Interlaken itself is a small town between two lakes — the reason people come is what's within an hour of it. This is the honest ranking of things to do in Interlaken: the flight everyone books (tandem paragliding, 4.9★ across 1,037 reviews), the viewpoints that cost nothing, the medieval old town most visitors walk straight past, and the two paid attractions we'd skip.
Almost everything visitors do sits in one of these four zones. Knowing which is which saves you from booking a "thing to do in Interlaken" that is actually an hour away by train.
The main promenade and the open meadow where paragliders land. Free, and the best hour in town on a clear afternoon.
Interlaken's medieval quarter, founded in 1279 — cobbled square, wooden houses, the Aare on one side. Almost nobody walks over.
1,322 m, eight minutes by funicular from Interlaken Ost. The two-lake panorama on every postcard of the town.
Two lakes, two very different colours, one $52 day pass. Boats leave from Interlaken West and Interlaken Ost respectively.
If you only do three things, these are them — chosen on review volume, rating consistency and how much of the region each one shows you for the time it takes.
Our take: The most-reviewed thing to do in the region, and it earns it: 4.9★ across 1,037 reviews, 90 minutes door to door, landing on the Höhematte in the middle of town.
Our take: An 1893 cog railway to a 1,967 m ridge with an alpine garden and the full Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau line-up — for $85. The best view per franc anywhere near Interlaken.
Our take: A walkway bolted into a gorge under the Eiger, with a glass platform over the water. $26, works in rain, and 4.6★ across 292 reviews.
The region's most-booked experience, and the one that fills first in summer. Ninety minutes from meeting point to landing, with free cancellation up to 24 hours if the weather turns.
Ranked by what we'd actually do first, not by price. Everything here is either in Interlaken or within about an hour of it — the card says which.
Our take: Launch from Beatenberg, land on the Höhematte. The one thing almost everyone who tries it says was the best part of the trip.
Our take: Eight minutes up to 1,322 m and the two-lake viewpoint. Note the 3.4★ average — that reflects the price against a short ride, not the view, which is superb.
Our take: $26 for a gorge walkway and a glass platform. The best-value paid attraction in the region and one of the few that improves in rain.
Our take: Historic cog railway, alpine garden, ridge walk. If you only pay for one viewpoint in the Bernese Oberland, make it this one.
Our take: Europe's highest railway station at 3,454 m, with an ice palace and the Aletsch Glacier. Expensive and busy — but nothing else is 3,454 m.
Our take: $52 for unlimited boats on both lakes. The cheapest full day in the region and the right call when the peaks are in cloud.
Our take: $530 and 4.9★ across 619 reviews. The freefall over the Jungfrau massif is the region's most expensive twenty seconds — and few regret it.
Our take: Glacier-fed water, grade 3 in places, 4.8★ across 230 reviews. The best value of the Interlaken adrenaline set at $192.
Our take: A 90-metre drop into the Glacier Canyon at up to 120 km/h. Shorter and cheaper than skydiving, and rated almost as highly.
Our take: The walking version of the funicular — 1,322 m gained on foot with a Swiss triathlete. 5.0★ across 37 reviews, and it earns every metre.
Our take: Ninety minutes with a local photographer covering Unterseen, the Aare and the meadow. The cheapest way to actually see the town.
Our take: Boat across Lake Thun to the cave system in the cliff above the shore, with a picnic. A new listing — few reviews so far, but a genuinely different day.
A surprising amount of the best of Interlaken is free. If you're watching the budget, these four fill a full day between them without a single ticket.
The Höhematte and Höheweg. The 14-hectare meadow in the middle of town is protected open space — which is why Interlaken has a mountain view from its high street. Paragliders land on it all afternoon. Sitting on the grass watching them come in is, unironically, one of the best hours in town.
Unterseen old town. Five minutes west across the Aare is a medieval quarter founded in 1279 — a cobbled square, painted wooden houses, a 14th-century church tower, and almost no visitors. This is the answer to "where is Interlaken old town", and most people never cross the bridge to find it.
The Lauterbrunnen valley floor. Twenty minutes by train and free to walk, with Staubbach Falls dropping nearly 300 metres behind the village. Trümmelbach charges entry; Staubbach doesn't.
The Aare and the lake shores. The river path between the two lakes is flat, paved and pretty for its whole length, and both lakeshores at Neuhaus and Bönigen are public. On a warm day the swimming is free and the water is cold enough to be memorable.
Not everything sold as a thing to do in Interlaken is worth the money. Three honest flags, based on what the listings themselves show.
