Interlaken- In and around Interlaken, Lake Thun, Jungfraujoch in 3 days.
Ready to explore with me , my stay in this beautiful town of Interlaken ? 3 days in Interlaken, where all can you visit? All about this little town- in and around the area, visiting Jungfraujoch, lake Thun and the town of Spiez. Let’s get going.
3 days in Interlaken – Overview
- Day 1- Evening in the beautiful town of interlaken
- Day 2- Travelling to and Exploring Jungfraujoch
- Day 3- Exploring Old town of Interlaken and visiting Thun
Interlaken is small town in Switzerland, situated on the edge of 3 marvellous regions: the Jungfraujoch region, Lake Thun and Lake Brienz. In its literal sense it means ‘in between the lakes’
Day 1- Evening in this beautiful town
By the time we reached Interlaken and checked in our hotel , it was almost evening.We did not have much time left, as the main town closes around 5pm, so we did not want to just lounge around in the hotel. After a quick check in to the hotel, we went out to explore the nearby areas.
We went for a walk, around the hotel. The quaint streets and cafes make this little town surrounded by beautiful alps, so very charming.
Coffee Stop
Theres a cozy small cafe Michel beck, just overlooking the river. We had our evening coffee here, with some delicious cream cake.The cream cake has a proper german name, which the lady at the cafe tried to tell me, but me being me, was a little lost with german words and couldn’t get it. To make sure i remember it ,she told me this is a kind of cream cake (Though there is no cream on it) . This was a specialty of this bakery and was really a treat with the coffee.If you are here, make sure to try it.
Cream cake and coffee interlaken
Chocolate heaven- Läderach
Another very interesting and one of my favourite places we visited is the the famous swiss chocolate shop, Läderach. That is a sinfully decadent chocolate store. If you love chocolates you are in chocolate heaven. If you are not a chocolate fan, still you have to try out a few chocolates . There are an eclectic mix of flavours and ingredients.
The best part of this evening was the walk on this charming street, along the Lake Aare.
Interlaken- Laderach chocolates Interlaken- Laderach chocolates
The Town centre
Although the town centre of Interlaken looks really busy and bustling, it is actually quite small . You can cover the whole town and its main areas on foot literally.
The town centre is situated around the Interlaken West station. If you leave the station and turn left into the Bahnhofstrasse, you will enter the main shopping street. Just keep on following that street, called Höheweg a bit further on, and you will reach the Ost station in about 20 minutes on foot. This main street and few of its side streets are the town centre.
Day 2- Travelling to and Exploring Jungfraujoch
Interlaken is situated in the valley, surrounded by the Majestic Bernese Alps. From every nook and corner of the town, you can get a peak of the mountains. The peak of Jungfraujoch is also visible from the town .
The direct train to Jungfraujoch is from interlaken east (OST). If you are in interlaken west, like we were , you need to go to the interlaken OST station.Travel from interlaken west to east is included in the city card, provided by your hotel.
Read here in detail how to make your travel more convenient in Switzerland, and which option of rail card is best for you .
Day 3- Exploring Old town of Interlaken and visiting Thun
For Day 3 we had planned the cruise on lake Thun and visiting the town Thun. Lake Thun is a beautiful lake, that stretches 18 kilometres from Thun to Interlaken and is almost 4 kilometres across at its widest point (That information is from Google:)). With a backdrop of the Bernese Alps, glistening turquoise water and a shoreline dotted with castles and chalets, it’s an idyllic and restful destination.
We left the hotel after breakfast, and still had some time for the cruise to start. So on foot, we trailed along the streets and visited the old town .
Meandering around the streets of the Old Town
Exploring the streets walking with a map in hand, is the best way to get the real feel of any place and to connect to the history and culture of a place. There isn’t too much history of Interlaken, but old town with its pretty little cafes, and charming antique stores will not let you down.
Lake Thun Cruise
Back to the river, and ready for another breathtaking adventure on Lake Thun.It is a 2 hrs cruise. The tickets for the boat cruise is available from the Interlaken station, and the boat starts from right behind the Interlaken west station.
You have ample opportunities to explore the beautiful surroundings, from inside the boat. It stops at numerous villages along the way, you can get down at any of the points, if you want to explore the little wonder islands where the boat stops. Every little island has its own enchanting story, and history.
We were happy taking pictures, and inhaling all the beauty from our deck, and did not get down at any of the stops. My little one, was busy , happily sketching down on paper whatever her excited eyes saw.
The boat has a small restaurant as well. You can enjoy coffee, drinks and food onboard, amidst the natural surroundings of the lake, and mountains.
Exploring the town of Thun in a few hours
Thun is a vibrant historic old town situated on the banks of Lake Thun. We were there only for few hours, and wanted to explore the Old Town , Thun castle , have a stroll by the lake, and of course some detour if we get a little peek into something exciting.
From the river, a walk along Thun’s cobbled streets , under a covered wooden bridge, and up a steep flight of stairs leads you to Thun’s Church and Castle, which sit proudly overlooking the city.
