Best Fondue in Interlaken: Where a Local Guide Eats

The best fondue in Interlaken, if you ask me where I would send a friend, is at the Taverne on the Höheweg: CHF 30 per person, four Swiss cheeses, white wine in the pot. That is my answer for a restaurant table in town. But the fondue I would tell a couple to save their one evening for is a different one: the pot that waits for you after a sled run, or the one eaten up a mountain.

I am Pierre, I guide in Interlaken, and on our winter sledding evenings the group finishes around a caquelon. Below: where I eat it, where our groups eat it, what to order, what it costs (prices checked at the source on 3 October 2026), town or mountain, and how to avoid the two mistakes I see most.

Where is the best fondue in Interlaken?

The Taverne, the restaurant of the Hotel Jnterlaken at Höheweg 74, is the one I name first. Its menu lists the cheeses (Vacherin, Alpkäse, Gruyère and Raclette), cooks the fondue with white wine, makes it without alcohol on request, and serves it from the afternoon.

A "best" needs criteria, so here are mine. The menu says which cheeses are in the pot. The price per person is printed. The kitchen serves fondue outside the dinner rush. There is a way to try it without committing to a full pot. The Taverne ticks all four: its Älpler-Käsefondue costs CHF 30 per person, with a tasting size at CHF 15 per person, a chili version at CHF 31 and a truffle version at CHF 32.50, all served with Swiss bread. Potatoes cost CHF 3 extra.

From Wednesday to Monday, a small menu with cheese fondue runs from 14:00; the evening menu starts at 18:00, with last orders at 21:30. On Tuesdays the Taverne only serves drinks until the evening menu opens at 18:00. On TripAdvisor it has 590 reviews at 4.4 (read on 3 October 2026), but my pick does not rest on other people's stars.

Insider tip: the Taverne is closed from 17 January to 7 February 2027 for its staff holidays, and on 24 December. That is the heart of the sledding season. If your trip falls in those three weeks, book Restaurant des Alpes instead (next section).

Fun fact: the Taverne's own website says its tavern tradition goes back to 1491. The hotel around it has been renovated room by room since 2006, starting with the Taverne itself.

Where do our sledding groups eat their fondue?

Our Sunset Sledding groups eat their fondue at Restaurant des Alpes, Höheweg 115, or at the Adventure Hostel, one of our three pick-up points. In my words, when I was asked: "Des Alpes, or we do it at the hostel." Both are in Interlaken, a few minutes from where the van drops you after the run.

Des Alpes is the bigger, livelier room: a long wooden dining room, a sports bar, and a terrace with more than 300 seats, on what the restaurant calls the sunniest side of Interlaken. Its fondue is an Oberland cheese mix of AOP mountain cheeses with white wine, served with house bread, at CHF 27 per person on the summer 2026 menu. Baby potatoes and pickled vegetables cost CHF 5 extra, and the menu says the fondue is available without alcohol. The kitchen runs from 11:30 to 21:00.

On the evenings we eat at the hostel, the group sits together at one long table. Either way, the fondue on our tour comes with sides and a glass of white wine, or another drink.

Moitié-moitié or the house mix: which fondue should you order?

Order the house mix in Interlaken, and save the moitié-moitié for when you find it. Mine, the one I order whenever it is on the menu, is "moitié-moitié": half Gruyère AOP, half Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP. Neither of the two restaurants above serves that exact mix; each has its own blend.

The official moitié-moitié recipe of the Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP makers uses 400 g of Vacherin and 400 g of Gruyère for four people, with 3 dl of dry white wine. That is 200 g of cheese per person, which is why one pot feeds a table without anybody ordering a starter. The Vacherin makes it creamy; the Gruyère gives it its bite.

In Interlaken, menus lean on Bernese Oberland cheeses instead. The Taverne's Älpler blend adds Alpkäse and Raclette to Vacherin and Gruyère. Des Alpes uses Oberland mountain cheeses. If you have tasted alpine cheese made on the alp, you will recognise the deeper, nuttier note.

