Interlaken in winter

Every winter guide to Interlaken tells you it is magical. Few tell you that the funicular you can see from the station stops running on 29 November, or that the boats on one of the two lakes stop and on the other do not. This page is the other half: of the 49 destinations this site covers, 30 are reachable in winter, 6 are open but a different experience and 12 are shut. Every one of those answers carries an operator date rather than an impression. One we have not checked, and that is printed here rather than rounded away.

The 30 that are reachable in winter

Same table as everywhere on this site — travel time from Interlaken Ost, what it costs, how long it takes — filtered to what is actually open. The three mountains that matter are all in it: Jungfraujoch, Grindelwald First and the Schilthorn run through the winter, and so do the boats on Lake Thun.

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

What «open» actually covers

Open does not mean the same thing for all of them. Several run in winter and in summer but have no service at all for weeks between the two timetables; others are accessible year round and simply change their opening hours. The season column above shows the difference — the reason behind it fits in no column. For 14 of the 30 the operator states it:

• Lake Thun boat trip — The operator's own wording, in German: «Auf dem Thunersee fahren unsere Schiff das ganze Jahr» — on Lake Thun the boats sail all year round (bls-schiff.ch, 2026-08-09). The winter timetable is thinner than the summer one.
• Allmendhubel — The winter operation is the operator's own statement: the Kidsslope sits on the Allmendhubel and appears on their winter page. What is remarkable about this funicular is the two closures, and they appear only in the fare sheet: 19 October to 11 December 2026, 5 April to 29 May 2027, 25 October to 11 December 2027. The first window runs seven and a half weeks — far longer than the twelve days that close the neighbouring Stechelberg–Gimmelwald–Mürren section (19 to 30 October 2026, same fare sheet). So anyone travelling to Mürren in November reaches the village but not the Allmendhubel. That is why the comparison table carries Winter and summer here rather than Year-round.
• Oeschinensee — The gondola runs in winter (05.12.–07.03.) and stands still in SPRING — open in January, shut in April. The season column calls that Year-round except spring.
• Beatenberg — Bus 101 from Interlaken West runs in January too — checked against the timetable for 15 January 2027, 32 minutes instead of 27. The village is therefore reachable year round; that says nothing about the winter season of the Niederhorn cableway, which was not checked at source here.
• Hasliberg – Alpen tower — Winter operation confirmed: the operator sells ski passes, winter season tickets and explicitly «Wander- und Schlitteltageskarten» — hiking and sledging day tickets.
• Engstligenalp and the Engstligen Falls — Winter operation confirmed: the operator sells season, day and multi-day tickets as well as ski passes. Season-ticket presales start on 1 September. The price page does not state exact operating dates; it refers to its «Betriebsinfo», the operating-information page.
• Axalp — The postbus runs in winter too — checked against the timetable for 15 January 2027, 68 minutes from Interlaken Ost. The chairlift has its own winter season, which the operator gives as 19 December 2026 to Easter Monday, 29 March 2027.
• Bussalp — Winter operation is documented, and it is the real finding. The operator states both spans itself: «Diese Busse fahren von Mai bis Oktober» — these buses run from May to October — on the summer page, and «Diese Busse fahren von Dezember bis April» — from December to April — on the winter one. That leaves exactly one month without a bus — November. In winter Bussalp is a sledging destination with its own run; the operator hires sledges at CHF 17.00 and sells headlamps by prior arrangement. It also writes «Der Fahrplan im Winter ist flexibel und auf die jeweiligen Verhältnisse und Bedürfnisse angepasst» — the winter timetable is adjusted to conditions, so check the day's departures before setting out.
• Stockhorn — The Stockhorn cable car runs a winter season of its own, which is what sets it apart from the Niesen: the operator states «03. Dezember 2026 bis 21. März 2027: täglich alle 30 Minuten» — 3 December 2026 to 21 March 2027, daily, every 30 minutes. Between the two timetables sit two closures, though, and neither appears in any brochure: the summer timetable ends on 22 November 2026 and the winter one begins on 3 December 2026 — ten days with nothing running. And the winter timetable ends on 21 March 2027 while the summer one does not start again until April; the operator gives no start date yet for 2027, describing the season as «Sommerbetrieb von April bis November» — summer operation from April to November — and in 2026 it began on 11 April. That is why the comparison table carries the value Year-round except spring here rather than Year-round.
• Männlichen — The operator lists winter as a season of its own: «Wintersaison 12. Dezember 2026 – 4. April 2027» — winter season 12 December 2026 to 4 April 2027. The summer timetable ends on 25 October 2026. Between the two lie seven weeks in which neither cableway runs: from 26 October to 11 December 2026 the Männlichen is reachable neither from Grindelwald nor from Wengen. That is why this row says Winter and summer rather than Year-round.
• Ringgenberg — The parish publishes two sets of opening hours rather than a season: «Sommer 01. Mai – 30. September 7:30 bis ca. 20:00 Uhr» and «Winter 01. Oktober – 30. April 7:30 bis ca. 16:30 Uhr» — summer, 1 May to 30 September, 7.30 to about 20.00, and winter, 1 October to 30 April, 7.30 to about 16.30. The Burgkirche is therefore closed in no month of the year — it simply shuts earlier in winter. That is why this row says Year-round.
• Isenfluh — The cableway runs all year. The operator names two announced maintenance windows and writes «Infolge Unterhaltungsarbeiten im Frühjahr wie auch im Spätherbst kann die Bahn für einzelne Tage eingestellt werden.» — because of maintenance work in spring and late autumn the cableway can be suspended for individual days. The window is the frame, not the closure. Both are dated: «Herbstrevision: 02. November bis 6. November 2026» — autumn overhaul, 2 to 6 November 2026 — and «Frühlingsrevision: Mo. 26. April 2027 bis 05. Mai 2027, ohne Sa/So 01.05./02.05.2027 (Wochenendbetrieb).» — spring overhaul, Monday 26 April to 5 May 2027, but not Saturday 1 and Sunday 2 May 2027, when it runs a weekend service. Plus the caveat «Bei schlechter Witterung und Sturm behält sich die Betriebsleitung vor, den Fahrplan zu reduzieren oder den Betrieb einzustellen.» — in poor weather and storms the management reserves the right to cut the timetable or suspend service.
• Saxeten — The village is inhabited and served by postbus all year; the municipality names no winter closure. What is NOT verified for winter is stated as such: none of the sources we read says whether the ski lift and sledging run operate in a given season — the village's only hospitality business has since closed permanently.
• Grindelwald — Trains run unchanged in winter — every half hour, the same 36 minutes; checked on 20 August 2026 against the timetable for 20 January 2027. The village is a winter resort and no less served in winter than in summer; what closes above it is stated at each individual destination.