Thun Castle
After working your way slowly up the various floors of the castle, you can climb the four towers in the castle. It’s worth the effort for the incredible views over the city and lake and to the snow-capped mountains in the distance.The view of the city , the lake and the mountains from above the castle is incredible.You can spend some time sitting in the beautiful surroundings of the castle.
We did not go inside the castle, as we were a little short on time, and none of us was too interested to go inside. After spending some time exploring the beautiful gardens, and some stunning views, we headed back towards the lake. If you want to spend more time in the castle, check out more about the Thun castle, its history and getting into the castle here.
After visiting the castle, we wandered a bit through winding alleyways of beautiful Thun, before heading to another famous castle- Schloss Schadau/ Schadau Castle.
Schloss Schadau/ Schadau Castle
This is another gem, on the southern banks of Lake Thun where the River Aare flows out of the lake. The manor/ castle itself was closed for some construction work going on, but it has some beautiful gardens, and spell bounding views of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfraujoch.Sit besides the water or in the gardens and have some awe inspiring views of lake Thun from the gardens of this manor.
Oberhofen castle, is another castle near the lake thun , but we had to take a train to get there, so we skipped that one. If you are looking for details to check that castle, check out here.
More about Thun in detail- I found this really nice article about 9 best things to do in Thun. If you are planning a long stay in Thun, this might be of some interest .
The town of Spiez
On Our way back to Interlaken, we took the train, as by the time we were heading back, the boat tours were closed for the day. We wanted to have a little stop at the town of Spiez. It was late evening, and Spiez castle was also closed, but we still wanted to visit the town, and the castle, as i had read a lot about this marvellous little town and the views of the lake from the castle.
Again whatever i had read about this town, it was true in every sense. As soon as we stepped out of the station, we were flabbergasted by the beauty of this place, marvellous views from top of the town down over the lake, with Spiez Castle guarding the shore.No matter how you arrive into Spiez, you are welcomed by amazing views.
Spiez is said to reside in ‘the most beautiful bay in Europe’, with the tranquil turquoise water lapping gently at the shore.
Spiez Castle grounds and church
A 15 minute walk from the Spiez station , takes you to the Castle.It is all a downhill walk, so not much of a hassle.
The Castle is built in a small parkland overlooking the town and lake, and includes herb and rose gardens.Also worth visiting is the 1000 year old church. We could not enter it, as it was closed at that time. There are beautiful gardens around the castle, and some stunning views of the city and the lake.
After exploring the castle, gardens, and area around it, we headed back to the station, and back to Interlaken. This place is worth a small halt, if you have time.
More about Interlaken
There is so much more in and around the beautiful Interlaken , than we could cover in 2 days. On our way back from lake Thun and Spiez , we got down at Interlaken OST station, and walked towards our hotel. It is about 20 minutes walk covering the town center and some of the most beautiful locations.We covered these 20 minutes in about 2 hours. Inspite of us being so very tired, the walk was not at all exhausting. We stopped at various spots, and took our time exploring the area. Few more places you should be stopping by if you are in Interlaken-
1.The churches– There are quite a few churches on the way. If you would love to explore more, and time permits, you should visit these.
2. Casino Interlaken– The casino building is quite a landmark, and apart from the Casino itself, the surroundings are excellent .Check out the beautiful Small floral clock which is at the entrance of the Casino. There is a statue of a renowned Indian filmmaker, the late Yash Chopra, in the casino gardens. So a perfect place for bollywood lovers to pay an ode to Mr. Yash Chopra.
3.Hohematte park-Nestled in the heart of the town, Hohematte Park is Intelaken’s popular green open space. This is a very famous tourist spot. It offers some stunning views of snowcapped mountains, beautiful shaded walkways, very colourful flowerbeds, benches under lush treetops, and fountains . This is the place where the paragliders land , and all summer activities take place.
4.One of the famous 5 star chic hotel of Interlaken – Victoria Jhaungfraujoch is situated right opposite this park. It is on eof the prominent buildings in the town.
Beautiful charming streets, Stunning views from every corner of the streets, and some really pretty stores, were all a part of our walk back to the hotel.
Last Day in Interlaken–
The day we were supposed to leave Interlaken, it started to snow, and what do i tell you? This town looked no less than a picture straight out of a fairytale.
The beauty of this place while and after it snowed just begulied us. Have a little peep at the pictures.We felt like staying forever, but we knew more beautiful places and adventures awaited us. Relentlessly , but all excited we started our journey to the next town- Lucerne.
Thank you so much for reading this, and hope you find my experiences helpful in your travel to Interlaken, and around this beautiful little town.
Tell me about your favourite experiences, the food you enjoyed, or your disappointments while you travelled to this beautiful town? Are there any places that you want to recommend.Let me know all of this in the comments.I would love to read your stories, and experiences.
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More on switzerland
- Lucerne/ Luzern – Via Brienz and 4 days in Lucerne
- A day trip to Jungfraujoch from Interlaken.
- Zurich in 24 hours.
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