My favourite moment of any fondue comes at the very end: "the crust at the bottom". When the pot is nearly empty, a layer of cheese toasts onto the caquelon. French speakers call it la religieuse. Scrape it off with your fork and share it; it is the best bite of the evening.

How much does a fondue cost in Interlaken?

A cheese fondue in an Interlaken restaurant costs CHF 27 to CHF 32.50 per person, before drinks. Des Alpes charges CHF 27 and the Taverne CHF 30 for its classic pot, CHF 15 for a tasting size. Two classic pots at the Taverne with potatoes come to CHF 66 for a couple, before drinks.

The table above puts the restaurant prices next to the tours where the fondue is part of the evening. All prices were read on the official pages on 3 October 2026:

• Taverne: Älpler cheese fondue CHF 30 per person, tasting size CHF 15, chili CHF 31, truffle CHF 32.50, potatoes CHF 3. Fondue chinoise buffet CHF 49.50 per adult, Thursday to Saturday evenings from 22 October 2026.

• Restaurant des Alpes: Oberland cheese fondue CHF 27 per person, potatoes and pickles CHF 5 (summer 2026 menu).

• Sunset Sledding & Cheese Fondue: CHF 139 per person, CHF 129 from 6 people, with transport, cable car, sled, headlamp, guide, mulled wine for adults, and fondue with one drink.

• Snowshoe Tour with Swiss Cheese Fondue: CHF 129 per person, CHF 119 from 6 people, fondue with one drink at Sulwald.

The restaurant pot is cheaper, clearly. The tour price buys the evening that leads up to it.

Fondue in town or fondue on the mountain: which is worth it?

If you only have one fondue in Interlaken, have it after a cold, active day or up a mountain, not as a plain dinner in town. That is my verdict, and it was my answer when asked what I tell a couple with a single evening.

Pierre Vetsch, founder and head guide, says: "After the sledding, or in the mountains."

A town fondue is a good meal. A fondue after an evening in the snow is something else: you sit down with cold hands and the whole run still to tell. On our sledding evenings in December and January, Sulwald is already in the shade while the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau opposite turn pink or orange. You ride down through the forest by headlamp, and the fondue is the warm end of that story.

On the mountain, the pot is part of the view. In winter, our snowshoe groups eat theirs at Sulwald, above the Lauterbrunnen valley, after a walk on the marked trail (see our guide to snowshoeing trails around Interlaken). A TripAdvisor forum regular put it the same way: the best place for a fondue is always in the mountains.

Verdict: town fondue if you want an easy, cheap dinner. After sledding or on a mountain if you want the one you will remember. For where to sled first, read our ranking of sledding runs near Interlaken.

What does a farm fondue in the Justistal taste like?

It tastes of the valley, because Daniela buys her cheese from the farmers of the valley and heats it over a wood fire in a big pot. Daniela runs a 15-seat farm restaurant at 1,370 m in the Justistal, and that is how she told me she makes it. I ate there on 22 September 2026, the evening we tested our red deer tour.

The scene is simple. A wooden chalet at the top of a valley the tourist maps skip, flowers on the balcony, a cow bell hanging from the roof, and the sun leaving the ridge around half past six. The pot arrives with bread and potatoes; the fondue there is a classic moitié-moitié, eaten outside on the terrace. You can meet Daniela, the farmer behind our Farm Tour, in her own article.

This fondue is seasonal. We only serve it on the red deer evenings, for a few weeks each autumn, when the stags call across the Justistal (how to hear the red deer rut near Interlaken). In winter, our mountain fondue is the one at Sulwald.

How do you avoid a tourist-trap fondue in Interlaken?

Book a table, and read the menu before you sit down. Those are the two mistakes I see most. Asked what visitors get wrong, this was my answer.

Pierre says: "No booking, or a tourist trap."

No booking first. Both restaurants in this article take reservations online, and the Taverne writes "reservation recommended" on its fondue chinoise evenings. Sledders and skiers all come down at the end of the afternoon, so a winter table for a group is worth booking before you go up.

