A meadow nobody may build on, a 64% funicular, a CHF 5 jetty

Interlaken sits on a flat strip between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, and most of what's worth doing starts at one of its two stations. Leave the car where it is.

1. Walk across the Höhematte

The Höhematte is open because 37 shareholders, mostly hoteliers, bought it in 1864 and tied it up with bans on building, splitting and felling trees. That's why the Höheweg hotels still look at the Jungfrau.

2. Ride the Harderbahn at 64%

The Harderbahn valley station is a short walk from Interlaken Ost. Ten minutes and a 64% gradient later you're at 1,322 m on the glass Two Lakes Bridge. A return is CHF 44; it runs from April to the end of November. I'd go for the evening light.

3. Take the boat from Interlaken Ost

The boat landing at Interlaken Ost is beside the platforms, with BLS ships on Lake Brienz. Every passenger train ends at Ost: three lines, two gauges, nothing runs through.

4. Pay CHF 5 at Iseltwald, or skip

Since spring 2023 a turnstile has charged CHF 5 for the Iseltwald jetty from Crash Landing on You. Close to 50,000 people went through it in 2024. The village is the reason to come; the jetty photo isn't.

5. Cross the Aare into Unterseen

Unterseen calls itself the highest town on the Aare, and its old centre is quieter than anything on the Höheweg.

6. Find the monastery behind the castle

The town began with an Augustinian monastery: the council dates its first chapel to about 1130, Wikipedia gives 1133. What's left is the Schloss Interlaken complex by the Höhematte.

7. Leave the car in Lauterbrunnen for Wengen

Wengen and Mürren are car-free. For Wengen you park in Lauterbrunnen; for Mürren, Lauterbrunnen or Stechelberg. Then it's the train from Lauterbrunnen station.

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Cheese, potatoes and a café from 1818

1. Order Älplermagronen once

Pasta, potatoes, cheese and cream, with apple sauce on the side. It's the Alpine hut dish I'd pick over another fondue.

2. Eat rösti as a main, not a side

Fried grated potato, often with an egg or cheese on top. Rösti is filling enough for a lunch before a walk.

3. Sit on Schuh's terrace for the Höhematte

Grand Café Schuh has been here since 1818 and is known for chocolate and pastries. Open Monday to Saturday 10:00–23:00, Sunday until 20:00. The terrace looks over the meadow at the Jungfrau.

4. Drink the local beer from Matten

Rugenbräu brews in Matten, the same village as the Park+Ride, and runs guided tours. For pudding I'd order meringue with double cream.

Ice in the Kursaal garden, roadworks and a marathon start

1. Skate the Kursaal garden from 18 December

The new Top of Europe Magic Park runs from 18 December 2026 to 28 February 2027 in the Kursaalgarten: a 1,000 m² rink, ice stock, a Christmas market. Radio BeO reports it replaces Ice Magic, which left the Höhematte in 2022.

2. Expect a one-way Lindenallee until 2027

Roadworks on the Lindenallee started on 2 March 2026 and run in six phases to November 2027. The first phase made part of it one-way, with a detour via Freiestrasse and Schlossstrasse.

3. Avoid the Höheweg on 10–11 September 2027

The Jungfrau-Marathon starts at 08:30 on the Höheweg, between the Victoria-Jungfrau and the Höhematte. Closures aren't published yet. I'd be parked in Matten the night before.

A village called Aarmühle and a stolen stone

1. Call it Aarmühle before 1891

Interlaken was the monastery's name. The municipality was Aarmühle until the canton renamed it in 1891, after Goethe, Byron and Mendelssohn had made the area famous.

2. Don't look for the original Unspunnen stone

The 83.5 kg stone thrown at the Unspunnen festival was stolen by Jura separatists in 1984, came back in 2001 and was stolen again in 2005. In October 2024 a Jura paper said it had been dug up. The Interlaken gymnasts who own it said they'd believe it when they saw it, and I found no report of its return.