Things to Do at Lake Brienz (Brienzersee)

Lake Brienz sits to the east of Interlaken, and if you've only heard about Lake Thun, its more-visited sibling to the west, you're in for a mild shock. The water here is a shade of blue-green that doesn't look quite real: a glacially cold, almost electric turquoise that shifts toward deep cobalt in the late afternoon shadow of the Bernese Oberland peaks. On still mornings, the Brienzer Rothorn and the cliffs above Giessbach reflect so well in the surface that you need a moment to figure out which way is up. The lake stretches roughly 14 kilometres from Interlaken eastward to the town of Brienz, and the southern shore tends to stay quieter than you'd expect, a steep forested wall drops almost directly into the water, with only a narrow road and the occasional hamlet clinging to the hillside. The northern shore is somewhat more accessible, with the railway running along it and small villages like Ringgenberg and Niederried offering unhurried lakeside walks where the smell of cut grass and pine resin drifts down from the pastures above. Brienzersee has a reputation among Swiss locals as the cleaner and colder of the two Interlaken lakes, which checks out. The water temperature even in August rarely climbs above the low teens Celsius, and the clarity is notable. You can watch the gravel bottom drop away beneath a boat for several metres before the colour swallows it entirely. Swimmers here tend to be the bracing-cold enthusiasts, and the beaches at Brienz town and Iseltwald draw a faithful crowd who don't mind that shock of cold mountain water.

The boat service from Interlaken Ost is the most satisfying approach, roughly 90 minutes to Brienz with stops along both shores, and the perspective from the water gives you the full scale of the surrounding cliff walls in a way the road doesn't. The train from Interlaken Ost to Brienz runs frequently and takes around 20 minutes, skirting the northern shore. Driving is straightforward along the northern lake road, though parking in Brienz tends to fill up by mid-morning in summer. Cyclists will find the northern shore route generally manageable. The southern road is narrower and carries faster traffic.