jungfrau railway | schwingeninswitzerland

Interlaken is a main town in Switzerland’s Bernese Oberland. It is conveniently located on some flat land between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. The best reason to go there isn’t the town itself, but its proximity to the lakes, storied mountains like the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, fabulous valleys (like Laterbrunnen) and stellar views like that from Schlithorn. As such, it is a convenient starting point for many outdoor activities.

The town has been a tourist hub since early in the 19th century. Interlaken has an assortment of cute old buildings. With a few exceptions, they have been able to keep many older buildings and retain their impressive mountain views (we find the views from areas further back town the mountains even better).

The Bernese Oberland Railway and the Jungfrau Railway made Interlaken a convenient transportation hub. It remains one and Interlaken generally seems more diverse and cosmopolitan than most of the smaller mountain towns. We saw Indian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese and many other diverse restaurants. At breakfast, we heard a plethora of languages.

Paragliding, base jumping, skiing, hiking, canyoning, whitewater rafting, kayaking, etc. are available from the area. If they aren’t your speed, you can sit down at a café and watch others shop for supplies or land in the park at the center of town. Although we didn’t pay them a visit, we walked past the casino and an adventure park.