3 days Interlaken with Swiss Travel Pass: itinerary feedback
A traveler is planning a 3-day trip to Interlaken in August with their parents, seeking beautiful views, scenic boat rides, and easy walks without strenuous hikes. They are looking for advice on must-see spots, the efficiency of their itinerary, and details on using the Swiss Travel Pass for transportation.
- Consider starting with the boat ride on Lake Brienz before visiting Harder Kulm to manage time better.
- Expect crowds during peak season in August and plan for potential queues.
- Use the Swiss Travel Pass for free transport on many routes, and check discounts for attractions like Schilthorn.
- Research the Swiss timetable for accurate journey times to ensure your plans are feasible.
AI-generated summary-
Hi everyone!
I’ve been reviewing my itinerary for 3 days in Interlaken this August, and I’d love your feedback.
I’m traveling with my parents, so we’re mainly looking for beautiful views, scenic boat or gondola rides, and easy, low-incline walks—we’re not planning any major hikes.
Here’s what I’m hoping to get your thoughts on:
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Am I missing anything (especially in terms of gondolas, boats, or must-see viewpoints)?
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Does the order of activities seem efficient?
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I’ll be using the Swiss Travel Pass (STP) and hoping that most transportation is covered under it.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
Day 1:
- Take the Lucerne-Interlaken Express
- Sit on the right side
- ~ 2 hours
- Part of the GoldenPass and is therefore free with STP
- The train stops at Interlaken Ost
- Walk 5 mins to the funicular from Interlaken Ost to go to Harder Kulm
- Directions at the station show where to leave the station. You’ll cross the English garden, with the river Aare on your right. Then turn right over the bridge: you can’t miss the valley station when crossing it.
- Once you get off the funicular, you have to walk a bit to reach the viewing point and restaurant. This is a 5-minute walk over an easy gravel path.
- Admire the views from a spectacular viewing platform, supported by a steel construction. It’s called the ‘Two Lakes Bridge’, as you can look down onto Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. You’ll also see the famous mountain trio Eiger, Monch, and Jungfrau, framed by the rest of the Jungfrau Region and other parts of the Bernese Oberland.
- Take the ride back down to the town
- From Interlaken Ost take a boat to Iseltwald
- Wander around Iseltwald
- From Iseltwald take a boat to Brienz
- In Brienz, visit
- Lakeside Promenade
- Uferweg
- Giessbach Falls
- From Brienz take a boat to interlaken Ost
- from Interlaken Ost take a boat to Thun
- From Thun come back to Interlaken Ost
- Then take a bus back to the hotel
Day 2:
- From the hotel, go to Interlaken Ost
- From Interlaken Ost, take the train to Lauterbrunnen ( ~20 mins )
- Explore Lauterbrunnen
- Staubbach Waterfall
- 10 min walk from train station
- Head back to Lauterbrunnen
- Staubbach Waterfall
AFTERNOON: (I also want to see Gimmelwald)
- From Lauterbrunnen, take the bus to Stechelberg (free with STP)
- Ride the cable car to Gimmelwald and continue to Murren OR
- Stechelberg to Murren via cableway is free with STP
- Stroll through the village of Murren
- From Murren, take the cableway to Stechelberg
- Then take bus from Stechelberg to Lauterbrunnen
- Take the train from Lauterbrunnen to Interlaken Ost
Day 3:
- From the hotel, go to Interlaken Ost
- From Interlaken Ost, take the train to Lauterbrunnen ( ~20 mins )
- From Lauterbrunnen, take the bus to Stechelberg (free with STP)
- Ride the cable car to Gimmelwald and continue to Murren OR
- Stechelberg to Murren via cableway is free with STP
- From Murren, take the cable car to Schiltorn (50% discount with STP)
- See the views from Schiltorn
- Take the cable car back down to Murren
- From Murren, take the cableway to Stechelberg (I read that there is a gondola ride from Grutschalp to Lauterbrunnen. Would that be cool to take? Are there tickets for that?)
- Then take bus from Stechelberg to Lauterbrunnen
AFTERNOON:
- From Lauterbrunnen, take a short cogwheel train ride to Wengen ( ~ 15 mins) — free with STP
- sit on the right side for the best views
- extremely scenic
- do NOT stop at Wengwald
- Explore the town
- Take the cogwheel train back down to Lauterbrunnen
- From Lauterbrunnen take the train to Interlaken Ost
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Quick question I also wanted to ask: In Brienz, is the Lakeside Promenade and Uferweg the same? From the boat dock in Brienz, how would I get to each of these places?
Hello Sanya
Thank you for sharing your Interlaken Travel Plans with us.
Day One
Your Day One is impossibly overcrowded.
Note that the boats on both Lakes Thun and Brienz are both slow (Interlaken to Thun takes two hours ten minutes) and not that frequent (literally every one or two hours).
Cut out lake Thun. Put it in day three
On arrival at Interlaken Ost, park your luggage in a locker. Go up Harder Kulm (50% discount with STP).
