Bild: Foto Fitti · CC BY-SA 3.0
Paragliding
Tandem flights launch from Beatenberg or the Harder and land on the Höhematte in the middle of town.
Weather-dependent and cancelled at short notice — book it for your first day, not your last.
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An attraction is a place: you go, you look, you move on. An activity is something you do — and almost always something you book. That changes the planning entirely: there is an operator, a slot, a set of prerequisites and a weather risk, and for most of them a travel pass is worth nothing, because it covers nothing. This page carries the 3 activities with a page of their own, plus the walks that need no booking at all.
The 3 booked activities, side by side
| Destination | From Interlaken Ost | Price What is a pass day?One pass day is CHF 80 — the Berner Oberland Pass for 3 days (CHF 240), divided by 3. One-way fares are counted as return trips for this comparison. What else costs what here | Time needed | Season | Swiss Travel Pass | With kids |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Thun boat trip | 6 min Train | CHF 83 day ticket · over 1 pass day | 2–4 hrs | Year-round | Included | Yes |
| Paragliding | 10 min On foot | Varies by operator | 2–3 hrs | Year-round | Not covered | No |
| Canyoning & rafting | Pick-up in town | Varies by operator | Half day | June–October | Not covered | No |
Travel times: fastest public connection from Interlaken Ost to the destination itself — for mountain destinations that means the top station, not the valley station. Where a summit can only be reached on foot, the figure ends at the last station, and the destination page says which. Places in town are walking times.
Adult prices, as of the date at the foot of this page. Cableway and boat fares vary by route, travelcard and guest card.
One pass day is CHF 80 — the Berner Oberland Pass for 3 days (CHF 240), divided by 3. One-way fares are counted as return trips for this comparison. What else costs what here
Flying, whitewater, boats
Three offerings that differ in almost everything except this: each happens on a particular day or not at all. Two of them you book with an operator; the third runs to a timetable.
In the air
Interlaken has what almost no alpine destination has: a landing field in the middle of town. The Höhematte has been protected from development since 1864, which is the only reason tandem wings touch down every few minutes where hotels would otherwise stand. Launches are from the slopes above. What sets this one apart from everything else here is its cancellation rate — it hangs on the weather of the day, not on the season.
In whitewater
The adventure-capital reputation comes from the gorges around Saxeten and from the Lütschine. Both are booked tours with pick-up in town — there is no station you travel to, which is why the table above shows no journey time. Minimum ages and swimming requirements are set by the operators, and they set them differently.
Bild: JoachimKohler-HB · CC BY-SA 4.0
Canyoning & rafting
Interlaken calls itself the adventure capital, and the gorges around Saxeten and the Lütschine are the reason.
Minimum ages and swimming ability vary by operator. Not a spontaneous afternoon.
On the water
The boats are the exception in this section: no booking, no minimum age, no operator to choose — a scheduled service, and the only thing on this page a travel pass carries in full. If you are expecting a quick sightseeing loop you are on the wrong boat; it stops often and it is slow, and that is the point of it.
CHF 83 Bild: Parchaco · CC0
Lake Thun boat trip
From the pier at Interlaken West the boats pass castles, vineyards and the St Beatus Caves on the way to Thun.
Fully covered by the Swiss Travel Pass and the GA — one of the few things here that is.
Lake Brienz has its own scheduled network; the run to Iseltwald and the Giessbach Falls is described there.
On foot
Walking is the activity with no operator: nothing to book, no minimum age, nothing to cancel. At most you pay for a mountain railway — and on two of the 4 pages below, not even that. The figures live on the route pages, because a walking time belongs in one place rather than two.
Hikes in Interlaken
Every route with verified distance, ascent, walking time and grade — and the travel time from Interlaken Ost to each trailhead, because a hike you cannot reach is not a hike.
Hiking in Grindelwald
Five routes with checked figures, including the Eiger Trail — and the one number the guides leave out: how much of each day is spent going down.
Interlaken to Harder Kulm on foot
Three different hikes share this name. The ascent from Interlaken Ost, the summit loop and the exposed ridge — with the figures for each and the funicular alternative.
Hardergrat Trail
Two different walks carry this name, and which one you read about decides the grade you find. With the escape routes, the water question and both sets of figures.
Insider Tip
The order of your days matters more than the choice of activities. Whatever can be cancelled — the flight, canyoning, rafting — belongs at the start of the trip, because then there is a second attempt. Whatever always works — the boats, the Höhematte, the old town — will carry the bad-weather day at the end.
And in winter?
Half of what is on this page stops. Canyoning and rafting are summer-only, the boats on Lake Brienz stop on 7 December while those on Lake Thun keep sailing, and the funicular you can see from the station shuts on 29 November. Tandem flights run all year. Which of the region's destinations are actually reachable between December and March — and which are open but a different thing entirely — is a table of its own.
Interlaken in winter: what runs and what shuts
If you would rather look than do
The mountains, lakes, waterfalls and caves have a section of their own — every destination with its travel time from Interlaken Ost, what it costs and how long it takes, plus an orientation map showing how far apart they really are.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as an activity here, and what counts as an attraction?
An attraction is a place: you travel to it, look at it, and travel on. An activity is something you do, and almost always something you book — with an operator, a slot, prerequisites and weather risk. The difference is practical rather than cosmetic: an attraction is a morning decision, an activity is a weeks-ahead one. Both sections are reachable separately from the navigation, and the comparison table on the attractions page still lists every destination together.
Does the Swiss Travel Pass cover any of these?
Only the boats. Scheduled sailings on Lake Thun and Lake Brienz are fully included in the Swiss Travel Pass and the GA — one of the very few things in this region a pass carries in full rather than at a discount. Tandem flights, canyoning and rafting are booked services from private operators, not transport: no pass covers them, not even partly. That is where an Interlaken budget most often goes wrong.
What is available in which season?
Canyoning and rafting run in summer only; outside the season there are no departures. The boats run a dense summer timetable; on Lake Thun a much thinner one continues through the winter, on Lake Brienz they stop altogether. Tandem flights are offered year-round but depend on the weather of the day rather than the season. Walking runs from spring into autumn depending on altitude — the ridges hold snow earlier and longer than the valley suggests.
How far ahead should you book?
The boats not at all — they run to a timetable and you get on. For the tandem flight, canyoning and rafting the booking is the activity: high-season slots are limited, and flights are cancelled at short notice on top of that. Put the flight on the first day of your trip rather than the last, so that a cancellation still leaves you a second attempt.
Can children take part?
On the boats, without qualification. Canyoning, rafting and tandem flights have minimum ages, and they differ by operator and by tour — there is no single limit, which is why no figure is given here. If you are planning with children, confirm the age limit before booking rather than after.