Interlaken Travel Forum

Hi Everybody,

I did post something similar in the "Switzerland Forum", but we weren't sure of things at the time and thought of going in May/June. After thinking and talking about the possibilities we have come up with a generalized trip plan which still needs work! But in the mean time I hope to find some answers to a few questions that I have about our trip to Switzerland.

We will be travelling in the summer to Europe mainly to visit my family and friends in Belgium. While we are there we will be renting a car and like to go for a trip to Switzerland, we would like to stay in one area for 1 or maybe even 2 weeks. The 1 week is certain, but instead of a second week in the same area we may stay a week (or maybe only 3 days) in another area in Switzerland, but we are not sure yet.

We found the area of Interlaken very attractive and we are looking for an apartment/chalet/cabin. While in the Interlaken region we would like to visit the town and it's surrounding area. We also hope to do the following trips: see the mountain regions of Pilatus, Rigi and Jungfraujoch.

I have the following questions about this trip:
*What are the things we CAN'T MISS during our week in Interlaken?
*I have read about the regional pass (7 or 15 days) for trains, buses and boat trips. Is this same ticket also valid in the Lucerne area?
*Is it possible to visit Zermatt and the Matterhorn in one day as a day trip from Interlaken or is this too far and too much in one day?
*Does anybody know of any good apartment/chalet/cabins?

All tips are welcome!
Thanks in advance,
Ann

Something you might want to take into consideration is that the Euro 2008 soccer tournament will be held in various cities in Austria and Switzerland from the 7th through 29th of June. The large groups of fans travelling to that event will probably affect transport and lodging options in those general areas quite a bit. Gary

Hi There,

Thanks for your response, but we are not going in June!

Ann

Here is a website that covers the area just to the south of Interlaken
http://www.wengen-muerren.ch/

Luterbrunnen Valley with the Trummelbach Falls is a don't miss
Jungfraujoch is a don't miss - but make sure it is a clear day or you will be wasting your money

Zermatt is possible BUT quite too far for a daytrip from Interlaken and Rigi,Pilatus and also Buergenstock should be done from Lucerne. Tell-Ticket is a similar pass for that area

The trips up the mountains are a quite expensive. The Jungfraujoch is over 100 euro per person. The Pilatus and Rigi aren't cheap either. Just go to their websites, have a look at the prices and reconsider wether you really want to do them all.
When looking for accomodation near Interlaken I'd suggest checking the places on the northern shores for lakes Thun and Brienz (which are very nice). In may it will also be warmer there than in the mountains.
There is a regional "oberland" pass for public transport that you might want to consider. You will find all info about this pass here:
http://www.regiopass-berneroberland.ch/

A few tips of trips you can do easily by car:
- Go up to the Grimselpass. There take the small road to the "Oberaarsee". This road is narrow so it has alternating one way traffic. You can drive up on the hour, and back on the half hour. Some of the wildest high altitude alpine landscape, and you can actually reach it by car.
- If you then go down the grimsel pass an up the Furka you can see thee Rhone Glacier (and how much it has shrunk the last decades...). Drive back via Göschenen and the Sustenpass.
- The Aareslucht near Meiringen is interesting, as are several other attractions nearby; The Reichenbachfalls. The Gelmerbahn, and many more.

For accommodations go to www.interlaken.ch. The site is also in english. You will find chalets, hotels and apartments.
I guess you don't come in May/June like you mentioned first. When in summer do you come? July and August is high season.

Hi again,

To K_V_B...thanks for the great tips on the regional pass and the trips that we can do by car. It sounds great.

To rebibi: after some considerations and possibly and exam I have to in June we have moved our trip to July 2008.

We have been in touch with several people that rent an apartment in the Bernese Oberland region, we are still waiting for a few responses and hopefully there will be something that suits us. The prices are surprisingly pretty good considering it's high season. We will be staying for about 10 or 11 nights in total. We are not sure yet whether we will stay the whole 10-11 nights in the Bernese Oberland as we might stay for 1 week only in the Bernese Oberland and then another 4 nights in another area of Switzerland.

Which area is worth a visit of another 3-4 nights besides the Bernese Oberland area?

Greetings,
Ann

Ann, if you are in the Grimsel area you could also take the steepest funicular to Gelmersee. It's really a very fun ride! Up there is an easy round trip of about 1 1/2 hour around the beautiful lake. For details go to:
www.kwo.ch - Grimselwelt - alpine lifts - Gelmer Funicular.
Also the swinging bridge there is adventurous.

For the 3 - 4 other nights Brig or surroundings could be an option. From there it's a short trip to Zermatt, to Fiesch (Eggishorn with a beautiful view over the Aletsch Glacier, further through the Goms-valley or even a day trip to lake Leman.

To Rebibi: Thank you so much for those great tips! I will have a look into it!

Thanks everybody for all the great trips so far, but feel free to add more tips and ideas if you have any...it's much appreciated.

Take care,
Ann :)

interlaken looks nice, especially from google earth, and its pretty good for swiss shopping and visiting the lakes eitherside, but i would recommend staying further up the mountain e.g. grindelwald, wengen or lauterbrunnen. They are all excellent locations in the summer and in the heart of all activities, walking, biking, trotti biking, paragliding and the waterfalls in lauterbrunnen.

Seriously consider it, the little towns and villages in the mountains are much nicer to stay than interlaken. and the train system around the area by the jungfraubahn are excellent, i came back from my 4th trip to the region yesterday!
I have stayed in lauterbrunnen, grindelwald, wengen and beatenberg.

enjoy

interhome have some nice chalets around the area - or there is this book search 'swiss budget hotels' in ebay.

Thank you very much for your tips...we have found a great place and are staying in the Baetenberg area near Waldegg above the lake of Thun.

Greetings,
Ann :)