Hiking around Interlaken
Summary
Interlaken is the gateway to the legendary Jungfrau region with its 3 immortal peaks of Switzerland’s “big three” – the Eiger (Ogre), Monch (Monk) and Jungfrau (Virgin) – and has, quite simply, some of the most stunning mountain views to be found anywhere in the world. There are many viewing spots and cable cars to chose from to get these views, but my top tip is to take the Mannlichen Cable Car from Grindelwald. It’s Europe’s longest cable car, so you have extended views on your 6.3km / 4mile, 19min journey to the top, and when up there, even in busy season, you’ll have loads of room because of the wide plateau at the top to make the short 10min walk to the crown of the hill for the amazing views of the “big three”. From here you also have a range of world-class hiking options
I focused on the hiking, which was wonderful, but there are three things I wish I’d also done:
- Taken the train up to the Junfraujoch station at 3454m. Looks sensational and definitely will next time!
- Got involved with some of the adrenaline sports in what is one of the world’s adventure-sports meccas
- Europe’s longest toboggan run at Faulhorn
As an extra slightly more unusual recommendation, if you’re driving through this stunning part of the world and heading south or east, see if you can work your route through the Murmeltierpark Grimselpass. You’ll be rewarded with daunting views over the Grimselsee reservoir and dam which dominate the surrounding area
highlights
#1 The simple but spectacular walk along the top of Mannlichen from the cable car
#2 The world-class views down the valleys and with the snow capped mountains of the Swiss Alps in the background
#3 Heading off on any of the fantastic hikes that are scattered all throughout the Jungfrau region
#4 Taking Europe's longest cable car up over the top of pretty valley chalets sprinkled all along the valley floors
#5 Driving over the Murmeltierpark Grimselpass to see the daunting views over the Grimselsee reservoir and dam
#6 Walking along some of the glacial rivers that gush out from the surrounding glaciers in the summer heat
#7 Being surrounded by the beautiful clean forests in the pristine countryside
Experiences nearby
The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences
Other Great Hiking Experiences
Score Detail
Background - how many times have you asked someone what a travel experience was like and the response was "amazing" or "awesome"? That response is nice to know, but it makes it hard to differentiate that experience compared to others. That is exactly what these scores are trying to do - differentiate the experience by giving a score out of 10 based on 6 categories and then giving an overall experience score
This overall experience score is calculated by: take the highest of the "Culture" or "Nature" score (1-10) + "Fun factor" (1-10) + "Avoiding the crowds" (1-10) + highest of the "Unique" or "World Famous score" (1-10). Then convert into a score out of 100
Extra detail - the logic being that I find all of the 6 individual scores important, but I don't want to mark an experience down just because it doesn't cover both "Culture" and "Nature", or because it isn't both "World Famous" and "Unique". Take the examples of Safari in The Serengeti and walking through Rome - they both appeal at opposite ends of the nature / culture spectrum, and you can have a fantastic time without needing to appeal to both sides. So, their overall scores aren't penalized for their lack of one or the other, and I've done the same for "World Famous" vs "Unique". But . . . I do think that the "Fun factor" of an experience is important, irrelevant of other factors, and so is "Avoiding the Crowds" (or where there are crowds that add to the experience). So, both of these scores are standalone