocolate shops in the city centre. Very smooth and creamy, with many different flavours to choose from.

Mohler Bäckerei Konditorei is a popular bakery and it was crowded when we visited. Their pastries and cookies were tasty and reasonably priced.

Confiserie Rieder is in the market square, and has a large selection of chocolates and pastries. Everything looked tempting and it was difficult to choose.