Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen – What to know?
Interlaken is a small Swiss town between two lakes in the Alps region.
It is well known among tourists, especially for its beauty and for being a gateway to the Alps region and for all the snow sports and summer activities that can be done in this area.
Situated between the lakes Thun and Brienz and a few kilometers of peaks as emblematic as the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau.
Interlaken is ideal for those who are looking for a snow destination, there are many hiking trails, tourist trains, ski slopes and other activities.
As it is only 560m high, it is ideal for those who are traveling by car like us and want to go to the Alps without having to make big climbs, which in winter can be a concern.
There are two ways to get to Interlaken, or via Zurich, or via Bern, we have made Bern-Interlaken-Zurich by national roads and are quite right, with only a section on the way to Zurich which is a bit steep, but nothing special.
When we left Bern, we went to Interlaken but ended up sleeping next to Lake Thun more properly in Gunten.
The landscape is beautiful, a lake surrounded by mountains with the peak with snow, with a road around the perimeter of the lake and many wooden houses, very pleasant.
We continue to Interlaken, where we hike to the Harder Kulm where you have an impressive view of the two lakes, Interlaken and the Jungfrau and other alpine peaks over 3000 m.
There is a funicular that works at high altitude, but the walk way is much more beautiful and rewarding.
As we already said, Interlaken has many activities to do, such as excursions, parachute jumps, skiing, and some extreme activities.
Needless to say, it’s all very expensive, at least for us Portuguese, however to see the natural beauty you do not have to pay anything and it’s worth it.
We were in this region at the beginning of February and we were very lucky because we only caught blue skies, however it was cold and in the areas with little sun and a little higher, everything was covered with snow and ice.
Lauterbrunnen
We decided to go to Lauterbrunnen which is in an impressive valley 13km from Interlaken.
This area is known for its waterfalls and the best time to visit is in the spring or the beginning of the rains season because in winter the waterfalls are almost all frozen, however we recommend to go any time of the year.
We went in the winter and it was beautiful the.
There are 72 waterfalls, some with almost 300 meters in height, it is possible from Lauterbrunnen explore the whole valley, and take a cable car to one of the various ski slopes that exist in the region.
To sleep in a caravan only in campsites because there is very little space to park and it is all licensed, especialy during de winter, since every secundary road is with ice is difficult to find a free space to slep
We slept in the only available place that was in the parking lot of the campsite and whene we waked up in the mornig we had a paper saying that we had to leave immediately.
The Lauterbrunnen valley is an alley, so we had to go back, and this is what we did but this time we went to the lake on the right, which was on the way to Zurich and we slept two night Iselwald, a small village with 400 inhabitants which is simply a peace of soul, with an impressive view of Lake Brienz and the mountains. The trickiest part here was having to continue our journey.
To overnight in a motorhome
Gunten : 46°42’51.7″N 7°41’41.6″E
Just sleep
Interlaken: 46°41’18.6″N 7°51’58.6″E
Paid parking, but you can overnight
Iselwald : 46°42’41.6″N 7°57’47.2″E
Free parking, but no amenities.
Map of Jungfrau and interlake region
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