The Harder Kulm ticket, at full price. The view is genuinely one of the best in Switzerland — but the funicular ticket sits at 3.4★ across 24 reviews, and that gap between the view and the rating is about value. If you can walk, the guided ascent or your own two feet cost far less per metre gained.
A second summit in the same trip. Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn both cost a full day and several hundred dollars, and the second one adds far less than a lake day or a valley day would. Pick one.
Any high-altitude ticket on a cloudy morning. Both summits publish live webcams. Checking them at breakfast is free, and moving the booking is free up to 24 hours ahead — paying $338 to stand inside a cloud is the most common avoidable mistake in the region.
Tandem paragliding is the highest-rated and most-booked — 4.9★ across 1,037 reviews, and only 90 minutes door to door. The Schynige Platte railway ($85) is the best-value viewpoint in the region, and the Grindelwald Glacier Canyon ($26) is the best-value paid attraction. Jungfraujoch at 3,454 m is the headline day trip. Free of charge: the Höhematte meadow, Unterseen old town and the Lauterbrunnen valley floor.
The paragliders landing on the Höhematte — it is free, it happens every clear afternoon, and it tells you immediately what this town is about. Beyond that: one summit day (Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn), the Lauterbrunnen valley, and the Harder Kulm viewpoint at sunset for the two-lake panorama.
Yes — Unterseen, five minutes west across the Aare, founded in 1279. It has a cobbled market square, painted wooden houses and a 14th-century church tower, and it is far quieter than the Höheweg. Most visitors never cross the bridge, which is exactly why it's worth doing.
Walk the Höheweg and sit on the Höhematte meadow watching the paragliders land; explore Unterseen old town; walk the Aare river path between the two lakes; swim from the public shores at Neuhaus or Bönigen. The Lauterbrunnen valley floor and Staubbach Falls cost only the 20-minute train fare.
As a base, unquestionably — it sits at a three-railway junction between two lakes with the Jungfrau massif behind it, and almost every headline sight in the Bernese Oberland is inside an hour. As a town in its own right it is small and tourist-oriented; the reason to be there is what surrounds it.
Trümmelbach Falls and the Grindelwald Glacier Canyon are both partly inside rock and better in wet weather. The $52 Lake Thun and Lake Brienz boat day pass keeps you under cover on the water. Thun's castle and old town and Brienz's woodcarving workshops are both indoor half-days, and the St. Beatus caves sit in the cliff above Lake Thun.
Lauterbrunnen (20 minutes) for the waterfall valley, Grindelwald (34 minutes) for the Eiger and the First cable car, Thun (26 minutes) for the castle and old town, Brienz (18 minutes) for the woodcarving village and Giessbach Falls, and Schynige Platte for the ridge. Further out, Oeschinensee above Kandersteg is the region's most photogenic alpine lake.
The range is wide: $26 for the Glacier Canyon, $52 for a full day on the lakes, $85 for the Schynige Platte railway, $225 for tandem paragliding, $338 for the Jungfraujoch train and $530 for skydiving. A realistic activity budget is $100–200 per person per day if you're booking one thing daily, and close to nothing on the days you walk.
Yes — the adrenaline reputation is real but it is only one layer. The lake boats, the Schynige Platte railway, Unterseen old town, the Thun castle day and the Lauterbrunnen valley floor involve no risk and very little effort. The region's best free hour, watching the paragliders land, requires nothing but a patch of grass.
Three days lets you do one summit, one valley or lake day and one flexible day for weather. Two days works if you pick decisively. A single day is enough for the town, the Harder Kulm viewpoint and one guided trip — but not for the region.
The twelve entries above are ranked on what we'd do first with limited time, weighing live rating and review volume against how much of the region each one shows you per hour. Prices are the current GetYourGuide "from" price in USD; free entries have no listing behind them at all and are included precisely because they compete with the paid ones.
The "what to skip" section names things by their own numbers rather than by opinion — where a listing's rating is low, we say what it reflects. Last updated: August 2026.
Skydiving, paragliding, canyon swing, canyoning and jet boats — seven thrills rated by fear level.
The complete regional ranking, sortable by price and rating, with an honest verdict on each.
What actually works at every age, the free layer, and the five mistakes parents make here.
If you do nothing else, book the flight and walk to Unterseen — one costs $225 and ninety minutes, the other costs nothing and takes an afternoon. Between them they cover both halves of what Interlaken actually is.
Back to the Top 3 →