Then the trap. A good fondue menu tells you which cheeses are in the pot, the price per person, and what comes with it. If a menu says only "Swiss fondue", with no cheese named and no price per person, walk on. Guests on review sites complain about the same things: small hard bread cubes, a price that does not match the pot, and fondue that tastes of alcohol when they asked for none. A menu that names its cheeses and offers a version without alcohol has already answered all three.

Your Questions About Fondue in Interlaken

Can you eat a cheese fondue alone in Interlaken?

Often not, and travellers say it on forums: many restaurants only serve cheese fondue for two people or more. The fondue is cooked in one pot meant to be shared. The Taverne is the exception I know on paper: its menu lists a tasting size at CHF 15 per person, next to the full portion at CHF 30. That makes it the easiest table for a solo traveller who wants to try the dish without paying for two. Ask when you book, and say you are alone, so the kitchen knows. On our tours, the question does not arise: you share the pot with the group, even if you booked a single seat.

Is there a cheese fondue without alcohol in Interlaken?

Yes. Both restaurants in this article state it on their menus. The Taverne cooks its fondue with white wine and makes it without alcohol if you ask; the Des Alpes menu says its fondue is available without alcohol. Ask when you order, not after, because the wine goes in at the start. Guests on review sites report tasting alcohol in a standard pot, so if you avoid alcohol for health or religious reasons, the version without wine is the one to order. On our tours, the drink that comes with the fondue can be a soft drink instead of the glass of white wine.

What do you drink with a cheese fondue?

The classic pair is a glass of dry white wine or a hot black tea. A regular on the TripAdvisor forum about fondue in Interlaken gives the same answer, and it is what you will see at Swiss tables. Our Sunset Sledding fondue comes with a glass of white wine or another drink of your choice. Halfway down the sled run, adults also get a cup of hot mulled wine, so one glass at the table is usually plenty. If you are driving, or simply not drinking, the tea is the one to order.

Is fondue only a winter dish?

In the German-speaking part of Switzerland, which includes Interlaken, fondue is mostly eaten from autumn to early spring. Restaurants still serve it in summer: the Des Alpes fondue is on its summer 2026 menu. We covered the question in detail in our guide to Swiss food experiences, which also compares fondue and raclette. My own rule is simple: fondue tastes best when you come in cold. That happens from December to March, after a day in the snow, or on an autumn evening up a valley like the Justistal.

How much cheese is in a fondue per person?

About 200 g. The official moitié-moitié recipe of the Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP makers uses 400 g of Vacherin and 400 g of Gruyère for four people, with 3 dl of dry white wine and 600 to 800 g of bread cut into cubes. That is a full meal on its own. If you are not very hungry, or if you are trying fondue for the first time, a tasting size like the Taverne's CHF 15 portion is a sensible way in. If you are cooking at home, buy the cheese grated at a Swiss dairy counter and keep the heat low.

Is the fondue after sledding worth CHF 139?

Yes, if the fondue is the end of the evening you came for, not the reason for it. A restaurant pot costs CHF 27 to 30 per person. Our CHF 139 covers the van from Interlaken, the cable car, the sled and the headlamp, the guide, mulled wine halfway down for adults, and then the fondue with one drink, in a group of eight at most.

The doubt I hear most is the price, and it is fair. Count what you would pay to do the same evening on your own: the train and cable car up, a sled to rent, and a restaurant dinner afterwards, without a guide to choose the run with the best snow that day. Then add what you cannot buy alone: arriving at the table with a group that just shared the same descent.

If that is the fondue you want, the one I tell couples to save their evening for, look at our Sunset Sledding & Cheese Fondue in Interlaken. And if you want to know what to pack for it, read what to wear sledding in Switzerland.

How we made this: based on Pierre's interview of 3 October 2026, facts and prices checked at the official sources on 3 October 2026, written with AI assistance.

Source: Restaurant Taverne, Hotel Jnterlaken, Restaurant Des Alpes Interlaken, Vacherin Fribourgeois AOP, and on-site visits to Interlaken and the Justistal, 2025 and 2026.

*Written by Pierre Vetsch, founder and head guide at Swiss Local Adventures