The 12 that shut

Each of these has an operator date behind it, not a guess:

• Harder Kulm — The funicular runs until 29 November. The platform stays reachable on foot — around 700 metres of ascent, on snow in winter.
• Schynige Platte — The rack railway runs only from 13 June to 25 October (operator figure for 2026).
• Grosse Scheidegg — The operator says of line 128: «Diese Busse fahren von Mai bis Oktober» — these buses run from May to October. From November to April no public transport reaches the pass.
• Brienzer Rothorn — The Brienz Rothorn Railway lists 6 June to 25 October for 2026 (operator page, checked 22 August 2026); outside that span it does not run. The summit has a second approach from the Lucerne side via Sörenberg — that one was NOT checked at source, so it is not offered here as a winter option.
• Lake Brienz — The operator's own wording, in German: sailings are «während den Wintermonaten (ab 7. Dezember) eingestellt» — suspended during the winter months, from 7 December (bls-schiff.ch, 2026-08-09). Unlike on Lake Thun.
• Canyoning & rafting — A summer activity only; outside the season there are no departures.
• Aare Gorge — The gorge is walkable from April to November.
• Reichenbach Falls — The operator gives 2 May to 4 October for 2026, running 9.00–17.30 with the last ascent at 17.15 (checked 19 August 2026). Outside that window the funicular does not run; the waterfall itself stays visible.
• Rosenlaui Glacier Gorge — The glacier gorge is a summer operation.
• Susten Pass — The PostBus shuts down for the winter, and the dates are documented to the day: in the Swiss timetable the Susten Passhöhe stop still has four departures on Sunday 4 October 2026 and none at all from Monday 5 October; service resumes on Saturday 19 June 2027 (18 June: nothing). Cross-checked against the year-round stop at Meiringen, which does show departures on those same query dates — so the zero means no service, not missing timetable data. What this expressly does NOT document: when the road itself closes. The road may open before the bus and stay driveable after it; the canton of Uri publishes no dates on its road-information page and instead advises checking on the day of travel. Anyone planning without a car goes by the bus.
• Niesen — The funicular is the only way up, and it runs in the summer half-year only: for 2026 the operator states «Samstag, 25. April bis Sonntag, 8. November (täglich)» — Saturday 25 April to Sunday 8 November, daily — with an extension option in fine weather. Outside those months the summit cannot be reached by public transport; the operator announces occasional «Winter-Spontanfahrten» separately, and those are not a timetable you can plan a trip around.
• Grindelwald Glacier Gorge — The walkway is a summer operation and does not run in winter. The operator gives no exact end date — and states the start of the season twice, differently, on the same page: in the body text «Geöffnet von Ende April bis November» — open from late April to November — and in the box beside it «Saison: Mai November» — season May to November — plus the caveat «Dates may vary due to weather conditions.» Anyone planning for late April or November should ask first.

