Things to Do in Interlaken Ost (East), Interlaken

Atmosphere

Train platforms swarm at dawn. Hikers bound for the high Alps—purposeful, energetic. By 3 p.m. the rush is gone. The Brienzersee catches the light. Day-trippers have vanished. Unhurried now.

Price Level

$$$

Safety

excellent

Harder Kulm

Skip the Jungfraujoch crowds. Hardturm gives you the same bird's-eye read on the entire Interlaken basin—no queues, no wallet shock. The funicular leaves from just north of the Ost station and rockets you up in eight minutes flat. Step onto the Two Lakes Bridge, a vertiginous walkway that frames Thunersee and Brienzersee in one shot. Clear morning? The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau line up like a Swiss tourism ad—perfect.

Tip: 9:10am funicular—first car—beats the clouds. They'll pile on the peaks by noon and kill your shot. Summit restaurant charges more than valley cafés, yet the southeast-corner terrace table lines up all three peaks sharper than any postcard.

Interlaken Ost Bahnhof

Interchange Interlaken Ost isn’t a junction—it is a live Swiss railway theater. The platforms handle the Bernese Oberland Railway toward Grindelwald, the Lauterbrunnen line, and the onward haul to Kleine Scheidegg. Stand trackside at 7 a.m. Hikers sort themselves by destination. Mountain railways glide in, depart, repeat—unhurried, punctual, perfect. One glance and you’ll understand how the whole Jungfrau region functions.

Tip: Good Morning Tickets drop at dawn—same-day, cheaper, gone in minutes. Be outside Jungfraujoch station desk by 7:30am or book online the night before.

Brienzersee Lakefront Walk

Start at the Ost station area. Walk east. The shore path toward Bönigen is overlooked—consistently. Locals know better. You'll find small fishing platforms jutting into the lake. Quiet picnic spots fill up on weekday evenings. The views west? Arresting. The town sits small against the Jungfrau group—well framed. That water color. Impossible mineral-fed turquoise. Morning light makes it vivid.

Tip: Skip the backtrack. Push on to Bönigen village—30 minutes of easy walking—and board a BLS lake boat straight back to Interlaken. Fare runs CHF 6-8. The payoff? You’ll glide into town from the water. Worth every franc.

Casino Kursaal

The Kursaal's slightly faded-glory charm is exactly what the brochures miss—it was the social heart of Interlaken's 19th-century tourism boom and still carries architectural echoes of that era. The gaming floor is small by Monte Carlo standards, obviously, but the surrounding gardens are lovely. The building hosts regular folklore evenings that, while undeniably touristy, are put together with enough care to be worth an hour of your time.

Tip: CHF 20-25 buys you a folklore evening most summer nights at 8:30pm. Weeknights deliver better value—and fewer elbows. Skip the dinner upsell; grab food nearby, then watch the show.

Aare River Crossing & Unterseen

Cross the Aare from Ost and you'll crash straight into Interlaken's most photographed, least-visited old quarter. Medieval church tower. Timber houses. No souvenir shops. Unterseen keeps a slower pulse, and—strangely—it grabs only a sliver of the foot traffic choking the main Höheweg strip.

Tip: Unterseen’s pocket-size Museum of Tourism (Obere Gasse 26) charts how this valley flipped from cows to crowds in 200 years—more gripping than you'd expect, and you'll pay just CHF 5.

Schynige Platte Railway (Day Trip from Ost)

Ten minutes from Ost, Wilderswil still runs the 1893 rack railway—same teeth, same teeth-rattling climb. At the top, the Alpine Botanical Garden corrals 600 native mountain species into Swiss-order beds; every label is hammered dead straight. Circle the summit trail and you'll bag Jungfraujoch-grade views for about ¼ of the price.

Tip: Late May to October only—weather decides. Pair the railway with the Faulhorn ridge walk to First in Grindelwald if your legs are sturdy and you've got a full day; it is one of the region's classic high-level walks.

Restaurant Laterne

Swiss regional, traditional

Specialty: Rösti with Bergkäse and fried egg—this is the real Swiss mountain version at CHF 24, not some tourist-trap knockoff. The braised pork cheeks with spätzle on the dinner menu? Plan your day around them.

Bäckerei-Konditorei Ringgenberg

Bakery, breakfast

Specialty: Zopf bread vanishes by 9am on Friday and Saturday—most weekends, it's gone faster. Grab their filled croissants (CHF 4-5) and proper Swiss Birchermüesli before you sprint for the early mountain train.

Thai Orchid

Thai, casual

Specialty: Two blocks from Ost station, an unlikely canteen turns out pad thai (CHF 22) and green curry that guides and instructors still swear by after they've burned through every Swiss option. Zero atmosphere. Total reliability.

Pizzeria da Franco

Italian, casual

Specialty: CHF 19-23 buys you a blistered wood-fired pizza—locals reflexively pick Prosciutto e Rucola. The place hides on a side street near the Kursaal, just off the tourist circuit. Prices stay honest.

Gasthaus Hirschen (Unterseen)

Traditional Swiss Beiz

Specialty: Cross the Aare. Five minutes later you're in Unterseen. This is fondue stripped of circus—CHF 28-32 a head, melted right, zero costumes. Swiss-heavy wine list. Smart move.

Buddy's Pub

Interlaken's after-dark scene centers here—rowdy in high summer yet never unpleasant. Seasonaire guides, hostel travelers, and the occasional bemused Swiss local pack the place. Beer selection? Unremarkable but plentiful. The staff have heard every nationality's drinking songs.

Loud, friendly, international crowd

Casino Kursaal Bar

The Casino bar pours the only cocktails in Interlaken worth paying for. Skip the beer halls. No rowdy backpackers here—just older regulars who've swapped pints for proper drinks. CHF 14-18 each, steep for Interlaken, but the low-lit room delivers a mood you won't replicate anywhere else in town.

Calm, adult, historic setting

Balmer's Terrace Bar

Balmer's hostel bar isn't guest-only. Walk in, grab a beer, join the crowd. The social hub hums every summer evening as a semi-public watering hole. No key card needed. Outside, the terrace glows under warm nights—raw, real energy you can't fake. Climbers, bikers, hikers swap stories, bruises, beta. The place becomes a magnet. The adventure crowd doesn't plan to meet here; they just do.

Young backpackers, cheap drinks, good energy