5 Things to Do in Interlaken That Locals Actually Recommend

You've booked your bed at Adventure Hostel Interlaken. Your bag 

is dropped, the mountains are everywhere, and now the real question 

hits you: what do you actually do here?

 

Most travel guides will send you straight to the Jungfraujoch. 

And look, the Top of Europe is impressive. But at 230 CHF a ticket, 

two-hour queues and 5,000 visitors a day in summer, it's not what 

we'd call a Swiss experience. It's more like a Swiss conveyor belt.

 

So here are five things we tell our guests when they ask us where 

to go. Not the postcard list. The real one.

 

 

 

Twenty minutes on foot from the centre of Unterseen, there's a 

peninsula on Lake Thun called Burg Weissenau. The Lords of 

Eschenbach built a castle there in the 13th century, lost it in 

a 1300 uprising, and the stones have been sitting on the lake 

shore ever since. It's now a bird reserve, almost no tourists, 

and the sun sets directly across the water behind the Niesen.

 

Bring a blanket, bring wine, bring cheese. Or if you want someone 

to set it all up while you walk over with a guide who knows every 

stone of the place, our friends at Swiss Local Adventures run a 

sunset fondue picnic there for small groups. They do the carrying. 

You do the watching.

 

 

 

Yes, Switzerland makes wine. Real wine, on real vineyards, that 

most of it stays in the country because the Swiss drink it 

themselves. The vineyards above Spiez Castle on Lake Thun are 

twenty minutes from Interlaken by train, terraced down a south-

facing slope, and almost completely off the tourist radar.

 

The Rebbau Spiez cooperative has been making wine here since 

1929, and the cheese cellar at the bottom of the hill pairs it 

with alpine cheese aged in the same caves. If you want to do it 

right, go with people who already know the winemakers. There's 

a half-day small-group tour run by a local Interlaken team that 

does exactly that.

 

 

 

The real Swiss breakfast isn't served in a hotel. It's served at 

4am to the farmer, before he milks his cows on the alp. By the 

time you arrive at 8am, the milk is still warm, the bread is 

fresh from the wood oven, and the cheese was made yesterday.

 

If you want to experience this without driving for an hour, 

asking permission, and figuring out which farmer speaks English, 

the Farm Tour run by our local partners includes the walk, the 

breakfast, a cheesemaking demo at the open fire, and meeting the 

cows. Small group, 6-8 people max. Done right.

 

 

 

If you've heard of Iseltwald, it's probably because of Crash 

Landing on You — the K-drama scene where Hyun Bin plays the 

piano on the jetty turned a sleepy fishing village into a 

selfie pilgrimage site.

 

Here's what locals do: don't go in the middle of the day. Go at 

6am for an empty jetty, or at 8pm for the golden hour. Walk five 

minutes past the jetty to the small chapel and look back. That's 

the view nobody photographs because nobody walks that far.

 

 

Mount Pilatus is in Lucerne, two hours away, packed. Schynige 

Platte is 30 minutes from Interlaken on a vintage cogwheel 

train from 1893, opens at 7am, and gives you the same Eiger-

Mönch-Jungfrau view with a fraction of the crowd. The botanical 

garden up there has 600 alpine plant species. The hike to Daube 

viewpoint takes 20 minutes round-trip.

 

Bring layers. The wind on the ridge is real even in July.

 

 

 

We share these tips because we want you to leave Switzerland with 

real memories, not just check-marks. If you'd rather have someone 

local take care of the logistics, our friends at Swiss Local 

Adventures run authentic small-group tours from Interlaken: 

sunset fondue, farm breakfasts, wine tastings. Ask us at reception, 

we'll point you in the right direction.

 

Stay safe, stay curious, and have the best week of your trip.

 

* The team at Adventure Hostel Interlaken