Interlaken's viewpoints, ranked by effort and time of day

Five viewpoints, five different commitments

Interlaken sits in a trench between two lakes, which means almost every worthwhile view is uphill on one side or the other. Before spending money and half a day on the Jungfraujoch or the Schilthorn, it is worth knowing that five much smaller, much cheaper viewpoints ring the town itself, and that they suit different times of day, different budgets and different amounts of walking. None of them requires a mountain railway ticket costing more than about CHF 40, and one costs nothing at all.

This guide ranks Harder Kulm, Heimwehfluh, the Lombach dike at Bönigen, Beatenberg and Schynige Platte by effort, time and light, so you can pick the one that fits the two or three free hours you actually have rather than the one that photographs best on someone else’s feed.

Viewpoint	Altitude	How you get up	Time from Interlaken	Cost (return)
Harder Kulm	1,322 m	Funicular, 8 min	About 20 min including the walk to the station	Around CHF 36
Heimwehfluh	669 m	Small funicular or 30–40 min on foot	10–15 min	Around CHF 10, or free on foot
Lombach dike, Bönigen	Lake level	On foot	20–30 min	Free
Beatenberg	1,100–1,200 m	Funicular from Beatenbucht plus bus or walk	40–50 min	Around CHF 20–25
Schynige Platte	1,967 m	Cogwheel railway from Wilderswil	1–1.5 hours each way	Around CHF 72

Prices move slightly year to year; treat these as the right order of magnitude rather than an exact quote, and check the current fare at the station or on the cable cars and funiculars explained page before you go.

Harder Kulm: the classic panorama for the least effort

Harder Kulm is the viewpoint most visitors reach first, and for good reason. The funicular leaves from a station a short walk behind Interlaken Ost, climbs through forest for eight minutes, and puts you at 1,322 m looking straight down the Bödeli isthmus with Lake Thun on one side, Lake Brienz on the other, and the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau lined up beyond. A cantilevered viewing platform, the “Faulhorn finger,” extends out over the drop for the photograph everyone takes.

The funicular has run since 1908 and carries roughly 40 passengers per cabin. It runs from spring to autumn, with the exact opening dates depending on the year’s revision schedule; check before a shoulder-season visit. Queues build fast between 10am and 4pm in July and August, so an early or late run is worth the earlier alarm. There is a restaurant at the top with the same view as the platform, useful if you want to make an evening of it rather than a 40-minute round trip. Full detail, including the walking-down option for those who want to skip the return fare, is in the Harder Kulm guide, and the destination page for Harder Kulm covers the practicalities of the station itself.

Light-wise, Harder Kulm faces broadly south-west, so late afternoon and early evening give the warmest light on the peaks; midday sun is flat and the mountains can look washed out in a summer haze.

Heimwehfluh: the low one before breakfast

Heimwehfluh is the modest hill directly above the Höhematte and the western edge of town, at 669 m — barely 200 m above Interlaken itself. It has its own small, privately run funicular, plus a summer toboggan run that is popular with children, and a viewing tower at the top that adds a further storey of height over the treeline.

It is not a dramatic panorama compared with Harder Kulm, but it is close, quick and cheap, and it opens earlier in the season since it sits at such a modest altitude. Walking up on the marked path takes 30 to 40 minutes rather than riding, which brings the cost to zero. It suits a short morning outing, a rainy-weather half-measure when the higher stations are in cloud, or a stop to add to a longer walk described in Interlaken’s free things to do.

The Lombach dike at Bönigen: flat, free and best near sunset

The least-known of the five and the only one that costs nothing. The Lombach is the small river that drains into Lake Brienz at Bönigen, immediately east of Interlaken Ost, and the flood-control dike built out into the lake at its mouth doubles as an unmarked but well-used viewpoint. It is entirely flat, reached by a level lakeside path in 20 to 30 minutes from the station, and needs no ticket, no funicular and no fitness.

What it offers instead of altitude is the water itself: Lake Brienz’s turquoise colour, explained by glacial rock flour suspended in the meltwater rather than any trick of the light, is more visible from the dike than from most higher viewpoints, and the angle looks straight down the lake towards Brienz and the Rothorn ridge.

Facing roughly west-south-west, it catches the setting sun directly over the water in the final hour before dusk, which makes it the pick of the five for sunset rather than sunrise. It gets a modest crowd of locals and residents at that hour in summer, but nothing like the queues at Harder Kulm. For more on the colour and the lake itself, see why Lake Brienz is that colour and the Lake Brienz boat trips guide.

Beatenberg: the balcony above Lake Thun

Beatenberg sits on the opposite side of the valley from the other four, on a long sunny terrace above the northern shore of Lake Thun. It is reached by a funicular from Beatenbucht, a lakeside stop a short boat or bus ride from Interlaken, followed by a walk or local bus along the village itself, which stretches for several kilometres along the hillside rather than clustering around one station.

