Interlaken: Rent a car from 8€/day

Interlaken is a Swiss town and municipality in the canton of Bern's Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative region. It is a significant and well-known tourist attraction in the Bernese Oberland area of the Swiss Alps, as well as the main transportation entrance to the region's mountains and lakes.

The town is situated on Bödeli, a flat alluvial plain between two lakes, Brienz to the east and Thun to the west, and along the Aare, which runs between them. Transport routes to the east and west along the lakes are supplemented by a route southwards into the nearby mountain resorts and high mountains, such as the famed high Alpine peaks of Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau, which follows the Lütschine upwards.

Interlaken is the principal town of the same-named Small Agglomeration, which has a population of 23,300 people. Interlaken's official language is Swiss Standard German, although the primary spoken language is an Alemannic German Swiss German dialect.

Tourism

The village serves mostly as a base for exploring the surrounding surroundings. The mountains of the Jungfrau area, notably the Jungfrau (4,158 m), the Mönch (4,107 m), and the Eiger, are among the primary attractions (3,967 m). While the peaks of these mountains are only accessible by mountaineers, a series of connecting mountain railroads provides access to the Jungfraujoch, a saddle (3,454 m) between the Jungfrau and the Mönch that is accurately translated as a yoke and is Europe's highest point approachable by train.

Closer to Interlaken, the Harderkulm (1,321 m), to the north, and the Schynige Platte (1,967 m), to the south, are both accessible by train and provide expansive views of the higher Alps. Lake Thun and Lake Brienz are nearby, and the Aare runs through town from east to west. Boat rides are available on both lakes, servicing a variety of lakefront communities. Brienz, one of them, is the starting point for the Brienz Rothorn Railway, one of Switzerland's few remaining steam-powered mountain railways.

Jungfrau Park is an amusement park located just south of Interlaken. It began as a Mystery Park, a paranormal-themed amusement park owned by novelist Erich von Däniken, but closed after three years due to financial troubles. It reopened in 2009 under its present name.

Interlaken has a diverse range of hotels, many of which are located along the Höheweg, a boulevard that connects the town's two train stations and provides views of the Alps. Other hotels are concentrated near one of the two stations, or across the river in the adjacent town of Unterseen.

Interlaken is also a popular backpacking location. It offers a plethora of backpacker-friendly motels and enterprises that offer guided skydiving, canyoning, hang gliding, paragliding, and skiing activities.