Summer in Interlaken: 14 Things Locals Do When the Tourists Are Not Looking

Featured image : couple on a SUP at sunrise on Lake Brienz with mist rising and Eiger faintly visible.

By 11 a.m. on a July morning, the Höheweg is already full. Tour buses unload in front of Casino Kursaal, families queue at the funicular for Harder Kulm, and ice cream shops along the main street start their second wave of the day. This is the Interlaken most travelers experience.

But by 6 a.m. that same day, two kilometres away on the shore of Lake Brienz, a paddler is alone on the water. The lake is still glass. Mist is rising off the surface. A heron lifts off without a sound. By 7:30, that paddler will have packed up and be sitting at a bakery in Bönigen with a coffee and a Schoggikipferl, watching the first tour boat of the day pass in the distance.

This is the other Interlaken, the one locals keep for themselves.

If you want a summer that feels less like a checklist and more like a place, here are 14 things locals actually do between June and September. They go in order from soft to active. Most of them cost almost nothing.

Why Summer in the Bernese Oberland Is Different

Interlaken in summer is a microclimate that surprises people. The town sits at 567 metres, low enough to feel warm during the day (often 25-28°C in July) but surrounded by 4000-metre peaks that drop the night air down to 12-15°C. You sleep with the window open, you walk in shorts at noon, you put on a wool layer at 9 p.m. on a lakeside terrace.

The two lakes (Thun on the west, Brienz on the east) act as natural thermostats. They warm slowly and cool slowly, which means lake swimming is comfortable from late June through early September. The mountain rivers stay glacial cold all year, which is why locals jump in them only on the hottest days.

This dual climate is what makes a single summer day in Interlaken so versatile. You can paraglide at 10 a.m., swim at noon, hike a high pasture at 4 p.m. and eat fondue under stars at 10 p.m. Few alpine resorts in Europe pack that into one day.

For the bigger picture, see our things to do in Interlaken local guide.

1. Sunrise Paddle on Lake Brienz

Locals know the lake belongs to them between 5:30 and 8 a.m. The water is still, the air is cold, the light is gold. SUP rentals open in Bönigen and Iseltwald around 8 a.m., but if you book ahead with a local outfitter you can be on the water at first light. Bring a thermos of coffee. You will not see another human for an hour.

2. Breakfast at an Alpine Farm

Above Beatenberg and Habkern, working dairy farms welcome small groups for breakfast: fresh bread, alpine butter, hand-made cheese, jam from the meadow flowers, eggs that were inside a chicken thirty minutes earlier. This is the original Swiss breakfast, before hotels reduced it to a buffet. Our farm tour with Swiss breakfast is built around this experience.

3. Swim at the Hidden Spots

Locals do not swim in front of the Strandbad in Interlaken. They swim at:

• Bönigen beach, on the Lake Brienz side, with a long pontoon and shallow entry.

• Faulensee on Lake Thun, a tiny tucked-away beach with a wooden jetty.

• Spiez old harbor, where the water is clean, the castle watches you and a small kiosk serves rosé until late.

• Iseltwald stone steps, opposite the famous Crash Landing on You jetty, where you can swim with a view.

4. Hike a Cogwheel Trail in Reverse

The cogwheel trains go up to Schynige Platte, Brienzer Rothorn and Niesen all summer. Tourists ride up and down. Locals ride up, walk down. The descent from Schynige Platte to Wilderswil takes about 4 hours, passes through three ecological zones, and costs only the upward train ticket.

5. Wine Tasting Above Lake Thun

Spiez vineyards are the highest north of the Alps, producing white wines from Müller-Thurgau and reds from Pinot Noir. The terraces face south over the lake, and a tasting at golden hour is one of the most underrated summer afternoons in the Bernese Oberland. Read about it in detail or book the wine tour directly.

6. Paragliding at the Right Time of Day

Paragliding works almost any clear summer day, but locals choose times. 9 a.m. flights are the calmest (laminar morning air). 5 p.m. flights are the most beautiful (golden light, longer thermals). Avoid midday in heat waves: visibility drops and the air gets bumpy. Read our local guide to paragliding in Interlaken.

7. Mountain Lakes That Cost Nothing

Three high-altitude lakes are reachable by short hikes from a cable car or train station, and all three are free.

• Bachalpsee above Grindelwald-First (45 min hike from First). Mirror lake, Schreckhorn reflection, sunrise magic.

• Oeschinensee above Kandersteg (10 min from the cable car). Turquoise basin under sheer cliffs. Most photographed lake in Switzerland.

• Hinterer Geltensee (Hintergeseeli) for the more committed: a longer alpine hike, but you will be alone.

For the full inventory, see all the lakes around Interlaken.

8. Eat Älplermagronen at an Alpine Hut

Skip the fondue restaurants on Höheweg. Take a cable car or hike up to a Berghütte (mountain hut) and order Älplermagronen with apple compote on the side. Local picks: Alpenruh above Mürren, Berghaus First, Restaurant Suldtal above Aeschi, and Berghotel Niederhorn if you take the cable car from Beatenberg.

