Sledding in Interlaken: With a Guide or on Your Own?

An Interlaken sledding tour is not the only way onto a run: you can rent a sled for CHF 7 at Isenfluh and go on your own. I guide these evenings every winter, and my honest answer surprises people. Alone is fine once you know the run, but the first time, the guide is worth it, and the reason is not the sledding.

Can you go sledding in Interlaken without a guide?

Yes. Every run near Interlaken is open to the public, with a lift and a sled to rent. At Isenfluh, the cable car to Sulwald costs CHF 16 return and a sled CHF 7 for the day. My own answer, when guests ask, comes with a condition:

Pierre Vetsch, founder and head guide, says: "Yes, if you're careful and in daylight, and if you've done the run before. For the first time, it's better to take a guide."

The run itself is easy: both runs we use, at Mürren and at Isenfluh, are rated easy by their operators. What trips up first-timers is everything around the run: which one has snow today, how you get back, and what happens when the light goes.

If you have never steered a sled, read how to steer a sled before you go. The short version from the briefing I give at the top: brake with both heels, inner foot down to turn.

What does a guided sledding tour from Interlaken include?

A guided tour takes the planning off your hands. On our Sunset Sledding & Fondue, one price covers the van from Interlaken and back, the cable car, the sled, a headlamp, the guide, mulled wine halfway down for adults, and a cheese fondue with a glass of white wine in Interlaken. We leave at 15:30, Wednesday to Sunday, for about 4 hours.

Asked what a guide adds for someone on their first sled, I named three things:

Pierre says: "Choosing the run, advice, and safety."

Choosing the run comes first. We have two runs above the Lauterbrunnen valley, Isenfluh and Mürren, and we go where the snow is. Last winter, Isenfluh lacked snow so often that we sledded at Mürren most of the time. A visitor on their own sees the weather in Interlaken, down in the valley, and has no way to know that.

Safety means a briefing at the top, the faster parts taken one sled at a time, and me at the back of the group. I always go down last. The full picture is in is night sledding dangerous.

Guided tour or on your own: what does each cost?

On your own, the mountain part is cheap: CHF 23 at Isenfluh for the cable car and a sled, or CHF 10 per ride up the Allmendhubel funicular at Mürren, plus a rented sled. A guided evening costs CHF 139, with transport from Interlaken, the sled, the guide and dinner included. The difference pays for the logistics.

The table in words. At Isenfluh, the cable car to Sulwald costs CHF 16 return and a sled CHF 7 for the day, so CHF 23. The last bus back to Lauterbrunnen leaves the village at 17:13 on a January weekday. At Mürren, the Allmendhubel funicular costs CHF 10 per ride up, and its timetable lists the last ride at 17:00. Sleds are rented in the village sports shops, and the operator publishes no rental price online. The Sledding & Fondue evening at Allmendhubel costs CHF 35, with fondue, salad, tea and the funicular, but without a sled, on Thursday and Friday evenings from 7 January to 5 March 2027. Our guided evening costs CHF 139, or CHF 129 per person from 6 people. The train from Interlaken is not in the table, because its price depends on your pass.

My answer, when someone tells me CHF 139 is a lot:

Pierre says: "Everything is included for that price: all the transport, the guide, the sled and the fondue with a glass of wine."

My verdict: for a first evening with the sunset, the guided tour. For a sunny afternoon on a run you already know, go on your own and keep the money for a fondue.

What goes wrong when first-timers sled on their own?

Two things, and neither is a crash. The first is the clock: people sled one run too many and miss the last lift or the last bus. I named it as the classic mistake of people who go without a guide, and it is the scene I see most:

Pierre says: "Missing the last lift up."

The second is the wrong run. At Mürren, the sled runs share the mountain with the ski area: the Apollo Run, for one, starts from a chairlift behind the Schilthorn cable car station. Wouter, who works at the Intersport rental shop in Mürren and gives me the weather and the state of the runs before my tours, told me he sometimes hears back from customers who rented a sled and ended up on the ski slopes. On a ski slope, skiers come down much faster than a sled, and nobody expects you there.

The Isenfluh timetable shows why the clock matters there. On 13 January 2027, the last bus 142 leaves Isenfluh at 17:13 for Lauterbrunnen. The next connection the online timetable offers leaves at 17:46, and starts with a walk down to Lauterbrunnen in the dark. The cable car keeps running until 18:15, so the lift does not warn you.

Insider tip: the Isenfluh cable car website shows two run reports, Sulwald to Isenfluh and Isenfluh to Lauterbrunnen. Check both before you leave Interlaken, and save the bus time on your phone.

Can you catch the sunset on the run without a guide?

It is hard without a car. The sun sets around 17:03 in Interlaken on 13 January, by the standard astronomical formula, and earlier behind the peaks. At Isenfluh, sledding down after the sunset means missing the 17:13 bus. At Mürren, the last ride up the Allmendhubel is listed at 17:00, so you must be at the top before the light turns.

