Welcome to our Switzerland Travel Guide Trip Highlights page, where we share our favourite Atlantic Canada sights, locations, and activities. Our trip highlights are presented in chronological order using a 3-star rating system, where a three-star rating indicates our favourite must-see sights and must-do activities.

Zurich Old Town and Lake *

Zurich’s Altstadt (old town) beats on both sides of the Limmat river, where medieval architecture, catholic churches, and historic places line the romantic little streets and winding cobblestone alleys. There are so many interesting sights and viewpoints, but we’d like to highlight, in particular, the Muhlesteg Footbridge, the Lindenhof elevated park (built on top of a 4th-century fort), the Great Minster church that offers great panoramic views of the city from one of its towers, and the beautiful storefronts of the Bahnhofstrasse for some window shopping. If you enjoy the nightlife, Zurich’s Old Town boasts the highest concentration of nightclubs in Switzerland, and if you enjoy shopping, check out Zürich’s famous Langstrasse. At the southern end of the Old Town, you’ll find the picturesque Lake Zurich backdropped by the Swiss Alps and its lovely promenade.

Exploring the idyllic village of Brienz *

On the opposite shore of Lake Brienz and a short 20-min scenic train ride away from Interlaken (though you can also take the slower but equally scenic 1.5 hr boat ride across), you’ll find Brienz and its beautiful 18th-century wooden chalets and lakeside promenade. It has just one main street, Hauptestrasse, so it can be quickly explored at first glance. But it has long been the center of wood carving in Switzerland so you’ll find several thematic shops and the Swiss Wood Carving Museum. You’ll also find in Brienz the last still-functioning steam locomotive in Switzerland that will whisk you up to the summit of the Brienzer Rothorn for fantastic views of the Swiss Alps and the lake below.

Harder Kulm and hiking to the Wannichnubel summit **

For one of the best views of Interlaken and the surrounding area, make your way up to the Harder Kulm viewpoint just North of the town. The site includes a see-through viewing platform and the open-air Panorama restaurant. You can either take the scenic 10-min funicular up to the site or hike your way up along the 4km trail, which will take you about 2h30. If you take the funicular up, there’s more impressive hiking available through mountain forest trails and along ridgelines with several viewpoints while making your way to the summit of Wannichnubel mountain. 

Discovering the alpine villages of Murren and Gimmelwald ***

If you like fresh air and beautiful mountain views, this is definitely the place for you. Murren and Gimmelwald are idyllic car-free alpine villages that look straight out of a Swiss fairytale and are only accessible via cable cars, hiking trails, or trains. There isn’t much to do here other than a little bit of village exploring and hiking, but there is definitely plenty to see: spectacular mountains (including the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains) all around, green slopes and forests. Gimmelwald is definitely the quieter of the two villages (it doesn’t even have a grocery store), whereas Murren is definitely more geared towards tourism. Murren is also Switzerland’s highest alpine village, perched on the edge of an 800m cliff. Unfortunately, we missed out on this due to time constraints, but you can take a cable car up even higher to Schilthorn, at 2970m elevation, where there is a panoramic viewing platform and a rotating restaurant. 

Getting to Murren

There are essentially two ways to get to Murren, and both transit through Lauterbrunnen, a 20 min train ride from Interlaken. Both options will take you approximately an hour each way. The first is to take the 15-min BLM train from Grütschalp, which itself is a 5 min cable car ride from Lauterbrunnen. Alternatively (and this is what we did), from Lauterbrunnen you can take the bus to Stechelberg at the very end of the Lauterbrunnen valley to take a cable car up to Gimmelwald (or take a pretty steep 1.5-hour hike). From there, you can either take a second cable car up to Murren or take an easy 30-min hike (2km, 200m elevation) up to Murren. Alternatively, if you have a car, it is possible to drive and park in Stechelberg.

Lucerne *

Lucerne is as beautiful as its location is strategic, roughly midway between Zurich and Interlaken (though the train ride to Interlaken is nearly twice as long). One of Lucerne’s most distinctive landmarks is the Kapelle Bridge and its Octagonal Water Tower, which connects the old and the new part of the city across the river Reuss (Notably, the bridge holds the record as the world’s oldest covered wooden bridge and dates back to 1332).  Another must-see sight is the Musegg Wall, part of Lucerne’s medieval ramparts dating back from over 500 years ago. The best fun to be had however is to stroll somewhat aimlessly through the meandering cobblestone streets of the Old Town. Last but definitely not least, is to walk along (or to take a boat ride on) Lake Lucerne, Switzerland’s 4th largest lake, with the impressive backdrop of the Swiss Alps to the south.

Brünig pass train line **

The Brünig line trains are scenic trains with large panoramic windows that travel along the eastern leg of the Golden Pass route that connects Lucerne to Montreux in french-speaking Switzerland by scenic trains. The eastern leg (Brünig line) connects Lucerne to Interlaken Ost (and is thus sometimes referred to as the Lucerne-Interlaken Express), and passes by gorgeous lakeside villages and spectacular mountain ranges. The trip will take about two hours and be sure to sit on the left side (when travelling to Lucerne from Interlaken) for the best views.

Bern Old Town **

Switzerland’s capital city, Bern, often flies under most people’s radar, but it really shouldn’t. The remarkable design coherence of Berne’s old town earned it a place on the UNESCO World Heritage List. One of the most recognizable attractions is the Old City clock tower; known as the Zytglogge, it dates back to the 1200s (and rumour has it that it influenced how the young Albert Einstein, stationed in Bern as a patent clerk, thought about time). Bern is also home to over 100 fountains, many of which date back to medieval times in addition to being downright unusual (like the child-eating ogre fountain!). Finally, we can’t talk about Bern without mentioning its famous BärenPark (Bear Park). Just across the river from the Old Town, you’ll find a large open-air enclosure with well-cared-for brown bears. And a short uphill walk from the Bear Park will take you to Bern’s Rose Garden, which offers spectacular views over the rooftops of the historic Old Town surrounded by the beautiful Aare river.

Honourable mentions

Another activity we really enjoyed was cycling around Lake Thun, which will take you through lakeside villages, passing lush green meadows and historical monuments and castles. It’s roughly 50km to complete the loop around the lake. If you are interested in something a bit shorter, we recommend doing Interlaken –  Spiez – Interlaken, a 35 km return trip. 

If you have a few extra hours to kill, check out the Adventure Park in Interlaken, a forest playground with wooden bridges, Tarzan swings and zip lines. The park is located within walking distance of the city center. 
https://seilpark-interlaken.ch/en/

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