A Swiss Story - Exploring Interlaken

Interlaken is located in the Canton of Bern

The town of Interlaken developed its reputation as a tourist destination. Located in a narrow stretch of valley between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, Interlaken serves as a popular base for tourists visiting the mountains in the Jungfrau region. The peaceful little town is served by two stations, Interlaken Ost and Interlaken West, the Ost (German for east) being the main station. Trains continously serve the Lauterbrunnen valley station from here, carrying large crowds of tourists who then ascend the mountains towards Grindelwald, Schilthorn or the Jungfraujoch.

The Interlaken West station is calm and peaceful

Interlaken, as a town, is strikingly pretty, with its several short, neat buildings making up the bulk of the settlement. Ferries operate on both lakes, sailing down to Brienz and Thun, stopping at occasional villages like Merligen, Gottigen and towns like Spiez. If you're spending more than two days at Interlaken, as we did, it is recommended to try out the ferry, which smoothly cruises on the calm waters of the lakes, carrying passengers to and fro. It is
 accessible by the Swiss pass, a document which I have spoken about earlier in my records on Bern.

Since it does not have an airport with commercial flights nearby, Interlaken is accessible by rail, road and by ferry from nearby towns. The town itself is vastly popular and thus, has a large number of restaurants, shops, outlets and commercial enterprise. The beauty lies in the calm of the town, which, in the winter months is covered by snow and appears straight out of a scene from a fairy tale. Our luck, however, was limited to its summer experience, where, though the climate is present, the town is regular and bustling.

    

Sunsets from our hotel looked thrilling

Sightseeing in Interlaken can be done on foot or by using bikes, available on rent. The oddly large number of hotels in the area which cater to the inflow of tourists all year would happily arrange for a bike if you could persuade them to, as we did. Conversely, they may also introduce one to a firm renting them nearby. Interlaken also has a number of casinos and adult entertainment options within its district, but they are all clubbed near the Ost station. The hotel we stayed in was located on the Jungfraustrasse. It was the City Oberland Hotel, a decent stay with breakfast served with the room.

Sunrises were nice too!

Since Interlaken began to be used as a base for trips up to the Jungfrau, the Swiss government introduced a number of Jungfrau-related tourist centres, that form the bulk of the town's major attractions. These include the Tourist Museum of the Jungfrau Region, the Jungfrau Park and Outdoor Interlaken. However, the city also boasts of the Schlosskirsche Interlaken, an ancient monastery which was later converted to a church. These can all be visited comfortably in a day or two, which is the ideal amount of time one should spend for the city. However, we were here for a total of four days and we had to make good use of time. Casinos were a viable and easy option to use and so were the Schynige Platte Railway (a must try), but beyond that, the best way to spend time was by simply walking the streets of the city and enjoying its beauty. My favourite spot in town was of course, a little bench in the Interlaken West Station, that I will speak about in a later article. I could spend hours sitting there, facing the two mountains, allowing the cold air to relax and calm my senses after a busy day of sightseeing.

One could also take the railway to a nearby town - options included the ones on the banks of the two lakes on both sides of Interlaken. These were quiet, sleepy towns - a writer's paradise and a peaceful retreat away from the tourists in town.

   

It is a dreamy little town, sketched on the Swiss paradise

Interlaken is a place which has unusual powers. After a long day of skiing in the Jungfrujoch or snowfighting on the Schilthorn, one can be totally calmed by the serenity of this settlement, peaceful forever in its place. It took me three days to realise why I felt so moved when I returned after a day out. On the fourth day it dawned upon me that Interlaken represented home - a place where all come to relax, to breathe the air of freshness and to sink slowly away into silent relaxation - music for the mind and soul.