9. The Slow Boat Across Lake Thun

The BLS lake ferries run all summer between Thun and Interlaken, stopping at Spiez, Faulensee, Oberhofen, Beatenbucht and more. Buy a one-way ticket on a clear morning, get off at Spiez, walk the vineyards, eat lunch at the harbor, take a later boat back. Total cost under 30 CHF if you have the Swiss Travel Pass discount.

10. Sunset on Harder Kulm

The classic. The funicular runs late in summer (last descent often around 9:30 p.m.). Take the 7:30 p.m. ride up, eat at the panorama restaurant overlooking the Eiger-Mönch-Jungfrau trio at golden hour, descend in the dark with the lights of Interlaken below.

For something quieter, Beatenberg offers a similar view without the funicular crowd, or Schynige Platte with the last train down giving you a private 30 minutes at the top.

11. Cliff Jumping at Iseltwald

For confident swimmers and on warm days only: the rocky shore east of the Iseltwald jetty has natural ledges 3-5 metres above the lake. Locals jump from there in summer. The water is glacier-cold even in August. Wear shoes you can swim in.

12. Festival Evenings

Summer evenings are when the region's small festivals come alive. The Interlaken Music Festival, the Tellspiele (open-air theatre on the Höhematte), the Unspunnenfest (every six years, traditional Swiss wrestling and folklore), the Greenfield Festival (rock music in the Aare valley), Brienz Klassik. Check the local calendar before booking your trip — landing on a festival weekend is a different experience entirely.

13. The Jungfrau at Dawn from First Trail

Above Grindelwald, the First Cliff Walk is a metal walkway anchored to a vertical rock face, with the Eiger filling the entire view in front of you. Most tourists arrive at noon when the first cable car has been running for hours. Locals take the very first ride at 8 a.m., walk the cliff alone, then hike toward Bachalpsee while everyone else is still buying tickets at the bottom.

14. End the Day on a Lakeside Terrace with Fondue

Even in summer, a fondue under stars on a lake terrace is one of the most Swiss experiences you can have. Spots locals love: Restaurant Aarburg in Bönigen, Beatus Wellness Hotel terrace overlooking Lake Thun, Bellevue in Iseltwald. Order one fondue between two, share a bottle of Spiez white, watch the lake go silver.

💡 Insider Tip from Pierre Build your summer day in three temperatures. Cold morning on a lake (paddle, swim), warm afternoon in the mountains (hike, paraglide, alpine hut), cool evening by the lake (fondue, wine, sunset). The contrast between the three is what makes Interlaken summers feel like four days inside one.

FAQ — Summer in Interlaken

Is Interlaken too hot in summer? Rarely. Daytime temperatures in July and August reach 25-28°C in town but drop sharply with altitude and at night. Lake swimming is pleasant. Heat waves above 32°C happen a few days a year, mostly in late July.

Is summer the best time to visit Interlaken? For adventure activities, hiking, paragliding, lakes and outdoor festivals, yes. For lower prices and fewer crowds, May, June and late September are sweet spots.

Are the lakes warm enough to swim? Lake Thun and Lake Brienz reach 18-22°C in July and August in the shallow zones. Mountain lakes (Oeschinensee, Bachalpsee) stay below 15°C all summer.

Do I need a car for summer activities in Interlaken? No. Trains, ferries, post buses and cable cars cover everything in this guide. The Swiss Travel Pass or Berner Oberland Pass makes it efficient.

What summer activities are family-friendly in Interlaken? Lake swimming, BLS boat rides, Bachalpsee and Oeschinensee hikes, Brienz wood-carving workshops, the Trottibike at First, Mountain Cart, Harder Kulm cogwheel and the Maison Cailler chocolate factory day trip. Most paragliding operators accept children from 5 years old.

When does summer season actually start in Interlaken? Roughly mid-May (lakes warm, lower hikes open, restaurants put terraces out) through late September. High alpine cable cars sometimes run into October.

Plan Your Slow Summer in the Bernese Oberland

The 14 ideas above are not a checklist. They are a list of starting points. Pick three. Combine them across one day. Repeat for as many days as you have. By the time you leave, you will know Interlaken the way locals know it, by its rhythms more than by its landmarks.

If you want to compress that learning curve, Swiss Local Adventures runs the kind of small-group, slow, sensory experiences this guide is built around. Wine, fondue, sunrise hikes, vineyard walks, lake mornings. We do them every week of the summer with travelers who want the Bernese Oberland that lives behind the postcard.

Summer slots fill up fast. Check available dates before peak season closes the calendar.

Written by Pierre, your local guide at Swiss Local Adventures

1. Höheweg crowds at noon (contrast)

2. Alpine farm breakfast spread

3. Bönigen beach pontoon

4. Schynige Platte cogwheel descending

5. Wine tasting Spiez vineyards golden hour

6. Bachalpsee mirror Schreckhorn

7. Älplermagronen plate

8. Sunset Harder Kulm

9. Fondue lakeside