Getting Around, Interlaken Travel, Transport and Car Rental

(Interlaken, Berne, Switzerland)

Central Interlaken is easily small enough for visitors to travel around on foot or bicycle. However, if you have just arrived at one of Interlaken's two train station with luggage to carry, taxi transport is using the quickest and easiest way to reach your hotel.

When you do arrive at your hotel, be sure to ask for your Interlaken 'Guest Card', which allows you to travel on the local buses completely free of charge. For the most scenic transport and an excursion out of town, consider a boat trip to Brienz across Lake Brienz, or to Thun, located on the northern side Lake Thun, operated by the BLS Lötschbergbahn. If you are headed for one of the neighbouring winter resorts around the Jungfrau region, then plenty of public transport is on hand to whisk you to the snow-covered Alps, which comes in the form of the Jungfrau Skibus.

Airports / Arriving by Air

There are a number of major Swiss airports located reasonably close to Interlaken. Berne Airport (BRN) is the closest and is to be found near to the village of Belp, serving international airlines such as British Airways, Darwin, Flybe and Lufthansa. Zurich Airport is around two hours, 30 minutes from the town, while Geneva Airport is a little further and connected to Interlaken by regular trains, with a total journey time of roughly three hours.

Zurich Airport (ZRH) Guide

Geneva Airport (GVA) Guide

Car Rental

Interlaken is well-placed for those wishing to explore central Switzerland and is close to the Autoroute A8, which lies directly south of the town and between Lake Brienz and Lake Thun. Cars can be rented at one of the nearby airports or in the town of Interlaken itself, from rental outlets on Harderstrasse, Hauptstrasse and Waldeggstrasse, allowing visitors to travel around the area with ease. The villages of Iseltwald and Spiez are particularly nearby and easily reached by using car transport, along with the roads leading west to Berne and east to Lucerne. If you intend to head south and wish to avoid a long detour around the mountains, consider taking the car-carrying train, which departs from Kandersteg, to the south of Spiez.

Buses and Coaches

Bus transport in Interlaken offer a very cheap way to travel around the town and reach the outlying summer and winter resorts. Long-distance buses travel to the Swiss Alps from as far afield as France, Germany and Italy. The frequency of buses increases during January, February and March, when the winter sports attractions are in full swing. Buses are a very popular way of reaching the neighbouring city of Thun and depart all through the day.

Trains

Even this is a relatively small Swiss town, it is actually home to no less than two separate railway stations Interlaken West and Interlaken Ost (East). The West Station is closest to the town centre and while most trains do travel to both stations, those travelling to Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen and Lucerne only stop at the East Station. Rail transport from the town connects a number of further towns and cities around Switzerland and even Italy. The main Swiss destinations include Basel, Berne, Brig, Geneva, Lötschberg, Montreux, Spiez, Thun and Zweisimmen.