Things To Do in Interlaken
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Interlaken Attractions
It's simple: The best way to see everything in Interlaken is to walk. You can either randomly stroll around, enjoying the panoramic views in all directions, or follow a more structured walking tour. If you'd like some guidance, go to the tourist office and ask for a copy of What a Wonderful World, providing maps and listing hotels and local attractions.
The Höheweg covers 14 hectares (35 acres) in the middle of town between the two train stations. Once the property of Augustinian monks, it was acquired in the mid-19th century by the hotel keepers of Interlaken, who turned it into a park. As you stroll along Höhenpromenade, admire the famous view of the Jungfrau mountain. Another beautiful sight is the flower clock at the Casino Kursaal. You're also sure to see some fiacres (horse-drawn cabs). The promenade is lined with hotels, cafes, and gardens.
Cross over the Aare River to Unterseen, built in 1280 by Berthold von Eschenbach. Here you can visit the parish church, with its late-Gothic tower dating from 1471. This is one of the most photographed sights in the Bernese Oberland. The Mönch appears to the left of the tower, the Jungfrau on the right.
Back in Interlaken, visit the Touristik-Museum der Jungfrau-Region, am Stadthausplatz, Obere Gasse 28 (tel. 033/822-98-39), the first regional tourism museum in the country. Exhibitions show the growth of tourism in the region throughout the past 2 centuries. The museum is open from May to mid-October Tuesday to Sunday from 2 to 5pm. Admission is 5F, or 4F with a visitor's card. Children are charged 2F.
To see the sights of Interlaken, Matten, and Unterseen by fiacre, line up at the Interlaken West train station. The half-hour round-trip tour costs 40F for one or two, plus 12F for each additional person; children 7 to 16 are charged half fare, and those 6 and under ride free.
Other attractions in the area include animal parks, afternoon concerts, and steamers across lakes Brienz and Thun. During the summer, visitors can sit in covered grandstands and watch Schiller's version of the William Tell story and the formation of the Swiss Confederation. We also recommend the delectable pastries sold in the local cafes.
The great mysteries of the world are revealed at Jungfrau Park (tel. 033/827-57-57), a theme park outside Interlaken. It can be reached by taking the Jungfrau Park Express electro-shuttle at the Höhenweg Station in the center of town. The park has been called a venue for "UFO-ologists, New Age mystics, and conspiracy theorists." Its owners claim they question "sacred cows and explore alternate theories about ancient cultures, solving such questions as to who constructed the Pyramids or Stonehenge in the West Country of England." Multi-media presentations explore these mysteries and others.
The park was designed by Erich von Däniken, amd consists of seven pavilions, each of which explores one of the great mysteries of the world. Von Däniken believes that aliens played a great influence on Earth, as all the attractions demonstrate. However, the Academia Suisse des Sciences Techniques has labeled the mystery park a "cultural Chernobyl."
It is open April 22 to October 30 daily 10am to 6pm. Admission is 38F for adults, 26F for students, and 20F for ages 6 to 16. Free for kids 5 and under.
Interlaken Shopping
True to its role as the nerve center of the entire Oberland region, Interlaken stocks an ample supply of souvenirs and sports equipment. You'll find all the handicrafts and art objects you could possibly need beside the resort's main street, Höheweg, and around the Interlaken West railway station. One of the best shops, which has been a fixture for tourists since the turn of the 20th century, is Heimatwerk Interlaken, Höheweg 115 (tel. 033/822-16-53). It stocks only goods manufactured in Switzerland, including a wholesome and comprehensive roster of woodcarved children's toys, tablecloths and linens, cutting boards and cheese boards, ceramics, and glass. Since Interlaken has higher-altitude ski and hill-climbing resorts stretching upward on virtually all sides, you won't lack for purveyors of sporting-goods equipment. Two of the best are Intersport, Postgasse 16 (tel. 033/822-06-61), and Score Sport, Bahnhofstrasse 25 (tel. 033/822-73-22).
Interlaken Nightlife
Merchants in Interlaken have always known how to inject their town with enough razzle-dazzle to keep visitors coming back. As such, Interlaken boasts one of the highest per-capita rates of nightclubs of any town its size in Switzerland. The town's business is so transient -- composed mostly of short-term visitors on their way to somewhere else -- the clientele of any particular bar or club is likely to change virtually every week. Keeping that in mind, here's a roster of those that, at this writing, were the most animated and/or fun.
You'll usually find a drinking buddy in the folksy, amiably kitschy Victoria Bar in the town's stateliest hotel, the Victoria-Jungfrau, Höheweg 41 (tel. 033/828-28-28). Buddy's Pub, in the Hotel Splendid, Höheweg 33 (tel. 033/822-76-12; www.splendid.ch), provides a cozy, richly paneled setting that evokes an upscale version of a smoke-stained pub in Ireland.
If you want to combine drinking with dancing, head to Johnny Carlton's Club, in the Hotel Carlton, Höheweg 94 (tel. 033/826-01-60; www.johnnys-interlaken.ch). Although the dance floor is comically small, the music is danceable. Because there are never enough banquettes and chairs for the crowd, everyone seems to mingle extra freely. Metro Bar, in the Hotel Metropole, Höheweg 37 (tel. 033/828-66-66), draws a crowd in their 30s and 40s who mingle happily together.
Access to virtually every disco in Interlaken costs 7F on Friday and Saturday nights, and is free other nights. Things begin happening a bit earlier than you might expect -- many are rocking by 11pm.
A major nighttime venue is the Casino Kursaal, Höheweg at Strandbadstrasse (tel. 033/827-61-00; www.casino-kursaal.ch). The on-site restaurant serves a fixed-price menu for 50F. Admission to the casino is another 5F. Hours are Sunday to Thursday noon to 2am, Friday and Saturday noon to 3am.
Interlaken's most intense doses of folk schmaltz take the form of the tellfreilichtspiele, a secular version of a Teutonic morality play that's presented in an open-air amphitheater in Interlaken's suburb of Matten, a village en route to Grindelwald, reached after a brisk 15-minute walk from Interlaken's center. A sweeping cast of as many as 250 presents Schiller's pageant play William Tell, complete with galloping horses, flaming torches, flower-draped cows, apple-shooting scenes, and an all-German text delivered in the lilting diphthongs of the Schwyzerdeutsch accent. Tickets for the 2 1/2-hour show cost 35F to 58F, and are available from Tellbüro, Bahnhofstrasse 5 (tel. 033/822-37-22). The play is presented at 8pm every Thursday and Saturday between mid-June and early September. Bring a jacket or sweater, or rent one of the blankets from an on-site kiosk, as the alpine chill seems to enhance this epic tale of the struggle for Swiss independence from the tyranny of neighboring Austria.
