Things to do in Brienz and on the Rothorn Railway

Brienz sits on the northern shore of Lake Brienz, about 20 minutes from Interlaken Ost by train along the Brunig line. The town's main draw is the Brienz Rothorn Bahn, Switzerland's last steam-only rack railway, which has climbed 1,678 metres to the Rothorn summit since 1892.

The ride takes roughly an hour each way, and a return ticket costs around CHF 92 for adults, so budget half a day if you want time at the top rather than just the round trip. Brienz is also the home of Switzerland's woodcarving school, the Schweizerische Schnitzlerschule, founded in 1884, and of long-established violin-making workshops that still train luthiers today.

From the summit station, on a clear day, you can pick out Lake Brienz, Lake Thun and Lake Lucerne at once, though cloud cover on the Rothorn is common even when Interlaken is sunny.