The 6 that are open but different

The distinction matters more than it sounds. These are reachable — nobody closes a valley — but what you find there in January is not what the photographs show.

• Bachalpsee — The First cableway runs in winter, but the path to the lake at 2,266 m lies under snow — the one-hour T1 walk becomes a snowshoe tour.
• Faulhorn — The First cableway runs in winter, but the summit at 2,681 m is on foot only in every season — the summer walk becomes a tour across snow. Whether the mountain inn is open in winter is not checked against any source here.
• Giessbach Falls — The falls and the path behind them are free and reachable; the funicular from the boat landing runs seasonally, and the Lake Brienz boats do not sail from 7 December.
• Lauterbrunnen valley — The valley is reachable by train all year. The Staubbach Falls carry little water in winter and can be partly frozen; the Trümmelbach Falls inside the mountain are a summer operation.
• Spiez Castle — A split answer, and the operator states both halves itself. Museum, shop and castle café take a winter break from 1 November 2026 to 30 April 2027. The castle park stays open all year, and the castle church is open during exactly that break from Monday to Friday, 10.00 to 17.00, closed at weekends — both «Freie Besichtigung / ohne Eintritt», free to visit. Hence `limited` rather than `closed`: the site is reachable, you just do not see the museum.
• Oberhofen Castle — A split answer as in Spiez, only with different dates. The operator gives the museum as «10. Mai – 1. November 2026 Dienstag – Sonntag 10 – 17 Uhr» — 10 May to 1 November 2026, Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm; after that it is shut. The park runs on until 13 December and is free — the operator's words are «Freier Zutritt im Park». Between mid-December and late March the operator publishes no park hours at all. Hence `limited` rather than `closed`: for part of the winter the grounds are walkable, the museum never is.

The one we have not checked

Destinations whose summer figures are in our data and whose winter operation is not. Printing a plausible answer here would be worse than printing none:

• Sigriswil Panorama Bridge — The operator publishes neither opening hours nor a season — searched on the overview and tariff pages on 19 August 2026. All it says is that the crossing is «bei jedem Wetter gut geeignet», suitable in any weather; that is a statement about weather, not about months. So whether the bridge is open in winter is not claimed here.

Winter here without skiing

Interlaken itself has no ski area. The slopes are in Grindelwald, Wengen and Mürren, one or two train rides up the valleys, and every guide that opens with skiing is describing those places rather than this one. What the town gives you without a lift pass is a short list, and all of it is on the table above: the Höhematte and the Unterseen old town on foot, the St Beatus Caves at a constant 8 to 10 °C in January exactly as in July, boats on Lake Thun, and tandem flights, which run all year and are cancelled by the weather of the day rather than by the season.

Every activity, with season, time needed and pass coverage

The one thing worth planning around

In winter the valley sits under low cloud for days at a time, and the mountains above it do not. That inverts the usual advice: a grey morning in Interlaken is an argument for the expensive mountain ticket, not against it — the train to Jungfraujoch frequently climbs through the cloud layer into sun. The qualifier is that under a high overcast there is nothing to see up there either, so the summit webcam is part of the ticket price. Check it the same morning; in winter the layer moves.

What a travel pass is worth in winter

Less than in summer, and the reason is the lakes rather than the mountains. Scheduled boats are the one thing the Swiss Travel Pass and the GA cover in full — and half of that value stops on 7 December, when Lake Brienz shuts for the season while Lake Thun keeps sailing. The mountain railways are reduced rather than free in any season, and Jungfraujoch stays expensive with a pass. The comparison table above carries the pass column per destination; add up the journeys you actually intend to make.

All 49 destinations, in and out of season