Handpicked experience
Instant Confirmation
The two lakes were once a single sheet of water, and the town stands on gravel a glacier-fed river dumped in the middle until the lake split in two.
A town standing on what a river left behind
Two lakes you can tell apart by colour alone
A view preserved by a nineteenth-century purchase
A pass road with the Alps opening as you climb
Freedom to arrange activities rather than a fixed programme
A twelve-hour day from Zurich or Lucerne over the Brünig Pass into the Bernese Oberland, with commentary on board, viewpoints along the climb, and time in Interlaken between its two lakes.
Interlaken means between the lakes, and the reason there is dry land to build on is a river delivering gravel.
Lake Thun and Lake Brienz were once a single body of water filling the whole valley floor. The Lütschine, coming down from the Jungfrau glaciers, has been dumping rock and silt into it for thousands of years, and that debris built a fan of flat ground across the middle until it separated the water into two lakes with a strip of land between them.
That strip is the Bödeli, and the town sits on it. Interlaken exists because a glacier-fed river filled in the gap.
Look at them and you will see it: Brienz is a harder, more opaque turquoise, and Thun is usually a deeper blue.
Brienz sits directly below the glaciers and receives more rock flour, the fine powder that stays suspended in water and scatters light. Thun is further from the source and receives water that has already dropped much of its load. Same weather, same sky, different sediment.
The great open lawn in the centre of town, with the mountains framed behind it, is the Höhematte, and it is the reason the view has not been built over.
In 1864 a group of local citizens bought the meadow collectively to prevent development, at a moment when hotel construction was booming and the land was obviously valuable. It has been held in that arrangement ever since. Every photograph taken across it toward the Jungfrau exists because a syndicate of townspeople decided the empty space was worth more than the buildings.
Be clear that this is a scenic transfer with stops rather than an activity day. The commentary, the pass and the time in town are included; the mountain railways, boat trips and adventure sports that Interlaken is known for are separate arrangements made on the day.
That suits people who want the landscape and the option to choose. It does not suit anyone expecting a summit or a flight to be part of the ticket.
Most of the twelve hours is coach travel, much of it on winding pass roads, which matters if anyone in your party is prone to motion sickness.
Interlaken sits low and is warmer than the peaks around it. Bring a layer anyway; the weather here changes between one lake and the other.
Same route either way — the difference is who else is in the vehicle. Open one to see its dates and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
There was one. A glacier-fed river dumped enough gravel and silt across the valley floor to divide the water in two.
From the glacier fields above Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen, joining before it reaches the valley floor.
The strip of flat ground built up between the two lakes, and the land the town itself stands on.
Brienz lies below the glaciers and carries more rock flour, which scatters light; Thun receives water that has dropped much of its load.
The open meadow in the centre of town that keeps the mountain view clear of buildings.
Local citizens bought it collectively in 1864, at the height of the hotel building boom, specifically to stop that happening.
Yes. Operators run from the town centre and the guide can point you toward the desk you need.
No. It is a scenic transfer with stops, and the activities Interlaken is known for are optional additions.