The trade-off for the longer approach is a genuinely different view: instead of looking along the Bödeli, you look across the full width of Lake Thun to Thun and the Bernese lowlands, with Niesen’s pyramid visible to the south-west. Because Beatenberg faces broadly south, it gets direct sun earlier in the day than Harder Kulm does, which makes it a better choice for a mid-morning outing when the other side of the valley is still in shadow.

It also connects directly to the Niederhorn cable car for those who want to add another 800 vertical metres; the Beatenberg and Niederhorn destination page and the Niederhorn guide cover that combination, including opening dates, since the upper cable car closes for wind more often than the funicular below it.

Schynige Platte: the highest, the most expensive, and the one weather cancels

Schynige Platte is in a different category from the other four: a proper half-day trip rather than a quick outing. The cogwheel railway from Wilderswil, running since 1893, climbs through forest and alpine meadow for about 50 minutes, gaining nearly 1,400 vertical metres to reach 1,967 m. At the top, the panorama takes in the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau in one direction and both Lake Thun and Lake Brienz simultaneously in the other, which none of the four lower viewpoints manages.

There is also an alpine botanical garden and several marked walking routes for those who want to turn the trip into a half-day hike, detailed in the Schynige Platte guide and the Wilderswil and Schynige Platte destination page.

The catch is threefold: the railway only runs roughly early June to late October, it costs close to double Harder Kulm, and it is the viewpoint most often closed by wind, since the exposed upper section of track is more weather-sensitive than an enclosed funicular. Check the operator’s status page on a windy morning before making the trip out to Wilderswil. Given the time and cost involved, Schynige Platte earns its place only if you have a clear morning and are treating it as the outing for the day rather than one stop among several.

Which one if you only do one

For a single viewpoint with limited time, Harder Kulm remains the rational choice: it is the fastest to reach from Interlaken Ost, the cost is moderate, and the panorama covers both lakes and the main peaks in one frame. If the budget is the binding constraint, the Lombach dike delivers a genuinely good lake view for nothing and works particularly well as a sunset add-on to an otherwise cheap day, alongside ideas in the budget guide to Interlaken.

If you have a full morning or afternoon free and want the most complete panorama on offer without going as high as the Jungfraujoch or Schilthorn, Schynige Platte is worth the extra cost and time, weather permitting. A side-by-side comparison of that trade-off against Harder Kulm specifically is in Harder Kulm versus Schynige Platte.

Those building a full day around the town rather than a single viewpoint should start with Interlaken in one day or the matching one-day itinerary, both of which slot Harder Kulm in as the anchor activity. For a wider survey of which mountain excursion suits which traveller, see the best mountain excursions from Interlaken, and if the forecast turns against you, Interlaken in bad weather covers which of these five hold up in low cloud and which do not.

Seeing the views from ground level

Not every good vantage point in the area is reached by rail. An e-bike route along the Bödeli and around both lakeshores reaches several of the lower angles on this list without a single funicular ticket: the Discover Interlaken Lakes Ruins Views E Bike Tour covers the shoreline stretches near Bönigen and Unterseen in a single loop.

A longer, guided version that also climbs towards the villages above Lake Thun is the Interlaken Panoramic Tour by E Bike Mountains Lakes Villages Pure Idyll, which reaches higher ground than most people manage on a single afternoon under their own steam. For those who would rather walk and have someone point out what they are looking at, the Interlaken: Private Walking Tour can be routed to take in the Höhematte, the Aare canal and the approach to Heimwehfluh.

Frequently asked questions about Interlaken’s viewpoints

What is the cheapest viewpoint in Interlaken?

The Lombach dike at Bönigen is free and reached on foot in 20 to 30 minutes from Interlaken Ost. Heimwehfluh is the next cheapest if you take the small funicular rather than walking up.

Which viewpoint has the best sunset?

The Lombach dike at Bönigen faces west down Lake Brienz and catches the last light on the Faulhorn ridge; it is flat, free and needs no booking, which matters because sunset viewpoints get crowded fast in summer.

Which viewpoint has the best sunrise?

Harder Kulm faces roughly south-west across the Hohematte to the Jungfrau group, so it is better for morning light on the peaks than for the sunrise itself, which comes up behind the Harder ridge. Beatenberg, on the opposite side of Lake Thun, gets direct morning sun earlier.

Do I need to book Harder Kulm or Schynige Platte in advance?

Neither requires advance booking under normal conditions; you buy the ticket at the station. In July and August, arriving before 10am or after 4pm avoids the worst of the queues at Harder Kulm.

Is Schynige Platte open all year?

No. The cogwheel railway to Schynige Platte typically runs from early June to late October and closes completely outside that window, unlike Harder Kulm and the Beatenberg funicular, which run year-round with only short revision closures.

Can I do more than one viewpoint in a day?

Harder Kulm plus the Lombach dike work well together because both are near Interlaken Ost and neither takes long. Combining Schynige Platte with anything else the same day is tight, since the round trip alone runs to about three and a half hours.

Which viewpoint is best for wheelchairs or pushchairs?

The Lombach dike is flat tarmac and level the whole way. Harder Kulm’s funicular and summit terrace are accessible, though the final viewing platform has a few steps. Schynige Platte’s paths are uneven gravel and less suitable.