Get back down from Harder in good time to catch the 14 07 boat to Brienz via Iseltwald and Giessbach, arrive Brienz at 15 20.
The boat landing stage is on the lakeside promenade (known as an Uferweg in German.)
When you have finished your strolling in Brienz, take the train back to Interlaken Ost.
Days Two and Three
You need to study a map of the Lauterbrunnen, Murren, Wengen area.
Day Two
Train to Lauterbrunnen, visit the Staubbach falls. Take the number 141 bus to Stechelberg. Cable car to Gimmelwald. Cable car on to Murren. Cable car to Schilthorn. Cable car back down to Murren.
Walk through Murren village to the village’s tiny railway station. Take the little train to Grutschalp. Then the cable car down to Lauterbrunnen.
If you have the time and energy, make the short trip up to Wengen and back.
Train back to Interlaken.
(Note that Murren to Schithorn is 50% discount with STP, everything else is free.)
Day Three
Catch the wonderful number 21 bus which runs along the north shore of Lake Thun. The villages at the Thun end of this route are very attractive. You may well want to break your journey at Gunten and/or Oberhofen.
Get the 11 40 or 12 40 boat from Thun to Interlaken West. There is NOT a boat at 13 40.
In the afternoon visit Wengen, if you missed it on the previous day.
Take the bus to Iseltwald. That reminds me
Be prepared for Crowds and Queues You are visiting Switzerland’s most popular tourist area in the most popular month.
Kind regards
Roger
Hi Sanya,
Thanks for sharing your plans for your Interlaken stay. You have researched well 🙂
In addition to Roger’s helpful reply, you may want to use the Swiss timetable to plan and research some of the journey times, that way it’ll help you decide whether it is feasible for yourself and your parents. Here’s the link:
You may find the following links helpful too:
- Boat trips on Lake Brienz: https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/boat-lake-brienz/
- Boat trips on Lake Thun: https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/boat-lake-thun/
- Jungfrau region: https://www.myswissalps.com/region/jungfrau-region/
I agree with Roger, for day 1 saving the Lake Thun boat trip for another day makes sense as you will have already been on one boat ride anyways.
There is a lovely lake side walk from Giessbach to Iseltwald that takes approximately 1h 30 that you may wish to include. More details in the link below:
As an alternative, you could visit Harder Kulm (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/harder-kulm/) on your way back. The days will be longer so it could be nice to experience some evening views and you know you won’t be too far away from your hotel either.
Yes, a good point. August is peak season, so crowds will inevitable. Sometimes early starts to the day may help but do expect queues and crowds.
Great you are opting with the Swiss Travel Pass. Very practical. If you have not come across our Swiss Travel Pass guide, take a look in the attached link. Lots of handy information and an video you can watch. There are some online purchase options too.
Have a great trip!
Kind regards,
Yolanda
Thank you so much for the quick responses!
I agree that starting with the boat ride and then heading to Harder Kulm makes a lot of sense—really appreciate the suggestion.
While checking the SBB app, I came across something labeled “EXB” and wasn’t quite sure what it meant. I tried searching online but couldn’t find a clear answer. I’ve attached a screenshot below—any insight would be helpful!
Also, I’m interested in visiting Grindelwald. Do you have any suggestions on where I could best fit it into my itinerary?
Lastly, when I was looking to purchase tickets for Harder Kulm, I noticed that there wasn’t an option to select a specific time. Does that mean the ticket is valid for any time during that day?
Attachments:
Hello Sanya
I agree with Yolanda that on day one you put the boat ride on Lake Brienz before you go up Harder. I would not buy the Harder tickets until a few minutes before you are wanting to travel (which will be in the latish afternoon).
Iseltwald v Grindelwald
Iseltwald is a beautiful SMALL village which in recent years has been overwhelmed by overtourism. ‘EXB’ stands for ‘Express Bus’. At busy times (and there are a lot of those!) Postbus puts on extra buses which go nonstop between Interlaken Ost and Iseltwald. They are needed to cope with the queues and the crowds. I suggest you do not set foot in Iseltwald. Just admire it from the comfort of your seats on the Brienzersee boat.That should leave space on day three afternoon for Grindlelwald (https://www.myswissalps.com/town/grindelwald/), a large village which can cope with the crowds. It has very high capacity trains and cable cars! Please have a detailed map in front of you.
You can get to Grindelwald for free using your STPs on the train via Zweilutschinen. However, there are two highly scenic ways to get to Grindelwald from Wengen. But on both you will have to pay fares. The first route would be to take the relatively short cable car up to Mannlichen (https://www.myswissalps.com/activity/mannlichen/) and then the very long (and spectacular) cable car down to Grindelwald Terminal. On this cable cars trip the STP will give a 50% discount. The second route is to take the cog-wheel railway up to Kleine Scheidegg, and then down to Grindelwald (do NOT get off at Grund station). On this cog-wheel trip you only get a 25% discount with the STP.
Kind regards
Roger
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