Sunset times move fast through the season: about 16:41 on 15 December, 17:05 on 15 January, 17:51 on 15 February and 18:33 on 15 March, by the same formula. Early in the winter, a sunset sled is a headlamp descent. In March it is a golden-light descent.

On your own, that means a headlamp in your pocket, a run you know, and a plan for getting back after dark. On our evenings, the van waits at the bottom, so the timetable stops mattering. Asked what a sledder on their own never gets, my answer was three things at once:

Pierre says: "The mulled wine, being completely alone, and the pink summits."

The pink is the alpenglow on the Eiger, the Mönch and the Jungfrau, a few minutes after the sun has gone from the valley. On a clear evening, the run is quiet by then. You hear the runners on the snow, then nothing when the sled stops.

Who should skip the guide and sled alone?

Experienced skiers. When I tell people they do not need us, it is them: they read a piste map, they know how fast the light goes in January, and they will not end up on a ski slope by accident. For them, the Bob Run at Mürren on a sunny afternoon is the obvious choice.

It is also the run I recommend for a first sled on your own. The Bob Run starts at the top of the Allmendhubel funicular, at 1,907 metres, runs through the forest past chalets, and ends in the village, so each ride up costs CHF 10. The run I would not send a beginner to alone is the Eiger Run at Grindelwald. The guide to the best sledding runs near Interlaken compares nine runs.

Fun fact: the bobsleigh scenes of the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service were all shot on the Bob Run at Mürren in 1969, according to the Schilthorn cableway, which runs the funicular.

Families with young children can go alone too, on a short run with a lift back up. The details by age are in sledding with kids near Interlaken.

Your Questions About Sledding Tours in Interlaken

Is there night sledding in Interlaken without a tour?

Yes, at Mürren. The Schilthorn cableway runs a Sledding & Fondue evening at Allmendhubel on Thursday and Friday evenings, from 7 January to 5 March 2027. It costs CHF 35, with fondue, salad, tea and the funicular up and down included. Funiculars leave Mürren at 18:30 and 19:00 and come back down from Allmendhubel at 21:30 and 22:30, and you book by 16:00 on the day by phone. The sled is not included: rent one in a Mürren sports shop before it closes. You still need to reach Mürren from Interlaken, about 50 minutes by public transport, with connections back every 30 minutes in the evening.

Do you need your own sled?

No. At Isenfluh, the cable car company rents sleds for CHF 7 a day, and a Velogemel, the wooden ski bike of the Jungfrau region, for CHF 8. At Mürren, sleds are rented in the sports shops in the village; the Schilthorn cableway does not publish a price. On a guided tour, the sled comes with the evening. On ours they are classic wooden Davos sleds, steered with your feet. Whatever you rent, bring waterproof boots with a good grip, because you brake with your heels. The full kit list is in what to wear sledding in Switzerland.

What if there is not enough snow?

Then a guide earns the price. Snow at Isenfluh is variable, and last winter we moved to Mürren most of the time. On your own, check the run report on the operator's website the same morning: the Isenfluh cable car publishes the state of both runs, and the Schilthorn cableway lists its open runs. On our tour, if neither run is safe, we cancel and you choose between another date and a full refund, as written on the tour page on 12 October 2026. Rain in Interlaken often falls as snow higher up, so a grey morning in town does not mean the evening is off.

Can you book a sledding tour for tonight?

Usually, yes. On our Sunset Sledding & Fondue, online booking stays open until 2 hours before the 15:30 departure, on any day from Wednesday to Sunday between 15 December 2026 and 11 April 2027. Groups are small, 8 guests at most, so a busy evening in February can be full. If you want to go on your own instead, a same-day plan works at Isenfluh and Mürren, since sled rental needs no booking. Only the Allmendhubel fondue evening asks you to reserve by 16:00. Coming as a group of 6 or more, the price drops to CHF 129 per person.

Is a guided sledding tour worth CHF 139?

For a first evening, yes. The fear most people bring is the run itself, and that is the smallest part: the run is easy and the briefing takes ten minutes. What goes wrong without a guide is the snow you did not check, the run you did not mean to take, and the last bus at 17:13. If you already ski and know the runs, keep the money and go on your own in daylight.

Our Sunset Sledding & Swiss Cheese Fondue takes 8 guests at most, leaves Interlaken at 15:30 from Wednesday to Sunday, and costs CHF 139 per person, or CHF 129 from 6 people, with transport, cable car, sled, headlamp, mulled wine and fondue included. Still choosing a fondue? See the best fondue in Interlaken. Prefer to walk? The Isenfluh sledding and snowshoe guide covers both.

How we made this: based on Pierre's interview of 12 October 2026, facts and prices checked at the official sources on 12 October 2026, written with AI assistance.

Source: Luftseilbahn Isenfluh-Sulwald, prices and timetable, Schilthorn cableway, toboggan safari, and guided sledding evenings at Mürren and Isenfluh with Swiss Local Adventures, 2025-2026.

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